Las Vegas - Plaza Hotel and Casino

thanks

I will be staying at the plaza in March any stories, tips etc.... from the plaza or downtown please share with me, thanks!

Hello all. I've been lurking on FT for a very long time (on and off for years, every day in recent times), and this posting actually made me finally sign up to post.

Why? Because the Plaza is quite possibly the most disgusting, horrible "big" hotel in all of Las Vegas and among the worst on Fremont Street (Downtown) which is really saying something. I spend probably ~4 weeks a year in Vegas and have for the past 10 years, and I have stayed just about everywhere. The Plaza is a complete dump. It smells like every cigarette ever smoked by any human on earth went there to die, and that's being polite about it. Everything that can be bad is bad. The carpet, the paint, the smell, the elevators, it's like this hotel was shrink-wrapped in 1974 and everyone inside was given a carton of cigarettes to smoke, then executed, doused in sewage, and their bodies were left to rot. Then they re-opened the hotel the day before you arrived.

You'd be better off sleeping at the bus station, which is conveniently next door to the Plaza Hotel. This also leads to wonderful lobby/downstairs diner fun, as the Plaza is the first stop for all of the crazy drifters rolling into town on the bus. Keep your bags close while checking in and don't let your kids run off!

I encourage you to stay anywhere but the Plaza. If money is the issue, and you need a really, really cheap room and you want to be on the strip, hit up Excalibur, which is at least passable and nearby some great hotels (NYNY is great fun), or if you're really desperate, the Stratosphere (rooms passable, but excellent food at Top of the World restaurant.)

If money is not an issue, there's no beating the Wynn or the Bellagio. The beds at the Wynn are amazing, and the Bellagio is second-to-none in service. Bellagio has earned my loyalty in several ways on numerous occasions (including having a true concierge service that meets old-school Vegas standards) and unbelievable his/her bathrooms in the nicer suites, and I stay there whenever possible.

You would literally have to drag me kicking and screaming into the Plaza. I would not stay at that hotel if it was free, and I'm not exaggerating. There's some great single-deck blackjack across the street, and that's as close as I get to the Plaza. I haven't been inside their doors since 2002/2003, but I highly doubt anything has changed.

So.... that's my take on it. YMMV (but probably not) :)

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Some call it a disgusting "hole", others call it charm and adventure! I've never stayed there, but did stay at the California across the street because it was cheap. Very tiny, old room with only about 1/2 the light bulbs working, but for $45 on a Saturday a deal. I still need to check out the Western as described at cheapovegas.com.

Other than the cigarette odor, how was it, the casino, have you actually slept there in teh past couple years, how is it now????

I will be staying at the plaza in March any stories, tips etc.... from the plaza or downtown please share with me, thanks!



Alot of the properties on FREMONT are yes? "Dated"and majority
of them do need renovations. But as described in recent posts on
this matter? It is your "bang for the buck" if certain elements
regarding room conditions and for the matter? The rest of the
property can be sometimes described as SUBSTANDARD. There a
few exceptions as the Golden Nugget would still have to be one
of the nicer properties on Fremont. On weekends you will not find
cheaper prices than Fremont. Yes? The main Strip from Stratosphere
to M-Bay can be pricey on weekends? But they can choose to be pricey
because every weekend almost throughout the year can be sold out
and each property can dictate their own pricing structure accordingly.
Vegas can still be cheap? But mainly Sundays thru Wednesdays if you
would like to stay on the STRIP. If finances are the main sticking
point? Definitely Fremont is where majority of the cheaper lodging
can be had. But for the excpetions of the very few on FREMONT?
Do not expect to have 5 star quality for a $80.00 a nite stay.
Besides? Most of the time you are only in the room to sleep and
shower no matter how nice or unfortunately how grotesque a room
can be. And whomever stated in this forum that they are staying
at the PLAZA? Go to the Plaza Coffee Shop and test your eating
skills on eating THE 9 POUND/ 4.09 Kilo BURGER !!! If you can finish
the whole burger there on the spot? Its free and your picture goes
up on the wall. If I remember correctly reading in local papers here
that 1 lucky lady finished that monster and she was rather petite?????

Other than the cigarette odor, how was it, the casino, have you actually slept there in teh past couple years, how is it now????
I think I made my feelings pretty clear in the first post. :)

Even if you get stuck staying at the plaza, there's no reason to use their Casino, which is of course awful just like the rest of the place. If you're a new-school kind of guy, head down the strip to one many excellent casinos at the big hotels, lots of fun to be had.

If you're more old-school and you're actually in Vegas to play something like Blackjack, you may want to check out the Las Vegas Club and some of the other smaller casinos on Fremont St. There's still some decent card games there. It's nice to see a dealer actually shuffle the cards (as opposed to an auto-shuffler) and 2 to 1 blackjack payouts instead of this ridiculous 6 to 5 stuff you see down the strip.

Personally, unless I'm in Vegas to really sit down and play some serious cards, I avoid Fremont St altogether and just end up playing casually at the NYNY, Caesar's, or the Bellagio. I only play table games though, no slot machines.

If you're more old-school and you're actually in Vegas to play something like Blackjack, you may want to check out the Las Vegas Club and some of the other smaller casinos on Fremont St. There's still some decent card games there. It's nice to see a dealer actually shuffle the cards (as opposed to an auto-shuffler) and 2 to 1 blackjack payouts instead of this ridiculous 6 to 5 stuff you see down the strip.


Another very good "old school" Vegas property is the Stardust. (This is the casino that the movie Casino is based on... The Tangiers is actually the Stardust)

They have really good gaming [with a little bit of bad gaming mixed in], reasonable rates, easy comps, and a location that is next to the mall and right down the street from Wynn.

Just a thought.... Michael

Stardust is quite nice for a low-level player that would like to get some comps on the strip. Hopefully they won't lose that when they decide it's time to rebuild as part of the new, flashy Vegas.

When Barrick bought a number of the Fremont-area properties, I saw a substantial improvement in the state of their casinos. I can't speak to the hotel rooms, but the LV Club and Plaza appeared to upgrade the casinos substantially from what they were before. That doesn't mean they're suddenly great, but they aren't the dump they were prior.

while i have never stayed at the Plaza, I have played in a few poker tournaments down there, and played BJ and craps there as well. I wouldn't say the casino area is any "dumpier" than anywhere else downtown, and it's certainly better than some strip casinos like Imperial Palace and Casino Royale.