I had read almost all the reviews of the top 40 hotels. Many were good and I was tempted to choose several other hotels first before coming around to the Residence Inn. I'm very glad I chose this hotel over all the others. I will expand on the other reviews I had read based on my new direct experience with the hotel. We got a suite with 2 bedrooms and central area with fridge + stove + dish washer + fireplace + microwave oven + 3 tvs. Benefits: (1) 'Building B' looked brand new and spotless, (2) totally smoke free hotel, (3) as a computer person, the free highspeed was indeed 'high speed' except around 10pm each night when it became too slow to use for an hour or so, (4) cost was the same or cheaper than the hotels on the strip or anywhere else nearby, (5) highway and 'Las Vegas Strip' car access is just excellent once you know the back-entrace method, (6) lots of ample parking, (7) good room service, (8) free breakfast with eggs + waffles & milk/juice/coffee, (9) fairly quiet except one afternoon of airplanes landing further south of the hotel and 2 car alarms going off, (10) small fitness center + basketball area, (11) pool + smaller spa pool + waterfall - only the spa pool was heated - no one was in either one all week so the pool area was quiet for all to use. If you prefer peace and quiet then this is the place to go, but it does not have the hussle and bussle of any LV strip hotel (nor the smoke!).

I had picked up a lot of good advice on this forum in reading the reviews from the other 40 hotels, so let me offer some of my own advice: (1) Being in LV before, having a car is an excellent and cost savings way to get around town and to get groceries, (2) We went to 3 buffets: Stratosphere Courtyard, Desert Rose and Sam's Town - everyone said to go to Sam's Town but it was the most disappointing in selection and price ($60 for 2 people and one child at night); Stratosphere had the best selection of the 3 and the lowest price - however, all 3 didn't come close to the average buffets I go to each week in Toronto, (3) 'Town Center' is a new-style shopping complex close to the hotel by car - go east on Russel Road, Las Vegas Blvd South and it is on your right side about 3min down the strip, close to Hwy 215/15 interchange - has Fry's Electronics, food store, etc. (4) here is some golden advice for car access to the hotel: access the hotel from 'Russel Road' - go west from Las Vegas Blvd (south of Mandalay Bay) or get off at the Russell Road I15 exit, go over the bridge (west) and immediately turn left (south) _after_ the traffic lights in a little opening in the road median, go 200' south and the Residence Inn's back door will be on your left before the end of this street. The front of the hotel sits on Dean Martin Drive which parallels I15 all the way north to the Stratosphere where it turns into Industrial Road. Don't drive on the slow Las Vegas Blvd before 11pm - use Dean Martin Drive, Frank Sinatra Drive or just get on/off I15 at Tropicana/Flamingo/Sahara exits to quickly access any part of the strip without waiting at lots of slow traffic lights, (5) my wife took the shuttle many times over to Mandalay Bay or further on to Town Center shopping mall, which runs every 30mins. You could probably walk over to Mandalay Bay via the 'back road' of the hotel + Russel Street brige in 15mins or so.

I had also made an extensive list of things to do with my family during our one week. Here's the recommended ones: (1) For sure, go to the 'Red Rock Canyon' which is at the west-most rim of the mountains near Las Vegas - at look-out point # 1 we journeyed down to the orange canyon walls where were formed by shifting sand dunes 160mil years ago, (2) Boulder Dam + Boulder City = one day tour and we did the more expensive tour right inside the dam walls, (3) one of the nicest hotels to visit since my last trip 12 years ago is Caesar's Palace, (4) The Freemont Street Experience was worth seeing (make sure you see both shows), (5) there is a downtown art show the first Friday evening of each month, (6) Friday and Saturday nights have a planetarium show at CCSN, (7) the LUXOR's entertainment floor is disappointing compared to what it was like 10-12 years ago.

Now this is what a room should be. Separate bedroom so I can sleep while my mate can watch Tv, computer, cook....very quiet. We stayed here twice. Once a separate bedroom then four days later a suite with two bedrooms so my sister could be with us before she went to airport the next morning. My husband slept through the night and so did I....WOW

Because we have 3 teenagers, the Residence Inns come in handy. We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite. Worth the price compared to getting 2 separate rooms. The pool was very nice and cool on hot August night. The shuttle to Mandalay Bay is awesome, used it every night. The breakfast in the morning was good, the coffee was even better. I found the hotel to be very clean and the security in the parking lot is nice. Same complex as a Holiday Inn Express and a Courtyard. Always a nice stay at the Residence Inn. Also, free Internet service in the rooms.

We stayed here for 3 nights in August.

My husband and I loved the quiet ambience of this hotel after having spent hours at or nearby the Strip. The 2-bedroom-suite was great, as almost always with the Residence Inns. Nice, clean, comfortable. We had asked for a quiet room not facing the I 15, which was a good decision. No noise at all. The nearby airport was no problem to us. During daytime we could see the planes starting and passing the hotel nearby, it was quite interesting to watch them. And during nighttime there was no noice at all.

Our kids - teens - of course would have preferred a hotel at the Strip. But still they also liked the comfort and beautifuness of this hotel.

Especially the gardenarea with the pool is just brilliant. It is wonderful to stay there and have a relaxing time in and around the pool. It was very very hot during our stay (around 110 degree) so it was great to find the pool being really fresh and very very clean!!!

We did use the shuttle-service to and from the MGM-hotel, also to the Mandalay. From there we used taxis several times, f.ex. to get to the Hard Rock Cafe, which really is too far away from the Strip to walk. From the strip its around 15-25 USD by taxi back to the hotel.

During our vacation we noticed that the Residence Inns do not have Mon-Thursday-Managers Receptions any more. They've cut that service to Mon/Wed/Thursday-Receptions, at some places even less, just twice a week. OK. If one knows that, no problem. But if they offer a reception, they really should offer one. That really was the only bad thing we found at this Residence Inn. For the Monday we stayed there they had announced a reception but when we got there (and would have liked to have had a glass of wine or beer before using the shuttle to the MGM) we really were surprised to find almost nothing. Nothing to eat except for some fruit salat and just a few undefinable juices? No wine, no beer??? Hey, this was Las Vegas??? The management should better abstain from a reception like that. Because that wasn't one!

Apart from this the Residence Inn Las Vegas South was the best and most beautiful Residence Inn we have ever stayed at.