Viva Las Bally's, Baby! (Bally's Las Vegas Hotel)

Member Name: kirstymack80

Product:	Bally's Las Vegas Hotel
Date:	09/10/04 (315 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great location, big room, VEGAS!

Disadvantages: poor lighting, shaking showerhead (sheesh!)

When my Aussie best friend told me she was going to the USA in September, the Mack had a good idea. As she doesn’t have these often, she took the light bulb from over her head and smiled. Ahh yes, she was going to go and meet her bestest - in Vegas!

So my other friend and I had to find a hotel conveniently located near Aussie’s. When I was told she was staying at the 5 star Bellagio, the Mack nearly keeled over in shock. Having searched the internet for prices, it was well over £1,000 for a week. Ehm … no!

The only stipulations I had were a hotel on the Strip near the Bellagio (the Mack *does* do walking, so it didn’t have to be too near) and a direct flight to Vegas. At over 10 hours flying time, there was no way I was willing to change planes for a week’s stay. Funway Holidays came up trumps - £801 for a week’s stay with a Virgin flight (the only direct flight from the UK) and a week at the four star Bally’s Hotel. Fast forward 10 boring hours on a flight, separated from my friend and sitting next to a smoochie couple ….

* Checking in *

We got a taxi from the airport (a mere 10 mins away) and drew up to a very large drop off point outside the hotel. A huge moving circular door takes you into the lobby, alternatively there are also glass doors if you don’t wish to enter that way. A lady porter was on hand to ask if we needed help with our bags.

In the lobby on the left hand side are about six check in desks and a roped off area to line up. There was a queue as we arrived around 4pm (check in starts at 3pm and check out at 11am), but this moved quickly and check in was efficient and fast. We had the option of leaving a credit card imprint for any extras but we weren’t planning on any - so declined. We were asked our dates of birth, to ensure that we were old enough to gamble presumably (minimum age in this hotel is 21 so no kiddies). We were given key cards and also a card to use in the slot machines which accumulates points – although obviously the Mack didn’t get too many as gambling is very bad for you. Tee hee. Points make prizes apparently, and one can purchase many useful gifts in the souvenir shop if you press enough buttons on the slots!

* The room *

We were directed to the South Tower, which meant dragging our cases through the casino, or alternatively down the side of it which was away from the temptation to gamble. There are two sets of elevators (sorry, lifts!) and ours were on the left hand side. Destination was 21st floor which wasn’t quite at the top but near enough. The North Tower leads into the Paris casino, but we didn’t find that out 'til about half way through our trip!

Our room was way, way down the corridor. On opening the door we were met with a spacious room with two double beds. Décor was understated with a chest of drawers separating the beds and a large wooden set of nine drawers by the opposite wall, housing a table lamp. The TV was huge and had a computer keyboard on top and to the right of the room was a table and chairs by the window.

* Bathroom *

Always one of KM’s first inspections! As you entered the room this was on the right, opposite a mirrored wardrobe with ample hangers, the type you can’t take home that are attached to the rail and an in room safe. The bathroom had a marble effect (ie wear your slippers otherwise you get cold feet), had a large sink area and some boring goodies that were Bally’s own like moisturizer and a dodgy coloured shampoo. There was a shower cap too although they’re not a good look on me so I avoid them! Tissues were a handy little extra, especially as I had a streaming cold from the start and managed to get through two sets! Towels were plentiful and given daily – 4 huge ones that were more than enough, as well as some on the towel rail. The whole bathroom was mirrored - a bit disconcerting as you could admire yourself whilst sitting on the throne. Fetching! ;-)

And to the shower/bath area. A pull across screen prevented me getting the water everywhere but worryingly the showerhead was vibrating and straining to jump off the wall and made a ghastly noise when switched on. This had my friend and I in absolute stitches the first time as it made a very high pitched noise. We did manage to control this and luckily everything was still in place when we left. Phew!

* Casino *

Well there’s over 1,800 kinds of twinkly, singing slot machines here to take your fancy in this 67,000 sq feet casino. Kenny Rogers was calling me, very originally called ‘The Gambler’ {chuckle}. Yes he robbed me, as well as a few other machines. One can feed notes directly into the machine and no coins change hands. If you have a win (and yes, KM did), then you can press ‘cash out’ and instead you will be issued a ticket with the amount you have won which can either be fed into a different machine and used or can be redeemed at the kind lady sitting in her booth.

Bally's even has the world’s first $1,000 slot machine. One expensive push of the button will either lose you that amount or gain you a cool one million buckeroonies.

If slots aren’t your bag, there are many other ways to lose your money. There’s poker, blackjack, craps and roulette among other games or you can place a bet on your favourite sports game. And there’s also Keno.

* Restaurants *

Ah food. Yes indeed of course in a hotel this large there were many options:

Kitchen Buffet which is open from 7am - 2pm then 4 - 10 pm. The Mack did sample their dinner which was an all you can eat affair at $18.99 (plus tax) but with the Bally’s card we had a 10% discount. Everything you can imagine on the buffet from seafood, hot roasts, salad, pasta, potatoes and veg to desserts such as crème caramel and pecan tart. Soft drinks were included in the price and wine was $4 extra. We did have to queue at around 8pm but we were seated fairly quickly.

Nosh – again I sampled this one as it was right by the elevators. This is a glorified coffee house which does get busy. We had a couple of hasty breakfasts here – snacks such as bagels, muffins and sandwiches are sold, as well as fancy coffees and chai tea latte (which I can recommend!). It’s not cheap, everything’s around $3. Open from 6am to 2pm.

Sidewalk Café – full course meals and salads are served. This one’s open 24 hours and I can recommend the special – steak and crab legs for $13.99. Served with a baked potato and green beans, the plate is nearer tray size and will keep you quiet for a bit! ;-) Vast menu, again there’s usually line up time but they seem to have it under control and we didn’t wait longer than 5 minutes the two times we visited.

Other restaurants include Johnny’s Delicatessen open 7am to 9pm and the posher, more expensive restaurants that need reservations which are Al Dente (Italian) open from Friday to Tuesday 5.30pm – 10.30pm, Bally’s Steakhouse open daily 5.30pm - 10.30pm and Chang’s (Asian) open Wednesday to Sunday 6pm - 11pm.

There’s also a Tequila Bar, Sterling Brunch (open Sunday only), an Ice Cream Shoppe, Terrace Café and Java Coast, which is situated in the lobby and is literally a place to pick up a hot drink and cake – no seating.

* Shops *

There are over 20 unique shops including souvenirs, jewellery, clothes, confectionery and … errr … magic tricks to be had in this hotel. Very useful!

* Other bits *

If you want a rest from the gambling, there are ample other activities dotted around the hotel such as a swimming pool, spa, tennis and even golf. Of course the hotel also caters for weddings and has a business centre with convention rooms of 175,000 sq feet. There are 43 meeting rooms and two ballrooms.

A monorail carries you to other hotels, racking up 4 miles in 14 minutes. $3 ride one way. This was closed while we were there though.

Naturally there’s also a star studded show featured at Bally’s. This is called ‘Jubilee’ and features gorgeous showgirls (apparently) in skimpy costumes and a few strategically placed rhinestones. You can watch them strut their stuff Saturday to Thursday at 7.30 pm and 10.30pm. Tickets are priced from $55 to $74.

There are restrooms located at both ends of the casino in the north and south tower. Public telephones are also plentiful, with private booths up the escalator by the south tower to ensure quiet time away from the bustling lobby/casino area.

There’s an elevator in the lobby which takes you up to a moving walkway, a good way to keep out of the direct sunlight and onto the Strip. One can easily get to the Bellagio opposite this way, or across Flamingo Road towards Caesars Palace, which is also very close.

Finally, Bally's does also cater for the handicapped and has 37 rooms available.

* Overall *

I can’t really find too much fault with the room. The showerhead was a minor quibble and the lighting wasn’t great in the room. We had a few loose wires dangling from the ceiling where a light used to be but apart from that the only lighting in the room were a couple of table lamps and a stand alone that was way over by the window. Having gone into a number of other hotel/casinos I did find a lot of the lobbies were dark and that most of the illuminations are outside lighting up Vegas! So this is obviously the norm, and we didn’t spend too much time in the room anyway, especially in the early evening, so it didn’t affect us too much.

Our view more than made up for any irregularities. Opening the curtains we had a bird’s eye view of the Paris casino, or more importantly their mini Eiffel Tower (which is a restaurant) which was smack outside our window. Opposite we had the luck of having the Bellagio (said Aussie pal’s hotel) and their beautiful dancing fountains which went off every 15 mins/half an hour depending on what day it was. This is quite a treat for many visitors so to have the added attraction of seeing an aerial view was a bonus for us. We could also see other casinos such as the MGM Grand, Monte Carlo, New York New York, Excalibur, Aladdin, and those further away such as the Luxor and Mandalay Bay! The lights at night were fantastic and my friend and I quite often ran to the window as soon as the music struck up for the Bellagio fountains to start!

During the day we could also see the planes taking off at the airport and once the buildings had ended, the desert beginning which was a stark contrast to the busy Strip.

As an aside, considering the Bellagio was so much more expensive for the week - our hotel room was considerably larger than the Aussies'. They were sharing 3 to a room and overlooked a hotch potch of highway. Our room from door to window was 12 paces - so yes, fairly roomy!

Lastly, to the awarding of the stars. Well it has to be five from me. The food, the quiet and clean room and that unbelieveable view all contributed to a great holiday. At 44 acres, this isn’t an intimate setting, it’s full on and in yer face. However it’s not a ‘themed’ casino and is fairly low key compared to some of the larger casinos. Bally’s has an excellent location as most of the casinos can be walked to from here, there are readily available taxis outside and a shopping mall not too far away. Staff were always friendly and helpful and gave us maps and information when asked. We had a top stay! Highly recommended.

www.caesars.com

Bally’s is part of the Park Palace resorts, linked with Paris, Flamingo, Caesars and the Hilton.

Thanks for reading. Apologies for the length!

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