Good Bill's Offers
Quote: AcesAndEightsHas anyone stayed at Bill's?
No, but there's a review on the hotels section of this site.
From my own experience, I can recommend the Victorian Cafe.
Quote: NareedNo, but there's a review on the hotels section of this site.
From my own experience, I can recommend the Victorian Cafe.
Ah, thanks for the pointer. I checked the forum section but forgot to check the main site.
No room safe is a bummer for me as I like to leave stuff in there, but not a deal breaker. I do find the idea of getting in and out of the room and back to the strip quickly pretty appealing. I've exclusively stayed in the mega-resorts on my trips to Vegas, and it can be quite a trek from the street, through the casino, to the elevator, and finally through the endless hallways to your room. I may try out a stay here just for that reason.
It still baffles me that they haven't subsumed Bill's into the Total Rewards program. Are they trying an experiment to maintain a different "brand" for some reason? Seems like a strange property to try that out on, considering how many dozens of properties they've acquired over the years, and immediately switched to TR.
Quote:Spend $10 more and go somewhere that cares
What a dive. I've stayed at other bottom tier properties in Vegas (Imperial Palace, Riviera, Circus Circus), and didn't think that Bill's would be among them. I'd go back to IP before I'd stay here again.
I arrived at 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon and attempted to check in. My travel agent said check-in time was 3:00; the front desk (and Bill's web site) says it was 4:00. Would I like to pay $10 for early check-in? Fine. My wife and I head up to the room. The elevators are creaky, and we exit onto the third floor. A stained marble shelf in the elevator lobby clearly used to have a vase bolted down to it -- the bolt hole and the round stain make that obvious. To my left, an ice machine with a semi-permanent handwritten "out of order" sign exudes class.
We head to the room, open the door, and it's a smoking room. We'd requested non-smoking. We've got a view of the parking lot. There's no safe, no refrigerator, no closet. The bed's very firm. The shower head fixture is attached to the wall with lots of red putty; the cover for the connection is loose on the pipe.
My wife wants to take a nap, and fortunately, we've got one more comped night at the Riviera to use (we thought we'd skip it and stay here, but that ain't happening). I drive her back, and then come back to Bill's at 4:30 to request a change to a non-smoking room. The front desk says they have none available, and that they don't guarantee such requests. Really? Maybe ask again tomorrow, he says. So if I'm understanding correctly, on a Sunday in early March, when there's no major events in town, there's no non-smoking rooms available for early check-in (fine, maybe they weren't clean yet?), and none after the regular check-in time either? And you can't assign me one that you'll know will be available tomorrow or the next day? Really?
We stayed at the Riviera instead of Bill's on Sunday night. I dropped my wife at the airport on Monday morning, went to work, and returned on Monday night. By this time, I'd given up on the non-smoking issue. I only use the hotel to sleep and shower; I could tolerate the smokiness.
There's better hotels nearby (Flamingo, Harrah's, Ballys, Imperial Palace) usually for the same cost or less. Look elsewhere.
Room Tip: If you take up smoking, you won't be disappointed when they assign you a smoking room.
I've enjoyed staying at Bill's simply because I like the vibe of the older hotels, and I don't care about fine amenities for the most part. I spend very little time in my room when I'm on the road. I've stayed in massive suites that are bigger than my house, with all sorts of crazy features (although I am partial to the remote-controlled picture window blinds and curtains), but at the end of the day, I really just prefer a bed, a desk, and a shower. At Bill's, my floor and room was clean, if a bit musty, and I was amused that my shower had a window that physically opened (rare in Vegas), giving me fresh air in the room while taking a shower. There was absolutely nothing else special about the room, but it was comfortable and I had zero issues, which is what I look for. Combine that with the convenience of the location and I would stay again.
Quote: LonesomeGamblerMaking a firm judgment based on another person's isolated experience is not very sound reasoning, in my opinion. People who have a bad experience somewhere are far more likely to write reviews on a review site, or post on a forum, than are people who had a good experience. It makes sense—you expect staying in a low to mid-level hotel to be non-event; if it ends up being that, then it's off your mind, while a bad experience will make you want to vent your frustrations.
I've enjoyed staying at Bill's simply because I like the vibe of the older hotels, and I don't care about fine amenities for the most part. I spend very little time in my room when I'm on the road. I've stayed in massive suites that are bigger than my house, with all sorts of crazy features (although I am partial to the remote-controlled picture window blinds and curtains), but at the end of the day, I really just prefer a bed, a desk, and a shower. At Bill's, my floor and room was clean, if a bit musty, and I was amused that my shower had a window that physically opened (rare in Vegas), giving me fresh air in the room while taking a shower. There was absolutely nothing else special about the room, but it was comfortable and I had zero issues, which is what I look for. Combine that with the convenience of the location and I would stay again.
No judgement at all just summarizing the review. To be fair, any concerns should be given the chance to be remedied and that doesn't appear to be the case here.
Quote: LonesomeGamblerMaking a firm judgment based on another person's isolated experience is not very sound reasoning, in my opinion. People who have a bad experience somewhere are far more likely to write reviews on a review site, or post on a forum, than are people who had a good experience.
You're quite right. A data point of 1 is probably worse than receiving no opinion at all. A roulette wheel isn't biased towards 17 just because you walked up and saw the ball drop into 17. Bill's isn't a bad choice just because I had a bad experience. Get a sufficient number of results, and then you'll have a picture of what to expect.
Other reviews on TripAdvisor run the gamut, from "this is my new favorite place to stay" to worse than mine. The worn rugs and lack of non-smoking rooms seems to be a fairly consistent thread. It ranks #48 of 284 in Las Vegas.
I've stayed at Sahara and at Imperial Palace, which both met my low expectations. I've stayed at the Riviera, which far exceeded my low expectations. I've also stayed at El Cortez, Cosmopolitan, Caesars (twice), Flamingo, TI, and PHo. Looking at my TripAdvisor reviews, it seems that the ones I write about are not the ones that meet my expectations (which, of course, vary based on the property's reputation), but rather, those that exceed or fall below those expectations. I expected scuffed furniture at El Cortez; I didn't write about it. I expected nice toiletries and views at Caesars; I didn't write about it. I expected stellar service at Cosmo; I didn't get it and wrote about it. I expected a well worn room at Riviera; I wrote about how nice it actually was.
Quote: 1BBNo judgement at all just summarizing the review. To be fair, any concerns should be given the chance to be remedied and that doesn't appear to be the case here.
It was tolerable, and I'm pretty non-confrontational, and because I still had a night at the Riv I could use (we hadn't even packed it up yet), it wasn't worth the argument. Once my wife flew home, I cared even less, because, like LG, I only need a clean bed, desk, and shower. But as I said in the review, with other similarly cheap choices within a literal stone's throw, I don't plan on giving them a second chance.
