So I plan to take my daughter back to Vegas in the next few months and remembered a review rant I placed somewhere. I dragged it out of the dung heap just for you! If you want to stay downtown, go to the Golden Nugget. You can stay in the older part for a decent price. It's still classy just not trendy. The facilities are top rate. Best thing? It's the opposite of the Plaza-it's clean, secure and the service is great. You don't feel like you're in a real life mafia scene from the '50s.
Review of the Plaza
1 main Street
Las Vegas, NV
Imagine how bad a place must be if you don’t want to stay there even if it’s FREE! That is exactly what happened to me at the Plaza Hotel after my last trip to Las Vegas. After two days and four room changes, I escaped the dilapidated property.
I couldn’t afford to do it, but no air conditioning, a dirty room, a roll-a-way bed as the only bed in the room and not feeling safe due to the shady characters roaming the upper floor hotel hallways, can make you opt for a different room in exchange for a few hours sleep!
The first time we stayed at the Plaza 1995, the hotel room was dated but clean. The price was cheap and the service so-so. After our initial stay, we got offers for discount rates and took advantage of the offers on several occasions. Over the years it was easy to see a decline in the quality of the rooms. It went from an old place with some character to an old place with old stained carpet and crappy service. Ranging from faded thin bedding, to no water pressure and hard poor quality mattresses, the amenities at this place got less and less appealing.
When we traveled with friends and the main purpose of the trip was to party and gamble, it seemed like an okay deal. After all, we just needed a place to sleep. Right? But even that got to the unacceptable level.
The summer of 2009 experience was my last stay at the Plaza-forever. My first clue was on check in. They didn’t have a non-smoking room for me even though I booked several weeks in advance. After talking to a manager to get the right room choice, I got a room key, tromped over to the other tower–a major inconvenience as the front desk only has access to the north tower, rode up the elevator which reeked with fresh urine stains, entered the room ready to collapse and-viola!No air conditioning. It was over 100 degrees so the ninth floor room was miserable. I called the desk and they said someone would be up to fix it. After 20 minutes of sweating, I took my B.O. down to the desk.
One person told me the repairman was on break. After another half an hour someone called and said the air conditioner couldn’t be fixed. It was a miserable experience and no one seemed to know what was going on. It took almost three hours after I checked in to get another room.
For the next room assignment, a bellman helped me move to another room. He was told to make sure it was satisfactory so we both laughed when he opened the room door to find the bed unmade, a garbage can tipped over and beer bottles scattered around the room.
So, you get the idea. It was a joke. The manager assured me they were still in the process of remodeling and that was why there was confusion. Then he upgraded me to a mini-suite in the north tower. That so-called upgrade was another fiasco. The room featured a small bar and little refrigerator so that justified the suite title, evidently. However, there was only a lumpy double roll-a-way bed that I couldn’t sleep on even after a few cocktails! The 19 inch TV in the room featured lines on the screen and loud static. I waited until the next day to ask to be moved.
The next room was back in the South Tower which has direct access across the side alley to the bus station. I have nothing against transient people hanging out there, but I’d rather not have them lurking in the halls and stairwells on the upper floors of the hotel. The lack of security at the hotel was more than a little scary. After hearing loud profanities and a few crashing sounds, a peeked out the door to glimpse at FIP (fight in progress) and ducked back into my dungeon. Stepping over the broken glass and blood a couple hours later, I got the heck out of that dive and don’t plan to go back. We went from free to $39 a night at the Golden Nugget. The $39 difference felt more like homeless in the ally vs comfortable in the penthouse.
Keep in mind that my opinion is not based on a one-time experience. We’ve stayed at the Plaza at least 20 times over the past 15 years. It is simply going downhill fast and attracting questionable clientele. A remodel won’t fix some of the problems that come with a shabby reputation.
