Quick review of these hotels:
Stratosphere - decent hotel, not great neighborhood (sort of on the Strip, but separated from everything else). Tower is awesome.
All Station casinos - nice, and VERY friendly, particularly Palace Station. Eat at the seafood place - terrific fresh fish for pretty cheap.
Imperial Palace - kinda dumpy, but very centrally located.
Sahara - Old LV hotel, clean but not at all elegant.
Excalibur - like a scene from a Disney cartoon. Cutely done, nice neighborhood (very close to other major hotels, like Luxor, NYNY, MGM Grand). Rooms below average, and walls are VERY thin. Do see the dinner/show tho...makes Medieval Times look like street performers.
Flamingo: Old and needs work, but centrally located. Used to be a Hilton, and before that was Bugsy's place.
MGM Grand - nice, entertaining place. Rooms are well above average, and the ambience is just terrific and fun. Be aware that your room can easily be 10 miles or more from the front desk.
Circus Circus - entertaining to take kids to for the circus acts, good if you have an RV. Otherwise, find somewhere else to sleep.
Stardust - one of the old classic hotels in LV. Very cheap these days (over Xmas we got 2 days free and 2 days @$39, and I am NOT a high roller - the deal was posted here). Excellent sushi bar (kind of expensive - look in the '24' magazine in taxis for a 20% off coupon). IMPORTANT NOTE: All rooms at the Stardust now allegedly include 2 free meals per day - they advertise it as a free buffet, but their buffet is actually closed at the moment. They will give you a $7 pp credit at the coffee shop tho.
LV Hilton - good solid place, not all that entertaining, tho (except for Star Trek Experience, which I hear is great, and Benihana's - you have to see it to understand). Not on the Strip, but a short walk.
Tropicana - decent and very cheap. Needs remodeling, but you won't be unhappy there, and the neighborhood is nice.
NYNY: Sort of like New York City, but clean. Great free lounge acts right in the casino. Stay away from the expensive, bumpy and not all that scary roller coaster.
Paris: Sort of like Paris, but with nice people. Actually, has the most surprising and amazing ambience of any casino, IMHO. Lots of great restaurants.
Bally's: Plain vanilla, but rooms are very nice. Buffet (Big Kitchen Buffet, around $14 for dinner) is AWESOME.
Aladdin: Sort of like the Middle East, but without the terrorists. How would you like to own a Middle Eastern themed casino these days? Needless to say, they're in bankruptcy, but it's a great place, and the shopping area is terrific. Don't know anything about the rooms.
Luxor: Great building, nice casino, small noisy hotel rooms. But ABSOLUTELY go see the Blue Man Group. It's the most surprising and entertaining show of any kind that I have ever seen. Stay in your car if you have to, but see this show.
Bellagio: The crown jewel of the Strip. Awesome building, amazing fountains, elegant casino, world class art gallery (over $400 million in art), great restaurants, incredible hotel rooms. Of course, you will pay big money for all of this. I HIGHLY recommend the buffet, even tho it's expensive. Go for Sunday Brunch.
Mirage: Still great, with good food and interesting atmosphere. The hotel rooms, though, are NOT special at all unless you get a suite.
Treasure Island: Same as Mirage but more lighthearted. Rooms are decent but not world-class.
Hard Rock Hotel: Totally entertaining. The only hotel in which you don't enter directly into the casino. Haven't seen the rooms. Terrific Japanese restaurant - Nobu.
Venetian: Almost tied with Bellagio. Totally incredible place, with ABSOLUTELY the best regular hotel rooms (which are all 700sf suites). Service surprisingly good, restaurants are excellent, really feels like Italy.
Dumps: Barbary Coast, Frontier, Orleans, Gold Coast
...dan