Casinos Revisited

Vegas Recap #2: The Casinos

We visited a number of casinos in Nevada, both on and off the Las Vegas Strip.  My biggest complaint about the casinos in Vegas is that for the most part they're all interchangeable.  Themed casinos don't seem that different from one another once you're inside.  I want dealers and waitresses dressed to match the theme of the casino, damn it.

And the slot machines... every casino has the same slot machines.  Why can't each casino have something unique, something you can only play at their casino?  Or at the very least, why can't each casino have at least one bank of machines with that hotel's name or logo on the reels?

Anyway, here's what I thought about the places we went:

* Bally's - We kinda dug the Bally's casino.  It was laid out well, colorful and brightly lit, and my bride won a ton of money in their slot machines.  Plus their Sidewalk Cafe delivers an affordable, quality meal.

* Caesars Palace - Different, but not different enough.  I liked the wide open casino with huge ceilings... but no one's in a toga?  Boo.

* Circus Circus - I'd joked to my bride for a year that we needed to stay at Circus Circus.  I'm glad we didn't go through with it.  I waited 45 minutes for a seat at the only $3 blackjack table in the joint, all while dodging thousands of screaming children running around like chickens on crack.

* Downtown / Golden Nugget - We went into all the casinos downtown at the Fremont Street Experience, but the only one there to make any kind of impression was the Golden Nugget, which seemed like it had been renovated extensively.  We commented that if we had to stay downtown, it would probably be at the Nugget.

* Excalibur - Where are the knights?  The busty maidens?  I don't remember much else about Excalibur except disappointment.

* Hard Rock - The Hard Rock casino was another favorite of ours.  The casino is mapped out very well, in a big circle surrounded by an outer walkway that leads you to the hotel or to shops and restaurants.  Slot play here got us a comped dinner at Ago, their upscale Italian eatery. 

* Harrah's - The draw of this casino seems to be that you can walk into it straight from the strip.  Seriously, one moment you're outside and the next you're smack dab in the middle of the casino.  We had a 2-for-1 for the Harrah's buffet, which turned out to be better than average.

* Hooters - The casino was kinda sad (it was a former Howard Johnsons, which explains the rather drab appearance), but the people were really friendly and I'm sure at night the energy levels pick up considerably.

* Imperial Palace - Another themed casino that doesn't look any different than most other casinos.  There's some Asian font on some of the signage... that's about it.  The buffet here was tiny and disappointing.  Curiously though, this hotel seemed to be the home of the youngest and hottest cocktail waitresses we saw all week.

* Luxor - This is the hotel/casino shaped like a pyramid.  And while it looks impressive from the outside, the inside is unremarkable in just about every way.  My opinion might have been skewed somewhat by the fact that there was very loud construction being done inside the hotel while we were exploring, but still... for an Egyptian themed experience, there didn't seem to be much inside that complimented that.  I expected at least to see Jim Brown running around in his costume (ala Mars Attacks).

* Mandalay Bay / The Mirage / MGM Grand - These three all kinda run together in my mind, and since they're all owned by the same company that's no surprise.  I really liked The Mirage though, and wouldn't mind staying there at some point.

* New York New York - Another well laid out casino, with an interesting theme inside which (gasp!) actually matches the name of the hotel!

* The Orleans - There's something compelling about casinos that you can pull up in front of and park at like you're going to Target.  Unfortunately that's about all that was noteworthy about it.

* Palazzo - This is the casino that's linked to the Venetian, where we stayed.  Like morons, we didn't even realize this until the day before we left, as we were wandering through our hotel and stumbled upon a brand new casino.  There seemed to be more table games here than in the Venetian, but we still liked ours better.

* Paris - Decent, but not particularly memorable.  What was memorable was deciding to take a trip up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and then remembering that I'm not a fan of heights.

* Planet Hollywood - Despite the fact that it was pretty warm in the casino and there was what seemed like an hour wait just to sign up for their slot card program, I still liked Planet Hollywood and would consider staying there in the future.  The Fox show Prison Break was filming there during our visit.

* Primm Valley - One day we drove out to the Nevada-California border and visited one of the three casinos located right off the Interstate.  It wasn't that bad.  Kinda quiet, kinda outdated, but decent.

* Rio - I would stay at this hotel in the future... if I was single.  The Rio definitely has a theme going, and that theme is sex.  Even the bowling alley here is advertised as being a sexy experience.  Penn & Teller seems like an odd fit for this hotel, considering how everything else in the place is either promoting rock hard abs or giant hooters.  To the best of my knowledge, neither Penn nor Teller qualify.

* Tropicana - One of the few "old school" casino hotels still on the strip, the Tropicana just didn't seem to have much to offer.  The casino doesn't look much different than any other casino in Vegas, which is a shame because with so much history in the place you'd think there'd be so much opportunity to really make the place feel like a top-notch old school experience.  We were disappointed.

Comments

[kristen]

No offense, dude, but you're not, enticing me to visit Vegas, like, ever. Tropical storms sound more invigorating in comparison. Yo Fay.

Okay, Cheers!

[Chuck]

Well, if you're into clubs, go to Vegas. If you're into shows, go to Vegas. A casino is a casino is a casino, unfortunately.

[Jenn]

This last trip I made to Vegas I fianlly went to the Rio for the first time and would stay there for sure the next time.

We actually won tickets to see Penn and Teller and the show was fantastic, made better by the fact that I got to go up on the stage with the kings of Bullsh*t!!!! It was awesome!!!

GREAT casino.

The one I was most disappointing at was Treasure Island. Customer service is sh*t.