The Circa Review

I am not going to get around to writing a full-blown trip report for my October trip but I felt like I had to say something about the Circa as my stay there was such a good experience. My stay was for two nights and looking back, I wish I had stayed there the entirety of my five-night trip.

The room was amazing.  I had a fabulous view of Stadium Swim and then looking out the other way a view of the mural on the side of the Plaza.

The large comfortable sectional couch in the king room made the room feel like someplace you wanted to hang out rather than just sleep in for a few hours.  There was lots of comfortable seating in the room. You could easily entertain 5-6 people in the room and nobody would have to sit on the bed.  In comparison, sitting on the minimalist furnishings in my room at the Mirage, on the same trip, felt about as comfortable as sitting on a slab of concrete. 

The large shower in the oversized bathroom easily accommodated two ;)  Oh, and unlike most places in Vegas, they have smoking rooms.

I was really surprised by Stadium Swim. I didn’t think I’d be into it, but it was amazing. There was eye candy on display everywhere. For those of you complaining about it being a sausage fest, bring a good-looking twenty-something female with you and I guarantee you will have a good time. The drinks at the pool were expensive, but I can honestly say I was served the best Margarita I had in my entire life there.  Best of all since nobody under 21 is allowed inside the Circa, the pool was kid-free.

If you are looking for the nicest standard rooms on Freemont, I don’t even think it is close. The standard Golden Nugget rooms are long in tooth, and they are a lot smaller.  If you start upgrading to the nicer rooms at the Nugget, which aren’t all that new anymore, you end up spending a lot more to get a comparable experience. My room averaged $125 a night including resort fees and taxes.  $25 of that was for a last-minute upgrade to a smoking room.

My favorite rooms downtown have always been at Main Street Station--have you stayed there, and if so, how would they compare to your Circa room?

I haven't stayed there. My stays downtown have been at the Golden Nugget, Four Queens, Hotel Apache and now the Circa. I tend to go high end or bottom of the barrel when I stay downtown. I never found a lot of value in the mid range properties there. 

In all honesty, the Circa blew the Mirage out of the water. The only saving grace the Mirage had was that the room was free excluding the resort fees.

Mark, did you have to pay resort fees on the "free" room nights at Mirage?  

Nice report, BTW.

Candy

I suppose a major determinant of whether the Circa will be worth it is the type and magnitude of the discounts you get for being a "loyal player."

I have the feeling that they're not going to offer anybody any deals, since they still seem to be in "new casino, maximum profits as quickly as possible" mode. Maybe in a couple of years, when the bloom is off the rose...?

Yep, I had to pay the resort fee on the room and then the tax on the resort fee. I had always wanted to stay at the Mirage since my first trip to Vegas back in 2001. It just never worked out until this last trip. I was disappointed. After staying there, I wouldn't spend my own money to stay there again unless the property gets a significant update. 

My room at the Flamingo back in May was larger, nicer, newer and had a better view. So, if I were spending out of pocket, I'd pick the Flamingo again for a mid-strip location. The Mirage doesn't justify its room rate given the current condition of the property. 

It's a real shame they closed their poker room. I have some good memories from my time spent in that poker room. 

Mark, did you spend any time at the Circa sports book?  It's quite impressive.  A couple of my buddies had lunch at Saginaw's deli last month.  They said that while expensive for sandwhiches, they both said that it was the best sandwhich they had every had.  They also agreed that the portions were very large and they should have split a $22 sandwhich.

Circa certainly is slick.

I think the Mirage really took it on the chin with COVID...walking through there around this time last year they had more employees on the floor than customers.    All of the downtown properties fared better for some reason - even the low end joints like Fremont.      

My experience with Circa was it was incredibly nice, overpriced, and not player-friendly.   I didnt stay in the rooms or try the pool so neither of those figured into my conclusion.    I liked the big TV but good seats required an admission fee.    

Its essentially a strip resort located downtown.    I supposse thats good if you want the non-gaming experience to improve downtown.....not so good if you want downtown to continue to be a gambling oasis apart from the strip.    

But Im glad you had a good time.

I had Saginaw's Reuben with chips and a drink.   $28.  See below.

It was a great meal but not $28 good.   Dont think I'd go again.

Thanks, Mark.  I thought it was fairly common that resort fees are waved on "comped" rooms.  Your deal must have been different.

Anyway, I agree about Mirage.  We stayed there in it's first year...beautiful, the white tigers, the gargantuan greenery, lovely room and a Strip view directly across from Harrah's.   Looking out the window we thought Harrah's looked intriguing, the steamboat theme, in fact was called "Holiday Casino" at the time, having just been changed from a Holiday Inn to Harrah's.  So next stay we went to Harrah's and didn't stay at Mirage again. 

Just a year or three ago we walked through Mirage.  Instead of the sparkling clean feeling of the early years, it felt smoky, dingy.  Too bad.  At least you now know you can strike Mirage off your bucket list and never go back.

Candy