Center Strip: Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon: Comfort, Value & Location!
Written: May 13 '09
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Location, location, location. Room rate, room value, looser than average (for Strip) slots. Those Margaritas!
Cons: Player's Club t-shirts not available in Plus Sizes :(
(our dogs liked them, however)
The Bottom Line: Nice, comfortable and affordable digs right smack dab in the very center of the Las Vegas Strip, but nothing fancy. High rollers may wish to look elsewhere. Very good value!
|
|
|
| kcfoxy's Full Review: Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon, NV |
Friends, you'll do plenty of walking on Las Vegas' justly famous Strip. And this May, we decided to forgo the rental car and position ourselves Strip central to help minimize the miles and miles and miles of hoofing it we usually do. Located on the same intersection as The Bellagio, Bally's and Caesar's Palace, the former Barbary Coast, now Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon was our home away from home.
Check-In & Room
After years and years of mega casinos and resorts-on-steroids, it was fabulously refreshing to step inside a casino, and within 20 feet of the side door, I was already at check-in. There was 1 person in front of me, another first.
With just 4 floors of rooms, Bill's may be one of the smallest, but our check-in was both prompt and courteous. Yes, our plane arrived a few hours before the typical 3 p.m. check-in, but the smiling clerk had our room card-keys ready and it took just 3 minutes from the front desk to elevator to room.
A small refrigerator I'd requested was soon delivered, and we lounged on our firm but comfy queen beds while allowing the somewhat noisy AC to do its thing. A long low dresser was topped by a 42" TV with working remote. A small table and 2 chairs and desk with another chair completed the layout.
Bill's carries on Barbary Coast's Victorian theme with dark woods for the ornate headboards and other furnishing while the wallpaper and carpet is done in thankfully muted dark red and gold tones. The single large and tall window doesn't open, and in our case faced the garage and Flamingo Hotel next door...much quieter than the Flamingo Road side...although that South side does offer glimpses of Bally's, Paris' Eiffel Tower and glimpses of the Bellagio's famed water show.
Slightly different than many hotel rooms, the bathroom is at the far, window end of the 400 square foot room. The open closet shares space with the fairly roomy sink. A separate tub/shower and toilet combination allows 2 people to spruce up at the same time, always a plus.
There is a single nightstand between the two beds. A table lamp as well as an overhead 'spot' lighting switch for each bed is helpful when one person wants to sleep or watch TV while another, (cough, cough), prefers to read. A simple clock radio and phone complete the accessories. The usual shampoo, lotion and soap as well as hotel stationery and logo stick pen complete the complimentaries.
Ice and sodas are located on the 1st and 3rd of the 4 hotel floors, plus there is a small 3-sided hotel 'gift shop' on the casino level, with the usual assortment of munchies, bottled water, sodas and a few sundries, t-shirts and trinkets.
It was in the low to mid 80's during our early May stay. A bit overcast, the usual single digit humidity was up to 22%, (still very dry high desert), so I kept the air conditioner off when we left the room, and set to the upper 70's (via sliding bar gizmo on the wall) at any other time. A small stained glass window over the shower was nice for a bit for fresh air, or de-humidifying while bathing but at night with the sirens and other street noise wafting up from Las Vegas' busiest intersection I was sad but had to keep it closed.
We opted for no maid service during our 4 night stay. Our Do Not Disturb/No Moleste sign was respected and late sleepers, we thrilled at absolutely no pounding knocks on our door...unlike many other casino resorts. Overall, our room, and the casino in general was well maintained and clean, clean, clean!
Player's Club, Some Bargains & Freebies At Bill's
After resting an hour or so and reading through the freebie visitor's magazines to better plan our meal and activity schedule, we headed back down to the Casino, and first thing, sign up at The Player's Club desk. How nice to just fork over Driver License and not have to fill out the sometimes lengthy slot club forms!
Again, no lines, and cheerful, friendly service at Bill's. For $5 in comps in 72 hours we'd win free t-shirts (free advertising for the casino!), tickets in the cash drawings, (Monday through Friday, must be present to win), and even a free hot dog.
About those dogs...a small cart adjacent to the Player's Club has old fashioned, good sized dogs with steamed buns and everything from sauerkraut to sweet pickle relish, chopped onions and more. Extra tasty at just $2 each...even tastier when free!
On the other side of the Player's Club desk was the Sports Book, while in a third direction was the Margarita Bar. Oh my goodness!
For just under 1 dollar, I enjoyed Sauza Margaritas...no salt for me please. The dry desert air had my throat parched and my mouth dry while these frosty concoctions went down oh so smooth!
Next to the Sports Book and Bar you'll find the Big Elvis Show. I think B.E. used to weigh about double what he does now...that's what he tells us...and a very, very, very large indeed throne type chair with heavy reinforcement leads me to believe that is true. A free show, offered Monday-Friday late afternoons/early evenings, this one fills up fast with above average Elvis renditions and some folksy talk.
Hard working cocktail servers ply the slots and table games as well as Sports Book and lotto areas, though in the wee hours and early mornings you'll find precious few about. Afternoons and evenings free drinks, alcoholic or not, can be had, even in the Penny Heaven and nickels hells I'm liable to inhabit. I always try to remember and tip the servers, even 50 cents is appreciated...and hey, those margaritas? Now half the price from the already cool Margarita Bar if you catch my drift, (hic)!
Gaming Not Gambling...So What's Afoot?
A while back, some genius designer really put on the thinking cap and came up with multi-line slots. Yeah, we were familiar with the 2 to 3 play stuff, and eventually even the diagonal stuff for up to 5 coins. Well, coins are virtually no more, and as budget-friendly as these new fangled penny slots seemed, at times, when especially flush, I was pounding on the Max Bet button, of course most conveniently located, and slamming down up to 76, or at one machine, gasp, 250 'non-coin' thingies. That's $2.50 in real money a pop, Virginia!
Of course, with bigger bets, wilder and more entertaining things happened on these slot screens. Devils boogied to some cool rock riffs, top hatted guys with packs of cash as skirts hula danced about and Zeus himself made pronouncements of great import. And like that. Well luckily, the regular nickel, quarter and dollar slots still remain and you can play 1 coin, er, credit at a time if you so choose.
Plenty of video poker machine abound in their own little section across from the table games. Craps was particularly popular over the (big fight at the MGM) weekend we 'gamed'. A free Craps Class is offered at 10 each morning and was well attended as we wandered in closer to the end of the hour.
Keep heading toward the Strip front of the casino and you'll find plenty more of those multi-play slots, but I couldn't find 3 types of machines I always liked: Nevada Nickels, Quartermania or Megabucks/Mega Millions; the progressive machines linked to many other casinos state wide. Also missing in action, at least during our 4 day perusal? Haywire Deluxe, a goofy nickel or quarter slot with free plays every so often and a maddeningly addictive soundtrack, (maddening if you were sitting nearby, addictive if you were hitting it on a hot streak).
Near the Flamingo side front door you'll smell Seattle's Best, a Starbucks wanna be with similar prices and decent java. Spoiled by my daily Cafe Mochas on other vacation jaunts, DH was kindness itself in securing and delivering each reviving paper cup, around $4 for the medium, (what they call a large). We skipped the pastries, but they got 'em if you want 'em.
The smallish Sports book was very busy during our stay for the Kentucky Derby. I didn't know any of the horses or I might have bet differently...the papers warned agains the long shots you know. One of our 2 Win/Place/Show horses did manage to best many of the high priced stuff and finish 5 but out of the money.
We didn't play any of these games but there was the usual roulette, craps, blackjack and 21 games. DH said they were all low priced, which suits Bill's casual theme, rates and general pleasant but not spendy ambiance.
Lots of people were smoking in our Casino, but the ventilation system was adequate but for a few obnoxious cigars being puffed nearby. It's hard coming from California...our whole Medical Center work campus is non-smoking now...but the casino wasn't like the smoky dives of yore, and even our non-smoking room was exactly that.
You Got Anything To Eat Around Here?
Man cannot live on free drinks, bargain Margaritas, hot dog and gift shop munchies alone, or well, very long, so I was glad to have had time to search Bill's 2 restaurant menus on-line in preparation for our Foodies' attack.
The Victorian Room is the 24 hour coffee shop casual restaurant. Nicely decorated with red Naugahyde, muted carpets and stained glass windows along the Flamingo Avenue light-admitting wall, this would also prove an excellent place to people watch all the Club Kids crawling out from Drai's Lounge in the early hours of the morning for the vastly popular Steak & Eggs special, (currently hovering just over $5).
Served between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. this special comes with eggs, hash borwns, bacon or sausage, wheat or white toast and possibly the World's thinnest slice of ribeye steak known to man. I had a chance to order a regular/full priced breakfast at a non-peak time, (to be fair to the cook), and that time the hash browns were actually browned and I could order my Egg Whites instead of regular scrambled. I rated the special very good for volume of food and fair for taste. Which means I liked it, DH loved it and scored half my hash browns.
One of the other Specials offered in the Victorian Room is a Prime Rib or New York Steak deal, though around $15 this was laughably so un-special compared to the $3 graveyard deal at the old Frontier, the $6.99 Lady Luck or Old Frontier or San Remo details, well, you get the idea. The 8 to 10 ounce portion comes just as ordered with choice of baked, mashed or fried potatoes, soup or salad and 2 rolls.
The meat is very good, quite tasty, especially with the au jus. The horseradish sauce is very hot with added pepper. I used some of the sour cream from my baked potato to tone it down to the medium heat found most enjoyable. The salad was good-sized and both the bleu cheese and ranch dressings appealed.
Per usual, I had enough of the 'eye' of the prime rib to make 2 nice sandwiches with my rolls to take back to our room and that handy dandy little comp fridge. To go containers were promptly supplied and not an eye batted as I prepared my little diabetic's midnight feast.
Good, courteous and prompt service made the otherwise moderate prices something we could swallow.
When checking in, we'd received a coupon book with one for 25% off The Steakhouse at Bill's. I'd been wanting to try this place since it was under the Barbary Coast/Coast management. In days of old this AAA 3 diamond steakhouse was reserved almost but no quite exclusively for high rollers.
What we would consider a Splurge Meal for sure, but the 25% off would help the fact that like Ruth's Chris, everything was a la carte.
Service was great from the minute we walked up to the front door when our name as called. Smiles everyone! We were ushered back to an intimate nook with just 3 other tables and 5 other diners.
We opted for the first seating, and by not choosing any appetizers, got our orders in first, all the better to eavesdrop on the goings on all around. DH's Caesar Salad ($7) was prepared table-side, of good size and must have been scrumptious because he offered not a single bite.
Since veggies and starches were listed separately, he also opted for the baked potato ($7), which I felt was a bit much, until I managed to secure a few bites. Besides being huge, it was loaded with real butter, (compared to the coffee shop 'butter spread'), sour cream and big chunks of smoked bacon.
He also selected the 16 oz King cut of Prime Rib ($32), ordering it rare. A bit unusual, it came in an oval skillet topping a Continental sized plate. A nice piece of meat, it was boneless, marbeled with fat and definitely rare. Interesting to note that here the horseradish sauce was the creamy medium type.
I'd decided on soup instead of salad and was torn between the Lobster Bisque, ($8), and my favorite French Onion soup, ($7). I ordered the latter, but maybe should have ordered the former. The broth and onions were delicious, but there was so much cheese I actually had trouble chewing it enough to swallow and in place of the usual crouton or slice of baquette there was a complete roll, about 4 inches long by an inch thick topping the soup. Put aside, I worked on my starter, very tasty but filling
The Surf & Turf (6 ounce lobster tail and 4 ounce Filet Mignon) tempted but I decided for an all meat approach given the Steakhouse's rep, and went with the 10 ounce Filet Mignon ($38).
It was layered on something I couldn't define that DH guessed might have been a mega Portabella mushroom sans cap plus a few hard baby veggies that wouldn't recognize the term 'al dente' if it bit them.
The meat was that very tall sort, easily 2 inches thick, maybe 3 inches across. The center was medium rare but the crust was rather more charred than I care to eat, (carcinogens and all). This made each and every outside bite between well done and medium. Securing a roll from the covered basket, I had plans to save the succulent, and medium rare, center for another late night's noshing.
The senior waiter/junior maitre 'D seated us. The waiter waiter took our order and the junior waiter brought and removed plates. Another guy poured the ice water and brushed away crumbs. So, I was much suprised when the Junior Waiter came up to ask how my food was; I'm a slow eater and was slowly working my way around the charred edges of the steak.
Perhaps in the semi dark of our table he didn't notice I'd been working on my steak for 10 minutes or so. "Everything is okay."
"Is the steak to your liking? Have you tried it?"
"Um, yes the steak is okay. I've been eating around the edges here for a bit now, see?"
3rd degree in the 3 diamond restaurant? The slightly arched eyebrow and semi amused moue of his lips spoke as loudly as words: "Right, sure you are!"
Somehow the level of service just dropped, and the guy in the loud pink Hawaiian shirt and his lady in her nice HSN 3 piece ensemble where made to feel diminished in the eyes of the monkey-suited Junior Snippet...
I didn't say anything to DH, since he was treating, but I finished up as quickly as I could, so he could call the regular Waiter Waiter for our check and a doggie bag. WW told JW to get a container, and I got my half-eaten food ready, DH adding the roll to my plate so it woudn't be overlooked. Neither of us opted for dessert.
Due to the plum central Strip location of our casino-hotel, we were easily able to walk south, past Bally's and the Paris to Planet Hollywood and the Mirale Mille Shopping Mall and enjoy people watching and happy hour grazing at Trader Vic's 2nd story patio overlooking the ebb and flowing human tide on vacation.
A block east (and behind) our hotel's parking was a cool Italian favorite, Battista's Hole-in-the-Wall, made more inviting by an ever helpful discount coupon. Or for those really in the know, and the stamina to walk an extra couple of blocks, near Flamingo and Koval (the service street behind Bally's), Ellis Island Casino has both Brewery and Restaurant with Rib & Half Chicken special, unadvertised Steak special and the carbohydrate's delight, a graveyard Breakfast special for well less than $5.
Final Thoughts And Recommendation
So would we stay at Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Casino again? Oh yes, I'm sure we would. And with clean and comfy rooms averaging $50 a night, a full 1/3 to 1/2 the Others' best rate, (maybe a tad more on Friday and Saturday nights), friendly staff, looser than average slots and location, location, location I think we found a real deal.
In today's economy Las Vegas isn't raking in quite the Lost Wages it normally would. Decreasing room prices but vanishing food bargains are the norm...we're sorry to see the latter go. But factoring in our food expenditure with the room rate, we still payed much, much less than anyone occupying any of those other pricey corners of Strip Central, and that's the true value.
4 Stars for good food, overall great service, very nice room and overall satisfaction, I'd recommend Bill's to all but the snootiest of friends and to ALL my bargain-seeking Vegas-bound buddies!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special thanks to Di, SurgRN911, for adding this to the Travel data base so quickly!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
kcfoxy
|
 - Top 200 |
|
Member: Casey Stewart
Location: West Coast Of Mars
Reviews written: 935
Trusted by: 643 members
About Me:
Save the Earth...it's the only planet with Chocolate!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.