Is Aliante Station worth the Drive ?

Due to the (lack of) availability of Frequent Flier seats,
I will have a day to kill before the family joins me for
Spring Break.

So, Is Aliante Station worth the Drive ?

Does anyone know if they have decent mailings for free
rooms for future stays ?

thanks.....

Quote: JohnnyQ

Due to the (lack of) availability of Frequent Flier seats,
I will have a day to kill before the family joins me for
Spring Break.So, Is Aliante Station worth the Drive ?
Does anyone know if they have decent mailings for free
rooms for future stays ?

thanks.....

It's kind of generic, in that it resembles most other Station properties.The gambling is the same as at other Stations properties, the restaurants are similar, etc. etc. They have a few fullpay video poker machines, but so do all the other Stations.

The Stations mailers are based on whichever property has gotten the most of your action, so playing at another Station casino instead of your "favorite" one won't get you anything extra, and you won't get any offers for that second property unless your total action there exceeds your total action at your "favorite". I made that mistake when they assumed that Sunset Station was my "preferred" property, and then I played at Green Valley Ranch, Red Rock, Texas Station, etc. and my play wasn't even considered for mailers.

If you want to visit an "outlying" casino, I suggest visiting Red Rock Station in the north, or on the south, South Point to gamble and M to eat at the buffet (that buffet is definitely worth the drive).

I agree that it is generic. But it is new.

The Aliante is ten minutes from my sons home,so my wife and I have stayed there three times while visiting. The rooms are fine, flat screens, high thead count sheets, plenty of pillows and excellent mattresses. The shower stall is easily big enough for two ;) The property is only about 2 years old, so one doesn't get the impression of things getting worn around the edges. I've given them enough action that I've recieved 3 mailers in the last 3 months for 3 free nights(including weekends) 4 free buffet meals per mailer, and the last two offer $25 in free table play( I shoot craps. I LOVE shooting craps). Station mailers are set up for use at all their properties. Mine offer three free nights anytime at Aliante, Texas, Boulder, Sunset, and Palace. Two free nights S-T and $29 weekends at GVR and Red Rocks.
The Aliante casino floor is spacious; not nearly as crowded as, say, Palace Station. The crew at the craps table knows their stuff. Minus the Koreans, they are an engaging lot, nobody's po'faced and they add to the experience. $5 minimums and 10X odds 24/7. Most of the players are locals, but there were quite a few on hand during our last visit. The drink service was good and I have to say that the CWs have all been young and attractive(standard uniform is a little! black dress with a 5"diameter cut out at the sternum, very nice).
MKL is right that there's a generic feel to the place, but in the Aliante's case, it's a very nice feel. Easily towards the upper end of the Station spectrum(assuming Red Rocks at the top). I'd also point out that if one is driving in from the north on I-15, Aliante is absolutely the easiest place to get to.
So, worth a special visit? To be honest, no; unless you're TDY at Nellis or on assignment at the test site or have family in north Vegas :) There is a good review on this site. You can visit just to see someplace new( I try to visit somewhere new each visit to town).

I once tried to get there with the bus from downtown Vegas. I had to transfer at some point. I waited till the announcement in the bus said "transfer for route...". I got out of the bus in the middle of nowhere. There was only a sign indicating that this place was a bus stop. Nothing to shelter from the Vegas heat. Eventually I took a bus back downtown. Visiting Aliante was worth dehydrating...

I was going south on the highway but didn't see a sign for the 215 loop. The 215 loop
is clearly shown on the rental car map, but it must go by a different name. So I never
got to the Aliante Station on trip #2 to LV this year.

Add this to my (short) list of pet peeves.

ps: I do have to admit that my wife is not that good of a navigator.

To me Aliante is not better than Green Valley or Red Rock. It just has fewer people and it is slightly newer.

When I moved to LV two years ago, I tried to use my GPS to find Aliante and couldn't, so don't feel bad. That neighborhood is (was) too new to show up on Garmin GPS maps. Look for Elkhorn at the north edge of town, and Elkhorn deadends into the Aliante complex on the east side. Aliante was built at a time when it was thought LV would grow north, but it hasn't. As I drove east on Elkhorn towards the casino, I was reminded of the movie The Thirteenth Floor, because it's at the very edge of town.

I think there was a name change and relocation during some construction and licensing hearings so be sure your GPS or whatever has the correct address. Its been open for some time now but who knows if the databases were updated.

Quote: JohnnyQ

I was going south on the highway but didn't see a sign for the 215 loop. The 215 loop
is clearly shown on the rental car map, but it must go by a different name. So I never
got to the Aliante Station on trip #2 to LV this year.

Add this to my (short) list of pet peeves.

ps: I do have to admit that my wife is not that good of a navigator.

Don't blame your wife. Instead of using the standard size white/silver letters on the highway signs, they use a small blue rosette with 215 printed in yellow inside the rosette. It's way easy to miss as you're barrelling down I-15.

Quote: JohnnyQ

I was going south on the highway but didn't see a sign for the 215 loop. The 215 loop
is clearly shown on the rental car map, but it must go by a different name. So I never
got to the Aliante Station on trip #2 to LV this year.

215 a k a Bruce Woodbury Beltway. Or you can punch in 7300 Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas, on your Navigator.

Quote: zippyboy

When I moved to LV two years ago, I tried to use my GPS to find Aliante and couldn't, so don't feel bad. That neighborhood is (was) too new to show up on Garmin GPS maps.

The casino is four years old, and the residential/commercial buildings run quite a bit older than that.

.....

Quote: SanchoPanza

Or you can punch in 7300 Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas, on your Navigator.

I'm pretty sure she (my navigator who was sleeping at the time) would not appreciate that !

The only two casinos (with table games) that I have never been to in Vegas are the Aliante Station and the Opera House.

Quote: Wizard

The only two casinos (with table games) that I have never been to in Vegas are the Aliante Station and the Opera House.

I knocked the last ones of my list last trip. Been to them all (except Silver Saddle). Last time I checked, Opera House didn't have table games so you can cross them off your list.

(Edit: Still boycotting Hooters).

The rooms are nice, clean and layed out well. It's a short hop, skip and a jump down to their casino, which offers lots of lower stakes action. You will see quite a few locals in there as far as ratio of locals to tourists. The employees seem to give it their best; They're friendly, courteous and hard-working. The place is a haul across a few miles of open highway from the strip. There is a sense of being away from it all there because... You really ARE away from it all! The casino has the full range of table games in addition to lots of machines and wasn't crowded.

Quote: IvanYerkanoff

The rooms are nice, clean and layed out well. It's a short hop, skip and a jump down to their casino, which offers lots of lower stakes action. You will see quite a few locals in there as far as ratio of locals to tourists. The employees seem to give it their best; They're friendly, courteous and hard-working. The place is a haul across a few miles of open highway from the strip. There is a sense of being away from it all there because... You really ARE away from it all! The casino has the full range of table games in addition to lots of machines and wasn't crowded.

They have a decent DD BJ game, was $10 min the two times I was there, about 70% pen which is great if you are of the counting persuasion. Not a great read on heat, I wasn't betting that big when I was there ($10-$100ish) and I played about hour sessions. I wouldn't normally side track all the way out there, but I have a high school friend who is a local and lives in the area.

Quote: AcesAndEights

They have a decent DD BJ game, was $10 min the two times I was there, about 70% pen which is great if you are of the counting persuasion. Not a great read on heat, I wasn't betting that big when I was there ($10-$100ish) and I played about hour sessions. I wouldn't normally side track all the way out there, but I have a high school friend who is a local and lives in the area.

Yes, I agree. The DD BJ game is worth playing, pen set by notch so it remains steady within a few cards. I think it's worth the drive.

Quote: JohnnyQ

So, Is Aliante Station worth the Drive ?

No.

Quote: AcesAndEights

They have a decent DD BJ game, was $10 min the two times I was there, about 70% pen which is great if you are of the counting persuasion. Not a great read on heat, I wasn't betting that big when I was there ($10-$100ish) and I played about hour sessions. I wouldn't normally side track all the way out there, but I have a high school friend who is a local and lives in the area.

That is good to know. A couple of the Stations (Boulder, certainly, in my experience) give excellent pen on their DD games, plus RSA. Spreading $10-$100 (actually less than that) is all I would be comfortable with anyway.

On a similar note, does anyone know if (or which) Stations charges a resort fee on comped rooms? I have about 10 days of comped nights available, but if they charge a resort fee it will cost me a bit to use them.

Quote: IvanYerkanoff

Yes, I agree. The DD BJ game is worth playing, pen set by notch so it remains steady within a few cards. I think it's worth the drive.

Hmmm, I didn't remember a notch at first, but now I think I do. The notch is in the discard rack, correct? I know it's pitch-dealt (not out of a shoe), so there's no shoe around to have a notch.

Quote: AcesAndEights

Hmmm, I didn't remember a notch at first, but now I think I do. The notch is in the discard rack, correct? I know it's pitch-dealt (not out of a shoe), so there's no shoe around to have a notch.

Yes, there is a notch in all the discard racks. The "heat" question I am unsure of. I "went with the flow" of things at this place and tried not to do anything that would raise any eyebrows. They are obviously used to smaller action so it's not like you would walk into this place, buy in for a stack of 100's and start slapping down huge bets without drawing a lot off attention to yourself. This same behavior would not make them flinch at all in Caesars, Aria, Bellagio, etc. because they are used to bigger action but in this place it might be a different story.

There's such a thing as making a reasonable assessment of what sort of action is in the "comfort zone" of any given casino and what may trigger them to scrutinize you closer than you wish to be scrutinized. Start plunking down max bets at the $5 tables in this place and my educated guess is that they are going wonder about you and want to make a determination (as quickly as possible) as to whether you are just another wild and crazy gambler or an AP, since you will stand out in the crowd with this behavior. I just didn't see any big action going on at the tables and the tables on the casino floor are all $5 and $10 min., making it some seriously affordable gambling.

The flat out "No" answer to "Is it worth the travel?" could use a little explanation, Sd2Baker. If you are going to review a casino you should try to remain objective and honest to avoid any misinformation. It's good to have some sort of reasoning for whatever you have to say, I would think. An honest assessment based on factual data rather than anything such as "Well, I lost there... Therefore this place sucks and I hate it there" doesn't exactly qualify for a fair and objective review in other words. A negative review could use a little something to substantiate it, so I would like to hear about why you threw the "No." answer out there.

The relaxed atmosphere, relatively friendly employees, uncrowded conditions, low stakes affordable gambling and overall cleanliness of this place score high enough in my book for me to recommend Aliante Station to friends, relatives, etc., especially if I was concerned about them having a pleasant enough time and not getting gouged out and fleeced too quickly!

Quote: JohnnyQ

So, Is Aliante Station worth the Drive ?

Drive? That's what the 119 bus is for.

The only reason I didn't go there on my "bus tour of Vegas" this year was, it's on a route where, for most of the day, the buses only run once an hour.

Quote: Flynn

I once tried to get there with the bus from downtown Vegas. I had to transfer at some point. I waited till the announcement in the bus said "transfer for route...". I got out of the bus in the middle of nowhere. There was only a sign indicating that this place was a bus stop. Nothing to shelter from the Vegas heat. Eventually I took a bus back downtown. Visiting Aliante was worth dehydrating...

From the Strip, the 119 stops in front of Fashion Show Mall (across the street from TI). However, you're right in that it bypasses downtown for some reason.