Last week, I solicited recommendations for affordable hotel rooms, on behalf of a reader. For those of you who don't monitor the "Comments" threads, here's what some readers had to offer …
• Why not the Main Street Station; it's downtown, clean and comfortable with nice beds including down comforters. Decent food and not bad gambling! Rooms are reasonable.
• Hooters, it isn't the most modern, but it's probably the prototype of what people mean when they babble about "boutique" hotels. Not too large, intimate feel, and balconies that still be accessed.
• I never stayed there in its heyday, but I think the criticism of the Plaza is a bit unwarranted. Is it top quality, no, but it is a fun place to play, great sportsbook, and you don't have to worry about spilling a drink on the carpet. I really believe some critiques I read online are from people who do not realize that in a town where one room may cost you $199 a night, the hotel with the $35 room for the same night might not be of the same quality.
We also got a must-to-avoid missive about Imperial Palace, known to locals as "Impotent Palace." Vox populi, vox dei.
Seen last weekend at Caesars Palace: "On Friday, a substantial amount of water was leaking from the ceiling in the Caesars Palace Forum Casino. Four large wastebaskets were hastily placed in the middle of the casino floor to catch the water–which made Harrahs premier property look like a low-rent grind house. The problem was resolved by Saturday, but it illustrated what happens when you're almost $25 billion in debt and losing money every day: You opt for what's euphemistically called 'deferred maintenance,' which means you don't spend any money on repairs until the pipes break."
