Good things about Downtown Vegas

Maybe I overthink these things.  As long as a hotel room is clean and the shower is hot I can be pretty comfortable in a hotel room, but after probably too much hemming and hawing, I have a hotel room booked for my April trip to Las Vegas.

I'll be staying at The D Hotel  on Fremont Street downtown. 

I had originally planned to stay on the strip, where most tourists stay, but the prices were higher than I expected.  So I kicked around some options and ended up at the D.  Some people hate downtown, but I've stayed there a few times and have been perfectly comfortable. 

Here are just a taste of random things to like about downtown Vegas:

• Cheaper.  Everything in downtown is cheaper.  The hotels, the restaurants, the booze, the gambling, everything.  I suspect the hookers might be cheaper too, but outside my expertise on that one.
• The Fremont Street Experience light show is cheesy.  It's also pretty cool, and something that you won't see again.  So go see it.  Really.  My favorite is the American Pie show, especially the later shows, when the drunk and tipsy sing along with the last verse.
• The Fremont East district has really taken off, it seems.  The new bars have brought the young and hip to downtown.  Being neither young nor hip, I don't know too much about the area, but I remember when the walk from the canopy to the El Cortez Casino was downright scary.  It isn't anymore.  Well, not so much.
• The Mob Museum - Where else would it be?
• The Shipping Container Park - OK, so this one isn't open yet.  It looks pretty awesome though.

Just a few random thoughts for now. 

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day.

BTW, not sure why, but I haven't been able to load pictures here lately.  Sorry, I'm trying.

My Hotel Choices.........Maybe

So I have my flights booked for April.  Now I need a place to sleep.

Maybe I'm a bit early to be booking rooms, but I enjoy the process.  I will watch the rates for a while, see if any good offers drift in, and be ready to jump on the right rate.

I have made a bit of progress though, and thought I would just share.

I'm pretty cheap, to begin with.  My standards for a hotel room are pretty lax.  Here's what I need:

• Location
• Clean
• Comfortable
• A good greasy breakfast, preferably with a waitress who calls me "Hun."
• A good bar, with a good TV setup and a barman who calls me "Chief", or "Boss", or something like that.  I hate it when barmen call me sir.
• Cheap (did I say that already?)

So, yes, as far as customers go, I'm easy like Sunday morning.

Since I have such simple tastes, staying in places like the Cosmo, Wynn, Venetian, or any of the high-end places would be pretty much wasted on me.  Nice places all, lovely even, great to visit. But not worth the money, not for me.

I had it in my head that Hard Rock or Tropicana might be good places to try, but a quick check of rates crossed them off my list. Tropicana, in particular, was ridiculously high for my dates, which is too bad because I really like gambling there.  Hard Rock wasn't as bad, but it is also off the strip, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not really cool enough to stay there.  So cross those places off my list.

MGM's MLife website doesn't work, so I can't even check rates.  Guessing they really don't want me to stay there.  Too bad, Monte Carlo was pretty high on my list of possible spots.  Not eliminating it completely, but not looking good right now.

I've always been happy enough with the CES hotels, having stayed at both Planet Hollywood and Bally's.  I liked them both, Bally's a bit more.  I'm getting good rates right now at both Flamingo and Harrahs, at the moment I'm leaning towards Flamingo.  But not ready to commit yet.

I could get a great rate at the Quad, (used to be Imperial Palace), but there is construction there, and the reviews on the place are mixed, at best.  I'm cheap, but not that cheap.

I'm also considering staying downtown.  I like the Fremont Street area, and have stayed down there before.  Rates at the D Resort (used to be Fitzgeralds) seem pretty good right now.

As of today, that's where my thinkings at.  But my thinking will probably change.

I'll throw out another of my favorite links, www.vegaschatter.com  Check it everyday, it's constantly updated.


Thanks for reading.

Five Hotels in Vegas, part 3

Hi all, this is the third part of my tour of Las Vegas hotels and casinos, five at a time, and my general and completely biased thoughts on them. Some places I've spent a lot of time in, some places very little. Some places I like a lot, some places not so much.  My lame-o maps, BTW, are made by screwing around on google docs drawing.  They are pretty much the limits of my graphic design skills.

Traveling north on the Las Vegas Strip, starting today at the intersection of LV Blvd and Harmon Ave.  I'll also note what players' club the place uses.

1. Cosmopolitan (Identity) - I still think of this as a new place, and it kind of figures to be the last new place built on the strip for a while.  It's owned by a bank, not a casino company, and it wouldn't surprise me too much if the whole place got sold at some point.  But that's another story.
   The Cosmopolitan is absolutely an upscale place, and if money were no object I would love to stay there.  They got so many things right here, the place is just beautiful, and gets prettier the more time I spend here.  The place is essentially built around the Chandelier bar, which anybody who comes to town should stop by for a drink.  The fancy drinks are supposed to be awesome, since I'm pretty much a beer drinker I can't really say.   The Chandelier bar is also Cougar Central on the Las Vegas Strip.
   Holsteins Shakes and Buns is a great upscale burger and beer place, I described Holsteins earlier on my list of places I'll go .   Holstein's is also a nice place to watch the beautiful people queue up for the Marquee club, which is always interesting.  The restaurants are first class, and the staff is pretty nice.  I had a problem with a slot machine once and had a friendly and efficient slot manager take care of it for me.   Even though this is a very upscale place, I've never felt uncomfortable or unwelcome at the Cosmopolitan, despite being a first-class low roller.
  For all the things that Cosmopolitan gets right, they seem to have missed something about the casino.  Everyone loves the place except the gamblers.  Cosmopolitan gets the party crowd, the foodies, the five-star hotel seekers, but the gamblers just have not shown up.  The casino itself is nice enough, but compared to the rest of the place, it seems rather plain and generic. 

2. Planet Hollywood (Total Rewards) - Hey, this is where I'm booked for my July trip.  I've never stayed here before, but I've been to the casino.  The more I look at it, the more I like the place.  Maybe I'm just buying into all the hype since I'm booked there, but the rooms look great, and the place  consistently gets good reviews on a couple of websites I check.  I'm liking the restaurants, Yolo's, Pink's Hot Dogs, Planet Dailies.  Not sure if Cabo Wabo is my kind of place, but I've been to PBR Rock Bar for beer and apps and it's a good spot.  I have no real interest in the shopping mall, but might take a look at the Stripper Bar back there.  I'm thinking it will be a bit too tacky for me, but we will see.  Blondies sports pub is another place that gets good reviews, but I'm not sure I'll make it there either. 
   As to the casino, it's bright, it's loud, way overstimulating, it's everything a Vegas casino should be.  I haven't spent too much money here, just some VP and a bit of slot play.  Oh, and the go-go girls are super-hot.  The bars are a wee bit fancy, but not so fancy that I can't find a spot to fit in.  The Cougar count at the Heart bar was kind of high, and I did spot a few working girls hanging around the last time I was there.
  This is a place for the young party crowd.  Being neither young nor much of a partier, we will see how I do here.

3. Paris (Total Rewards) - It's just like the real Paris, only it's fake.  A nice place, very good restaurants, and people rave about the food choices here. For whatever reason, I just don't feel the "vibe" here, somehow the place just isn't for me.  Last summer, I was staying at Bally's, and had a view of the pool, which looked very nice but also very crowded. 

   The casino, like the rest of the place, is very pretty and overall a fun place to play.  It's a reasonably upscale place, but not ridiculously so.  The last time I was there, the hooker count at the casino bar was pretty high.








4. Bally's (Total Rewards) - If your Dad got to pick your hotel, he would probably pick Bally's.  It has clean, comfortable rooms, a fine if rather plain pool, good bars, a big and somewhat nondescript casino, a couple of good restaurants.  Tequila Bar and Grill might not have the best tacos on the strip, but I'm pretty sure they have the best two dollar tacos on the strip.  I'm a big fan of the sportsbook here, like the rest of the casino, the decor is pretty forgettable, but it's bright and I like that it is somewhat separated from the rest of the casino.  There is a nice little bar there, and it's a comfortable spot to watch a game. 
   I stayed at Bally's last summer.  My check in was late, and I was told there were no more smoking rooms available, so they put me in a suite for the night.  People like me don't get to stay in suites very often, and boy was it nice.  Big living room, two bathrooms, a hot tub.  It was sweet.  After one night there I was back to reality, which was a south tower room.  The south tower is the older part of the hotel, but there was nothing wrong with the room. It was slightly bigger than most rooms, the toilet worked, the TV worked, the bed was comfortable, the shower was hot.  That's pretty much everything I need in a hotel room.  I had a nice view of the front door and the strip, it might have been a great view if I was higher up. 
  Maybe the best selling point for Bally's is that it is an affordable place with a great location.  Seriously, Bally's might have the best location on the strip.  For the price.

5. Bellagio (Mlife) - If Bally's is your Dad's casino, Bellagio is the place for your Mom.  On my first trip, I had heard of the fountains and thought it seemed kind of lame.  When I saw it, I was amazed.  It really is that cool.
  Anyway, the Bellagio has everything your Mom would love.  A somewhat sedate crowd, a big, splashy casino, first class rooms.  The restaurants and bars are all just a bit fancier than they need to be.  There is a conservatory and botanical garden there, which is a nice way to take a break from the craziness of the strip for a little while.  Bellagio is a huge property and a bit confusing to walk around in. Overall it's a bit fancy for my taste.  Nice place though.
  There is a tram way in the back of Bellagio that will take you to Aria and down to the Monte Carlo.  It's free and a cool way to get a different view of the city.

So there are my five for today, bringing my grand total up to fifteen.  Stop by again sometime.