Cheap, Convenient and Not Pretending Otherwise
You come off Interstate 15 at Blue Diamond Road tired, and the first thing you see is a rearing white plaster horse outside a saloon, then three storeys of cream stucco and dusty pink railings behind it. Highland Inn is a plain American motor inn on the far southern rim of the Las Vegas Valley, and everything good about it comes from where it sits.
The airport is 5.5 miles up the freeway, about nine minutes. Silverton Casino, with a 117,000-gallon aquarium in its lobby and an award-winning steakhouse inside, is a three-minute walk. Bass Pro Shops is eight minutes on foot and there is an In-N-Out, a Target and a run of fast food in the plaza just west. The south end of the Strip is a ten-minute drive, and the freeway to California or the national parks starts at the end of the block.
Around forty-five rooms fill three floors. They are simple and they have been worked on: tan padded headboards, wood-effect floors, big flat-screens, a fridge as standard and a desk to work at. Parking is free, the Wi-Fi is free and scores higher than anything else, and there is no resort fee.
What Is Actually in the Room
The rooms are the part of the motel that has had money spent on it, and it shows against the price. Each one has a padded tan headboard, a wall-mounted flat-screen, a work desk with a chair, a dresser with a coffee set-up, a fridge and a private bathroom with a bath and shower. Air conditioning is standard, and there are king rooms and rooms with two queen beds, in smoking and non-smoking versions.
Some rooms open onto the exterior walkway with a balcony, and the listings quote either 23 or 28 square metres depending which one you read. A microwave is not standard but the desk will lend one if you ask, and there are no cots or extra beds at all, so a family of four needs the two-queen room rather than a rollaway.
Ask for a recently renovated room when you book. Reviews since the current owner took over consistently describe updated rooms, and the ones that have not been touched are the ones people complain about.
The Things Guests Wish Somebody Had Said
Three of them, and they come up in review after review. First, the walls are thin. You will hear the parking lot, the saloon and, depending where you are, aircraft overhead. Second, the plumbing can run brown for a few seconds when you first open the tap; let it run and it clears. Third, the heater and air-conditioning units are loud enough to notice at night.
Then the structural ones. The building has three floors and no elevator, so anything above the ground floor means carrying your bag up an exterior staircase. And this is a car-first address: a frontage road beside a freeway, next to a truck stop, in a stretch of warehouses and big-box retail. It is perfectly fine and the front desk is there around the clock, but nobody should book it expecting to stroll to the Bellagio.
One genuinely nice quirk. From Friday to Monday there is free coffee and donuts in the lobby, and more than one guest has written a surprised review about discovering breakfast they had not been promised.
Why Book Highland Inn Las Vegas?
This is a plain three-storey motel on a service road beside Interstate 15, nine minutes from the airport and ten from the south Strip, and it costs roughly half what the hotels up the road do. Here is what that buys and what it costs you.
Nine minutes from the airport
Harry Reid International is about 5.5 miles up the freeway, roughly nine minutes by car or rideshare. If you have a six a.m. flight or you land at midnight, that single fact is worth more than any amount of lobby marble.
Free parking, free Wi-Fi, no resort fee
Self-parking on site is free and needs no reservation, the Wi-Fi is free and scores higher than anything else on the review card, and there is no resort fee. In Las Vegas that last one is close to a novelty.
You can walk to a casino and a burger
Silverton Casino is three minutes on foot, with a 117,000-gallon aquarium in the lobby and a well-regarded steakhouse inside. Bass Pro Shops is eight minutes, and In-N-Out and a Target sit in the plaza nine minutes west. Almost nothing else here is walkable.
Thin walls, loud units, a frontage road
Guests are consistent about the trade. The walls are thin enough to hear the parking lot, the heater and air-conditioning units are noisy, the tap can run brown for a few seconds, and the setting is workaday industrial. If you came for quiet and polish, book elsewhere.
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Interesting Points About Highland Inn Las Vegas
- The motel sits on a frontage road beside Interstate 15 at Exit 33, immediately north of Silverton Casino
- Silverton's lobby aquarium holds 117,000 gallons and more than 4,000 fish, with live mermaid shows, and it is a three-minute walk away
- The three-storey building has no elevator, so the upper two floors are reached by stairs only
- The Rusty Spur Saloon in the parking lot is a genuine 24-hour local dive bar with slot machines, and it is a separate business from the motel
- There is no resort fee, which is unusual anywhere in Las Vegas
- The airport was renamed from McCarran to Harry Reid International in December 2021, so listings still saying McCarran are out of date
- Free coffee and donuts are put out in the lobby from Friday to Monday
Rooms & Accommodation at Highland Inn Las Vegas
Deluxe King Room
King bed, balcony, sleeps up to three
The room type the listing describes in full: a king bed, a private bathroom with a bath and shower, a fridge, a flat-screen with cable, a desk and a balcony, with mountain, city or landmark views depending which side you land on. Listings quote it as either 23 or 28 square metres. Best for a couple or a solo traveller who wants the largest bed in the building, and worth asking for on the ground floor if you would rather not carry bags up.
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Deluxe King Room, Non-Smoking
King bed, non-smoking, about 28 m²
The same king layout designated non-smoking, listed elsewhere as three hundred square feet. Some rooms in the building still carry a faint smell of cigarettes from previous decades, so if that matters to you this is the one to book rather than hoping. Best for anyone sensitive to smoke, and for guests who want a recently refreshed room, which is worth asking for by name.
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Queen Room with Two Queen Beds, Non-Smoking
Two queen beds, sleeps four
Two queen beds at about three hundred square feet, sleeping four. This is the room for families and for pairs of friends road-tripping, and it matters here because the motel has no cots and no extra beds of any kind, so a fourth person needs an actual bed rather than a rollaway. Best for four travellers on a driving trip who want to split one room.
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Queen Room with Two Queen Beds, Smoking
Two queen beds, smoking permitted
The same two-queen layout with smoking permitted and an ashtray provided, which is genuinely hard to find in Las Vegas now that most chains have gone entirely non-smoking. Best for smokers who would rather not stand in a parking lot at two in the morning, and worth booking directly as this type rather than assuming it can be arranged on arrival.
Check PricesIs Highland Inn Right for You?
Best Suited For
- Anyone with an early flight or a late landing at Harry Reid, nine minutes up the freeway
- Road-trippers running between California and the Utah or Arizona national parks
- Drivers who want free parking and no resort fee while they dip into the Strip
- Smokers, given genuine smoking rooms are increasingly rare in this city
Worth Considering Alternatives If
- Anyone without a car who expects to walk or bus to the Strip
- Light sleepers, given thin walls, loud units and aircraft overhead
- Guests who cannot manage an exterior staircase, since there is no elevator
- Families needing a cot or a rollaway, which the motel does not offer at all
Amenities and Facilities
In Your Room
- Private bathroom with bath and shower, free toiletries, towels and a hairdryer
- Air conditioning and heating
- Flat-screen TV with cable and satellite channels
- Refrigerator as standard
- Microwave
- Desk, chair and seating area
- Wardrobe and clothes rack
- Iron and ironing facilities
- Telephone and alarm or wake-up service
- Balcony on some rooms
- Free Wi-Fi
Building and Services
- Front desk staffed 24 hours, in English, Hindi and Gujarati
- Daily housekeeping
- Express check-out
- Fax and photocopying
- ATM on site
- Not available: Elevator
- Not available: Cots and extra beds
Food, Drink and Leisure
- Free coffee and donuts in the lobby, Friday to Monday
- Not available: Breakfast
- Not available: Restaurant
- Bar on site
- Not available: Swimming pool
- Not available: Gym or spa
Parking and Transport
- Free private self-parking on site, no reservation needed
- Directly off Interstate 15 at Exit 33, Blue Diamond Road
- RTC Route 217 runs along Dean Martin Drive to the South Strip Transit Terminal
- The 24-hour Deuce bus runs the Strip and downtown from that terminal
- Not available: Airport shuttle
Policies
- Not available: Pets
- Smoking rooms available, and an ashtray is provided
- Photo ID and a credit card required at check-in
- Deposit
- No resort fee
- Children of all ages welcome, and guests aged 11 and over are charged as adults
- American Express, Visa, Discover and cash accepted
Location and Getting Around
Highland Inn stands on Dean Martin Drive in Enterprise, a frontage road running alongside Interstate 15 at the far southern edge of the Las Vegas Valley, immediately north of Silverton Casino and one turn off Exit 33. This is the service side of the city: warehouses, big-box retail, a truck plaza and a freeway. It is not the Strip and this page is not going to pretend it is.
What it is, is superbly placed for anyone with a car. The airport is 5.5 miles and about nine minutes. Mandalay Bay and the south end of the Strip are five miles and roughly ten minutes; the Bellagio and Caesars core about 6.3 miles and thirteen to fifteen. Allegiant Stadium is six miles, Fremont Street and downtown nine, and the freeway toward California or Zion and the Grand Canyon starts at the end of the block.
On foot, three things are genuinely walkable: Silverton Casino at 0.2 miles, Bass Pro Shops at 0.5, and the Blue Diamond plaza with In-N-Out and Target at about the same. Everything else needs wheels. If you are without a car, RTC Route 217 runs along Dean Martin Drive to the South Strip Transit Terminal in twelve to seventeen minutes, and the 24-hour Deuce runs the Strip from there, but allow the best part of an hour to reach mid-Strip.
- Silverton Casino Lodge: About 0.2 miles, a 3-minute walk
- Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World: About 0.5 miles, an 8-minute walk
- In-N-Out Burger, Blue Diamond plaza: About 0.5 miles, a 9-minute walk
- Las Vegas South Premium Outlets: About 2.3 miles, a 4-minute drive
- Town Square Las Vegas: About 2.5 miles, a 6-minute drive
- The Strip at Mandalay Bay: About 5 miles, a 10-minute drive
- Harry Reid International Airport: About 5.5 miles, a 9-minute drive
- Allegiant Stadium: About 6 miles, a 10-minute drive
- The Bellagio and Caesars Palace: About 6.3 miles, 13 to 15 minutes by car
- Fremont Street Experience: About 9 miles, a 15-minute drive
Getting to Key Locations
Silverton Casino
3 min walk
A 3-minute walk south, Silverton is a rustic-lodge casino whose lobby holds a 117,000-gallon aquarium with more than 4,000 tropical fish, stingrays and sharks, and live mermaid shows in the glass. Twin Creeks inside it has been named the city's best steakhouse by Las Vegas Weekly, and Bass Pro Shops is attached to the building.
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Photo: Lasvegaslover, CC BY 3.0
The Las Vegas Strip
10 min drive
A 10-minute drive north gets you to Mandalay Bay and the south end of the Strip, and thirteen to fifteen minutes puts you at the Bellagio and Caesars. Staying out here means paying nothing to park and nothing in resort fees, then driving in for the evening rather than paying Strip rates to sleep in the noise.
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Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0
Allegiant Stadium
10 min drive
A 10-minute drive north, the black glass bowl beside Interstate 15 is home to the Raiders and one of the biggest concert venues in the country. Because it sits on this side of the Strip rather than in the middle of it, getting back here after a game or a show is far less painful than getting back to a Strip hotel.
View on MapHow to Get to Highland Inn Las Vegas
- From Harry Reid International Airport: A taxi or rideshare is the sensible option: about nine minutes and roughly twenty dollars, out to the rideshare zone and in via Interstate 15 and Blue Diamond Road. There is no hotel shuttle.
- By car: From the airport take the I-215 airport connector to Interstate 15 southbound, leave at Exit 33 for Blue Diamond Road, and drop onto the Dean Martin Drive frontage road; ten to twelve minutes in all. Expect the one-way frontage-road routing typical of I-15 service roads, and approach from Blue Diamond rather than trying to cut across.
- By bus, if you must: From the airport take the RTC connection to the South Strip Transit Terminal, then Route 217 to the northbound Dean Martin stop near Blue Diamond Road and walk the short distance. Allow roughly forty-five to seventy minutes in total including the transfer. The residential single fare applies on the 217; only the Deuce charges the higher Strip fare.
- Getting to the Strip: Drive, and park free at whichever casino you are visiting where you can. Without a car, take Route 217 to the South Strip Transit Terminal and pick up the 24-hour Deuce, which runs the length of the Strip and on to Fremont Street. Budget the best part of an hour to reach mid-Strip that way.
Las Vegas from the South End
Staying down here reframes the city. You are not in it, you are next to the freeway that feeds it, which means free parking, no resort fee and a ten-minute drive to the lights. It suits people doing Las Vegas in bursts rather than marinating in it, and it suits anyone using the city as a waypoint between California and the national parks.
Spring and autumn are the good months. June to August routinely passes 40°C, and this motel has no pool, so midsummer afternoons mean the air conditioning and a plan. Winters are mild by day and cold at night. Rates across the whole city spike around CES in January, the Formula 1 Grand Prix in November, Raiders games and stadium concerts, and NASCAR weekends at the Speedway, so book ahead for those even at a budget motel this far south.
Close by: Twin Creeks Steakhouse inside Silverton, five minutes on foot, has been named the best steakhouse in the city by Las Vegas Weekly. In-N-Out is nine minutes west in the Blue Diamond plaza. And the Rusty Spur Saloon in the parking lot is a proper local dive with slot machines, open around the clock, which is either a feature or a reason to ask for a room at the far end.
Watch: Things to Do in Las Vegas
A quick run through the city you would be driving into: the Strip, the landmarks and the attractions worth the ten-minute trip north from Dean Martin Drive.
Is Highland Inn Las Vegas worth it?
If you have a car and realistic expectations, yes. Nine minutes from the airport, ten from the Strip, three on foot from a casino with a shark tank in the lobby, and nothing charged for parking or resort fees. In exchange you accept thin walls, loud heating units and an industrial frontage road. Book a renovated ground-floor room, pay by credit card to skip the deposit, and it does its job.
What Guests Say About Highland Inn
Scores and review counts are aggregated from verified guest bookings on major travel platforms.
Good
These reviews are refreshingly free of illusions. Staff and Wi-Fi score highest, and guest after guest mentions the desk answering the phone straight away and being there at midnight. Location and value come next, usually framed as half the price of anything nearer the Strip. The complaints are specific and repeat: hard beds, dusty and loud heater units, water that runs brown for a few seconds, thin walls, and the occasional housekeeping miss. Almost nobody complains about what they paid.
Rated the location and the airflow in his room. What let it down was housekeeping: stained towels he chose not to use, and a stray hair on the floor.
2026-05-22Liked being surrounded by decent places to eat and said he would stay again. Against that, he found the bed uncomfortable and the heater unit full of dust.
2026-02-23Counted the absence of breakfast as a point in its favour. Less impressed that, having prepaid for the stay, he was still asked to sign a card slip for the same amount, and that after the first night his key stopped working until the office cut him a new one.
2026-02-20A returning guest who called it cosy as usual. His complaint was a double charge through the reservation channel and a fifteen-day wait for the refund.
2025-11-15Summed it up as close to the airport and downtown at roughly half the price of the hotels nearby. His only gripe, delivered with a straight face, was the absence of a mint on the pillow.
2025-10-06Short and cheerful: he had not realised there would be any breakfast, and was pleased to find some.
2025-07-27Praised staff who picked up the phone immediately, answered every question and were on the desk around the clock when he and his partner arrived late, in rooms that had everything needed to rest at a fair price. The downsides were plumbing that ran brown for the first few seconds and walls thin enough to hear everything outside.
2025-07-27Said it did its job well for the money and that the room had every amenity he needed. The one problem was a heater unit loud enough to be a nuisance.
2025-03-16Affordable, clean and exactly what he expected. His reservation was the location, which he described as mediocre.
2025-03-08Booked it because it sat between the two events she was attending, which worked. The bed, however, she found as hard as the floor and could not sleep on.
2024-11-14Good to Know Before You Book
Bring a credit card and photo ID
Both are required at check-in. Paying by cash or debit adds a refundable deposit, while paying by credit card avoids it entirely. On the plus side there is no resort fee, which is not something you can say about most places in this city.
Three floors, no elevator
The upper two floors are reached by exterior stairs only. If you have heavy bags, mobility problems or a very early flight, ask for a ground-floor room when you book rather than on arrival.
This is a car-first address
You are on a frontage road beside Interstate 15. Only Silverton, Bass Pro Shops and the Blue Diamond plaza are genuinely walkable; the Strip is a ten-minute drive rather than a stroll. Plan on driving or on rideshare, and budget accordingly.
Run the tap, and pick your room
Guests consistently report the water running brown for a few seconds when first turned on, and heating and air-conditioning units that are loud at night. Let the tap run, and if you sleep lightly ask for a room away from the parking lot and the saloon.
Cancellation terms depend on the rate
Cancellation and prepayment conditions vary by the rate you choose, and the terms that apply show before you confirm. Check them against your dates, especially in January and November when the city fills up.
Call Highland Inn Las Vegas
Ring the desk to ask for a ground-floor or recently renovated room, request a microwave, confirm a smoking room or flag a very late arrival. Somebody answers around the clock.
+1 702-896-4333Photos of Highland Inn Las Vegas
Frequently Asked Questions
It is at 8025 Dean Martin Drive in Enterprise, on the frontage road beside Interstate 15 at Exit 33, immediately north of Silverton Casino. Harry Reid International Airport is about 5.5 miles away, roughly nine minutes by car. Mandalay Bay and the south Strip are about five miles and ten minutes; the Bellagio and Caesars core is 6.3 miles and thirteen to fifteen minutes. Note that listings still calling it McCarran are out of date: the airport was renamed in December 2021.
Both are free. Self-parking is on site, included and needs no reservation, which beside a freeway exit in Las Vegas is worth having. The Wi-Fi is free throughout and is the highest-scoring thing on the guest review card. There is also no resort fee.
No, pets are not allowed at the motel.
Yes. The motel offers both smoking and non-smoking rooms, and an ashtray is provided in the smoking ones. Book the room type you want directly rather than assuming it can be swapped at the desk, since most Las Vegas properties have gone entirely non-smoking and these fill up.
There is no scheduled breakfast. What there is, from Friday to Monday, is free coffee and donuts in the lobby, which has surprised more than one guest into writing a happy review. In-N-Out, a Target and a run of fast food are a nine-minute walk west in the Blue Diamond plaza.
Check-in runs from 13:00 to 23:00 and check-out is by 11:00. The front desk is staffed twenty-four hours, in English, Hindi and Gujarati, so a late arrival outside those hours is worth ringing ahead about rather than worrying about.
Cash is accepted, but paying by cash or debit card attracts a refundable deposit at check-in. Paying by credit card avoids the deposit entirely. American Express, Visa and Discover are accepted, and photo ID plus a credit card are required at check-in whichever way you pay.
No. There is no pool, no hot tub, no gym and no spa. Worth knowing if you are visiting between June and August, when Las Vegas routinely passes 40°C and an afternoon indoors is the realistic plan.
A genuine local dive bar with slot machines that sits in the motel's parking lot, open twenty-four hours. It is a separate business with its own phone number and is not run by the motel. It is good fun for a drink and it can add late-night noise to nearby rooms, so ask for a room at the far end if you would rather not hear it.
No. The building has three floors and the upper two are reached by exterior stairs only. Ground-floor rooms are the only step-free option, so request one at the time of booking if stairs are difficult or your bags are heavy.
Other Great Stays in Las Vegas
Bridger Inn Hotel
A downtown alternative near Fremont Street, if you would rather walk to the old neon than drive to it.
Ready to Park Up and Sleep Cheap?
Nine minutes from the airport, ten from the Strip, three on foot from a casino aquarium, with free parking, free Wi-Fi and no resort fee. Check the dates.
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