I'd never been to Vegas before, but my fiance convinced me that we should go (he's from Phoenix, so they don't have the aversion to Vegas that people like me from the Midwest do...). We stayed at the Imperial Palace because (a) we're ridiculously poor college students and (b) it's located in the center of the strip.
We'd booked our room online 7 months earlier for $52/night incl. taxes and fees. We got the Deluxe Luv Tub room... There are mirrors on the ceiling... It was worth it. ;)
We didn't really have any complaints for the most part except the elevators were ridiculously slow (we chose to run up and down six flights of stairs most of the time because it was faster...), the towels smelled sort of "off," and on the weekends, drunk jackasses waiting for the elevators would be screaming and singing outside of our room until the wee hours of the morning.
Yes, the decor is kind of tacky, but c'mon guys... It's Vegas...