What Was the Most Disappointing Casino in Vegas and Why? (1 Viewer)

[Quicksilver-75]

Just curious about other people's opinions after their first Vegas visit.

 

[ChipEnvy]

Circus, Circus.

It's like it's... Like it's an old Circus themed casino.

 

[DrStrange]

It was the now defunct Riviera years ago. Obviously still cranky about it.

One evening we found the ice machine on our floor inoperative and called the desk. They apologized and sent someone up with a bucket of ice - we tipped $2 or $3. At four am we get a call from the front desk saying we were being asked to leave the hotel because there was an open billing of $0.50 on our account due to a declined credit card.

After getting dressed and going down to talk to a manager, we discovered there was a $0.50 fee for room service related to the bucket of ice. It wasn't clear if the hotel had a policy about micro credit charges or if it was my credit card, but for what ever reason the $0.50 couldn't be paid that way. {That credit card worked fine the rest of the trip.} So I pay the fifty cents and then the manager asks me to pay the rest of the our stay in cash in advance or leave the hotel. I end up paying for two nights in advance, in cash rather than packing up and looking for a room.

Never spent another dollar in the casino -=- DrStrange

 

[manamongkids]

Any and all on Fremont street. Was cool to see that area once but when I go back I will literally never go back that way

 

[bentax1978]

It was the now defunct Riviera years ago. Obviously still cranky about it.

One evening we found the ice machine on our floor inoperative and called the desk. They apologized and sent someone up with a bucket of ice - we tipped $2 or $3. At four am we get a call from the front desk saying we were being asked to leave the hotel because there was an open billing of $0.50 on our account due to a declined credit card.

After getting dressed and going down to talk to a manager, we discovered there was a $0.50 fee for room service related to the bucket of ice. It wasn't clear if the hotel had a policy about micro credit charges or if it was my credit card, but for what ever reason the $0.50 couldn't be paid that way. {That credit card worked fine the rest of the trip.} So I pay the fifty cents and then the manager asks me to pay the rest of the our stay in cash in advance or leave the hotel. I end up paying for two nights in advance, in cash rather than packing up and looking for a room.

Never spent another dollar in the casino -=- DrStrange

That literally boggles my mind.

 

[DrStrange]

We were on a promotional trip too. My wife played the slots hard enough to get medium quality offers from marketing. Things like free show tickets, spa credits, free meals and discounted hotel rooms. We rarely got totally free stays at the hotel, but always got a little something.

 

[Chicken Rob]

Imperial Palace.

I got 10 nights comped there in '06 during the WSOP. Middle of the strip. Couldn't beat the price or location.

The room was so gross that I was actually disappointed not to see a pile of dead hooker bodies on the ground outside. It just felt like that was the hotel where the hookers met their untimely end.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

Any and all on Fremont street. Was cool to see that area once but when I go back I will literally never go back that way

I experienced the exact same feeling. It was really cool to see where it all started. Feel the "old vibe" but that was it. Other than the Four Queens I found each casino rather disgusting. Low ceilings, low light, damp and smoke-filled. I was impressed with the Fremont experience but ultimately walked away thinking it was the lipstick on the pig.

 

[Chicken Rob]

I experienced the exact same feeling. It was really cool to see where it all started. Feel the "old vibe" but that was it. Other than the Four Queens I found each casino rather disgusting. Low ceilings, low light, damp and smoke-filled. I was impressed with the Fremont experience but ultimately walked away thinking it was the lipstick on the pig.

The zip line down Fremont street and sitting on the deck across the street from the heart attack grill watching the people weigh themselves is entertaining for about an hour.

 

[bentax1978]

Stayed at the Plaza downtown once. Room was shitty, A/C was loud, and the floors were dirty and stained. But my biggest complaint when we got to our room was the fact that there was someone already sleeping in the bed.

 

[Mr. Cheese]

Stayed at the Plaza downtown once. Room was shitty, A/C was loud, and the floors were dirty and stained. But my biggest complaint when we got to our room was the fact that there was someone already sleeping in the bed.

Haha nice! Do tell? Was it a hooker? Maybe it was complimentary with the room

 

[bentax1978]

Haha nice! Do tell? Was it a hooker? Maybe it was complimentary with the room

I didn't stick around to ask.

I believe there was a mix up and the room was marked as cleaned and ready by housekeeping, when in fact the previous occupant had never actually left. Not nearly as exiting as a complementary hooker

 

[slisk250]

Never been to a bad casino in Vegas. I thought the craps dealers at Caesars were no fun so I did not go back to gambol there but otherwise I've always had a good time.

 

[moose]

Casino Royale is the biggest shit hole left on the strip. Will only comp draft beer or well drink, no bottles. But the have the cheapest craps with the best odds, so I still go there every trip.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

Casino Royale is the biggest shit hole left on the strip. Will only comp draft beer or well drink, no bottles. But the have the cheapest craps with the best odds, so I still go there every trip.

What odds can you play there?

 

[BukNaked36]

Beside the really low end stuff just being cheap looking, some other thoughts -

NYNY and Paris - both have this kind of cheesy looking dark interior feel to them - kind of like a set for a high school musical. Just disappointing because I thought they would be nicer.

Excalibur - chock full of kids the first time I went to Vegas (late 90's). Just felt weird and wasn't what I was expecting.

Flamingo - low ceilings make it feel old and small. I really liked my Go room though. They were new at the time.

Tropicana - the worst room I've had in Vegas. Dated and odd layout - felt like some kind of weird remodel from a decade ago. I'm not an overly sensitive guy, but the whole place was so red everywhere that I thought my eyes were going to bleed.

 

[pltrgyst]

....Other than the Four Queens I found each casino rather disgusting.....

Interesting. I've never heard anyone before express a preference for the 4Q over the Nugget.

BARGE and EMBARGO are held every year at the Horseshoe, with accommodations at the 4Q, and some events and the banquet at the Nugget, and they treat us very well indeed.

 

[Chicken Rob]

Interesting. I've never heard anyone before express a preference for the 4Q over the Nugget.

BARGE and EMBARGO are held every year at the Horseshoe, with accommodations at the 4Q, and some events and the banquet at the Nugget, and they treat us very well indeed.

I stayed at the nugget last year. My first time staying down town. My room was a dump, and I had to disassemble the AC to quiet down the rattling. It was a terrible experience.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

Interesting. I've never heard anyone before express a preference for the 4Q over the Nugget.

BARGE and EMBARGO are held every year at the Horseshoe, with accommodations at the 4Q, and some events and the banquet at the Nugget, and they treat us very well indeed.

I have never stayed at the nugget. I did play there and worse, we ate there. I have never paid so much for a salad and mushy, over-cooked spaghetti. The buffet in the Nugget was atrocious! The spaghetti they were serving at the pasta counter was like spaghetti-o's bad. Maybe an off-night or something.

 

[Chicken Rob]

I have never stayed at the nugget. I did play there and worse, we ate there. I have never paid so much for a salad and mushy, over-cooked spaghetti. The buffet in the Nugget was atrocious! The spaghetti they were serving at the pasta counter was like spaghetti-o's bad. Maybe an off-night or something.

I had breakfast at one of the eating places at the nugget and it was quite good. The food seemed really fresh and well prepared. It was better than the room for sure.

 

[bergs]

I've only really stayed at the main strip properties and never had a problem. Flamingo Go rooms, MGM Grand, the condos in back of the MGM Grand, Mirage, Venetian, Treasure Island, Caesar's Palace were all great.

I guess if I had to complain about something, it's that Caesar's Palace is almost impossible to navigate. For some reason it made sense to me from a walking perspective only after I was severely intoxicated (and maybe that's the point).

I had a beer once at the Bellagio and it was like $9, and I tipped the guy $2. He got super snotty with me. Never went back there to eat or drink.

 

[moose]

Royale was $3 min, 20x odds and $5 min, 100x odds, but they took one table out and now I think it is $5 min with 20x odds.

Edit: The casino Royale website is still advertising 100x odds, so there you go.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Royale dropped their odds to 20x. It lasted for a few months. Now they're back to 100x odds. It's the only time that Vegas listened to the masses.

It also tells you how crappy Casino Royale is. 20x odds would be the best on the strip, but it's not enough to get people to enter. 100x keeps 'em packed around the table.

As far as everything else, I've run through a bunch of hotels/casinos in Vegas, from the Plaza to the Bellagio. An excerpt from my 2009 Plaza review:

Let's put everything right up front. If you pay $25 in a city where rooms normally go for $125, you'll get 1/5th the quality.

Doing the math, that means $125 for four diamonds should net you 0.8 diamonds for the Plaza. Not quite a diamond.

If I remember my High School chemistry, a lump of coal is not quite a diamond.

The Plaza succeeds in being a lump of coal.

The moral of the story: You get what you pay for. I never stayed in the IP, but I played there. I never stayed, because the rooms were like $15 a night. A cardboard box from Amazon costs more. So I really can't say it could disappoint me - though like chicken, I too would be disappointed to not see a dead hooker that I could poke with a stick (though in 2006, Caesars properties did not charge a resort fee so there would be an extra fee to use their stick).

Dr Strange's 50¢ room service fee should earn him the right to push the plunger on the Riveria's implosion. Although me-thinks there would be a long line of people looking to push that button (if they were to do an implosion).

So while to figure out my biggest disappointments, I would say

• Betting: Tropicana Sports Book. Zero drink service during NFL games. Had to walk to the bar (outside of the book) and purchase drinks, despite having a few hundos wagered. Zero food options anywhere near the book either.
• Food: Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak. Big pricetag. Steaks heated perfectly. Over-salted. So many tables you have to turn sideways to leave.
• WSOP: Events after the Colossus. They hosted the world's largest poker event, then had no idea that anyone busting out from the Colossus would want to play poker. Because hosting/planning large gaming events is what Mrs Zombie and I do, we asked WSOP staff what did they think players would do after the Colossus (thinking there was something, somewhere that we were missing). Official word from up top: "We thought they would go home."
• Visitors: Children. I've avoided Circus Circus, because I know the kids are there, but anywhere else - WTF parents?
• Expenses: Resort Fees (and soon, parking fees). OK, I get the parking fee. Downtown had it for years, though validation gave it away for free, but resort fees suck. I'm not going to use a gym in Vegas - the walk between hotels is sufficient exercise. Wi-fi? I'll use my phone. Free local calls? Also on my phone. Pool - if it's not adult only, I'm out. If it is adult only, you're charging me anyway. So yes, this is a city-wide wallet-fuck.

 

[k9dr]

The Imperial Palace was the biggest dump I have stayed at in Vegas. Just to get to the room you had to negotiate a maze to find the slowest elevators still in existence. The room looked dirty and smelled worse. What I thought was astroturf on the floor was actually just crusty carpet. That mattress sagged like a taco and the pillows were rock hard. My view out the dirty window was 3 floors down to huge trash bins. I guess it comes in handy to fling trash or dead hookers out the window

I have stayed at the Casino Royale too. The casino is a dump, but my room was actually quite nice. It is also handy when your room is literally only a few steps from the strip.

Ellis Island rooms are terrible too. While I will return for the steak special and the beer, I will never stay there again.

 

[links_slayer]

Another vote for IP. What a hole.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

I'm curious since IP's rebranding and little facelift if the rooms are better now. When I was there last it was still the Quad. Other than the sweet house chips it could have been called the Deuce.

 

[pltrgyst]

I have never stayed at the nugget. I did play there and worse, we ate there. I have never paid so much for a salad and mushy, over-cooked spaghetti. The buffet in the Nugget was atrocious! The spaghetti they were serving at the pasta counter was like spaghetti-o's bad. Maybe an off-night or something.

Well, I don't eat at buffets, but I can tell you that the Grotto Italian restaurant in the Nugget has outstanding food, and some of the best Neapolitan pizza I've ever had in my life. We always sit at the rear bar counter, where the pizzas are prepped and cooked, and watch...

 

[pltrgyst]

• Expenses: Resort Fees .... So yes, this is a city-wide wallet-fuck.

Make that nation-wide.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I'm curious since IP's rebranding and little facelift if the rooms are better now. When I was there last it was still the Quad. Other than the sweet house chips it could have been called the Deuce.

Now the Linq, I find the casino to be pretty nice. Fully gutted, it was really improved. Chips were "meh" in the poker room, but an "A" for effort. I understand the rooms got a decent cleaning, painting, refurbish and the price has been bumped to somewhere between Bally's and PH's room rates. I wouldn't expect nice, but now the chalk outlines should have smiley faces.

 

[Chicken Rob]

I'm ok with the chalk outlines. I just wish they got the blood and brains out of the walls and carpet.