My wife and I travel to Las Vegas for business and pleasure several times each year, and generally prefer to stay downtown or on the smaller resorts off Boulder or in Henderson. The Plaza is one of our favorite hotels primarily because the location, at the head of Fremont St. The place had started to show its age prior to being closed in 2010, and I really thought it was going to be permanently closed, another victim of a lousy economy.
Well, the story of a badly needed renovation was not just a ruse, and the hotel re-opened late last year. We spent two nights at the Plaza for a last-minute weekend getaway, and were generally pleased with the makeover. Not much has actually changed in the casino itself; the biggest change were the wealth of new machines, what appears to be many new dealers & staff who are very customer service oriented (an improvement!), and the loss of the poker room and a keno lounge. The Plaza at one time sported one of the bigger poker rooms downtown, but in the past few years had dropped nearly all their games to the lowest limits possible, and had limited their hours from late afternoon until 1 a.m. The loss of the poker room was not too big a disappointment because Binions & the Golden Nugget each offer a variety of 24 hour poker options.
Renovations were most noticeable in the rooms, which offer new upgraded bedding, desks, and sitting areas with new couches. The rooms are very large and comfortable. Towels are large, plentiful, and the new shower/tubs are an improvement from the old rooms. Still missing are refrigerators and/or mini-bars, and microwaves. Also, the ice machines were broken throughout the entire hotel. I mean, the entire hotel! We had to go to one of the bars in the casino for ice! Housekeeping was also below par; our housekeeper did a minimal job of making up the room. Trash was picked up, but some towels were left in the bathroom, and the bed looked like she had simply tried to straighten the bedspread; the sheets were not tucked in. Still, overall the room was comfortable enough that it was easy to overlook these relatively minor issues.
The old "center stage" restaurant (and also the former Fly's sports and taps bar) is now Oscars, an upscale steakhouse which was also good and would rate 4 stars; a little pricey, but good food! "Hash House a Go Go" has taken a spot where there used to be a diner downstairs, and the old buffet is now a sushi restaurant. The nice part of being downtown is there are several good dining options within an easy walk!
Remember, this is a "downtown" hotel, not a property on the strip; the atmosphere is not what you will find at those properties, e.g., there are no celebrity pool or cabana rentals, and no show bartenders anywhere. But for a comfortable room downtown within an easy walk of all there is to see on Fremont Street, the Plaza might be your best choice!
- Plaza Las Vegas
- Plaza Hotel Las Vegas
