LVCasinoInfo.com is now VegasCasinoInfo.com!
All of the same great Las Vegas information with an easy to remember address!
Welcome to VegasCasinoInfo.com
A Complete Guide to Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos
Inside you will find tons of Vegas information that you will not find anywhere else. Property maps of virtually every major casino, hundreds of room pictures, tips for getting to and having a great time while in Vegas plus a quick ,easy hotel & casino reference guide all to hopefully help you plan a more enjoyable Las Vegas vacation. Check back often for the latest updates plus frequent news and commentary on the everything that is Las Vegas!
Latest Vegas News, Comments and Rants
New!!! Check out Rob's Vegas Brain Droppings...
June 23rd 2009
Palazzo Review and Room Pics
The final 2 nights of the trip were spent at Palazzo in a Fortuna Suite. I needed to upgrade the accomodations from the Trop as Lisa would be joining me for the rest of the stay and neither of us have stayed at Venetian or Palazzo. They have been sending some decent email offers lately so we took them up on one and got the room for $179 a night. I am not a huge fan of the management of Venetian but I won't let that stop me from snagging a super sweet room on the cheap.
Check-in was a breeze on a Wednesday at 1PM. Only a 5 minute wait and I was on my way to my room on the 9th floor with a strip view. The elevators are on the opposite side of the casino from the front desk, which is a decent walk. The room itself was gigantic, at 940 Sq. Ft. There are 2 seperate seating areas, a wet bar and 3 TVs. Nice modern features include motorized drapes, a DVD player and Printer/Fax Machine. The bathroom was quite large with seperate tub and shower. Also, in addition to the double sink vanity, there was an additional make-up desk. It was definitely a strip view but because of the way the building is positioned, its was less than spectacular.
We really loved this room. The couch in the living area was big and very comfortable. The room was just perfect to hang out in. The size made it felt more like home than a hotel room. The furniture, carpet and electronics were in great condition and still had that "new" hotel room feeling despite being well over a year old and a smoking room. Housekeeping was great as they honored the "Do Not Disturb" sign but asked if we needed anything when walking out of the room and brought us towels in a matter of seconds. The only real complaint was the heating/cooling system was a bit of a problem.. Though it had all the bells and whistles, it was hard to work with in full daylight and impossible at night since it didn't light up.
The rest of the hotel is as nice as the rooms. The first few times I walked through the casino, I felt it had a sterile feel but spending some time there, it grows on you. Aside from the distance of the front desk to the room, the place is laid out pretty well. There is a coffee place and gift shop right at the foot of the room elevators and the self-parking elevators are just a few feet further away. The pool area is very similar to the one at Venetian and are connected by a long walkway. There are several pools and hot tubs of various sizes as well as the new rage, an "Ultra-Pool." I don't quite get the concept of waiting in line at the pool to pay to hang out at another pool which just has more expensive drinks and louder music but different strokes I guess...
Palazzo along with Venetian have a lot to offer. There are a ton of top notch restaurants, several night clubs, a world famous Spa and a giant shopping mall. If they always were as reasonable on their room rates as they have been in the past few months and stopped jerking around their casino customers, I would stay there more often. However, their disdain for players coupled with the normally outrageous rates is the reason why we have never stayed there in the decade it has been open. Hopefully the new economic reality of Vegas will help the management of Las Vegas Sands see the light!
Coming soon... A new feature, Lisa's Spa Review. First up - Canyon Ranch Spa at Palazzo.
June 11th 2009
Tropicana Review and Room Pics
The first night of the most recent trip was in an Island Tower room at the Tropicana. I booked the room directly through the website for $39 a night. The Island Tower is the large building in the back of the property and currently the only one open as the Paradise Tower is closed for repairs. I arrived at 3 PM on a Tuesday and there was zero line for check-in. Within minutes, I was on my way to my room which is a little bit of a walk through the casino and down a hallway over the pool. Considering the day and time, I was impressed with the amount of action in the casino. On my last trip through the Trop in December, the place was a ghost town.
Overall, the room was certainly worth the price. The first thing that strikes you as you walk in is the cheesy mirror and wood design on the wall and ceiling around the bed. It dominates the room! The furniture and carpet are on the lower end of quality but were in surpringinly decent shape. No major stains or burns anywhere. The bed was definitely one of the major downside, completely showing its age with a major sag in the middle. The bathroom is your circa 1985 formica single-sink vanity and interestingly large tub/shower angled in the corner. A few stray hairs that weren't mine made me question it's use but after throughly rinsing I hesitently decided to shower in it. Water pressure can be a concern in Vegas hotels and the Trop had something I never experienced, terrible pressure at the sink and fine in the shower. Often, its the other way around.
The pool area at the Trop was, at one time, the best in Vegas. It has long been surpassed by the Mandalay Bays and MGMs but it still is pretty large with a big nature area surrounding it. It pioneered swim-up Blackjack long before Hard Rock came along and even can be closed off in the winter making it one of the few indoor pools on the strip. The location is pretty good on the corner of the Strip and Tropicana, just across from MGM, Excalibur and New York-New York. Though the Island Tower is the furthest away from strip, there is self-parking in the back that makes for an easy in and out if you have a car. Hooters Casino is also a short walk out the back door.
Surprisingly, in all of my trips to Vegas, this was my first time at the Tropicana. It wasn't a 5-star experience in any way but consider the price, it was not disappointing either. If a large pool and a good location at a low price are important to you, it is a decent choice. However on most nights, for just a few dollars more, you can find better options such as Luxor, Flamingo or Monte Carlo.
All New Room Picture Page!!!
The Room Picture page has completely redone with every picture increased in size plus new links for easier navigation through the slide shows.
May 30th 2009
Death of Vegas Exaggerated?
I just returned from a mid-week trip and the crowds were as big as I have ever seen especially considering it wasn't a weekend. Downtown on Wednesday night was elbow to elbow and every time we walked through the Venetian it was completely packed though noticably less so at Palazzo. Even the Tropicana was bustling on a Tuesday night. Back in December when I walk through there, the feeling in the casino could best be described as a morgue. I'm sure those who were in town definitely weren't as free-spending as in the past but it seems that the massive discounting the hotels have been doing is working to pull in the visitors. Perhaps the oft-predicted death of Las Vegas is once again failing to materialize? All is not roses and puffy clouds though. There are quite a few rotting corpses of half-finished projects around town, none more prominent than the disaster that has become Fontainebleau. 50+ stories and no completion in sight.
In the next few days, I will get room pics and reviews posted of the Fortuna Suite at Palazzo as well as ones from a fine Island Tower room at the Trop. I also have a handful of new property maps to add as well.
April 30th 2009
Steve Wynn, More Wynn and City Center News...
A member of the Las Vegas Advisor community recently reported that on top of the $20 he was charged for 2 drinks at a bar in Encore last month, there was another $5 charge. When asked what it was, he was told it was because he ordered his drinks in the rocks. WHAT!?!? I'm sorry but it takes a brass pair to charge for ice cubes after serving you a $10 cocktail!
I am a huge fan of Steve Wynn and have consistantly sung his praise on these pages. What the guy has done for the city of Las Vegas is immeasurable and everything he does is usually first class all the way. However, if this truly is the policy at Wynn and Encore, it is totally and completely unacceptable and goes against all the good he has done lowering room rates. It is precisely this kind of crap, along with things like "resort fees," that have caused people to stay at home and why Vegas is no longer "recession-proof." One VCI.com visitor commented that he has seen the "ice surcharge" at clubs in Manhattan. Great, that is fine for NYC where they charge $299 a night for a dumpy hotel, not for Las Vegas where you used to be able to get a deal for your buck. Hopefully this was just one woefully misguided bartender and not the start of a horrible new trend.
In other news from Mr. Wynn, he gave an interview to Bloomberg News saying he was "kicking the tires" about perhaps purchasing some of MGM/Mirage's casinos if/when they have their property fire sale. He emphasized nothing certainly was imminent but said “I’d be interested, if at the right price, whether it’s Bellagio or Circus Circus.” I'm sure he would love nothing more than to steal back Bellagio at a bargain basement price but wouldn't it be interesting to see Wynn own Circus Circus?!?! Would he upgrade the place to have turn down service with clown-shaped Pez Dispensers on the pillows? Seriously though, any asset sales by MGM or Harrah's will open up the competition on the strip though I would much rather see some fresh new outside blood setup shop next to the big boys.
Lastly, in a huge piece of news... it was announced yesterday that MGM has secured the final piece of financing needed to complete City Center. In addition, the lawsuit filed against them by their partner in the project, Dubai World, has been dismissed. This is huge news for the city of Las Vegas in so many ways. Firstly, it ensures that thousands of construction workers will continue to get paychecks. Secondly, they expect to hire upwards of 10,000 employees once the place is completely open. I question if those numbers are still accurate given the weak environment it will be opening in but whatever amount they hire will be greatly welcomed. Lastly, it will hopefully bring positive publicity back to Vegas when there has been nothing but bad news for a long time.
I know there are many strong feelings out there amongst Las Vegans toward MGM/Mirage and City Center in particular but if this place is a success, the benefits with go far beyond those at MGM to the entire Vegas valley. Here's to it being finished SAFELY and on-time!
April 15th 2009
Stratosphere Premier Room Review and Pictures
For the second night of the trip , it was on to the Stratosphere. I had a 4PM check out from South Point and I used pretty all of it. Getting to the Strat at the time I did, I was concerned with the check-in line as this place is notorious for horrendous waits at the front desk. Much to my surprise, there were only 3 people in line with ample staff at the counter. When I asked to make sure I was in a smoking room, the clerk told me that it was not so I asked for the room to be changed. She said she had to check with the manager?!?! After a few minutes, she comes back and says that they "will give it to me" and I was changed to a room a couple of floors higher. You would think by the way she acted, she was upgrading me to the VIP Suite! It gave me a nice chuckle on my way to my room.
I was in a "Premier Strip View" room on the 20th floor and it definitely had a strip view though it is somewhat ruined by the monstrousity that is Fontainebleau. I paid $60 for the night directly off the Strat website. Like the room I gotten at MGM the next night, the room was recently "beautified" as they called it but it definitely wasn't a complete remodel as it still had an old TV and a cheesy formica counter-top in the bathroom. The bed, floor and furniture were all in good condition however. All in all, not terrible accomodations considering the Strat often is amongst the cheapest on the strip most nights.
When staying at the Strat, you almost have to go up to the tower and they were giving free admission to hotel guests so I couldn't pass it up. I ended up spending over an hour up there taking pictures as the sun went down and watching people on those insane rides. There is now plenty of new material to update the picture page!
For dinner that night, I had my one and only meal at the Strat, a graveyard breakfast special at Lucky's Cafe, their 24 hour coffee shop. This place has been consistently good over the years and was just as good this time around. The food was all cooked just right and the service was fast. As a single diner I really appreciate that, just give me the damn check so I can go!
The casino isn't very good as video poker is usually poor and the table games are filled with gimmicks like crapless craps and 6/5 BJ. This is coming from a casino that boasts "Get Better Odds at the Stratosphere" in its ads. In several of the elevators, they actually had the balls to post this ad. With "better odds" like that, I will take my gambling elsewhere thank you!
The Stratosphere has gotten a bum rap over the years but for what it is and what it tries to be, it really is a good value. The rooms are definitely decent and usually priced right, the restaurants are much improved over the years and the tower is one of the must see attractions in Vegas. The downside being a not so great location and a poor casino but a rental car or an all-day Deuce pass are simple remedies for both of those issues.
April 13th 2009
MGM Grand Tower Room Review and Pictures
The last night of my recent trip was spent at MGM in a standard "Grand Tower" room. It was a single king room on the 20th floor looking towards the east, IE not the strip! The room has been "remodeled" since my last stay in a regular room in at MGM back in 2003 but definitely not up to the level of today's standards (still sporting the 20" tube TV!) The room is a decent sized, as its not terribly old, allowing for a couch instead of just a chair or two by the window. The bathroom is exactly the same as it was in 2003 and like the rest of the room, its bones are starting to show some age. Both of the faucets in the sink leaked onto the vanity, some of the tiles were a bit beat up, the heat/AC made noise occasionally and there were a couple of large stains on the carpet. Certainly nothing that was a dealbreaker but not 5-star accomodations by any means. Overall, the room wasn't terrible and definitely worth the $49 I paid for it but feels more and more dated with each new place that opens or remodels.
I have stayed at the MGM a few times in the past couple of years as I generally like the place from a resort standpoint. The casino is absolutely atrocious so I resign myself to playing elsewhere but for everything else, it serves its purpose well. For starters, aside from Mandalay Bay, I think it has the best pool in Vegas. It is enormous with a several pool areas and jacuzzis, a lazy river and a lagoon plus the "ultra-pool" Wet Republic, if that is your sort of thing. It has the greatest selection of restaurants from fast food to 5-star of any casino in town and the location, while not perfect, is still good enough to get out and about easily. Add in numerous shows, nightclubs and other entertainment options, it really is "Maximum Vegas" as their motto boldly states.
The MGM definitely is not for everyone however... As I stated previously, the gambling is about as poor as you can get. Fortunately, scant play like a $20 in a penny slot machine will generate offers like the one I stayed on. Also if you are looking for luxury, this is not the place for it. With 5000 rooms, they operate on volume not personal service. If you want to be waited on, Encore is just down the road. But if you are looking for a place with a half-decent room with plenty of action, a great pool and all the feel of a "Vegas" casino then MGM definitely fits the bill.
