I'm looking at staying at The Palms, Hard Rock, Riviera, Rio, or Orleans. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Based on my own experiences in Vegas;
For me personally, I find the Luxor, which offers a rate of as low as $109 per night for a JACUZZI suite w/King size bed to be the best deal for the money. 4-star hotel, 3-star prices, 5-star service and amenities.
Rio is all suites, all the time, and you CAN get a suite for as low as $80. But its still smaller than the rooms at the Luxor, and doesn't have the in room jacuzzi.
Riviera is old school. I stayed there with my folks in the 50's when it was one of the plush palaces. Today, its decent rooms, decent rates, good casino and late night lounge acts.
Hard Rock is, IMHO, no more than a Motel 6 with Rock n Roll decor for $49 / night. I was quite disappointed when I stayed there. The room was tacky, the furniture cheap, the picture of Jimi Hendrix on the wall was no more than a really (i mean REALLY) cheap poster with gold filigree frame. woopie.

Anyway, my 2 cents Enjoy your time in Vegas

Are you asking about something in particular? For example, if your looking for "eye candy", the Palms and Hard Rock rank pretty high. If your looking for a decent room at a reasonable price and don't mind be a little off the strip, then the Orleans is fine.

I can't say much about the places you've listed other then the Orleans. I've stayed there numerous times and it's a nice place to stay.  Clean big rooms, lots of places to eat, in my mind the best coffee shop in Vegas, (great breakfasts), and the price is great. I've had rate as low as $30.00 a night.   It is a ways from the strip, so you need a car, but it does have a shuttle to the Barbery  Coast until midnight.

If these are your only choices ..... I would go with Hard Rock, Palms, Rio, Orleans, and last the Riviera.  My favorite is Mandalay Bay.  good luck .........

My vote goes to Paris.  Best breakfast and munchies and the rooms are really nice.  You can get a cheap rate at the right time of the week.

I second the vote for Paris.  Bally's is actually a better bargain if you want to save a few bucks and the rooms are just as nice if not nicer, other than the bathroom. Also, since Paris is right next to Bally's you can use all the Paris amenities (casino, restaurants ect..) and pay Bally's prices. That is what I did my last trip a week ago. It is also easier to get comped at Bally's than Paris.
Mandalay Bay is my favorite but they are no bargain for what they charge.

I know there are hotels out there with good coffee stands.  Would love to know which ones.  I love coffee and hate staying up late gambling having to drink the standard hotel stuff, ugg.  I would absolutely pick a hotel based on it having good coffee, lol.

Thanks,
Kelli

Think I'm gonna go with either the Rio or the Palms.

Palace Station just opened a starbucks in their lobby by the front desk.

shop around, go to the web sites of these hotels and see if they are running any specials.  Mandalay Bay had an offer a while back for an upgrade to a suite for an extra $29/night.  Total for me was $135/night for a great jacuzzi suite.

I also landed a special one time at the Mirage for a huge suite for $179/night(list is $400/night).  Decor was a bit tacky (70's) but it was huge and well worth the $179.

Sunset Station has Jitters.

A good hotel search engine is www.travelaxe.com
You d/l the program onto your computer. It will search several different websites looking for the best prices and then list the hotels and prices it finds.  
Using drop down menus you pick the dates, country and city you want to search.
Best of all, it's free!!  Plus, it doesn't contain any spyware or adware.

All the coast casinos have SBC stands in them.  Ballys has a nice little cart by the check in area, I can't recall what was in TI, Monte Carlo and MB.

I stayed there last January at the request of a friend who was coming to LV with me for her first time.  She only wanted to stay in the pyramid hotel (Luxor).  I returned to LV 4 more times in 2003 and stayed there each time.

The rooms are excellent, good space, good beds, good amenities.  The staff is at least as professional and accommodating as any other Strip hotel.  The upscale restaurants are excellent, and the moderately priced ones are also very good, in fact the coffee shop is the best in LV IMHO.

Security is good, but doesn't interfere with hobbying, if you stay in a tower room.

Their comp system is about the most liberal around, if you are a player, and the comp points are transferable to other Mandalay properties, all one club.  They even call it The One Club.