Where to stay in
Vegas
The hotels are rated strictly by where
I would
stay. I work for a living, so cost is important. I am happily
married and wish to remain so, so quality is important, too. We
usually fly and often do not rent a car, so location is important.
We prefer the strip, but downtown is fine, too. We like buffets;
but we like something more interesting than prime-rib. We like
to swim. We are not big on live entertainment per se, but like
magic, musicals, and comedy. I like watching sports, but am not
a fanatic. We are city dwellers, and have lived in rough neighborhoods,
and do not find Las Vegas's "rough" neighborhoods intimidating.
We like quality, but not pretentiousness. And we love a bargain.
Due to our video poker/slot club plays, we tend not to have to
pay for our rooms much anymore, but if we did, here is where we
would (and would not) stay.
BARBARY COAST---(last stayed 7/99)
from $59/night
Less is more. With great rooms, views and location, the
BC is an exercise in elegant efficiency. In contrast to all
the modern megaresorts that surround it, this little old hotel
is small enough that walking from your room to the strip sidewalk
takes about a minute and a half. There is no pool, but who
cares - walk next door and use the Flamingo's. There are no
shows or rides or shopping, but you can actually walk from
your room to Caesars Forum faster than residents of Caesars
can, get to Bally's monorail faster than some of Bally's guests
can, and get the Flamingo's pool faster than Flamingo's guests
can. Want to go to the Rio? The Gold Coast shuttle stops a
your doorstep. Sam's? Their shuttle is right next door. Drive?
The garage is small and just a few steps away. Friendly staff,
good coffee shop, great VP. Only drawback is that ambulances
on the strip can wake you up.
Update (7/99): We ate about 6 times at the Victorian Room,
and loved every meal. Especially yummy: chicken fried rice,
lemon chicken, french toast, blintzes, prime rib. The room
was great again, but a little weird in that they don't have
clocks. Michelle says that these are the "most romantic rooms
in Vegas", which means (once again) that I'll never figure
out women. Well, they ARE nice.
TREASURE ISLAND---(last stayed 6/99)
from $59/night
Great location, rooms, view, shows. Good pool, great game
room. Friendly and well-run. Buffet has improved, and the
coffee shop is among the best. Pirate show is better when
viewed from the comfort of your own room. We'll be back.
Update (6/99): Buffet is now one of our favorites.
Update (7/99): Mystere is the best show of any kind that I
have ever seen.
LAS VEGAS HILTON---(last stayed 7/99)
from $69/night
Quality and luxury at a very grown-up hotel. We found
the buffet outstanding on our first visit, but very ordinary
(and hence overpriced) on our last. The Margaritaville Grille
is pretty good. The Star Trek Experience, and the inevitable
gift shops, are without peer, as is the sports book. The pool
is blissful and actually has a deep end. A small arcade for
the kids, but not much else. The location is a problem, but
the north strip is about a 15-minute walk.
Stay in the north wing if you have a car, as this is closest
to the parking lot and there is a great little glass-walled
elevator on the north edge you can take to get there.
The hotel's sign is, oddly enough, an attraction in its own
right, owing to its incredible size. It's about 22 stories
high - larger in height and width than many hotels. We figured
that about three vans could drive through the "O" in Hilton,
side by side. Standing at the base of it, looking up, hearing
the "WHOOMP" of the massive relay switching as its lights
change colors, is one of those definitive Las Vegas experiences.
Update (7/99): Still one of our favorites, but the
buffet line is TOO SLOW.
GOLDEN NUGGET---(last stayed 12/98)
from $49/night
Elegance and functionality blend at the cream of the downtown
hotels. The buffet is my favorite. The Carson Street Cafe
is a good restaurant at coffee-shop prices. The pool and arcade
are tiny, but it's a rarity for downtown hotels to have either.
Nothing spectacular here, just a classy, flawless hotel at
Motel-6 rates. South view from the south wing is impressive.
SAM'S TOWN---(last stayed 7/99)
from $50/night (but who pays?)
Sam's is little bit (OK, a lot) country, and we're a little
bit rock-and-roll, but we love it nonetheless. Yeah, it's
video poker comp heaven, but there is more to like. First,
there's check-in inside the atrium, pleasant, and never a
line. Which brings me to the atrium: a park where it never
rains, there is no wind, and the temperature is always just
right; a place of quiet and calm amidst the maelstrom that
is Las Vegas...AHH!...except when the "Sunset Stampede" show
is on: before I saw this show, I was convinced that there
was no such thing as a "great laser-and-fountain show". Somehow,
Sunset Stampede works - maybe because most of the audience
views the spectacle from about 6 feet away (how we don't get
wet, I don't know), or that the presentation manages to avoid
being hokey or cliché. I dunno, but we like it.
The restaurants and buffet, while not outstanding, are good
and bargain priced.
The rooms are good...get a room facing the atrium if you like
the "Sunset Stampede". Service is friendly and fast.
Complaints? Umm... the pool and game room are ordinary, and
the elevators are slow. Oh, and they kicked us out of their
NYE party for no known reason. Oh, and the location - you're
on the Boulder Strip, which means you're a long ways from
anywhere else. But, Sam's six shuttle buses make getting where
you'd want to go a snap.
Update (5/99): Their mini suites are da bomb. Fridge
and jacuzzis are BIG plusses. Rooms are enormous, and an big
step up in quality and theme (VERY western - love the hat,
the indian drum, esp: the twisted arrow that serves as a toilet-paper
holder). I personally like them better than Rio's or Venetian's
standard rooms. The pool's landscaping has improved - it's
rather nice.
Update (7/99): Still lovin' those mini-suites. Fajitas
and steaks at Willy and Jose's was great.
TROPICANA---(last stayed 9/99):
from $49/night
Aging a bit, but great fun. The Paradise (north) tower
rooms are superior and newly refurbished, as well as having
an elevator that empties right into the casino. The Island
tower is better only if you plan to use the pool a lot, and
offers convenient parking (use the east entrance; don't trudge
thru the casino) - these rooms show their age a bit. Some
of the garden rooms REALLY show their age, but others are
just fine.
The Celebration Lounge is our favorite hangout there - Motown
oldies, funky R+B, and lively techno-pop predominate, complete
with go-go dancers.
Buffet's selection was weak and price too high, but offered
a good view of their spectacular pool complex. The pool area
is still as good as any in town: waterfalls, tropical garden,
several pools and hot tubs to choose from.
Not much for kids, here, but you're on the south strip, so
plenty is next door. Only fast food option is the pool's snack
bar.
FLAMINGO---(last stayed 9/97)
from $59/night
Love the buffet setting (food's just OK), location, and
the pool complex. Especially the pool: carved in a lushly
landscaped courtyard featuring African penguins as well as
(of course) flamingos, there are 4 pools (not counting hot
tubs): it starts up top with a slide that falls into one pool,
which descends into another pool, which empties into another,
which also has waterfalls. There is a separate pool for people
who prefer fountains. At night, it's a beautiful area to stroll.
The rest of the hotel is pretty good, but not great: the rooms,
the restaurants, the Rockettes, etc. The older rooms can be
pretty bad, but most are nice.
VENETIAN---(last stayed 6/99)
from $119/night
They were still building the sucker, but what we saw,
we liked. Very grown-up and sophisitcated without being snotty.
Very non-Vegas: no dancing fountains, no neon, no Elvises.
Their attitude: "16th-century Venice was the best damned place
on the planet and here it is, love it or leave it".
Loved the food at the Grand Lux. The casino was pleasant,
if not overly flashy. The machines have COMFY, BACKED CHAIRS
THAT YOU CAN MOVE (hello, Mr.Wynn?). Loved the layout, too
- unlike most Vegas hotels, where all traffic is routed thru
the casino, this one has the room elevators, pool access,
check-in, and parking garage all on the east side, making
for easy access and minimal marching.
The rooms: well, what can I say. Enormous (it's 20 paces from
the front door to the window) split-level mini-suites, equipped
with fax/photocopier machines, two 27-inch TVs, marble-laden
elegant bathroom with separate little "water closet". Creature
comforts (which I personally prefer) like a jacuzzi or coffee-maker
are lacking, but it's elegance and quality they are shooting
for here, on they're right on target.
The parking garage: insanity, but to be fair, I witnessed
no actual bloodshed. The problem is a deadly mix of Vegas
drivers, no stop signs, and two way traffic. Worse, it's extremely
easy to miss the Koval street exit (it's IN the garage, thru
the first floor) and be routed thru the registration/taxi
area (NOT a good traffic pattern) and toward the strip. The
garage's easy access from the rooms is a plus.
The pool: on the casino roof, 4th floor. Nice, but not spectacular
(but, they were still finshing it). Again, very grown-up (no
slides, wave pools,or lazy rivers here!) and serene. One nice
touch: the main pool has a ledge around the edge that allows
you to sit in the pool.
In case you haven't guessed, this is NOT kiddyland. However,
their food courts do have several good fast-food options.
BELLAGIO---(last stayed 10/99)
from $109/night
Let's put it this way: I've yet to walk all the way through
the casino without spotting some hapless employee vigorously
scrubbing at some speck on invisible dirt. This joint is beyond
swank. The "no kids" policy is actually enforced (only kids
who are staying at the hotel are allowed in), the prices exclude
the riff-raff, and the volume on the slot's speakers are mercifully
low, so there exists an air of tranquility and class virtually
unheard of in casinos. Moreover, despite their aspirations
of being a world-class resort for the classiest of the upper-class
(say THAT three times fast!), the maintain a very friendly,
polite, and easy-going atmosphere. The dealers are pleasant
and low-key; the help is happy to help. Being the bumpkins
we are, we arrived fully expecting to look and feel like the
Beverly Hillbillies, but experienced nothing of the sort.
Whereas Bellagio's sister property Mirage has serious attitude
problems, Bellagio's staff was wonderful. There is plenty
of aisle space, and the machines are new and, or course, spotless.
The only minus is the fact that the chairs are locked into
position (no doubt to keep things o-so tidy), thus making
for uncomfortable playing, especially for my wife, who, at
5'0", was soon reduced to climbing around in her chair in
a vain attempt to get comfy. Also: what the hell is up with
all those geeky red/orange/yellow canopies over the tables?
As impressive as the conservatory, the glass-flowered-ceiling
of the astonishing lobby, the majestic fountain-and-light
shows, the extraordinary wonders of "O", the garden-line half-dozen
pools, and the sumptuous landscaping of the facade all are,
we liked the small touches even more: TWO SMALL parking garages
(instead of the standard one huge one), each with easy access
both to your room and the roadways (the north one allows you
to completely bypass strip traffic on your way to I-15). Swimming
lanes for doing laps in one of the pools. European pop music,
providing a nicely-themed diversion from the usual top-40
fare. Some serious thought went into this place, and
it shows. The standard rooms demonstrate terrific quality
and good taste, but are nothing terribly extraordinary. Big,
yummy bath, and surprisingly strong water-pressure in the
shower (did they somehow get around the water-conservation
laws?). A view of the strip, what with the fountains framed
by the new Paris, is stunning, but can run you an extra $40
a night, even if you're there on a room offer. The pool complex
is among my favorites, and one of the most serene scenes in
town.
STRATOSPHERE---(last stayed 8/98)
from $39/night
People either tend to hate the Strat or love it. More
hate it, I guess, as it's in bankruptcy. Well, count us among
the vocal minority. The price is right, and the rooms (great
view facing south), buffet, casino, and video poker are all
very good, thank you. Parking is convenient, mall (on second
floor) is nice. If you don't have a car, the shuttles are
good enough to make up for the lousy location. Neighborhood
is "lower income", but we didn't find it threatening. People
gripe about having to pay $5 to go to the observation deck,
but I think it's well worth it (skip the roller coaster, though).
Guest with room offers sit in comfy chairs while checking-in
in their own special area, where they can observe the riffraff
standing in line through a glass wall (peasants!).
Update (8/98): Not so enamored this time. Smoking rooms
stank terrribly. Buffet is poor. Insufficient elevators -
trying to get downstairs at checkout time from the lower floors
was impossible (pressing the button only produced another
box stuffed full of people; you wave, they wave, the door
closes, and you press the button again). Pathetic sportsbook.
However the Big Shot was awesome, and the casino great - roomy
and uncrowded.
