Hotel

This thread is to be used to discuss hotel accommodations at Circus Circus.

On a couple of trips several years ago I stayed in the motel rooms here. I stayed there because it was the cheapest room I could find, however, be warned that these rooms are not even attached to the casino. You are literally just as well off (get the same level experience) staying at the Travelodge next door (which sad to say, I have also done). But if you have no one to impress and no money to spare, this is a viable option.

Circus Circus has lost money the 4th quarter of 2009 and the 1st quarter of 2010 (possibly longer). Gaming revenue dropped below $72 million for fiscal year 2009 (ended 30 June 2009).

Circus Circus and its 3,774 rooms should probably be retired soon. Resort companies are reluctant to close aging resorts that earn minimal profit because the empty land still costs money in taxes, and the customers will often go to competitors (Sahara or Riviera or Stratosphere), but north strip is doing awful.

Sadly the strip would probably be better off if the entire northern end of the strip (Riviera, Circus Circus, Sahara, Stratopshere, and Palace Station) was shut down. Either the budget vacationer would not come to Vegas or they would be forced to seek rooms in more vital parts of the city. However, this loss of 10K rooms would have a severe impact on employment.

Revenue continues to tumble at Circus Circus in 2010 and is now down to $500K per day . It is the only MGM Resort to lose money on an operational basis. Although casino revenue is not separately published, we know it is below $200K per day. Circus circus revenue is now $133 per room day, which compares with $366 oer room day for the Boyd downtown casinos.

The casino has over 60 games and poker tables and 1600 slots. It is difficult to see where the resort can make any large cost savings. There is only one steak house open for dinner that is above the most casual dining. If they close AdventureDome as cost savings measure, the resort may lose any appeal.

Slots-A-Fun no longer operates under a separate license. I suspect that the only difference that makes to the player is they no longer have their own casino chips.

I think that the closing of Sahara will make this property even weaker, but I know there are holdouts who fill CC will benefit from lower competition.

Has anyone on this blog been in the property in the last 2 years?

I was in CC and Slots-a-Fun last October. I stayed a little longer than I really wanted to because it was raining and I'd parked across the strip and walked to the properties. Slots-a-Fun was fun but run down. I got the feeling that the people around me sat in those same seats quite frequently. CC was kind of a disaster. I'd say there were about 2 times as many kids there as there were adults (maybe there were adults on the gaming floor that I didn't see, but the non-casino parts of the public spaces of the property were teeming with...well...tweens.)

I have a feeling that CC will benefit from Sahara's closing, if for no other reason than there will be one less strip property with room rates lower than their own. It's hard to beat Sahara's $1 rooms. Then again, it's hard to turn a profit that way, too.


My last visit there was about 8 years ago. I was in the casino about 2 hours. It seemed grungy, but the same kind of grungy that a temporary circus that rolls into town onto an open field would be. But as soon as you stop and remember that this is a permanent facility, on the LV strip, the grungy feel turned into downright dumpy / crappy.

Slots-A-Fun was much of the same. My impression of S-A-F is that it's the place where old slot machines go to die. Ditto for slot players.

I was there exactly a year ago tomorrow. I was hoping to pick up a souvenir "Slots-A-Fun at Circus Circus" chip but discovered that they never introduced such a thing. I left without spending/gambling a cent. Went directly to the Silver Saddle for my adventure there.

Table of every gaming license in Nevada that made over $1 million in fiscal year 2010

Doc, I am not sure if you got the updated list from FY2009 to FY2010. The list goes by license, so SAF is under the circus circus license this year. I highlighted the licenses in blue that only showed square footage for slots and/or sports. Silver Saddle made the list two years ago and has since dropped off (presumably revenue went under $1 million). Same with casinos like Mardi Gras at the Best Western near the convention center (50 slots). Wynn & Encore operate under the same license as does Venetian & Palazzo as well as Mandalay Bay & THE Hotel.

You've been at this for a long time so you must be close to completing Clark County.

There are 148 licenses for Clark County on the list that made over $1m in fiscal year 2010 (ends June 30 2010). Four of them are race & sports for larger casinos.

======================================
The quarterly report for the end of June 2010 lists the number of licenses for Clark county (regardless of earnings):
Non Restricted SLOTS ONLY = 61
Non Restricted GAMES & SLOTS = 166

In another place it attempts to subitemize the 61+166=227 by type of location, but it doesn't completely add up.
61 Hotel/Casino Resort
28 Hotel Casinos
9 Casino With Motel

39 Casino W/Bar & Rest
11 Casino With Bar
19 Restaurant/Bar
33 Racebook/Sports Pool
14 Sports Pool
5 Supermarkets
4 Bar
1 Casino W/Restaurant
1 Bowling Alleys
1 Truck Stop
226

Quote: pacomartin

... You've been at this for a long time so you must be close to completing Clark County. ...

Prior to 2003, I had only collected one souvenir chip, from my very first casino on my first cruise ship in 1976. But, yes, I believe that I now have a souvenir $1 chip from every casino offering blackjack and/or craps in "Southern Nevada", meaning Clark County and Pahrump. I have not been out to Beatty, so I can't claim Nye county. I also don't have a detailed map that shows county lines, so I don't know whether any of the casinos in Mesquite are across the line in Lincoln county.

Last year you mentioned Ultra New Town Tavern, which has poker tables but not blackjack or craps, and you posted an image of their chip. It sounded like even less my kind of place than Silver Saddle, so I don't think I will explore that category of casino. Don't know whether there are any others like that in Nevada. I haven't collected any from the California card rooms.

I have multiple souvenir chips from the same facility in cases where the name of the place changed; e.g., South Coast & South Point and Barbary Coast & Bill's. The early write-ups that I saw of the Slots-A-Fun going under the Circus Circus license said it would be called "Slots-A-Fun at Circus Circus", so I was hoping they would have chips with that name. No such luck. I already had Slots-A-Fun and Circus Circus chips. I have a similar disappointment in that even though the Las Vegas Club changed its name to "Vegas Club" they are still using the same chips as the one I have, including the "Las".

My total collection now represents 234 casinos, including 119 in Nevada. I have tentative plans to visit northern New Mexico and Colorado this fall, including visiting casinos in both states. I have not yet made it to Charlestown, and I have lots of un-plowed ground throughout Pennsylvania. Most of the other casinos around the country are outside my usual travel zones.

Quote: Doc

r you mentioned Ultra New Town Tavern, which has poker tables but not blackjack or craps, and you posted an image of their chip. It sounded like even less my kind of place than Silver Saddle, so I don't think I will explore that category of casino. Don't know whether there are any others like that in Nevada. I haven't collected any from the California card rooms.
My total collection now represents 234 casinos, including 119 in Nevada. I have tentative plans to visit northern New Mexico and Colorado this fall, including visiting casinos in both states. I have not yet made it to Charlestown, and I have lots of un-plowed ground throughout Pennsylvania. Most of the other casinos around the country are outside my usual travel zones.

Ultra New Town Tavern just closed (see photo) and would get my vote for most dangerous tavern in the city for a white guy. I think the poker tables closed a while back.


Download my list. I have 98 casinos in Clark County + 50 with slots and/or sports only. Nye County (Pahrump) has 5 casinos with tables, + two with slots and sports. But the table is restricted to licenses that made over $1 million in the fiscal year. I have seen a place with only 20 slots make over $1 million, and a place with 100 slots that did not.

The 20 oldest licenses that exist follows. Gerlach's motto is that it's not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see the "middle of nowhere" from there. It's about 75 miles north of Reno near one of the oldest deserts in the country. Jackpot is a town established on Idaho border in the 1950's when Idaho made gambling illegal. Virginia City is near I 80. Dino's is still operating, but they don't have any slot machines as far as I know. They probably figured out some way to keep their license active.

Start Primary Location Name City-Name
1-Jan-47 HARRAH'S CASINO HOTEL RENO RENO
1-Jan-53 GOLDEN NUGGET LAS VEGAS
17-Jun-53 COUNTRY CLUB GERLACH
1-Jan-54 HARVEYS RESORT HOTEL/CASINO AND HARR STATELINE
1-Jan-55 JOHN ASCUAGA'S NUGGET SPARKS
7-Oct-55 GOLDEN GATE HOTEL & CASINO LAS VEGAS
1-Oct-56 CACTUS PETES RESORT CASINO JACKPOT
1-Oct-57 BARTON'S CLUB 93 JACKPOT
1-Apr-58 DELTA SALOON VIRGINIA CITY
3-Apr-62 CLUB CAL-NEVA RENO
15-May-62 ELDORADO CASINO HENDERSON
25-Jun-62 JIM KELLEY'S TAHOE NUGGET CRYSTAL BAY
1-Jan-63 EL CORTEZ LAS VEGAS
9-Apr-63 FALLON NUGGET FALLON
1-Jan-64 DINO'S LAS VEGAS
1-Jul-64 CARSON NUGGET, INC. CARSON CITY
1-Oct-64 JERRY'S NUGGET NORTH LAS VEGAS
10-Jul-66 RIVERSIDE RESORT & CASINO LAUGHLIN
16-Aug-66 CAESARS PALACE LAS VEGAS
15-Dec-66 HACIENDA HOTEL & CASINO BOULDER CITY

There are other buildings that are obviously just as old, but their licenses must have been updated. Flamingo is from July 1973 which I think is when they were bought by Hilton. Fremont is from 1985 when they were turned over to Boyd corporation after the skimming scandals.

Quote: pacomartin

Ultra New Town Tavern just closed ...

I think I am glad to have missed the opportunity.

Quote: pacomartin

... Download my list. I have 98 casinos in Clark County + 50 with slots and/or sports only. ...

Thanks for the list. I do indeed have chips from all of the "Southern Nevada" casinos listed, except for the race books and slots-only establishments. Some day I will make it to Reno/Tahoe, but I doubt I will ever cover the rest of the state. I suspect I'm more likely to cover casinos in Michigan, Oklahoma, etc., and I have no plans to visit those. I'm more likely to get to the NM, CO, and PA casinos not represented in my collection, then on to some more in LA.

One surprise on the list is that the Fremont Street establishment is still listed as "Las Vegas Club." I thought I read that the official name had dropped the "Las".

Quote: pacomartin

... Gerlach's motto is that it's not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see the "middle of nowhere" from there. It's about 75 miles north of Reno near one of the oldest deserts in the country. ...

One of my friends has attended the Burning Man festivities the past two years and has shown me his photos. Interesting area and event.

Has anyone been through here lately?

Quote: Wizardofnothing

Has anyone been through here lately?

I didn't stay there, but walked through with GF one morning last month. Seems unchanged from when I last walked through a couple decades ago. I think it had a good vibe for what it is supposed to be.