Boutique hotels in vegas

Originally Posted by pocketsquareguy

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check out "the hotel" at Mandalay Bay. two bed room suites, huge bathroom, very quiet and comfortable, nice staff.

Stayed there with friends to attend the 'SEMA' show geared toward the performance car crowd. The Hotel was great, I remember it being pretty well done. The SEMA show on the other hand was all show no substance.

Vegas is one of my favorite places in the world. I love the energy, the pace, and the fact that I can walk in to any casino at any hour and find a game of craps. Just got back from Vegas for NYE. Stayed at the HRH again, and it was great. Good vibe, not nearly as crowded as Bellagion/Wynn/etc., and they play great music.

+1 on THEhotel. Very modern, good service, and it is slightly removed from Mandalay Bay.

As for food, love JR, and had a disappointing meal at Carnevino. Any other restaurants worth checking out?

When I was growing up, Alexis Park was where people stayed in LV if they wanted to avoid casinos. I've never been though. I was recently told the Artisan is interesting. Never been there either. For restaurants, my favorites and those of my friends are Lotus of Siam, Rosemary's and Dona Maria (formerly Tia Maria's). Luv-It Frozen Custard for desert, if they happen to be open. But I'm no foodie. A five dollar burrito and a dollar apple fritter is probably my ideal meal.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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I REALLY hate (I mean HATE) the upscaling of Vegas over the last 10-15 years. Vegas used to be trashy and crude and tacky. I miss that. I usually stay downtown which is the only place you can approach that anymore. I remember sitting in the casino at the Golden Nugget watching a mobbed-up scumbag in a purple suit with stacks of rubber-banded $100's laying on the Baccarat table. He was screaming profanities at the dealer and ripping up the cards when he lost (which apparently is permitted in Baccarat). Eventually the pit boss had to come over and have a chat. There were a couple of minutes there where I wondered if he was going to pull out a gun and start shooting. It was so cool (in a disgusting, sleasy kind of way). You people with your fancy-schmantsy tastes are ******* up the place.
+1. I was a lifeguard at the GN for four summers in the early 90's. Just saw the "new" pool yesterday. It's probably where I'd stay if I didn't stay at my parents' or a friend's. Or maybe Sam's Town.

Originally Posted by RSS

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... I was originally supposed to visit Las Vegas this past week ... but in the end we decided against it and went instead to Napa & Sonoma. So, with the exception of a brief stop at the airport, I've never set foot in Las Vegas. Am I missing anything?
I think the best thing about LV is the desert, particularly Red Rock, Valley of Fire, and the Hoover Dam/Lake Mead area. They're like the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion. Less grand, but still spectacular.

Originally Posted by emptym

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When I was growing up, Alexis Park was where people stayed in LV if they wanted to avoid casinos. I've never been though. I was recently told the Artisan is interesting. Never been there either. For restaurants, my favorites and those of my friends are Lotus of Siam, Rosemary's and Dona Maria (formerly Tia Maria's). Luv-It Frozen Custard for desert, if they happen to be open. But I'm no foodie. A five dollar burrito and a dollar apple fritter is probably my ideal meal. +1. I was a lifeguard at the GN for four summers in the early 90's. Just saw the "new" pool yesterday. It's probably where I'd stay if I didn't stay at my parents' or a friend's. Or maybe Sam's Town. I think the best thing about LV is the desert, particularly Red Rock, Valley of Fire, and the Hoover Dam/Lake Mead area. They're like the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion. Less grand, but still spectacular.
If Alexis Park is what I think it is, it has become quite a dive (right across the street from HRH). I think the moral of this thread so far is - people love/hate Vegas for different reasons, but it has a high concentration of stuff that is difficult to find elsewhere, so most people find there way to LV occasionally. If you don't go to gamble, almost every major hotel (Mandarin, 4 seasons, The Hotel @ Mandalay, MGM Sig, Palms Second Tower, etc.) has a hotel only subsidiary w/ a private pool and private entrances so you can avoid that. Walking on the strip is to be done at your own peril. It's easy enough to cab from place to place. Remember, this is a place where people who are much more "big-timers" than most of the SF crowd go and either blend in or manage to be completely hidden if they want to be. The beauty/ugliness of Vegas is that it's one of the few places on earth where enough money will buy you almost anything you want.

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

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Right across the street from HRH.
Vegas has royalty?

Originally Posted by emptym

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+1. I was a lifeguard at the GN for four summers in the early 90's. Just saw the "new" pool yesterday. It's probably where I'd stay if I didn't stay at my parents' or a friend's. Or maybe Sam's Town.

Thing I love about the new pool at the GN is that it is really nice, but in a tacky way. I mean...the waterslide goes through a shark tank!!! There's a jumping the shark joke buried in there somewhere, but I can't quite find it. They've scaled back on the '70's brass and marble look around there, but it's still there if you can find it. The food is better now, which is fine with me.

I like walking around downtown at night and wondering if you're going to get mugged. It's slightly edgy and dangerous without being totally so.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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Thing I love about the new pool at the GN is that it is really nice, but in a tacky way. I mean...the waterslide goes through a shark tank!!! There's a jumping the shark joke buried in there somewhere, but I can't quite find it. They've scaled back on the '70's brass and marble look around there, but it's still there if you can find it. The food is better now, which is fine with me.

I like walking around downtown at night and wondering if you're going to get mugged. It's slightly edgy and dangerous without being totally so.

We have different tastes but I like your style.

Originally Posted by SField

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We have different tastes but I like your style.

I also like thinking about the old seedy history in downtown Vegas.

You can still (or could a few years ago) go into Binions and see the booth in the coffee shop where Benny ran the operation after they took his gambling license away. The glass case with the $1MM is gone and they don't have sawdust on the floors anymore, but it was there.

And the hotel at Binions used to be the Mint where Dr. Gonzo and Raoul Duke had their misadventures.

The Golden Nugget was Steve Wynn's first hotel that he bought and built with the money he extorted from Caesars in a land deal back in the '70's with the help of a former mayor...or some such, I don't remember all the details.

Interesting stuff.

I'm actually a huge Glitter Gulch fan too - I have an update for you Mark, since i was there over Thanksgiving: The $1MM is now available for you to take pictures with. The Mint was also featured prominently ina great poker book about the early WSOP (I believe it was called "the biggest game in town" by al alvarez). I really miss the days when I could go to Binion's HORSESHOE (Harrah's bought the property, stole the WSOP and Horseshoe trademarks, then promptly sold it again) and play $2 craps @ 4am w/ 10x odds. Those were the days for a budding degenerate gambler who couldn't afford to play at a $10 table. Have you read "Running Scared" ? it's a great read: http://www.amazon.com/Running-Scared...4174093&sr=8-1 There's a benny binion biography too, but it's expensive and hard to find.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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I also like thinking about the old seedy history in downtown Vegas.

You can still (or could a few years ago) go into Binions and see the booth in the coffee shop where Benny ran the operation after they took his gambling license away. The glass case with the $1MM is gone and they don't have sawdust on the floors anymore, but it was there.

And the hotel at Binions used to be the Mint where Dr. Gonzo and Raoul Duke had their misadventures.

The Golden Nugget was Steve Wynn's first hotel that he bought and built with the money he extorted from Caesars in a land deal back in the '70's with the help of a former mayor...or some such, I don't remember all the details.

Interesting stuff.


Mark- you might like this: http://www.lasvegassun.com/history/

You can watch the skyline change, dig into the history of the casinos, the mob ties...

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

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The $1MM is now available for you to take pictures with.

The new owners must have put it back when they bought it. Before the daughter (I forget her name) sold it to Harrahs, she ran the place into the ground and they literally had to take the $1MM out of the case to pay bills with.

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

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I really miss the days when I could go to Binion's HORSESHOE (Harrah's bought the property, stole the WSOP and Horseshoe trademarks, then promptly sold it again) and play $2 craps @ 4am w/ 10x odds. Those were the days for a budding degenerate gambler who couldn't afford to play at a $10 table.

Love(d) playing craps in Binions.

Best craps downtown now is/was at the El Cortez. It's at the edge of downtown though and about the closest thing to a sawdust joint that there is left. It's the one place I don't think I'd be gambling in after midnight if I had to walk back to my hotel with a pocket full of winnings.

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

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Have you read "Running Scared" ? it's a great read:
http://www.amazon.com/Running-Scared...4174093&sr=8-1

There's a benny binion biography too, but it's expensive and hard to find.

Haven't read either of those. Will try to though. Have you read Positively Fifth Street? Written a few years ago by a reporter from Chicago (a poker player) who was assigned to write an article (book?) on the Binion murder trial. The publisher gave him a $10,000 advance and a plane ticket. He used the $10,000 to buy into the WSOP and damned near won the thing. The book is two stories: The story of the murder and the trial intertwined with the story of him in the tournament. Best line in the book, "Every time a plane leaves O'Hare Airport headed for Las Vegas and I'm not on it, a little piece of my soul dies."

Benny Binion was an interesting character. He was a bookmaker in Dallas in the '30s & '40's who got run out of town by the cops when they couldn't convict him for murder. Bombing was his preferred method, but the one he was tried and exonerated for was a shooting in his own backyard (he pled self-defense). He basically picked up an moved to Vegas doing the exact same things there he was doing here. Difference was that here he was a criminal and there he became a town father.

Anyone know what the name of that restaurant that specializes in charcuterie is? I think it might have been in the Venetian complex but am not sure.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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Anyone know what the name of that restaurant that specializes in charcuterie is? I think it might have been in the Venetian complex but am not sure.

You might be thinking of Enoteca San Marco at the Venetian, which was next to Enoteca Otto Pizzaria (or maybe it's the same place and just changed names). I'm not finding it on the Venetian website though. Wonder if it's closed or if this is the place?

Next time I go I want to see old vegas and learn more about the seedy history. There are "mob" tours but I assume they're really stupid.
What is this "sawdust" you refer to?