Bellagio

Suite 16-001, Bellagio, Las Vegas; 702-693-7111. There are 3,933 rooms; doubles range from $129 to $299. Room 16-001, a Cypress Suite, is $800.

Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire. Elvis wasn't kidding. This dry valley town has been setting souls afire (and testing their mettle) since it sprang up in the early 1900s. With its legalized gambling, construction of the Hoover Dam just 34 miles away, and the Union Pacific Railroad, Las Vegas was largely insulated from the economic distress that racked the rest of the country during the Great Depression. Although the current financial maelstrom has hit the city harder, to be fair, its runaway boom meant there was a lot more to hit. But there is an upside: This plush suite on the sixteenth floor of the famed Bellagio can be yours for a fraction of its 2006 cost. And the discount hasn't diminished its quality—the Bellagio is ranked twentieth among the top U.S. hotels in our Readers' Choice Survey. After all, the fountains still sing every night, and Lady Luck can shine on any player. As Elvis sang, "All you need's a strong heart and a nerve of steel."