The El Cortez is long past it's prime but gives you a great value for the price and is not right on Fremont Street, which is a bonus (less noise and street hustlers). Fremont St. is not the place to stay for everyone but if you like to chase your luck by casino hopping and aren't willing to take a 20 minute stroll to get to the next casino like on the strip then Fremont may be for you. Plus the rooms are for the most part similar in quiality to those on the strip, but at a reduced rate if you book from an online discount website. A word of warning though be careful walking the 2 blocks back to the El Cortez from Fremont St. at 5 a.m. after gambling all night, the area is full of street hustlers and you gotta watch your back as there is no else around at this time (police, other "innocent" by-standards) or you might get rolled for your bank roll. a paltry $500 in my case but still hard earned money. Keep your head up, your best don't mess with me scowl on your face, avoid eye contact, walk fast and of course do not stop to conversate. Nothing good can come of a conversation in this situation. there is no upside for you. or just leave earlier.
Back to the El Cortez. The room was large and clean. the bed was comfortable and the sheets were clean. The bath area was dated but also clean with no obvious stains. And a bonus, there was no disgusting comforter to ball up and throw in the corner, cause god knows they never wash those things. We paid 30/ nite from a booking website. great deal and lots of adventure Dowtown Las Vegas.

We got a room at El Cortez for Thursday and Friday night in the Pavilion building above parking garage. Great location and it is only one block from all the activities on Fremont street. The room was nice and clean and didn't have any problems. We booked the room through Expedia and got buy one night, get one night free. So basically we stay free on a Friday night in Vegas.

We got the "deluxe room" at the pavilion, which is on the top (5th) floor of a parking garage. Room is average quality, clean and comfy, no issues. For the price we pay, this is definitely a gem in downtown.

My stay started with the computer system being down and the hotel being unable to give me a room. Since I had to change my clothes and freshen up for a work-related mixer, I had to drag my suitcase into the Ladies Room of the Casino and change in a bathroom stall, putting on my makeup under the fluorescent lights. When I finally got to my Pavilion Room that evening, it was tiny and extremely cold. The outside temperature was in the 30's. I don't know what the temperature in the room was, because the lowest the thermostat goes is 60, and the needle was lower than that. After an hour or so of having the heater on, the temperature in the room got up to about 64 degrees, and even with the heater on all night, it never got above 70 in my room. My feet were extremely cold from the tile in the bathroom/sink area, and there were no extra blankets to be found, so I had to take the very thin blanket off the other bed in my room and put it on the bed I was sleeping on, but I still felt cold all night.

I went there with a coworker, and our first impression was that it was smoky and noisy, not only in the casino, but in our non-smoking rooms. The rooms across from us were smoking rooms, and there were ashtrays only a couple of feet from our doors, so smoke still gets into the rooms when you open the doors. The clock in my room wasn't plugged in, and the outlet was behind the headboard, so I couldn't reach it. The water in the shower vacillates between hot and cold, doesn't stay one temperature. But the icing was when the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night--not once, but twice!

I've stayed downtown before, and never felt like I was at a motel 6, until I stayed at the El Cortez. It seemed run-down and sketchy. I wouldn't stay there again.