Just returned from three nights at the Plaza. I had never stayed there before and had really only played a couple of times, so I can't make a lot of comparisons.
I had a basic South Tower room. Furnishings were very nice and comfortable. They had new HD TV's and actually had about 40 channels to choose from. They had the whole ESPN family, including ESPNU and ESPN News. I always kind of thought it was odd to put in a big HD tv just to show the in-house keno and your room bill in stunning HD. There was a nice work desk and sitting area. The mid-week rate was only $35.99, which they ended up comping anyway, but I think the rates will stay low for awhile.
The registration area and the lobby were really very nice. Nothing opulent or spectactular, but very attractive.
Edited: I forgot to mention the bathrooms. The bathroom itself is still tiny - just the toilet and the shower/tub. If you're sitting on the toilet, you'd better lock the door because otherwise you'll get banged in the knees. I'm guessing that expanding/renovating the bathrooms wasn't practical. You'd have probably had to add a few 0s to the end of the renovation cost. The sink area is outside the bathroom, and the sink isn't sunk into the vanity; it's actually mounted on top. Kind of neat.
As for food, not all of the restaurants are open yet. I had breakfast one morning at the Island Grill. Had an omelet with Portuguese sausage. One nice touch was that the toast was Hawaiian sweetbread. The price was great and the service was terrific. Admittedly, there was only one other guest in there at the time, but some places, the staff use that as an excuse to slack off. The price was right, too. Prices for lunch and dinner looked very reasonable.
I also had two meals at the Hash House a Go Go and I have to tell you I was completely underwhelmed. I had dinner one night - fried chicken with waffles. The chicken was terrific, but they didn't serve any butter/syrup on the waffles. They were topped with fried leeks, which were actually good, and there was a tiny ribbon of a maple reduction swizzled along the edge of the plate. To my way of thinking, waffles with no toppings are just dry batter. And of course, I could only eat half of it, even though I was very hungry. The portion sizes were just ridiculous. I guess if I were dining with someone we could share or if I were local, I could take home a doggy bag, but I'd rather have half the portion size and lower prices. The meal was about $20, when you threw in a cup of coffee.
Then I had breakfast there one day as well - eggs with potatoes and one of their pancakes. Again, the size of the pancake was absurd and it's kind of hard to cook a pancake that big and get it right. It was OK, but I'll take the pancakes at Du-Pars or the El Cortez any day. That ended up being around $13 with coffee.
The staff was fairly attentive there, but the place was definitely full of itself - a "we're a trendy hip place with twisted farm food and you're not" kind of vibe. I almost felt ridiculed for not being able to finish the portions. No wonder we're a nation of lard-asses.
I don't know whether all the machines are up, but there are only 3 9/6 jacks machines. The good news is that they're kind of buried. The only time I had any trouble getting a machine was when two of them were out of service and one guy sat at the one machine in service for several hours.
The bad thing about the three machines is that they're right next to the Swingers Club. The first night there, I was playing during karaoke time. Even by karaoke standards, this was bad. Maybe if I had been wasted it would have been fun, but to a trained musician, hearing a bunch of people who can't carry a tune in a bucket when they're sober, get drunk and really belt out a horribly-flat rendition of Sweet Caroline or Midnight Train to Georgia is cruel and unusual punishment. so if you're going to play those machines, play in the morning or early afternoon, or else late at night. The dueling pianos started later in the evening.
I didn't check out the table games, so nothing to report there.
I think that the place is going to go after a younger, hipper crowd than their old client base, especially after zappos.com moves its headquarters downtown. That was just sort of the vibe I got from the place, but I could certainly be wrong there. Time will tell.
I run just a shade under 15K through there in 3 days and the host comped my room, but not the food I had charged to it. OK, I guess, but lots of places downtown would take care of everything for that amount of play. When I got home, I had an offer for 3 nights and $75 in slot play, so if you used that you might be able to get some food comps from the Players Club.
So it probably sounds like I'm overly negative on the place, but I'm not. It's a welcome addition to downtown and it's worth a shot, especially as the other restaurants get in, the fitness center and pool get renovated, etc.
I had a basic South Tower room. Furnishings were very nice and comfortable. They had new HD TV's and actually had about 40 channels to choose from. They had the whole ESPN family, including ESPNU and ESPN News. I always kind of thought it was odd to put in a big HD tv just to show the in-house keno and your room bill in stunning HD. There was a nice work desk and sitting area. The mid-week rate was only $35.99, which they ended up comping anyway, but I think the rates will stay low for awhile.
The registration area and the lobby were really very nice. Nothing opulent or spectactular, but very attractive.
Edited: I forgot to mention the bathrooms. The bathroom itself is still tiny - just the toilet and the shower/tub. If you're sitting on the toilet, you'd better lock the door because otherwise you'll get banged in the knees. I'm guessing that expanding/renovating the bathrooms wasn't practical. You'd have probably had to add a few 0s to the end of the renovation cost. The sink area is outside the bathroom, and the sink isn't sunk into the vanity; it's actually mounted on top. Kind of neat.
As for food, not all of the restaurants are open yet. I had breakfast one morning at the Island Grill. Had an omelet with Portuguese sausage. One nice touch was that the toast was Hawaiian sweetbread. The price was great and the service was terrific. Admittedly, there was only one other guest in there at the time, but some places, the staff use that as an excuse to slack off. The price was right, too. Prices for lunch and dinner looked very reasonable.
I also had two meals at the Hash House a Go Go and I have to tell you I was completely underwhelmed. I had dinner one night - fried chicken with waffles. The chicken was terrific, but they didn't serve any butter/syrup on the waffles. They were topped with fried leeks, which were actually good, and there was a tiny ribbon of a maple reduction swizzled along the edge of the plate. To my way of thinking, waffles with no toppings are just dry batter. And of course, I could only eat half of it, even though I was very hungry. The portion sizes were just ridiculous. I guess if I were dining with someone we could share or if I were local, I could take home a doggy bag, but I'd rather have half the portion size and lower prices. The meal was about $20, when you threw in a cup of coffee.
Then I had breakfast there one day as well - eggs with potatoes and one of their pancakes. Again, the size of the pancake was absurd and it's kind of hard to cook a pancake that big and get it right. It was OK, but I'll take the pancakes at Du-Pars or the El Cortez any day. That ended up being around $13 with coffee.
The staff was fairly attentive there, but the place was definitely full of itself - a "we're a trendy hip place with twisted farm food and you're not" kind of vibe. I almost felt ridiculed for not being able to finish the portions. No wonder we're a nation of lard-asses.
I don't know whether all the machines are up, but there are only 3 9/6 jacks machines. The good news is that they're kind of buried. The only time I had any trouble getting a machine was when two of them were out of service and one guy sat at the one machine in service for several hours.
The bad thing about the three machines is that they're right next to the Swingers Club. The first night there, I was playing during karaoke time. Even by karaoke standards, this was bad. Maybe if I had been wasted it would have been fun, but to a trained musician, hearing a bunch of people who can't carry a tune in a bucket when they're sober, get drunk and really belt out a horribly-flat rendition of Sweet Caroline or Midnight Train to Georgia is cruel and unusual punishment. so if you're going to play those machines, play in the morning or early afternoon, or else late at night. The dueling pianos started later in the evening.
I didn't check out the table games, so nothing to report there.
I think that the place is going to go after a younger, hipper crowd than their old client base, especially after zappos.com moves its headquarters downtown. That was just sort of the vibe I got from the place, but I could certainly be wrong there. Time will tell.
I run just a shade under 15K through there in 3 days and the host comped my room, but not the food I had charged to it. OK, I guess, but lots of places downtown would take care of everything for that amount of play. When I got home, I had an offer for 3 nights and $75 in slot play, so if you used that you might be able to get some food comps from the Players Club.
So it probably sounds like I'm overly negative on the place, but I'm not. It's a welcome addition to downtown and it's worth a shot, especially as the other restaurants get in, the fitness center and pool get renovated, etc.
