So I guess you think 3 star hotels are a dive then. Hmm........

3 out of how many stars?

Non-dive. Perfectly middle class, although the only of the three I like to stay at is Mirage. Bally's and MGM I have some hate for but I wouldn't call them dives.

Many/most of the hotels on your dive list have a Forbes 3 star rating (3 out of 5) or a AAA 3 diamond rating (also 3 out of 5).

I would not call a hotel a dive until it drops to 1 star or less.

Most people would call your dive hotels average hotels.

Oooh, hotel review threads. My favorite!

I think I'll go in order of my favorite/s and go down that way. Also a little different of a review, perhaps, as it's coming from a female perspective. Might be something to keep in mind for those bringing their wives/gfs/escorts or both/all three.

Vdara - This is my favorite hotel in Vegas, and kind of by a long shot. It's so modern, clean, and quiet. I know eco74 was saying the rooms are fairly standard and nothing to write home about, but this is the one hotel I always suggest to people.

Pros: Great location, clean, quiet, little kitchenette so that you can cook there, or store things in the fridge. Separate "living room" area. No casino. This was originally very frightening to me@ no casino, and I was going to stay at Aria again for the same price. Got a little encouragement from my mom to try something new, and no regrets. 5 min walk to Aria and Bellagio anyways. No stumbling through the casino to get to your room, since the elevators are right in the lobby.

Cons: High resort fee. Also had a security alert/alarm while I was in the room alone at 8:00 am and scared the bejesus out of me. I thought the place was getting bombed. Not a lot of food choices, from what I remember.

Wynn

Pros: Lovely rooms, very nice bathrooms, LCD tv in the bathroom, very upscale feeling decor, ability to call in from room to poker room and see where you are on the waiting list. Most comfortable sheets I've ever slept in. Close to Fashion Show Mall. Free slippers (I didn't just steal them. The maid told me they were meant to be taken).

Cons: A little hoity toity, not the best location, although if you're just playing poker at Wynn and Venetian mostly, then it's fine.

Aria

Pros: AWESOME bathroom - My bathroom is currently being remodelled and inspired by the bathroom there. MOST comfortable beds I have ever slept on. I looked online to find the beds they use and have one as close as I can get to it. Great poker room. That French place that sells delicious and fattening desserts. Decent cafe. Great location.

Cons: No counter space in the bathroom Rooms are pretty small. Too high tech for me, but I think that's supposed to be a pro for most people.


Venetian

Pros: Busy poker room, nice smell throughout the place, very big standard rooms, Grand Luxe Cafe (drooool), cheesy indoor boat ride thing. Decent sized flat-screen tv (I think 40 or 42"), separate living room area.

Cons: Has an "old people" kind of luxurious appeal to it. The decor would be a pro if I was 62 years old. Easy to get lost trying to get to your room from parkade. I stayed there for 6 days and still had a hard time figuring things out b/c I had been in some sort of "upgraded" room which I actually think was a standard room, off in some obscure part of the hotel. Pretty much NEVER got maid service the entire time, because I wouldn't leave the room 'til 2:00 pm or so, and they never called to ask if I wanted the room done. Not a huge deal, since I mostly just want towels anyways.

Okay, too much writing for now.

I'm bored, so I'm gonna keep going after all.

Bellagio: The outside of this hotel is probably my favorite, but because the rooms are such junk, it's 5th on my list. And it would probably be lower, but there are many things I like about it.

Pros: Fountains, poker room spreads every game I play (I like the variety between limit and no limit, vs. places that only spread NL, or else only spread 2/4 limit), conservatory in the lobby (it's a 'ritual' of mine to visit it every Vegas trip and take pictures), Noodles (droooool), decent sized bathrooms, great shopping, best location.

Cons: The rooms. For a hotel that is supposed to be 5 Stars, get with the program. I read on this thread that they are being updated. It's about time. I went a few years ago and was disappointed by the size of the rooms, the CRT tvs (eco74 has heard me bitch about this about 12 times), and just the overall outdatedness of the room. It wasn't even like Venetian where it could be considered luxurious if you're 62 years old.
Poker room staff (including some of the dealers) are very weird and stuck up. Having said that, they also run an extremely busy poker room, and deal with some huge d-bags/bagettes so I guess I can cut them some slack. Kind of a far walk from the front to the poker room. But I'll survive.

The next few, I can't really decide which I like best. They're all kind of muddled.

Planet Hollywood - I've stayed here once when it was Aladdin, and twice as Planet Hollywood.

Pros: Upbeat, fun, young vibe. Hot girls dealing in the Pleasure Pit and more hot girls dancing on the podium thingies in the middle of the pits. Spice Market Buffet (although the last time I went, I didn't love it as much as previous times. I also don't love buffets are much as I used to, so that might be part of it). Miracle Mile Shops is nice and convenient to have around. Earl Of Sandwich is always a cheap and convenient choice. Short walk to get to Bellagio/Aria. Lots of options for cheap food - McDonalds is there, Panda Express, Walgreens.

Cons: Very small rooms. Very little area besides the sleeping area. I think CRT tvs (I was only there a month ago, and somehow forget whether they were flatscreens or CRTs). Pool looked relatively lame.

Bally's:

Pros: Location. Cheap table games. Size of rooms is decent.

Cons: Rooms aren't very nice. Bathrooms aren't very nice and border on creepy. Beds feel cheap. Even if I only wanted a bathroom to "****, shower and shave" as you men call it, this would not be the place for that. I don't want to feel dirty in the bathroom, and don't want to wake up after a night's sleep on a POS bed and need to head to the masseuse. Might not be an issue for the guys, as some may very much like to head to the masseuses in Vegas

Mandalay Bay:

Pros: Decent sized rooms, fairly nice bathroom (might be biased because I expected something horrible), awesome pool.

Cons: The location of the hotel is so bad that I barely remember any of the pros. Neverrrr again will I stay here, even though the hotel itself isn't bad at all. I would never suggest staying here unless you have a car. It's not even about being lazy (though I AM admittedly lazy), but just the inconvenience of staying here. Poker room is supposedly good during conventions, but apparently I wasn't there during a convention, because all they had was a handfull of boring and nitty 1/2 NL games with a bunch of shortstackers. Small sample size, obv.

Okay, that's all for now for real this time.

I did some research on Flamingo
Seems it really fits my desires...
Thank ya

Hi there,

Can you share what model bed you found that was most similar and where you purchased it and the cost?

Thanks!! I also loved the bed at Aria!

My feeling on the place is more that it is quite nice but doesn't have that Vegas swank/glitz that one sometimes wants. There isn't much "wow" to it, but it is nice, quite upscale and very comfortable. I stayed in one of the 2BR suites and was a bit disappointed that it felt more like an upscale apartment than a swanky Vegas hotel suite. And yes, I know why I liked my suite at Aria much more.


The above is pretty much exactly how I feel about Caesars, whereas with Venetian I totally get that and see that but think it's more like they're luxury for the masses. Luxury for people who don't really know what luxury is.

Fair enough...but I don't think it's even arguable that a few of the places on my list would be considered below average. Particularly since we're only comparing Vegas strip hotels which probably have an overall higher degree of quality than most other cities/areas.

I will look at mine when I get home. WHen I went to buy my bed, I told the guy I wanted xxx model, similar to what they had at a hotel I had stayed at. He said that mattress stores all sell the same beds, but call them different model names so that people can't go from store to store to price match. Not sure whether this is true or not, or whether he was just trying to pull a "fast one" on me.

Book a GO room, it costs a little more but well worth it from what I've been told.

Aria protip - if you get a basic room make sure it is on floor 8 or higher. last time I checked in to a room on the 6th floor and the furniture was not renovated, minibar not stocked with nice stuff, room was fairly beat up, and of course view was crap. the furniture in the normal rooms is so nicely styled that i had to immediately switch. i feel bad for whoever got my original room after, especially if it was their first visit to Aria ...

Thanks, were you able to find a make and model on your bed?

Weird, I thought my bed was a Sealy Beautyrest, but it's a Simmons Beautyrest. Apparently both brands (or maybe they one owns the other?) make a Beautyrest bed. I'm 99% sure that the beds are Aria are Sealy brand, so I'm not entire sure why the salesguy pointed us in this direction and said it was the closest we'd come to an "Aria bed." I looked on the tag just now and its:

BRAND NEW Simmons Beautyrest WORLD CLASS Canada’s Best Victoria II Comfort Top Silk Viscolastic Latex Firm white 14 inch pocketed coil natural latex memory foam Euro-top knit silk king size mattress $4299 $1298.

I think you can pick the firmness though. I chose the one that isn't quite as plush as Aria, b/c I like a firmer bed. When I bought it, it was around $1800 with a 10% discount for signing up for the store credit card.

You forgot all the bedding details that is important also

Hahaha, welll.....when it comes to the actual bedding of hotels, so far, Wynn takes the cake on that one. Aria's is okay too, but the Wynn's is in a class of its own. AND you can buy it at the Wynn store in the hotel, assuming it still exists.

Having said that, what I have for bedding now at my house is the mother f'ing bomb. I honestly feel like I am in paradise when I go to bed. I only included this little paragraph in case you meant I forgot about the bedding details of my home, or Aria. LOL

FWIW I agree with your entire list.

I do remember the Red Rocks beds were my favorite

Is it true that there is free wi-fi all over the hotel? I read this online, but haven't been able to confirm from people who have actually stayed at Flamingo...

No it is not

For those following I've been trying to decide on hotel when I visit in November this year

A casino a never considered but has sent through a redic price is Monte Carlo

What are the opinions on it? It's location is decent and we would most likely spend most out time somewhere else, is the hotel itself decent/nice?

It gets a little skeevier by the day, but it's not a terrible option. Basically on par with most of the other mid-range places. Factoring in quality of the place and quality of the clientele, I'd consider it a little better than Flamingo or Harrah's, definitely worse than PH or Paris. Location is of course great. Rooms are very standard.

I will be in Vegas next month and staying at Aria. Has anyone tried the $20 trick here and got upgraded to a Suite from a standard room? I don't care about two queen beds or strip view in a standard room.

Ill be there the 9/11 and 9/12 I plan to try it out, ill let you know.