I recently stayed at the El Cortez Cabana Suites January 19-22 2012. I have stayed at the El Cortez before but never at the Cabana Suites. From first impression from seeing it in the evening i was a little set back. I was not sure if it was safe. I did see 2 security guards by the hotel. I assumed i check in the Cabana Suites to only be told i check in at the main El Cortez. During my stay they were doing some revamping by the El Cortez so i had to enter through a door that was further away. I received my key and still was concerned since i am a female and was alone. I needed to use my key to even get inside the cabana suites so that made me feel safe. The security guard was very friendly and greeted me. So ok not so bad after all. My room was on the first floor and I had a junior suite. It was just like the picture i had seen. Walls were green, bathroom the same like i had seen. everything worked just fine. I had a fridge. No complaints about the room at all. It was quite at night. The bed was comfortable and the shower worked great. The best thing that i liked was how friendly and safe i felt after i got to know the security guards. I would return back.

I booked the El Cortez Cabana Suites from a wholesaler and received an excellent price.

Everything was very nice, clean, and very well maintained.

You can park for free at either of the El Cortez' parking garages. The main hotel/casino is across the street - it's a bit dated and not nearly the standard as the Cabana Suites.

Gripes -
1) the shower: I could not figure out how to adjust the water temperature. It appeared that my shower control was missing something - there was a place for something to screw in it, but that 'piece' was missing. Usually you wait for cold water, but I had to turn on the shower - let it get to scalding then somehow work the knob back to cold. It worked, but I have no idea how.

2) the iHome docking station - it was unplugged when I arrived. I plugged it in and attempted to dock my iPhone 4S, couldn't get it to work. There were no instructions for the device except for some written on it for playing music. No instructions on how to set the time, or the alarm. When it went off in the middle of the night - I realized why it was unplugged. I never attempted to use it again.

3) the air conditioner - I never did figure out how to get this working correctly either. I do know it was January in Las Vegas, and I had the air conditioner set at about 63 degrees, fan on full blast to keep the room comfortable.

But, other than that stuff (which I did not report to the hotel), the hotel felt safe and clean. I'd stay there again.

I have stayed at most of the hotels in Vegas. This was the first one that really had a NYC boutique feel. Loved the retro style! Parking garage was right next door across the street. My only complaint is the location is a little far from the Fremont street canopy. It's safe though. Enjoyed my visit.

We are not hotel snobs. We can easily stay at a low quality hotel and enjoy it. We have stayed on other hotels on Fremont over the past 12 months. So, we were expecting so much more.

THE GOOD:
We totally got the art deco style of the hotel and of the room. We had a room opposite Ogden Ave. So, the room was quiet without street noise. We appreciated that.

We also liked that security was outside the main doors at all hours of the day. Says something about the area but as NYers, we felt safe.

THE BAD:
Lime green rooms. Really?!?!? We get the whole art deco thing but puke!

We had the Super Suite. Hearing that, you'd expect an amazing suite right? Nope. Just two rooms combined. The main room was lacking seating areas. It was like they just threw in a terrible couch and nothing else. There was too much empty space in the room. We have stayed at THE Hotel suites where it was much nicer. This was way more tacky than upscale.

The shower door did not work and the mirror was not conducive to applying makeup. There was too much space between the mirror and the edge. The sinks splashed water everywhere. Our room was given to us with two tissues left in the box. :( On top of that, there were only two towels provided. Not to mention, for a super suite, no hot tub. In fact, no tub at all.

Let's not even talk about the bed. OUCH! Hard as a rock and no fitted sheets. We were woken up half way through the night with clumps of sheets in our backs.

While the hotel is billed as near Fremont Street, it is actually quite a walk. We made the walk in the morning for Dunkin Donuts and it took 20 minutes through many bums. The El Cortez elevators and casino smelled like awful old lady perfume. It was piped in. Terrible smell.

This review would not have contained so many negative points had it not been for the price. We paid $90 a night for a Monday and Tuesday stay. We could have had a much better room on the strip for that price or a much nicer room on Fremont.

The end result, we would NEVER stay at El Cortex Cabana Suites again. There are much better hotels on Fremont for less cost.