I have been to Las Vegas more times than I have been anywhere else in the world. I don’t keep a running count, but if you held a gun to my head and made me answer, I would yell out “THIRTY! DON’T SHOOT!”
I am in the process of a very intense project of uploading so much Vegas stuff on here. But in the meantime, I will be doing some shorter posts.
Today, we will visit the top best and bottom worst rooms I have stayed in. Please keep in mind, I am not stating these are the best and worst in the entire city. Just out of what I personally have experienced.
I am going to start with the best. The Bellagio Penthouse suite. Before my mother passed away, I would take her to Las Vegas once a year. As it became clear that these trips would soon be ending as her cancer had reached the point where she was no longer going to be able to travel, I decided that I would make her last trip ever to Las Vegas the best one ever. I booked a night in a Bellagio Penthouse Suite.
The room itself was fancy schmancy. It had a living room, dining room, wet bar, three bathrooms (one guest, one his and one hers)
But none of this mattered because of the view. The view was incredible. Note all the construction that was going on at the time that is now long finished.
Then there was of course, the fountain view. Oh except that of course, there is no fountain show going on because I spent more than one month’s rent on a Bellagio Penthouse suite and it was too windy outside for the fountain show to be running. I am not even kidding.
My mother and I went outside and across the street and looked up at the Bellagio and picked out our room windows. She got such a kick out of looking up at this beautiful building and being able to say “I am staying up there!”. Even now, whenever I go back to Vegas, I always stop and stare at our room and think about that and I get all teared up missing my mother.
Later on at night, the wind died down and we were able to watch some fountain shows from our living room window.
Sigh.
Now on the opposite end, let’s talk about the worst Las Vegas hotel I have ever slept in. Binions. At present time, Binions is not operating at a hotel at all. But when they were, there were two towers. One was an actual tower, and the other is what I like to refer to as The Creepy Tower. The Creepy Tower was what was left over from the old rooms when the hotel originally opened as The Mint back in 1957. These rooms were accessible via an elevator in the middle of the casino, that you would never even notice unless you were specifically looking for it. Maximum capacity for this elevator I believe was three people.
When I walked into the room, the first thing that crossed my mind was the episode of Gilmore Girls where Lorelai and Rory spend the night at The Cheshire Cat. The room was so busy and it seemed like every inch was covered in drapes.
(Don’t you hate it when people take hotel room photos with their stuff all over the place? I used to do that. I apologize and have since learned the error of my ways)
Adding to the ambiance of this room were the windows. When Fremont Street stopped being an actual street, and turned into the Fremont Street Experience, these windows were permanently sealed and painted black to block out the light show.
Even the shower curtain looked like drapes.
What made this room even worse (yes, there is an “even worse” here) is that as I lay in bed, unable to sleep as I feared these drapes would choke me to death, the air conditioner was partially shielded by…drapes. The vents were stuck in the up position so I could not get the air to flow into the room. As the trip report I wrote to go along with these pictures says, that was actually a blessing in disguise since it meant I did not need to use a sheet or blanket to cover me. The less of this room that touched, me, the better.
Binions stopped operating as a hotel back in 2009. I often wonder if these rooms are completely sealed off or if anyone regularly accesses them. I picture a Stephen King-esque horror show going on behind these closed doors where the drapes have been growing continually for the past four years.
If you have a weirdo drape fetish and are drooling over the idea of staying here, maybe the hotel will reopen one day and you will get your wish. Just be sure to pack light as this is the size of the closet.
I guess I’ve been lucky to never have had a bad Las Vegas hotel room. I’ve stayed at Main Street Station, Golden Nugget, Stratosphere, Trump, and Red Rock. I liked all of them, to be honest. I guess if I had to pick the one I liked the least, it was the Strat. The room was T-I-N-Y. I was amazed that two beds fit inside it. However, the bed was extremely comfortable. I guess I’ve been lucky, or just a supreme planner.
I used to have a goal to stay in every Las Vegas hotel. Allllllllllllll of them. So I got a lot of crappy rooms that I may have avoided had I not been on this mission.
My smallest room was the Golden Gate. There was only one nightstand because putting a second one on the other side of the bed would have blocked the closet. I still love that place though and would stay again and again and again.
I have been to Vegas over 50 times. The best room is at Bellagio’s high floor with stunning fountain view. The worst room is at Downtown California (specifically, the lower odd number rooms; located in between its East Tower and West Tower). Those rooms have 24/7 constant noise coming from the hotel A/C generator. However, California Casino Hotel’s west tower room (high floor; lower even number) is good. The occasional noise from the passing train won’t bother me at all. The room’s view and quality is good. I like it with in-room refrigerator and safe.
The train noise never bothers me either! I love those California rooms.
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OMG the Binion looks like a place from a movie where you get killed… so creepy! Plus who would have thought that these TVs still exists in hotel rooms…
Got a room at Binions around 2006 or 2007. The room you got is actually nice in comparison to the one I got. To start, we took the little “elevator” you mentioned, it sounded and felt like it was going to give out – by some miracle, it didn’t. We arrived on our floor, and the elevator doors opened to a cramped & dark hallway that had boxed all over the floor that I had to climb over to get to my room. We find our room, open the door, and regret it instantly. Greeted by dark green, stained, carpets that looked as though they hadn’t been cleaned since they were installed, we entered and found the rest of the room in a simular state. Drapes -much like those in the room you got-, were dusty and moldy. There were cigarette butts in an uncleaned ashtray on the sidetable, you know, sort of like how some hotels leave a flower or chocolate on your pillow, except in this case, it was a smoked, potentially herpes riddled, cigarette butt. But the good thing about that, is it deterred from the crumpled up trash someone had left also on the sidetable. The bathroom was no better. The toilet -which apparently was the same one from the day it opened-, was chipped and stained. I felt as though I was contracting a disease just by standing in that room. We left immediately, went downstairs, and the second the guy at the front desk saw our face as we returned to him, he said, “you want a refund for your room?”, as though he were used to seeing that exact look on peoples faces and knew exactly what it meant. We got refunded, albeit via credit card which takes days to go through, and went to the California, where we got a room that didn’t make our skin crawl. Binions should be ashamed, to have ever offered those rooms… I am not exagerating when I say, someone would have to pay ME to stay there, not the other way around.
I actually ended up staying in the same creepy tower a second time after this! Can you believe it? I had a room elsewhere booked through a discounter. Then a NorEaster came and my flight was cancelled. I called whatever discounter I booked my room through and they told me unfortunately, if I was a no show, the entire reservation would be cancelled. ARGH. I was able to get on a flight the next day and now had no room. It was March Madness and everything was sold out or insanely high rates. Except the Binions creepy tower. So I said screw it and booked it. That room was almost nicer. Except that it felt like I was in a basement because the window was so high up. The window was also small and I guess did not face Fremont street because there were no excessive drapes or black paint over the window (that I could not see out of anyway since it was so high up)
Sigh.
Binion’s Horseshoe was originally Eldorado Club and Apache Hotel, which Benny renamed in 1951, which are the original three-story rooms. The Mint had the 26-story tower, which was built in 1957, that was purchased and added to Binion’s Horseshoe in 1988. I’m guessing your photos are from the three-story “tower”. . .
Correct.
We stay at the Bellagio,in a penthouse(fountain view) suite now-I just cant not!! Once been-spoilt for life!!! Glad you and your Mom had the chance to share,such a wonderful suite!!! Never stayed downtown-and dont think I ever will-not keen on the vibe! Thanks for all your great reads!!! 🙂
Thanks Chriss!
Just came back from Vegas. Stayed at the Rio to try out the home of WSOP. It wasn’t terrible. But I thought it was a little run down, due to be renovated or replaced. Your photos of Binions show me how much worse it could’ve been. Holy cow.
I bet those drapes have multiplied many times over while the hotel sits empty. They say it is asbestos keeping the hotel closed. But I am pretty sure that’s just a cover story!
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