Access to I-15 was easy. The hotel, buffet, and attractions were not crowded (again off season and n

Last weekend (Sunday and Monday) I stayed at the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. I've been to Las Vegas many, many times in the last few years and I've stayed at lots of different hotels on the strip, both expensive last minute cruise vacations and inexpensive. This trip (3 days, two nights) last minute cruise vacations was principally to go shopping and run errands and not about having fun and enjoying Vegas. So my main concern was finding some place to stay that is clean, safe, convenient and a good value for the money. Considering these criteria, I have to say that I am quite impressed with the Stratosphere.
Granted, I was staying in the off season on a Sunday and Monday night, the cheapest nights of the week, so the rate of $43 per night (average) plus $7.50 per night resort fee was an unusually good deal. Included with the room fee was a two for one coupon for the buffet and free admission to the tower. Overall, the buffet was decent, nothing special (no seafood). The desserts were pretty bad, but I guess that they are not made fresh on site, but outsourced. Tower admission was a nice bonus. The view from the top was amazing and not having to pay the $16 admission fee was great.
Access to I-15 was easy. The hotel, buffet, and attractions were not crowded (again off season and not on the weekend) and the room was clean and comfortable. Overall, as a place to stay when having fun is not your main objective (largely because at the north end of the strip it is quite far from everything else), I think it is a great place to stay and I will probably stay there again.
TIP: don't pay extra for the "strip view" rooms. They aren't worth it. The view is mostly blocked by other taller hotels last minute cruise vacations and you get free access to the tower which has the best view of them all. Save your money for other things.