I will be staying in Las Vegas from 8/19/04 to 8/22/04, and would like
to stay at one of the nice hotels on the strip.

1. Where are the best places to go to generally find the lowest rates
(website, call hotels directly, etc)?

2. I am also looking for suggestions for locating discounts or deals,
something I would miss using the traditional approach above.

My personal favorite is the San Remo.  It's 1-2 blocks from the main
strip, near the Tropicana, MGM Grand, and NY NY.

http://www.sanremolv.com/

or check out this for more options (not necessarily good ones):
http://www.hotels.com

Greetings,

Check out the following web page:

http://www.a2zlasvegas.com/hotels/la-ads.html

Excellent listing of special deals for a Vegas Hotels as advertised in
the L.A. Times. You don't have to live in L.A. to get these
deals...This list is updated on a weekly basis and often contains
deals you won't find advertised on the major internet sites. This is
not a travel agency, just a listing of deals advertised in the papers
and then compiled by the web page author. He also includes the
reservation phone numbers. Excellent source and well worth checking
out...I used it on my last trip to vegas.

educate-ga