Resort Pass Las Vegas: The Pools That Sell a Day Pass, and When a Cheap Room Wins.
| Venue | Price | Verdict | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| OYO Hotel & Casino | $15 adult | Worth It | The cheapest pool day pass in Las Vegas |
| Rio Las Vegas | $20 adult | Worth It | Family-friendly, kids from $15 |
| Virgin Hotels Las Vegas | $20 adult | Worth It | Off-Strip, two adult-friendly pools |
| The STRAT | $25 adult | Worth It Once | Rooftop pool, kids allowed |
| Fontainebleau Las Vegas | $25 adult | Worth It Once | The newest luxury Strip pool (21+) |
| Circa Stadium Swim | $25+ adult | Worth It Once | Year-round, 21+, sports amphitheater |
| Mandalay Bay Beach | $25-$40 | Depends | 11-acre wave-pool beach; weekday only |
| Caesars Palace | $20 direct | Depends | Adults-only Venus pool, booked direct |
| Westgate Las Vegas | $59 adult | Depends | Priciest pass, deepest add-on menu |
| Bellagio, Wynn, the Venetian | Guests only | Skip It | The famous pools sell no day pass |
A Las Vegas resort day pass earns a depends verdict, and the reason is that the famous pools are not the ones you can buy into. About a dozen hotels sell a genuine non-guest pool day pass, from $15 at OYO to $59 at Westgate, with most in the $20 to $30 range. But Bellagio, Wynn, the Venetian, and the big Caesars pools mostly do not sell a walk-up pass at all. Two things decide it: the day and the group size. Vegas is the one city where a cheap weekday room can cost less than two day passes and cover the pool for everyone in it. Worth it if you are at a budget hotel and want one good pool day. Skip it if you can get a room under $100 at the pool you actually want. Skip it too if you are chasing a pool party, which is a dayclub, not a day pass.
Here is the quick match by what you want out of the day:
- The cheapest pool pass in the city → OYO at $15, or Rio and Virgin at $20
- The newest luxury Strip pool for cheap → Fontainebleau, $25, adults only
- A pool day that works in December → Stadium Swim at Circa, open year-round
- An 11-acre wave-pool beach on a weekday → Mandalay Bay, $25 to $40
- A famous name like Bellagio or Wynn → book a room, because there is no day pass
- A weekday pool day for four → price a room first, because it is often cheaper
Which Las Vegas resort day pass is right for you?
About a dozen Las Vegas hotels sell a genuine non-guest pool day pass, and the price runs from $15 at OYO to $59 at Westgate (ResortPass shop-api, verified July 2026). We confirmed each against the ResortPass booking backend rather than the marketing page, which in Las Vegas often shows a stale price or a false “no active products” message. We verify every figure this way, and you can read how we check. The pattern that surprises people is which hotels are on the list. It is mostly off-Strip and non-flagship properties, plus a couple of newcomers, not the postcard pools.
That is the fact to hold onto while you compare. The most photographed pools in Las Vegas, at Bellagio, Wynn, Encore, the Venetian, and Resorts World, are reserved for registered hotel guests and do not sell a day pass. The big Caesars pools sell a reserved daybed instead of a cheap walk-up ticket. So the real market splits into three buckets. First, affordable general-admission passes at off-Strip and second-tier hotels. Then a few flagship exceptions like Mandalay Bay and Fontainebleau, with everything else either guest-only or a dayclub. For the single best-known version of this decision, our Mandalay Bay day pass guide runs the full math on the 11-acre beach.
Mandalay Bay and the MGM model
Mandalay Bay is the one MGM Resorts pool with a genuinely cheap non-guest day pass, and it is the anchor of this whole comparison. The non-guest Pool Admission runs about $25 to $40 per person for ages 6 and up (MGM pools portal, verified July 2026). It is sold Sunday through Thursday only, and blacked out on weekends, holidays, and much of peak summer. It buys the entire 11-acre complex: a wave pool, a quarter-mile lazy river, and a real imported-sand beach. Because it is capacity-gated behind hotel guests, weekend visitors get pushed to a cabana or daybed from $200 upward. Our full Mandalay Bay day pass guide breaks down the cabana math and the seasonal calendar, so we keep it short here.
The rest of the MGM portfolio explains why the model matters. MGM runs one booking portal for its pools. Across MGM Grand, Aria, Luxor, Park MGM, New York-New York, and Excalibur, there is no cheap open general admission for out-of-town visitors in 2026. MGM Grand sells a Nevada-residents pass at $10 to $25 Monday through Thursday, but a visitor without a local ID is limited to a cabana or daybed. Excalibur actually sold a cheap non-guest pass in 2025 and dropped it for the 2026 season, which tells you the trend is contracting, not expanding. Bellagio is effectively guest-only. So within MGM, Mandalay Bay is the exception, not the rule, and even it is a weekday product. It earns a depends that turns positive only on a weekday in season.
Fontainebleau and the cheap off-Strip pool passes
The real value in Las Vegas pool passes sits off the flagship Strip, where a cluster of hotels sells general admission from $15 to $30 (ResortPass shop-api, verified July 2026). OYO, the former Hooters just off the south Strip, is the cheapest in the city at $15 adult and $5 per child, with a family pass for six at $50. Rio, on Flamingo Road, is $20 adult and $15 for kids ages 3 to 12, one of the few family-friendly options. Virgin Hotels off Paradise Road is $20 for its main pool and $25 for the adults-only Kassi Beach Club, and Alexis Park, a quiet non-gaming all-suite resort, is also $20. The STRAT sells a $25 pass to its renovated 8th-floor rooftop pool, with kids at $20. All of these are seasonal outdoor pools, roughly mid-March through October.
The standout on this list is the newest name. Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the luxury tower on the north Strip, sells a $25 weekday general-admission pass to its six-acre Oasis Pool (ResortPass shop-api, verified July 2026). That is a striking price for a brand-new luxury pool, though it is adults-only, and the rate climbs on weekends. At the top of the range, Westgate near the Convention Center is the priciest off-Strip pass at $59. It carries the deepest add-on menu, from spa treatments to pickleball to SuperBook viewing pods. The cost breakdown below uses Fontainebleau, since it is the rare case of a luxury pool at a budget-pass price.
True Cost: A Fontainebleau Oasis Pool Day
Circa Stadium Swim, the downtown outlier
Stadium Swim at Circa is the one Las Vegas pool that runs year-round and sells straight to the public, which makes it the answer for a December pool day. General admission starts around $25 on a midweek day. It climbs to $40 and beyond on weekends and big sporting-event Saturdays, and you book it directly through Circa (Circa and Las Vegas pool guides, verified July 2026). It is a six-pool amphitheater stacked on three levels around a screen more than 40 feet tall, built for watching live sports from the water. In winter it becomes heated Winter Swim, with lower pools near 94 degrees and upper plunge pools warmer still. That is genuinely unusual in a city where nearly every other outdoor pool closes from November through February.
Two honest caveats keep it a worth-it-once rather than a blanket yes. First, Circa is a strictly 21-and-over resort, so families are turned away at the door, and Stadium Swim is no exception. Second, it has a loud, party-leaning energy on peak days, closer to a general-admission sports bar in a pool than a quiet lounge. What it is not is a bottle-service dayclub. The cover is a real admission that buys pool access and a chaise, not a table minimum. That is exactly why forum posters recommend it as the best-value non-guest option downtown. For adults who want a reliable pool day that does not depend on the season, it is the standout on this list.
Caesars Palace and the reserved-seating pools
Caesars Entertainment runs the other big pool portfolio on the Strip, and it works differently from MGM. Caesars Palace does sell a non-guest pool admission, about $20 per person for adults 21 and up. You book it directly through Caesars or its Leisure Concierge line, not as a ResortPass ticket (Caesars, verified July 2026). That $20 sends non-guests to the adults-only Venus pool rather than the full Garden of the Gods complex, and it is subject to daily capacity. It is a real bargain for a famous pool if you are 21-plus and flexible on which pool you get. Half-price admission goes to higher-tier Caesars Rewards members.
The rest of the Caesars pools sell reserved seating rather than a walk-up pass, and that is the pattern across the portfolio. On ResortPass, Harrah’s has the cheapest reserved seat in the city, a daybed from about $35. Flamingo, Paris, the LINQ, Planet Hollywood, and Horseshoe list daybeds from roughly $50, with cabanas above that (ResortPass shop-api, verified July 2026). None of them sells a cheap per-person general admission. For a couple or a small group willing to split one daybed, the Caesars math can still work out to a reasonable per-head number. For a solo swimmer who just wants a lounger, the off-Strip $20 passes are the better spend. This is the same brand-by-brand booking split we trace in our Marriott day pass guide, where the channel matters as much as the price.
The famous pools with no day pass
The single most useful thing to know before you plan a Las Vegas pool day is which pools you cannot buy into at all. Bellagio, Wynn, Encore, the Venetian, and the Palazzo reserve their pool decks for registered hotel guests, checked at the entrance. None of them sells a non-guest day pass (Las Vegas pool guides, verified July 2026). Resorts World runs a seven-pool complex on its fifth floor that has long been guest-only with a room key. Its own site has recently started marketing a “Visitor Pool Day Pass” for non-guests. We could not confirm the price or terms, so treat that one as unverified and call ahead. The point stands: the postcard pools are not on the day-pass menu.
This is where the room math quietly takes over, because a room is often the only way into these pools anyway. If the entire reason for your trip is the Bellagio courtyard or the Wynn deck, a night in the hotel is the ticket, not a pass that does not exist. That reframes the decision for a lot of visitors. You are not choosing between a $40 pass and a room at the same pool. You are choosing between a cheaper pool you can pay to enter and a famous pool that requires a stay. Our Miami resort day pass roundup runs the same guest-only-versus-bookable split for a very different pool city.
What does a Las Vegas pool day pass include?
A Las Vegas pool pass buys pool access and a first-come lounge chair. In this city that is genuinely most of the value, because the pools are the attraction (ResortPass shop-api, verified July 2026). Beyond the chair, almost everything is extra. Cabanas and daybeds carry food-and-beverage minimums, and self-parking is a separate charge. Poolside food and drink run at Vegas resort prices, roughly $15 to $18 for a cocktail and $20 to $30 for a plate. The one line that trips people up is the resort fee, which is a hotel-guest charge and does not apply to a day pass. The grid sorts what a pass covers from what gets added on.
| Amenity | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pool and deck access | The core of every pass; wave pool and lazy river at Mandalay Bay, rooftop decks at the STRAT and Fontainebleau | |
| Lounge chair | First come, first served with general admission; reserved only with a daybed or cabana | |
| Towels | Provided at most pools with a pass | |
| Cabana or daybed | $35+ | From about $35 at Harrah's to several hundred on a weekend; carries a food-and-beverage minimum |
| Self-parking | $15-$25 | A separate charge at most Strip hotels; Nevada residents often get the first hours free |
| Food and drink | $$ | Pay-as-you-go at Vegas pool prices; no day-pass food credit at these properties |
| Resort fee | A per-night hotel-guest charge of $40 to $60; it does NOT apply to a day pass | |
| Outside food and coolers | Generally barred at Vegas pools; a sealed water bottle is the usual exception | |
| Adults-only limit | Fontainebleau, Virgin's beach club, Caesars' Venus pool, and all of Circa are 21+ |
The room math: when a cheap room beats a pool pass
This is the section that makes Las Vegas different from every other pool city, so it deserves the space. In most destinations, rooms cost hundreds and a day pass is the budget move. In Vegas, a budget weekday room can drop below $50, which flips the logic. A cheap Mandalay Bay weekday room runs about $46, and even after the mandatory resort fee it lands near $109 all-in (KAYAK and ResortFeeChecker, verified July 2026). That room includes pool access for up to four people staying in it, plus a place to change. It also works on a Saturday, which the cheap non-guest pass often does not.
Run the breakeven and the pattern is clear. At a $40 pass, a room near $109 beats three or more people. At a $25 pass it beats five or more. For two adults on a weekday the pass still wins outright, since two passes come in well under a room. The twist is the resort fee. It is the same $50-ish nightly charge everyone complains about, but it buys pool access for the whole room, so it works in the room’s favor here, not against it. Weekend room rates climb into the $150 to $350 range and the math loosens, but weekends are also when the cheap passes get blacked out or surge. The clean rule: two adults on a weekday, buy the pass; three-plus, or any weekend at a pool that blacks out, price a room first. Downtown, where Circa has no cheap room under about $150 all-in, the opposite holds and a small group should just buy Stadium Swim general admission.
A cheap weekday room for a group. A budget Strip room from about $109 all-in covers the pool for up to four people, and works any day. For two adults on a weekday, the $15 to $25 off-Strip passes still beat a room. But once you are pricing three or four passes at $40 each, the room quietly becomes the cheaper and more flexible buy. It adds a bed and a place to change, and it works on a weekend.
Dayclubs are not day passes
A lot of people who search for a Las Vegas pool pass are really about to buy a dayclub ticket by mistake, so here is the line. A dayclub is a 21-and-over ticketed pool party with a DJ, a cover charge, a swim-attire dress code, and bottle-service tables. The big ones are Encore Beach Club at Wynn, Wet Republic at MGM Grand, Marquee at the Cosmopolitan, and Ayu at Resorts World. Add Tao Beach at the Venetian, Elia at Virgin, and Drai’s at the Cromwell. All are dayclubs, with covers from about $20 to $100 depending on the DJ (Las Vegas nightlife guides, verified July 2026). They run on an event calendar, usually Thursday through Sunday, not every day.
That is a different product from a pool day pass, and the reviews show the confusion cost. People buy a “pool pass,” arrive at a dayclub, and find free seating basically gone, the music loud, and the crowd 21-plus. Mandalay Bay’s own Moorea Beach Club is one of these, an adults-only club with gendered admission, sold separately from the family beach pass. Stadium Swim at Circa sits closest to the line, since it is 21-plus and has a party energy. But its cover is a real admission that buys pool access, not a table minimum, which is why we count it as a day pass. If you want a DJ and a party, a dayclub delivers. If you want to sit by the water with a book, book a day pass and skip the club entirely.
Who should buy a Las Vegas resort day pass?
A Las Vegas pool pass is worth it for a specific set of days and a waste on the rest. It works for a budget-hotel guest who wants one upgraded pool day without switching rooms, and for a couple who want a premium pool for an afternoon. It fits off-Strip and convention visitors who want a pool near their hotel, and anyone visiting on a weekday in season, when the cheap passes are open and cheapest. It works poorly for a weekday group of three or more, where a room is usually cheaper, and for anyone chasing a pool party, which is a dayclub. It also disappoints winter visitors, since most outdoor pools close, and anyone set on Bellagio or Wynn, which sell no pass. Here is the quick read on fit.
- Budget-hotel guests wanting a pool upgrade · a $20 to $25 off-Strip pass buys a nicer pool day than a motel deck
- Couples wanting one premium pool day · Fontainebleau or the STRAT for a real pool afternoon at a chain-pass price
- Off-Strip and convention visitors · Virgin, Rio, Westgate, and Alexis Park all sit off the flagship Strip
- Weekday visitors in season · the cheap general-admission passes are open and cheapest Sunday to Thursday
- Weekday groups of three or more · a room from about $109 all-in covers four and often beats the passes
- Anyone wanting a pool party · that is a 21+ dayclub with a cover, not a relax-by-the-pool day pass
- Winter visitors · most outdoor pools close November to February; only Circa runs year-round
- Anyone set on Bellagio, Wynn, or the Venetian · those pools are guest-only and sell no day pass; book a room
Where should you book a Las Vegas day pass?
The booking channel in Las Vegas is fragmented by hotel group, which is half the reason the market confuses people. ResortPass is the workhorse for the off-Strip and second-tier pools. Its backend carries live inventory for OYO, Rio, Virgin, the STRAT, Fontainebleau, Westgate, and Mandalay Bay, even when the front-end page shows “no active products” (ResortPass shop-api, verified July 2026). MGM’s own pools portal is the channel for the cheaper Sunday-to-Thursday Mandalay Bay pass and for MGM cabanas. Caesars sells its $20 Caesars Palace admission and its reserved daybeds through Caesars directly. Circa sells Stadium Swim only through its own site. DayPass.com, despite the name, has no live Las Vegas inventory at all.
The practical rule is to match the channel to the property and confirm the exact date. Prices are dynamic, and the cheap passes surge or black out on busy days. Book a weekend or holiday a few days ahead. Browse our other comparison guides for the same platform-by-platform breakdown in other cities.
| Platform | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ResortPass | $15-$59 | The main channel for off-Strip and second-tier pools plus Mandalay Bay; check the shop-api backend, since the front-end page often hides live inventory |
| MGM pools portal | $25-$40 | The channel for the cheaper Sunday-to-Thursday Mandalay Bay pass and all MGM cabanas and daybeds |
| Caesars direct | from $20 | The $20 non-guest Caesars Palace admission and reserved daybeds book through Caesars or its Leisure Concierge, not a walk-up |
| Circa direct | $25+ | Stadium Swim general admission sells only through Circa's own site; year-round, 21+ |
| DayPass.com | Not live | No bookable Las Vegas inventory; the platform covers international beach clubs, not the Strip |
Where to stay on the Las Vegas Strip
If the room math wins, and for a group on a weekend it usually does, the cheapest guaranteed pool access is a night in the hotel. A budget weekday room plus the resort fee often lands near $109 all-in. It includes the pool for everyone in the room, on any day (KAYAK and Mandalay Bay, verified July 2026). It also opens the door to the guest-only pools at Bellagio, Wynn, and the Venetian that no pass can reach. The south end of the Strip alone spans budget rooms at Luxor and Excalibur up through the higher tiers. It is worth pricing a night against the pass total before you decide.
The trade-off is the familiar one. Stay over and you pay more up front but nothing extra to swim, and you skip the weekend blackout entirely. Buy a weekday pass and you save the room rate but take on the day-of-week limits and the capacity gate. Use the map to compare real rates near the Strip pools before you decide which way the math falls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use a Las Vegas hotel pool without staying there?
At some hotels, yes. About a dozen Las Vegas hotels sell a non-guest pool day pass, from $15 at OYO to $59 at Westgate, most in the $20 to $30 range (ResortPass shop-api, verified July 2026). But the famous Strip pools are mostly guest-only. Bellagio, Wynn, Encore, the Venetian, the Palazzo, and the Resorts World complex reserve their pools for registered guests, and the big Caesars pools sell reserved cabanas rather than a walk-up pass.
How much is a pool day pass in Las Vegas?
General-admission pool passes run from about $15 to $59 per adult, verified July 2026. OYO is the cheapest at $15, Rio and Virgin Hotels are $20, the STRAT and Fontainebleau are $25, and Mandalay Bay Beach is $25 to $40. Westgate is the priciest at $59. Cabanas and daybeds cost far more, from about $50 at Harrah's to several hundred dollars on a weekend.
Which Las Vegas hotels sell a pool day pass?
The hotels with a genuine bookable non-guest pool pass in 2026 are mostly off-Strip or non-flagship: OYO ($15), Rio ($20), Virgin Hotels ($20), Alexis Park ($20), the STRAT ($25), Fontainebleau ($25), the Westin Lake Las Vegas ($30), Mandalay Bay ($25 to $40), and Westgate ($59). Caesars Palace sells a $20 non-guest admission to its adults-only Venus pool booked direct, and Circa's Stadium Swim runs year-round from about $25 (ResortPass shop-api and property sites, verified July 2026).
Is it cheaper to buy a day pass or book a room in Las Vegas?
Often the room, and this is what makes Las Vegas different. A budget weekday room at Mandalay Bay runs about $46 plus a $56.69 all-in resort fee, near $109 total, and it covers the pool for up to four people in the room on any day, weekend included (KAYAK and ResortFeeChecker, verified July 2026). For two adults on a weekday the pass usually wins. For three or more, or any weekend, price a room first.
Are Las Vegas pool day passes available on weekends?
Most off-Strip passes are, but prices climb and the cheapest ones sell out. Mandalay Bay is the exception worth knowing: its cheap general-admission pass is sold Sunday through Thursday only and blacked out on weekends and holidays, when a cabana or daybed is the only non-guest way in (MGM pools portal, verified July 2026). Book a weekend pass a few days ahead and confirm the date.
What is the difference between a day pass and a dayclub in Las Vegas?
A pool day pass buys calm pool access for the day, families and couples included. A dayclub is a 21-and-over ticketed pool party with a DJ, a cover charge, and bottle-service tables. Encore Beach Club, Wet Republic, Marquee, Ayu, Tao Beach, and Drai's are dayclubs, with covers from about $20 to $100 (Las Vegas nightlife guides, verified July 2026). If you want to relax by the pool, you want a day pass, not a dayclub.
Are Las Vegas pools open year-round?
Most are not. The outdoor Strip and off-Strip pools are seasonal, generally open from mid-March through late October, and Mandalay Bay Beach opens around March 13 in 2026 (property season pages, verified July 2026). In winter most resorts keep one heated pool open for registered guests only. The one pool marketed as fully year-round and open to the public is Stadium Swim at Circa downtown, which runs heated Winter Swim from November through February.
This article was researched and written with AI assistance. All prices, inclusions, and operational details have been independently verified against resort websites, booking platforms, and visitor reviews. Last verified: July 2026.