Circus Circus -- Las Vegas' big flop.... umm.... errr.... top....
Written: May 29 '03 (Updated Jun 03 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's a circus...
Cons: It's a zoo....
The Bottom Line: Families on a budget get their money's worth here -- as long as service is not required. For couples, and those seeking an escape -- escape somewhere else.
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| DoubleCoog's Full Review: Circus Circus |
Las Vegas on Memorial Day Weekend, and Circus Circus to boot.... What was I thinking?!?!
While a Vegas virgin, I still should have realized that Memorial Day Weekend was just about the worst time for a romantic weekend at a family oriented entertainment complex. But as I looked at the remaining vacation packages offered by Southwest Airlines and the fact that almost everything in Vegas was sold-out, it seemed like a good idea...at the time.
Things started out well -- although we waited in line for about 30 minutes to check in, we were upgraded to a Junior Suite... right over the wedding chapel (a little marketing ploy perhaps??) There would be no wedding bells on this trip, and although the upgraded room had some nice features, it kind of made us wonder how poor the room would have been without the upgrade.
The pluses
The room was at the end of the hallway, so noise was kept to a minimum. The King size bed was comfortable, and the room was spacious with a sitting area. There was a dressing room and another room outside the bathroom, though the lack of doors here made them not that useful.
Plenty of soap and shampoo was provided daily (we could have showered about eight times a day and not used it up). The water pressure in the shower was good.
The 24 hour restaurant, the Pink Pony, was relatively inexpensive and calm when I visited it at about 1 am our last night. The fruit bowl I had was large, and although the service was slow, it was friendly.
The minuses
The very small (maybe 19 inch) TV had very few working channels and the remote only worked sporadically. When I asked for a new remote or new batteries, they told me to "try again tomorrow morning". I guess we never won the remote "craps" game.
The room had been re-entered by the previous guest and not recleaned, as evidenced by a dirty diaper in the bathroom trash can, and a towel left on the coffee table.
A cot was also left in the room throughout our stay.
The toilet worked fine at times, and at others seemed to require multiple flushes.
The noise coming from the adjoining room was loud, but luckily only occurred during day-time hours.
Although a housekeeper saw me leave my room, when I forgot my key, neither she nor her supervisor would let me in. I had to wait over 30 minutes for security -- I understand hotel security policies, I've even written some of them myself and taken several seminars while in that line of work. This was following procedure to a fault -- to the detriment of customer service. In general, the staff seemed stressed and unwilling to please.
The lobby, casino, and even parking garage were a complete zoo -- so much so, that we never really did much at the hotel except sleep. That meant not even trying to catch any of the free circus acts (every thirty minutes), going to the games area, going to their casino, or going to the indoor amusement park.
We tried the dinner buffet (since we had a free buffet included in our package) and lets just say it was worth slightly more than the price we paid ($0). We figured as much and used it as a late night (9:30 or 10 pm) snack. They had already turned off several drink machines and closed down serving lines. The wait was about twice as long as the posted signs suggested.
The hotel is far removed from the newer, more elegant casinos -- about 3/4 mile from Treasure Island and the Venetian, where things really start. This is a long walk when the temperatures are approaching 100 degrees, and the cabbies ripped us off, taking a several mile scenic route until I figured out what was happening.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
DoubleCoog
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Location: South Padre Island,TX
Reviews written: 123
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