Where do you stay downtown?

We've stayed at Main St., Calif., Vegas Club, Binions, G.Nugget, 4Q, and Fitz, over the last several years. I also used to regularly stay at Lady Luck, and still hold out hope it will someday reopen. That said, our favorite by far is Main St. Station. The rooms are the 2nd best downtown, behind GN, but much cheaper. The rooms facing south are preferrable since you hear the freeway noise on the north side. The smallest room number is closest to main st, (farthest from the rr track). The best feature is that you can self park in the garage just north of the building, and be within 30 seconds of the casino or the guest elevators. We are in and out of the car regularly, so the parking is a big plus for us. In addition to that, the 777 brewpub serves fantastic beer and the casino has a good supply of 10-7 double bonus, when you factor in the score with 4 bonus cards, it's the highest return VP in all of Las Vegas.

Roy

We have only stayed at the Plaza and GN. The Plaza was our first experience with comps. We stayed at the Strat in 2003 when we got married. We went downtown and stopped in the Plaza and played PaiGow poker at a $5 level. The pit boss oasked if we had a players card and when we said we didn't she asked for our ID so she could get us one. When she brought them she said we'd be staying there next time. She was right, our first free room offers came in the mail shortly after. Their comps were extremely loose before they renovated. Not usre how they will be now. Four to six hours of $25 average BJ got us penthouse suites, limo transportation to an dfrom the airport and almost unlimited food comps.

Two years ago I realized that with where my play was I could get nearly the same treatment at GN. Four hours of BJ at $125 average gets rooms, limo transportation and $125/day food credit at the buffet, Carson street Cafe and the Grille. While $125 a hand sounds high, the floor supervisors in the high limit room do a great job padding the rating cards. We love the rush tower rooms. The bathrooms are huge and really well appointed just like the rest of the room. The matresses are GREAT.

we have stayed at the las vegas club, 4Qs,golden gate, fremont and El Cortez and we now always go back to the el cortez cabana suites. they are non smoking and have very good security so you feel very safe. the walk to the fse is a little shady but never seems a big deal as there is always plenty of people and security around, but that said I would mind my p's and q's cause you never know but that can be anywhere

As with a lot of topics in Las Vegas, the answer is probably "it depends on what matters to you". Here are the places I've stayed downtown.

If hotel amenities are important to you, then the Golden Nugget is your best choice. I haven't stayed there in quite a few years. I'm not a high roller and I'm not part of the younger, trendy set they were trying to attract. If amenities are important, I think the GN is actually a very good value. Even if their rates are high by downtown standards, a comparable hotel on the Strip, much less in any other tourist destination, would cost you much more.

Main Street Station - good offers/ good VP especially at the bartops. Friendly staff. The only real con I can think of is that at first glance, you'd say there aren't many restaurants, but since you can charge meals at the Cal to your room and maybe get them comped when you check out, you actually end up with quite a few choices for food. And for casual dining, 777 is one of my favorite choices anywhere in LV.

Four Queens - very good offers and again good VP. I know there are folks with mixed opinion of both Hugo's and Magnolia's. I'm not a foodie and I typically don't get adventurous when ordering food, but I've only had one bad meal at Magnolia's and none at Hugo's. I really like the IPA at Chicago Brewing Company, too.

El Cortez - I don't mind the walk between there and FSE at all, even at night. I'll qualify that by saying that I rarely make that walk after midnight, but now with all of the lounges between FSE and the EC, I'd feel safe anytime. They're cleaning up that district very nicely. I enjoy both the Flame and the Cafe there and the offers I get from them are nice. The fitness center at the Cabana Suites is very nice, especially since you can look out the window at that apartment complex and check out all the drug deals, prostitution, and who-knows-what-else is going on in broad daylight. The closest thing to a con for me is that they only have 9/6 JOB in multi-strike. If they had that on the bartops, it might be the only place I stayed.

Las Vegas Club - I hadn't stayed there in several years until this summer, when I finally decided to book at their absurdly low rates for a couple of nights. They gave me a North Tower room, even without my asking or using the $20 trick. I went in expecting the worst and was very pleasantly surprised with the room. And they have lots of 9/6 JOB, which they didn't have back in the old days. If you only need a place to sleep a few hours and take care of the necessities, it's fine. The only real drawback is the lack of choices for food. I also got a nice comp to Tinoco's Kitchen, which was very good.

Sorry, I know you asked for one choice. If I had to give one, I'd probably lean towards the 4Q, only because their offers are the most generous.

I've stayed several places downtown the past few years. Here are my brief views on them:

LAS VEGAS CLUB (South Tower):
Pros - Often very cheap, room itself not too bad for the price
Cons - Only one elevator when I was there

GOLDEN GATE:
Pros - Parts of the room were nicely renovated
Cons - Other parts not renovated and not so nice, small

FREMONT:
Pros - Nice overall
Cons - Smallish bathroom, tends to be a bit expensive for downtown

FOUR QUEENS:
Pros - Nice overall, can be cheap
Cons - North Tower could use some work, smallish bathrooms, rooms can be noisy at FSE times

EL CORTEZ (Tower):
Pros - Roomy, have received recent TLC
Cons - A few blocks away from the action (there's a different kind of action to the east...)

We have stayed at most of the downtown properties with the exception being Fitzgeralds and El Cortez.

Our favorite is the 4 Queens. They have good promotions which usually give us at least three nights free every month. Sometimes we earn food comps which is nice even though we are low rollers. We like the Chicago Brewing company for eats. The prime rib sliders are awsome and the beer is excellent.

Second choice would be either Main Street Station or the Cal. Cal is a little quieter.

Will probably check out the Plaza have stayed there many times in the past.

Charlie NH

Have stayed at Golden Nugget, MSS, Plaza (before renovations) and Vegas Club and would rank them in that order.

GN has by far the nicest rooms of anyplace downtown. Comparable to TI and Mirage on strip for room quality. Yes, the checkin/checkout process is an absolute bear. Plan for 15-30 minutes each way.

I like the MSS casino best of the four. Nice layout, simple to navigate (as opposed to the business of GN) and very friendly people. Absolutely love the Brewpub, plus their buffet is better than Nugget's for the money.

The other two are another step down from MSS both room and casino wise. I would probably stay at Fremont or Four Queens before returning to either, although I do like the Plaza casino, probably because I have done pretty well there.