Hotel-casino power rankings

One of my favorite thread topics here on Wizard of Vegas is when somebody asks where to stay or which hotel is better -- this one or the other one. This gave me the idea to rank the Strip properties according to how I would recommend them to Vegas visitors. I've lived in town for about three years and have been to all the major casinos in Southern Nevada except for Aliante Station and the Cannery in North Las Vegas. At one time or another, I've stayed or hung out in a room or suite of about half the hotels on the Strip. For the others, I'm going on pictures I've seen on the Internet and comments from friends and co-workers. Hotel rooms creep me out a lot, so most important to me is the lack of "ick factor" -- the degree to which the room is shabby, stained and worn. For this reason, you'll see some surprising entries (like Casino Royale, which has new bedding, carpet and paint, fairing well). Location wasn't considered. Interested to see if anybody disagrees with my list. Herewith:

Encore
Palazzo
Aria at City Center
Wynn
Venetian
Caesars Palace
Planet Hollywood
Mandalay Bay
The Mirage
Bellagio
MGM Grand
Paris
Monte Carlo
Las Vegas Hilton
Treasure Island
Luxor
New York New York
Casino Royale
Flamingo
Excalibur
Hooters
Bally's
Stratosphere
Harrah's
Bill's Gambling Hall
Riviera
Sahara
Tropicana
Imperial Palace
Circus Circus

There probably should be at least some ties on your list, its really too difficult to rank some hotels.

My companion's first priority is cleanliness, then: sheet thread count, bed-top fussiness (you know, those silly tubular things or the like), number of TVs, in-room bar items, in-bath freebies. Oh, yeah... view is important too.

Sure I like an impressive view... for about the first thirty seconds. After that I only look out the window if the curtains happen to be open and then only to see what the weather is like. I loathe those silly tubes on the bed and the frilly pillows with doodads on them. I tend to watch only one TV at a time so I don't care that there are three of them in the room. I like a large tub and very high water pressure. I utterly loathe finding a chocolate mint on my pillow or finding that the bed has been turned down for me. I prefer a coffee maker inside our room but Vegas seems to prefer people who head down to the coffee bar and lug a tray of coffees and pastries up to the room, by which time the coffee is cool and the companion has gone back to sleep! (Which often works out okay because then I get to eat BOTH pastries).

Rating a hotel based on our combined preferences would be a nightmare.

Throw in the pluses and minuses of a particular casino? Okay: Quiet atmosphere, good odds on the craps table, good blackjack games. My companion wants slots! And generally insists upon playing the worst slot machines in the casino and ofcourse tends to prefer the strip casino that has the worst overall slot rate anyway, The Venetian.

I think that most people would place Bellagio on the top of this short subset. Why did you rank it so loc?

Caesars Palace
Planet Hollywood
Mandalay Bay
The Mirage
Bellagio
MGM Grand
Paris
Monte Carlo

Good question. I haven't personally seen the inside of a Bellagio room, but many people have told me the rooms are extremely disappointing. Web pictures seem to back that up. I have stayed in a standard room at the Planet Ho, Mirage and The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. All were much nicer than Bellagio appears in pictures like these:

Bellagio

Bellagio II

Comforters like that are what you'd find in a Best Western off the Interstate. Eww.

Tip: Always look at users' room photos, not the glossy hotel ones.

The Hotel at Mandalay Bay was amazing. I see you didn't differentiate between Mandalay and THE Hotel, but I just have to think THE Hotel should be higher, especially if you're not counting location.

To me, such rankings are meaningless without a consideration of PRICE. Sure, if I stay at some fancy-ass place, I get nice sheets, a mint on the pillow, and THREE kinds of soap in the bathroom, but I'll also be paying $200+ for the privilege, and IMHO for that price, I should get all of the above amenities plus a beautiful naked woman spoon-feeding me ice cream. Oh, and the goddamn bottle of water on the counter should be FREE.

In terms of the nicest room I've ever stayed in for the lowest cost, the old Barbaric Coast used to have that. The best rooms I've been in lately, regardless of cost, were at the Splam, oh, sorry, the Palms--bout of dyslexia. And the current winner for value AND comfort is---drum roll please--the El Cortez!! (Really!--check out their Tower suites for $39 if ya don't believe me!)

Why don't you do a ranking for off-strip?
-------------------------------------------
I disagree about the Palms. I spent about five minutes in an old (Palms?) tower rooms and was extremely underwhelmed. Then they moved me to Palms Place, which was wonderful, but normal people don't get to stay there :) I think the best rooms for quality/price are off-strip. The Coasts, Stations and Canneries offer tremendous value. Downtown is still kind of dirty and aging, although the Nugget and El Cortez are standouts.

Quote: mkl654321

To me, such rankings are meaningless without a consideration of PRICE. Sure, if I stay at some fancy-ass place, I get nice sheets, a mint on the pillow, and THREE kinds of soap in the bathroom, but I'll also be paying $200+ for the privilege, and IMHO for that price, I should get all of the above amenities plus a beautiful naked woman spoon-feeding me ice cream. Oh, and the goddamn bottle of water on the counter should be FREE.

In terms of the nicest room I've ever stayed in for the lowest cost, the old Barbaric Coast used to have that. The best rooms I've been in lately, regardless of cost, were at the Splam, oh, sorry, the Palms--bout of dyslexia. And the current winner for value AND comfort is---drum roll please--the El Cortez!! (Really!--check out their Tower suites for $39 if ya don't believe me!)

While they might not suit your needs, they are not meaningless to everyone. I'm booking my hotel for my Road Trip to Vegas in December, and Harrah's is comping me 5 days at many of their properties. I don't have to pay for any, so it's nice to see where each falls in the rank when price is not an issue. I figured Caesars far and away, but now I'm going to look at PH before I book.

I'm slightly surprised you have Harrah's so low. True, they aren't going to compete with the upper tier in terms of niceties. But last time I was there, the standard room I was in was perfectly fine. It was along the lines of a Hampton Inn or a Courtyard by Marriott. Clean & comfortable w/o being pretentious. It compared favorably to the Luxor I stayed at on my prior visit.

Quote: cclub79

While they might not suit your needs, they are not meaningless to everyone. I'm booking my hotel for my Road Trip to Vegas in December, and Harrah's is comping me 5 days at many of their properties. I don't have to pay for any, so it's nice to see where each falls in the rank when price is not an issue. I figured Caesars far and away, but now I'm going to look at PH before I book.

You're making my point. The rankings have meaning for you exactly because they INCLUDE price: in this case, for you, $0. You might not rank Caesar's so high if you were paying for the room. (I, personally, since I won't be using the room as much more than a crash pad, won't be rating a room with any criteria other than price, if the locations are similar.)

I have been staying in Vegas on the same ongoing Harrah's offer as you seem to be getting, except that mine is 4 free nights a month. I consider all Harrah's properties equivalent, so I pick the one most readily available (the Rio, I do rank a bit lower, because it is off-Strip). Every one of the properties has overpriced and mediocre food, and each has the same general location, so it doesn't matter to me which one I choose. All the hotel rooms are adequate.

Quote: FleaStiff

I utterly loathe finding a chocolate mint on my pillow

Damn those mints! Damn them! Damn their evil green foil wrappers, and cursed be the devilspawn who leave them on my pillow! I will NOT stay in a hotel that places these foul abominations on my pillow, even if the room is comped and includes twice-daily Swedish massages by O! showgirls!

See, you're not alone.

Quote: mkl654321

You're making my point. The rankings have meaning for you exactly because they INCLUDE price: in this case, for you, $0. You might not rank Caesar's so high if you were paying for the room. (I, personally, since I won't be using the room as much more than a crash pad, won't be rating a room with any criteria other than price, if the locations are similar.)

I have been staying in Vegas on the same ongoing Harrah's offer as you seem to be getting, except that mine is 4 free nights a month. I consider all Harrah's properties equivalent, so I pick the one most readily available (the Rio, I do rank a bit lower, because it is off-Strip). Every one of the properties has overpriced and mediocre food, and each has the same general location, so it doesn't matter to me which one I choose. All the hotel rooms are adequate.

You're in an extreme minority if have have no preference between Caesars and Imperial Palace. I spent 2 minutes in an IP room once and was totally disgusted. The bedspread had what appeared to be bodily fluid stains and the carpet was brown from wear. You seem to be railing against the whole concept of comparing hotels based on cleanliness and/or decor. For you only price matters, and that's fine.

Most people consider price AND basic features like having a bedspread more recent than 1982. You could then check prices and compare them with the list -- novel idea!

Anyway, factoring prices into the rankings would be impossible because they fluctuate so much and there are so many variables (resort fees, where you book, etc.) Another point: the recession has flattened Vegas room rates so even the crappy places are seeing their clientele move up the chain. The fact is, if you look around, a room at, say, Planet Hollywood might be the same price as one at, say, Excalibur.