Kevin L.'s review
* The downtown bus terminal has moved from its old location on Stewart & Casino Center (where Kevin was referring to) to a new location on Bonneville & Casino Center. It's now about 8 blocks from the 'Tez - walkable for the daring, but not recommended.
* The 109 no longer goes to the Fremont St. area - it only goes as far north as Bonneville. Ditto the 108. The 107 does not, and will not, service the airport. There's a new route, the Westcliff Airport Express (WAX), that does go from the airport to the downtown area.
* The 'Tez is ONE block EAST of Las Vegas Blvd., at least its southwest entrance is. The Fremont Street Experience, depending on how you define it, either starts at Las Vegas Blvd. or 4th Street, which is the next block over.
Quote: fremont4everFirst of all, I would like to thank him for the review. It's timely as I am considering staying there on my nect trip. I do, however, have a few nits to pick:
* The downtown bus terminal has moved from its old location on Stewart & Casino Center (where Kevin was referring to) to a new location on Bonneville & Casino Center. It's now about 8 blocks from the 'Tez - walkable for the daring, but not recommended.
* The 109 no longer goes to the Fremont St. area - it only goes as far north as Bonneville. Ditto the 108. The 107 does not, and will not, service the airport. There's a new route, the Westcliff Airport Express (WAX), that does go from the airport to the downtown area.
* The 'Tez is ONE block EAST of Las Vegas Blvd., at least its southwest entrance is. The Fremont Street Experience, depending on how you define it, either starts at Las Vegas Blvd. or 4th Street, which is the next block over.
The 107 and the 208 pass within one block of the El Cortez, but neither of those routes directly connects to the airport. The downtown bus terminal has moved to a new location that is not particularly convenient for downtown, and especially not for the El Cortez: it is five blocks north on Fremont to Casino Center, then six blocks west. The Westcliff Express will get you downtown from the airport for only $2, but you will wind up at the new location (Bonneville Transit Center). However, if coming from the airport, you can get off the WEX at 4th and Carson, and if going to the airport, you can board it at Casino Center and Fremont, both of which locations are several blocks closer.
The El Cortez is actually one block SOUTH of LV Blvd, as you travel along Fremont.
Quote: mkl654321
The El Cortez is actually one block SOUTH of LV Blvd, as you travel along Fremont.
Downtown does not align to cardinal directions very well. But LVB runs SW-NE downtown, and Fremont runs NW-SE. I think I like Fremont4ever's description better, if for no other reason than it alleviates confusion with directions on the Strip where LVB runs N-S.
I hope he won't mind that I overruled the opening sentence, saying it is south of the Fremont Street casino cluster, and I replaced it with east. If you look at a map, at that part of Fremont street runs about 4:00 to 10:00 on the clock, which is more west-east than north-south.
There is now some doubt, with me at least, about the blackjack offerings. I was there only about three weeks ago and saw only single and double-deck games. Stay tuned.
Quote: WizardKevin just sent in a bunch of corrections, which I weaved into the review.
I hope he won't mind that I overruled the opening sentence, saying it is south of the Fremont Street casino cluster, and I replaced it with east. If you look at a map, at that part of Fremont street runs about 4:00 to 10:00 on the clock, which is more west-east than north-south.
There is now some doubt, with me at least, about the blackjack offerings. I was there only about three weeks ago and saw only single and double-deck games. Stay tuned.
At one point, Kevin reverts to the old name for the restaurants. He calls the cafe, Roberta's cafe. Actually it was Kitty's Cafe and Roberta's was the name of the fine dining restaurant (now called the Flame). Neither place is posted as Kitty's or Roberta's anymore. It is best to remove the old names from the review.
The double deck blackjack game was there for decades. I am surprised they changed to a shoe. I am not sure what the advantage is of offering a single deck game if they are going to be ultra-paranoid about counting.
The El Cortez Casino did build that walkway about 50 yards from Fremont Street. It is extremely well lit with music playing and security watches over it carefully. It goes the single block from Las Vegas Blvd to a new entrance to the casino. Street crime is really not a problem there, just panhandling. Crime can be a real problem a few blocks away.
And the most important thing is there is the collection of bars and lounges: Azul Tequila, Beauty Bar, Downtown Cocktail Room, The Griffin, Maharaja Hookah Café, the Vanguard Lounge, along with The Beat Coffeehouse, Kabob Corner, and Joe's Pizza as places to eat. The El Cortez can't be separate from it's neighborhood.
Quote: fremont4everThere's a new route, the Westcliff Airport Express (WAX), that does go from the airport to the downtown area.
* The 'Tez is ONE block EAST of Las Vegas Blvd., at least its southwest entrance is. The Fremont Street Experience, depending on how you define it, either starts at Las Vegas Blvd. or 4th Street, which is the next block over.
El Cortez will send a van to the airport. If none is available:
The new Westcliff Airport Express is by far the best and fastest way to downtown from the airport. It goes north on 4th street, so you have to walk two blocks to get to El Cortez. The block from 4th to 5th is pedestrian only. From 5th to 6th you can walk down Fremont Street (gritty urban but safe), or you can walk north 50 yards and walk down the custom pedestrian path (well lit, music playing, guards are nearby). The only problem is there are only 23 buses from 6:20 AM until 11:00PM. Frequency never gets much higher than 2 buses per hour.
As mentioned earlier, the #108 bus (which was the old way to go) skirts downtown, and does not cross Fremont Ave. until 13th street. That is one of the more dangerous sections in downtown (primary place for hookers, cocaine, and meth) so unless you are very street savvy don't go there. You can get off at the new Bonnevill Transit Center, but it's almost 1 mile to El Cortez. Bonneville and Las Vegas Blvd is marginally closer, but not much safer.
A block and a half south of Bonneville and Las Vegas Blvd is Gold and Silver Pawn made famous by the reality TV series Pawn Stars on the history channel.
