I've stayed here more times than I can count over the years. It used to be my top choice in Reno, but now I prefer to stay in downtown. The most important thing to know about this hotel is that although there's only one tower, there are two distinct types of rooms. The upper floors they call their Summit rooms are pretty nice and feature refrigerators, bar sinks, coffee makers, and 42" flat screen TVs. These rooms qualify as 3.5-stars, but the rest of the building has old rundown 2-star rooms with uncomfortable beds and old TVs, yet most sites display only the 3.5 star rating. They recently announced major remodeling plans. Sadly, they have chosen to remodel their Summit rooms, which were just fine as they were. The rooms in dire need of updating will be staying the same. They are also renovating their casino and the new more Western look with brown and light cream blue colors is unappealing to me.
There are several other negatives. They've jacked up their pet fee to $30+tax a night and no longer include a souvenir bowl. I've brought my dog here many times, but now I'll have to stay elsewhere when traveling with her. They also have an $10+tax mandatory resort fee. This covers Wifi, but it's very weak in most rooms. My phone's data connection was faster than the Wifi. It also includes their own brand of bottled water, but Reno gets its tap water from Lake Tahoe, so it should be unnecessary. Any foul taste in the tap water has to come from their old pipes.
They also often throw in vouchers and coupons with promotional stays. Most of them are pretty worthless discounts for on-site shops and services you probably won't use. I had received free buffet vouchers on one stay a few weeks back that I didn't get around to using, so I tried to use them on my most recent stay. I was bluntly told that I was out of luck. They did NOT have an expiration date on them, but they did have the date of my past stay. I was told I should have known that meant I had to use them then. I was quite annoyed by this, but on the other hand I've eaten at their buffet and aside from the crab legs, it's really awful quality food they put out for you.
Finally, I stayed two nights and my room went unserviced by housekeeping. I did sleep in and left at 11a for the day, but they should have checked at some point after that. It even says in the room that they do a second check of the rooms at 2pm. Obviously, this is false. Fortunately, they did send someone in the evening after I called in a request.
So essentially, if you get a cheap rate and don't care about the quality of your accommodations, this might be your choice. You should definitely check the other Reno hotels first though!
- Summit At Grand Sierra Hotel
- Summit Reno
- Reno Summit
