Palace Station: Any advice on the Palace Station?

So, my father has never been to Las Vegas. He is now 61 years old. Since I love Vegas soooo much (and I love my dad a lot too) I often think when I'm in Vegas about how I'd like to spend some time with him here. I think he'd like it, and every time I've gone to see the Beatles tribute show "Fab Four Mania" and the ever-famous "The Beatles LOVE" Cirque du Soleil show, I think, "Oh, I wish my dad was here to see this!" (My dad's a rock guitarist and I got into music - not to mention The Beatles - because of him.)

So I've told him for a while he should come out for a visit. My dad's finances are always tight so it's not easy for him to just come out. After encouraging him several times to visit he told me a few weeks ago that his girlfriend (who loves Vegas by the way) will be turning 60 years old this coming May 2013 and that he mentioned to her that I wanted them to come out this way and that maybe they could spend her birthday in Vegas.

Well, it's not set in stone yet but I've emailed with her a few times and if they are to come (sounds like they're going to) they would be coming for 5 days and 4 nights at the end of May. I had originally told my dad that if he came out here I would treat him to see LOVE, and since they're both coming I now offered to buy all three of us tickets.

Anywho, she had said that if they came she would want to stay at Palace Station. I told her how I might be able to get she and my dad a discounted room at one of the MGM Properties since I get my room usually comped for free and can get discount rates for additional rooms for friends or family. She said she likes the Palace Station because they have a free shuttle to and from the airport and that my dad would be able to sit at one of the bars there cuz he doesn't gamble and they probably carry his beer (he drinks MGD, but only drinks from 9pm - midnight).

When she first told me about the Palace Station I kinda cringed a little. Now, I've never been there, but I'm a classy girl and like to stay at classy places. Not only that but I like staying at the MGM Properties cuz that's where I like to gamble to rake up my gambling comps, and I like the accessibility to The Strip since the MGM Properties are right there in the middle of it all.

So, I was trying to see if it could possibly be cheaper for her to stay at one of the MGM Strip properties versus staying at her place so that way they can save money and I can stay where I like to stay and play but it's looking like her idea is more economical. I looked at the Palace Station website. For the 4 nights they'd be staying the total comes out to $158 before tax and resort fee is included (but I'm thining there may not be a resort fee there). PLUS free shuttle to and from the airport (not to mention a free shuttle to the Strip at the Fashion Mall).

So you can't really beat that. I was hoping to stay on the Strip too cuz It would be easier to walk around (and I'm not sure if I'll have a car then) and thought that would be better to be able to show my dad all the sights. I've taken The Duece (Vegas public transportation bus) up and down the Strip and it even takes you downtown as well. A 24-hour pass is $7. So we can use the Duece when we're there, I just don't know how long of a walk it'll be to the Strip from the Palace Station.

And I guess if they're staying there it would only make sense that I stay there as well. I usually don't like to gamble outside the MGM Properties but I guess I could gamble most of my money there and hopefully get my room comped and get into their comp system so I can use those perks during that trip.

So do you think I should "tough it out" and stay and play there or do you think there is some way I could convince them to stay elsewhere? It's her birthday and I want her to stay where SHE wants to stay, but thought that maybe I could show her how she might like staying at The Mirage or something like that better (but then again she's spent a lot of time in Vegas and knows all the different places so she's probably already made an informed decision). Plus you can't beat the free shuttle to and from the airport! That saves over $30 each way, doesn't it?

Oh, and a P.S. one of the things my dad wants to do when we get out there is go to the pawn shop where they film PAWN STARS, the t.v. show. I haven't googled it yet but does anybody know where it is? I'm guessing maybe it's downtown. And downtown is one of the places I want to show my dad, let him see Freemont and all that.

A word of caution - I don't think Palace Station's web site is entirely up to date. They have a $16 resort fee, but don't tell you about it or even charge you for it when you book a room online. Second, they charge the wrong tax rate. I booked a room for later this year and it charged 10% tax (instead of 12%), and didn't include the resort fee. When I check in, I am planning on having to pay the difference between (room_rate + resort_fee) * 1.12 and what I was already charged.

So that $158 for 4 nights will probably be closer to $233 after resort fees and taxes. You will also have to put down a $100 deposit which you will get back when you check out.

There will very likely be a resort fee at Palace Station. I am guessing somewhere between $11-$16 per night. I like most Station properties, and some are very nice, but I have never been to Palace Station. Watch out for the Internet fee -- it is included in Station resort fees, but sometimes it gets added separately.

Shuttles to the airport usually cost $7-$8 per person from most hotels.

It might be more advantageous to not sweat the comps and just go where you get a good value (and, of course, play where you win).

If you have a car, by all means stay at one of the nicer locals hotel/casinos, like Sunset Station, Red Rock or Sam's Town. The laid-back atmosphere is more pleasant, and it's easy to get to the Strip and Downtown.

Palace Station is certainly not as elegant as the top tier MGM properties, but it is a nice place with a pretty good location, especially if you're going to stay near-Strip (as opposed to on the Strip). I agree that the bar would be a fine place for him to chill out with a beer, and probably cheaper from that standpoint. If she likes to gamble, you find better values at Palace Station than you do even at MGM properties ($5 minimums at most times, $10 tiles).

Will your Dad find the MGM properties too pretentious? Some guys who are very simple might find the MGM properties overwhelming. Smaller in that case would be better, and while Palace Station is hardly small, it's built so that you could easily stay in the same area and have fun at the tables while he enjoys the bar.

Make sure you get a tower room, they are nice but they also have garden rooms that suck

And, I would rent a car for the 4-5 days rather than take all those shuttles and buses

Why not just give her a room at an MGM property as a birthday gift? Bite the bullet and throw in the taxi for the airport. Or go a little classy and get a limo.

Just do a little investigating to find out which ones have bars that serve MGD.

For someone who's only going to go to Vegas once, Palace Station is not so great. You'll miss all the spectacle and hustle and bustle - which is fine if you are a local who wants some laid-back gambling, or you're jaded from too much time on the Strip, or you're too old to do any walking. But if you're in good enough condition to walk around and see the sights, you don't want to hole up in a glorified bingo room that really doesn't give much of a taste of the traditional Las Vegas experience.

You can get reasonably inexpensive, decent rooms on the Strip at the Luxor, NYNY, Monte Carlo, Tropicana, TI...even downtown would be a better experience IMHO.

My first Vegas trip was at the Palace Station, by the way, so I know what I'm talking about!

palace station is in a pretty good location on sahara. its just a few minutes to las vegas blvd. sahara comes out on the north end of the strip. the pit has a lot of baccarat and pai gow poker tables if thats your thing. and all station properties have really good video poker games. the shop from pawn stars is north of the strip on las vegas blvd before you get downtown. it will be on the righthand side of the road if youre heading from the strip. its around all those quickie wedding chapels.

I played at the Palace Station twice last trip. The casino's nice enough, though I dind't look at their VP much. Mostly I played craps. Nice dealers, friendly and competent, even while breaking-in a new dealer. You can reach it from the Strip easily enough, though coming back, by bus, you should disembark past Las Vegas Boulevard and walk to the SDX stop at th back of the Sahara.

I wouldn't stay there myself, but only because it's not a very convenient location for what I like to do. A shutle to Fashion Show mall sounds good, but you're tied to the shuttle's schedules. Though from Fashion Show you can easily walk to the Venetian/Palazzo, or take the SDX further south to Bellagio and MGM-land.

BTW, the three-day unlimited pass for all RTC buses is only $20 per person.

Stay on the strip or rent a car. I suggest doing both.

Quote: Tiltpoul

Will your Dad find the MGM properties too pretentious?

Yeah, probably. But he's just tagging along. And he doesn't drink till 9pm. Even if we were going to stay at the Palace Station I told him he could sit with me when I gamble (he doesn't gamble) and he said that he wouldn't want to sit there, that he'd just go up and hang out in his room. :(

Quote: tupp

Shuttles to the airport usually cost $7-$8 per person from most hotels.

My dad's girlfriend said it was free. I didn't know they charge.

Quote: Johnzimbo

And, I would rent a car for the 4-5 days rather than take all those shuttles and buses

That would be crazy expensive.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Why not just give her a room at an MGM property as a birthday gift? Bite the bullet and throw in the taxi for the airport. Or go a little classy and get a limo.

Just do a little investigating to find out which ones have bars that serve MGD.

And that would be even more crazy expensive. This is my dad's girlfriend, not my girlfriend. I'm already buying her a ticket to see LOVE. And I'm not made of money. And every bar serves MGD practically, that won't be a problem.

Quote: HotBlonde

Yeah, probably. But he's just tagging along. And he doesn't drink till 9pm. Even if we were going to stay at the Palace Station I told him he could sit with me when I gamble (he doesn't gamble) and he said that he wouldn't want to sit there, that he'd just go up and hang out in his room. :(

You should take him to Hoover Dam and the Tillman Bridge. If he gets bored with the neon, take him up to Mt. Charleston.

I would vote for staying somewhere on the strip instead of the Palace Station. The Palace Station is fine, but I find it to be getting a little tired and run down. Even for the non gambler, the strip is where all the fun is.

I would offer To your dad's girlfriend to pay for the taxi or even rent a limo from the airport to the hotel. You can always take a taxi on the way back to the airport at the end of the trip.

personally i hate the strip. i never go there without a good reason to. i have the mindset only suckers go there. if im looking to have fun ill head downtown. i dont care about shows, fine dining, or shopping though. so i guess if those are the things you like, the strip is the place to be regardless of how much a ripoff it is.

Yuck the Palace Station. Oh don't even bother with the G&S Pawn, the guys from the show are never there.... The Palace Station is such a depressing casino.

Actually car rentals in Vegas are pretty cheap. I normally get one for 3 days for around $100 including all taxes and fees. If you are gambling enough to get comped rooms at MGM properties your budget should be able to handle that. You can get one from one of the budget companies for around $20/day most of the time.

The down side to a car is the driver needs to drink minimally or not at all, and sometimes parking is a problem. The up side is you can go off strip places that are hard to access, hop around fairly quickly, and avoid lengthy cab lines. I also like the ability to put my luggage in the trunk on my check out day so I don't need to return to my hotel to get it from the bell desk.

Quote: NicksGamingStuff

Yuck the Palace Station. Oh don't even bother with the G&S Pawn, the guys from the show are never there.... The Palace Station is such a depressing casino.

Hmmmm... thanks for the note. What to do?! What to do?! I'll have to let my dad's gf know that I've been getting so-so reviews on this place.

Quote: jml24

Actually car rentals in Vegas are pretty cheap. I normally get one for 3 days for around $100 including all taxes and fees. If you are gambling enough to get comped rooms at MGM properties your budget should be able to handle that. You can get one from one of the budget companies for around $20/day most of the time.

The down side to a car is the driver needs to drink minimally or not at all, and sometimes parking is a problem. The up side is you can go off strip places that are hard to access, hop around fairly quickly, and avoid lengthy cab lines. I also like the ability to put my luggage in the trunk on my check out day so I don't need to return to my hotel to get it from the bell desk.

Well even at $20 a day that's still a bit much when you can walk or take a bus or even a cab if you need to. I don't think we're going to be traveling the whole time, we're gonna gamble and probably just walk around.

Quote: HotBlonde

So you can't really beat that. I was hoping to stay on the Strip too cuz It would be easier to walk around (and I'm not sure if I'll have a car then) and thought that would be better to be able to show my dad all the sights. I've taken The Duece (Vegas public transportation bus) up and down the Strip and it even takes you downtown as well. A 24-hour pass is $7. So we can use the Duece when we're there, I just don't know how long of a walk it'll be to the Strip from the Palace Station.

Oh, and a P.S. one of the things my dad wants to do when we get out there is go to the pawn shop where they film PAWN STARS, the t.v. show. I haven't googled it yet but does anybody know where it is? I'm guessing maybe it's downtown. And downtown is one of the places I want to show my dad, let him see Freemont and all that.

Your Deuce pass covers all buses in the city for the same price, not just the Deuce and the Downtown Express. If for some reason you miss the Palace Shuttle you can catch the Sahara Express from Palace Station to Las Vegas strip (5 minutes, bus every 15 minutes day, all night). On Las Vegas Blvd you can get on the Deuce or the Downtown Express (DTX).

The Duece and DTX share a number of stops, but they take different routes. The DTX has fewer stops and is faster.

The Gold and Silver Pawn shop for Pawn stars (713 Las Vegas Blvd S Las Vegas, NV 89101) is about 2.5 miles from Palace Station. It is 0.6 miles from Fremont Street.

Downtown Fremont Street is usually cheaper overall than even the Palace Station. One of the advantages of downtown, is you can walk to a store and buy booze for your room, drinking water, etc. No matter how inexpensive the resort, you are trapped there, and they can overcharge you for all sorts of incidentals.It is much easier to find the bus to ride down to the strip. And you are within walking distance of many shows:

• Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,
• Gordie Brown IMPRESSIONIST, SINGER AND ENTERTAINER GORDIE BROWN IS WELL KNOWN FOR HIS AMAZING COMEDY AND CELEBRITY IMPRESSIONS SUCH AS ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JACK NICHOLSON AND SYLVESTER STALLONE, AS WELL AS LAS VEGAS ICONS LIKE ELVIS PRESLEY AND SAMMY DAVIS, JR.
• MARRIAGE CAN BE MURDER The award-winning comedy show is an interactive, murder mystery, dinner show experience
• KEVIN BURKE comedy show
  
  Plaza Hotel and Casino is very inexpensive, and recently renovated. I don't know if you ever saw the Back to the Future movies, but it was Biff's Casino in the sequels.
  
  What I would do is go to THE D casino and rent a car for one day (less than $60), so you can see the dam, Red Rock park, or other local attractions
  Enterprise Rent-A-Car
  LV DOWNTOWN THE D
  301 FREMONT STREET
  LAS VEGAS, NV 89101-5600
  Tel.: (702) 388-2471
  Monday/Friday 8:00 am 5:00 pm
  Limited Hours weekends

Quote: pacomartin

Plaza Hotel and Casino is very inexpensive, and recently renovated. I don't know if you ever saw the Back to the Future movies, but it was Biff's Casino in the sequels.

Ooh, that could be an option. I like the Golden Nugget, is The Plaza as nice as there?

Quote:

Shuttles to the airport usually cost $7-$8 per person from most hotels.

Quote:

My dad's girlfriend said it was free. I didn't know they charge.

Palace Station might have a free shuttle to/from the airport.

I was referring to the paid airport shuttles, such as Gray Line, Bell Trans, Showtime, ALC, etc. I mentioned them as an inexpensive option, if you wanted to stay somewhere that doesn't offer a free shuttle.

Quote: tupp

Palace Station might have a free shuttle to/from the airport.

I was referring to the paid airport shuttles, such as Gray Line, Bell Trans, Showtime, ALC, etc. I mentioned them as an inexpensive option, if you wanted to stay somewhere that doesn't offer a free shuttle.

Will you PM me the info on this? I may want to use this option myself when I'm in Vegas in 12 weeks.

Coincidentally, I got an offer from Palace Station today. They're offering courtyard rooms at $50 a night on weekends in September, plus tax and a $14.99 "Hotel Amenity Fee" per night. At least it's not a "resort fee," right? I hate those ;)

Quote: Nareed

Coincidentally, I got an offer from Palace Station today. They're offering courtyard rooms at $50 a night on weekends in September, plus tax and a $14.99 "Hotel Amenity Fee" per night. At least it's not a "resort fee," right? I hate those ;)

Clever way of disguising it for what it really is (well, I'm guessing Palace Station wouldn't be considered a resort).

Quote: HotBlonde

Clever way of disguising it for what it really is (well, I'm guessing Palace Station wouldn't be considered a resort).

If Superman could get away with just a pair of glasses... :)

I tend to shun places that charge resort fees, which I'm afraid means every MGM property. I know Caesars properties don't charge them, neither does the Four Queens. I don't know for sure which others don't.

if you go to palace station, be sure to ask for the oj simpson* suite, (room 1203), scene of his armed robbery.

*(Inmate #02648927, Lovelock Correctional Institute, 1200 Prison Road, Lovelock, NV 89419)

Quote: Nareed

If Superman could get away with just a pair of glasses... :)

I tend to shun places that charge resort fees, which I'm afraid means every MGM property. I know Caesars properties don't charge them, neither does the Four Queens. I don't know for sure which others don't.

From what I understand places that don't charge resort fees sneak it in one way or another buy charging for parking (not in Vegas though, as I know of), internet fees, or just an increased room rate to begin with. I think the advertised room rate before the adding resort fee is a marketing ploy. Not too bad of an idea, as people in this recession want to feel that they are getting more for their money. That's why they are now selling 4 pound bags of sugar instead of 5 pound bags, and other similar "downsizing" efforts, to make disguise the upcrawling costs. I don't blame them for trying to make it appear more affordable.

Quote: HotBlonde

From what I understand places that don't charge resort fees sneak it in one way or another buy charging for parking (not in Vegas though, as I know of), internet fees, or just an increased room rate to begin with.

Some do. Some charge a resort fee and also for internet (Sahara did that when i stayed there in '08).

Quote:

That's why they are now selling 4 pound bags of sugar instead of 5 pound bags, and other similar "downsizing" efforts, to make disguise the upcrawling costs. I don't blame them for trying to make it appear more affordable.

Oh, that's ongoing and endemic in the dry goods/canned goods industry. The 555 gr. jar of marmalade is at 500 gr. now and counting. It's easier to make new containers than to "raise" prices.

4lbs seems like an awful lot of sugar to need let alone 5lbs.

I took my mom there for her birthday in 2010. She enjoyed it. She chose that over a downtown hotel because they have bingo. She won once and she loved the food at the cafe. There is one word of caution. The bathrooms have an outlet for shaving right near the the sink. It shorted out when my mom was doing whatever moms do in the bathroom. So be careful. My mom was 71 at the time. As for my opinion of it, I was okay with everything but the electrical outlet in the bathroom near the sink. My mom could have died as far as I am concerned.

I also agree with the people who suggest the rental car to drive out and see the lake, dam, canyons, tree, desert and of course the pinball hall of fame.

Expect a long line or wait at the pawn shop.

Other than that, give the lady what she wants. The trip is about her.

EDIT: Thanks for the Tillman Bridge idea...

Quote: wroberson

Expect a long line or wait at the pawn shop.

.

Don't bother with the pawn shop. The only
time the owner and son and Chum are there
is when they film and when that happens the
public is not allowed inside. They sometimes
show up to sign autographs for money, but not
often.

All the downtown hotels have old and cramped bathrooms because that is how they built hotels back in those days.

For the elderly you can't beat places like Sams Town or a large room such as South Point... but of course they are no where near downtown.

That pawn shop is there but the line is long and its in the hot sun so go to an air conditioned casino instead.

Just checked out the Palace station
Place is popular
A line to get into a restaurant
Surprised how popular baccarat tables were
They even had that stadium Baccarat
2 dealers with video cameras on them displaying the cards they are dealing on a large video display for all to see
About 1/3 of the seats filled
Of course several dutifully marking results on paper looking for trends