STRIP VS MOUNTAIN VIEW: THE SHOWDOWN
How one small hotel decision quietly sets the tone for your entire Vegas trip
You finally booked that Vegas vacation.
Flights are locked. Hotel is confirmed. The group chat has already decided who’s “going hard” and who’s “just here for vibes.” LFG 👍😝, you respond, everything feels set.
You land, grab your bag, Uber to the resort, and do the one thing every single person does the second they walk into their room.
You drop your bag.
You walk straight to the window.
You pull the curtains.
And in that moment, your trip either starts… or you mutter “well, shit.”
Is it neon chaos? Are you staring at a view of the strip, maybe with the Sphere or the Bellagio fountains going off in the background?
Or is it a parking garage. An AC unit. A concrete wall that feels personally offensive.
This is the part no one likes to admit: the view matters. Even if you swear you’re “only in the room to sleep.”
The Way People Actually Book Vegas
Vegas is one of the only cities where people gamble before they ever hit the casino.
They book the cheapest room because they say they will barely be in it.
They tell themselves they don’t care about the view.
They plan to “try the $20 trick.” ( more like $50-$100 these days)
And then they’re shocked when the house wins.
Some people intentionally plan their view. They pay for it, lock it in, and know exactly what they’re getting when they open the curtains. This is what hotels want, and that’s why rooms with a view are always more expensive. However, you have to decide if it’s worth it.
Others roll the dice and hope for generosity at check-in. If you’ve booked with tier status, such as Gold with MGM, this might just work out and make a little more sense. The lowest rooms are often free, and with Gold, you’re promised some type of upgrade anyway.
Both approaches are valid.
The App Changed the Game (And Not in Your Favor)
Here’s the part no one likes to talk about.
App check-in has quietly killed a lot of spontaneous upgrades.
At MGM properties, especially, mobile check-in is now stupidly easy. Tap a few buttons, your room is assigned, and you’re basically locked in before you even step on property.
And unless you’re actively playing the tier game or have real history with the brand, what you’re most likely getting is this:
The lowest floor
In the exact room category you paid for
With zero incentive for the system to sweeten the deal
That’s not a bug. That’s the design.
Which is also why, despite all the tech and “skip the line” promises, the check-in lines are still long.
Because people aren’t standing there to check in.
They’re standing there to negotiate.
Everyone is asking for something better. A higher floor. A different view. Anything but the room they booked, or the one the app quietly handed them while they were still on the plane.
And the $20 trick? It still works sometimes. But it’s no longer magic. You’re not cutting a deal with the house, you’re asking a human to override a system that already made its decision.
Sometimes you win.
Often you don’t.
Which brings us back to the same point:
If the view matters to you, plan it.
If you’re leaving it to chance, understand the odds have changed.
Vegas didn’t get stingier.
It just got more automated.
Same Hotel. Completely Different Trip.
This is where Vegas gets sneaky.
You can stay at the same resort and have two entirely different vacations depending on what’s outside your window.
A Strip View at Cosmopolitan hits different than a Boulevard Tower backside staring into the void.
A Bellagio Fountain View feels iconic until you realize how loud it gets past midnight.
An Aria Mountain View is calm, quiet, and borderline therapeutic.
A Vdara Mountain View makes you forget you’re technically on the Strip at all.
My personal “oh shit” favorite is a “city view” that turns out to be a loading dock, which can turn even the best resort into a grudge.
Same bed. Same casino. Same price bracket.
Wildly different energy.
Strip View People vs. Mountain View People
Strip View people want the chaos. The lights. The movement. The feeling that Vegas is alive and daring them to take it on.
They forgive noise.
They forgive crowds.
They forgive the fact that sleep is optional.
Mountain View people want contrast. They want the madness outside the resort, not inside their head. They like knowing they can step away from the Strip without leaving it.
They complain less.
They sleep more.
They usually come back calmer than they arrived. Ahhh Bliss…
Neither is wrong.
But pretending they’re the same experience is how people end up pissed off before the minibar even opens.
The Parking Garage View Nobody Talks About
Let’s be honest.
There is a third category no one plans for. The “royally screwed” view.
The AC unit.
The concrete wall.
The roof.
The parking garage.
This is usually the result of:
Booking the cheapest room and expecting magic
Not reading the fine print on “city view”
Betting everything on a front-desk upgrade and maybe being a bit pissy with them when they say there are none available.
Sometimes you win.
Often you don’t.
And when you don’t, the view becomes the thing you complain about all weekend… even if the rest of the trip is fine. No one wants this!
Does the View Actually Change the Trip?
Yes.
Not because it’s Instagram-worthy.
But because it sets the tone.
Looking at the Strip feels electric. You’re plugged in.
Looking at the mountains feels grounding. You exhale.
One makes you want another drink.
The other makes you want to sit quietly and let Vegas exist without participating for a few moments. Perhaps still with a drink…
And in a city built on stimulation, that choice matters more than people admit.
So… Should You Plan the View?
Here’s the honest answer:
If you care, plan it.
If you don’t, truly don’t, roll the dice.
But don’t pretend you don’t care, then get upset when the curtains open and spend the rest of the trip bitching to the others in the group who paid the extra $120 you decided was too much.
Vegas gives you a thousand ways to experience the same city. That’s the magic.
Just don’t leave one of the most emotional moments of the trip up to chance and act surprised when it doesn’t go your way.
Because no matter who you are, or how many times you’ve been here…
You’re still opening those curtains.
And that first look?
It sets the vibe.
-Jason
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