I'll add Bally's to this list:
Location: Center strip, with cheap Ellis Island food nearby
Room: No frills but the price was right, good for a group of guys but probably not the best place to take a wife/girlfriend maybe
Casino: Not bad, but the Poker Room is kinda in a weird area, right smack in the middle of the floor, gets noisy especially when people are winning at the nearby craps tables etc.
Pool: Not sure went during March Madness

Hooter's:
--Location: Not horrible, you are a quick walk to the MGM and Tropicana.
--Room: Motel status.
--Casino: Very small. Probably the smallest on the strip, but good for low limit gaming.
--Pool: Not terrible. No music or anything. Just a nice place to relax.
--You should only stay there if you want to save money and just use the room to sleep and shower. One major plus is having the Hooter's restaurant downstairs. Can't go wrong with that.

great idea for a thread IMO, looking to book a trip my self and would be really useful if there was an Imperial Palace and Circus review (unless I'm a tool and missed them), for the budget market please

Vdara:
I stayed at Vdara in september 2011 for 6 nights.
I arrived at a thursday night at around 7 PM, where I was the only person at the check-in line. That being said, 5 minutes later I was in my hotelroom at the 45th floor. The room was nice with a kitchenette, 2 flatscreen TV's, a very comfortable bed and a very uncomfortable couch. Our room faced the bellagio (fountains) and part of the strip, wich was pretty cool. The room was very clean and decent.
Roomservice was pretty fast, but expensive.
As said, the hotel has no casino, but it's a short walk to Aria and the Cosmo

Today, 02:47 AM #7012
JamesAt15
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 688 Re: LVL FAQ, Quick Questions, General Vegas Discussion, Etc

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You'll probably hear a number of horror stories about IP, but here's a reasonably recent review of IP from VegasTripping that can probably be best summed up as, "Jesus, people, it's not that bad."

I haven't stayed there myself, though, which is what you were asking, sorry.


http://www.vegastripping.com/feature..._id=222&page=1

Is there any significant difference between the basic rooms at Venetian or Palazzo (other than just age of construction)? Thanks.

Tropicana
Pros
-Nice, comfortable rooms
-Good restaurants with good food
-Poker room staff is very friendly
-Nice range of slots
-Easy walking to 4 other casinos.

Cons
-Limited selection of restaurants
-small poker room
-limited selection of newest slots

I don't consider the cons to be cons, but I listed them in case they are for others. I've been to Trop three times and will be going back.

The layout is exactly the same, the furnishings are slightly different. Palazzo is a little nicer since it's newer and the decor is a bit more modern. Venetian is showing its age (and 14 years or whatever it is might as well be 100 in Vegas years).

Can anyone provide any information about the Motel 6 next to MGM?

I actually feel a little sleazy just typing those words. Anyway, a few weeks ago I was out in Vegas and this stripper said she was staying there for $32/night. She said it had been recently remodeled and wasn't a bad place to stay.

On the other hand, a cab driver told us "Lot of blue lights there at night."

I've seen it mentioned a couple of times on 2+2 but not often, which surprised me because there are always people looking for cheap rooms with good strip access. This seems like a possibility unless you're basically a coin flip away from not surviving the night if you stay there.

I just priced Circus Circus on hotels.com and for an avg rate of $45/night, about $700 for a couple of weeks (I'm planning to come to town for about 14 days in September). That's not bad I guess, but still a couple hundred above Motel 6.

Would love to hear what people think of the Mandarin Oriental.

The problem with Motel 6 (and other 2* in Vegas) is most people can use their Mcard or ceasar total reward and get a 3* for cheaper. Plus their is also priceline where you can usually get a 3* for cheaper or a similar price to a 2*.

If you're considering Circus (who has like $7 additional resort fees), then stay @ Imperial. Or just try and get Harrah's for a bit more than $700 . I wouldn't want to be staying at one End of the strip, especially when there's not much action at either "ends", and you might not have a car. Start pricing Harrah's or Imperial imo.

IMO nothing at all not to like about Motel 6 Tropicana. Most rooms recently remodeled with flat screen TVs, 1 or 2 queen beds, stall showers. Zero walk to your car. Self serve laundry 24H. 24H convenience/liquor store and 24H reasonably priced coffee shop adj. Wi-fi $3/day. Short walk to MGM, NYNY, Hooters, Tropicana. Large non-disco pool. You can request a room near (or not near) the pool. Some rooms on 2nd floor. Rates typically $40/60. You can save a couple of $ by prepaying on website. If all you're going to do in the room is sleep, what the hey. As with any motel, your door opens to the street, you should be safe but keep it locked.

tuscany
a very nice clean, quiet casino/hotel just off the strip (2 min walk to the shuttle at ballys)

the rooms are huge, and very cheap, they include a fridge and basic cooking area. also 2 nice pool areas, and very good 24 hour food, are very good prices.

i stayed there for 2 weeks during wsop 2011, and loved it, a very good 3 star hotel on a budget


bellagio
i stayed in the 2nd tower, in dec 2011 in a not so modern room. i got the 26th floor, but i dont recommend that, as there is an anoying humming noise on the higher levels. it was still a great room, lovely bathroom etc, and we got it cheap, i wouldnt pay the normal rate tho.

food was ok, but very overpriced, and even being in the hotel, it was still a long walk through the casino from the 2nd tower to the poker room.

golden nugget
i had to stay downtown, just to experiance it. i was told this was the best hotel, and it was a great experiance. the room was average, but the whole complex was great, with plenty to see and do. the poker was really good too, so much value, and the hot spot for playing downtown.

tropicana
my personal favourite hotel in vegas, for value for money. i got a great deal on a room for a long stay, and was very impressed with the modern feel and nice extras. i also got a free upgrade to a really good room with an amazing view. its location is great, 5min walk max from room to poker at the mgm, and with good food on site.

the casino floor is really small compared to other casinos, but when all you want to do is get to poker, its great.

they have a really nice pool area, with a gym etc, and my personal fav is very good fast wifi included in the resort fee.

Just got back from 4 nights in Vegas and stayed 3 nights at planet hollywood and 1 night at ballys. I could not have been more dissapointed with planet Hollywood. We arrived and they informed us they did not have our 2 queen preference and they stuck us with one king. Our shower was so incredibly low flow and the drain did not work. The cabinets were broken with giant cracks in them. The room was also really small. The next day they moved us to room with 2 queens and we had some of the same issues. Small room and the shower didn't drain. The elevators were also incredibly slow and someone literally took a dump in the elavator and it wasn't cleaned up when I came back 2 hours later.
For my last night I stayed in a comped room at ballys. Very pleased with the room for what it was. The casino feels a little outdated but the rooms were large and clean. Nothing fancy about the room but they were clean. I can't see myself ever paying more for planet hollywood then for ballys. I wish I had stayed at ballys the entire time.

Were you in the North Tower or South Tower?

South tower

What room type did you have at PH?

You sure it was the same dump 2 hours later? Might have been a new one.

If I found a dump in the elevator of a hotel I stayed at then I would be so appalled I prolly would never come back. Stayed at PH once last year. The rooms aren't that nice as you said but I have stayed in worse. The one thing I can say about PH is that it's so loud and the noise so constant that I can't stand the gaming floor at all.

Never ever had a problem at PH and the elevators are not slow and the rooms are very reasonably sized. Wonder where you really were? And you expect us to believe bally's is better. Too funny.

Glad someone else thinks this.

Was very disappointed with the MGM when I stayed there.

PS - Thread whiplash : can confirm Jaleo in Cosmopolitan is very good.

I stayed at MGM a few weeks ago, though in an upgraded room. I wasn't disappointed at all, really liked the room. I did think the resort fee was ridiculous though. On some nights it was like 25%~ of the total room charge.

I'm staying at the Wynn in August, any TRs? Worth trying the $20 trick o upgrade to a tower suite?

Always try.

If you don't ask, you don't get