Casino Reviews

This picture was taken from the Wynn hotel’s front near the street showing the TI or Treasure island hotel in the background. The foreground shows a pond and shoreline of a small stream at the Wynn hotel. Just beyond this are to the left is what is supposed to be a mountain waterfall. The pond and waterfall are both on the Wynn hotel and casino property. TI – Treasure Island – Las Vegas is across the street and is approximately 3000 rooms with all of the standard attributes. There are many restaurants to try out and they also have a very nice pool. Friends of ours recently stayed at TI – Treasure Island. They were blown away by how nice it was, the pool and the clubs that they went to. They thoroughly enjoyed their time at TI – Treasure Island.

TI – Treasure Island – Pirate Show

One of the things that really stands out at the TI – Las Vegas is the pirate show that is held several times a day. Show times are posted in front of the hotel along the sidewalk. This pirate show at TI – Las Vegas is free to everyone and includes cannon fire, flames and pirate diving into the water. One of the ships actually sinks! The only time the show is not on is during windy conditions which could cause problems with the show.

Note that the pirate show was under construction the last time we were in Vegas in 2014 and may not be in operation. We welcome updates to this blog and will update this post accordingly next time we are in Las Vegas.

Ti – Las Vegas has been rebranded from the former Treasure Island casino. It was built by Steve Wynn, who also built the Mirage and the Bellagio. They were all sold to MGM properties who later sold the Treasure Island to another buyer. Steve Wynn went on to build the Wynn hotel and casino and hotel which is by far one of the nicest hotels in Vegas.

Save

The Montecarlo Casino and hotel in Las Vegas is a great place to bring the family and also adults as well. One of the nice things about this hotel is the Montecarlo Pool – Las Vegas area which is available to all guests staying at the hotel. The pool area includes a wave pool, a sandy beach, a beach volleyball court, and a river to float along on a raft. Also, a regular pool to spend time at while staying at the Montecarlo casino. This particular picture was taken from the deck of the Tram that runs from the Montecarlo all the way to the Bellagio Hotel stopping along the way at the Aria Casino and hotel. They are all owned by MGM Casinos.

Montecarlo Pool – Las Vegas – Food Court

Another great feature about the Montecarlo hotel in addition to the pool area is that they have a small fast food court which is excellent for families or anyone really who is vacationing on a budget. We all want to eat at a nice restaurant at least once while in Vegas, however, the rest of the time fast food is fine. They have a Starbucks, McDonald’s, Subway, and a pizza place to choose from. A note about Starbucks, coffee is going to cost you $3.00 for the same thing you would get at a regular Starbucks for $1.75. That is the hotel adding its the price on. as far as we could tell MacDonald’s coffee is the same price and is actually pretty good these days.

We ate at a restaurant called D.Vino’s in Montecarlo. We would not recommend this place to anyone. The Caesar salad was not good, the romaine looked old and the main courses were really tasteless.  The fish smelled fishy, the pasta was actually tough and the pizza had no taste whatsoever. We mentioned this to the maitre’d. Although they were going to tell the chef, they did not offer us anything other than they could redo it. Don’t waste your money, there are lots of other places to try that are much better.

Save

There is a tram that runs from the Montecarlo casino to the city center Aria casino and then on to the Bellagio casino. This Tram from Montecarlo shown in the pictures is fully automated , very clean and safe and is air conditioned. It can be a bit of a walk to get to the stations, but it is much faster and comfortable than walking along the strip! In most cases you need to walk through the casino to the back of the hotel to catch the tram. We snapped these pictures while waiting at the Bellagio hotel station. In nice weather, walking the strip is fine. However when it gets really hot in Vegas during the summer, take the tram!

Regardless of were you are staying in Vegas, you are going to be doing a lot of walking. The Tram from Montecarlo and the Bellagio is a good way to get from one place to another. However you still have a long walk from the Vegas strip to the tram loading station. We have always wondered why they make you walk a lot like this. We think there are really two reasons. One is that the casinos are really large, much larger than what many people expect and you just have to walk a long way to get through them.

The other reason is that they want you to walk through the casino on your way to your room. The restaurants, the shows and of course the Tram are on the way. There is a good chance that you might drop a $20 in a slot machine or even more. The casinos will use everything they can to get people to do a little gambling. Once you start, it is difficult to stop and that is what they are counting on.

The Bellagio casino and hotel always have some of the best flower arrangements and designs in the world. Visitors can spend hours admiring the Bellagio garden and still not take it all in. This is also a great place to have your picture taken with your friends and loved ones.  The Bellagio garden is located just off the main lobby of the hotel. It is a very popular place for many people to enjoy. There is always the latest scenery that has been created by the artists. Many hours are spent building these beautiful arrangements and maintaining these beautiful flowers. As the flowers fade, more are brought in to replace them.

Bellagio Garden – Las Vegas

The garden is constantly updated to reflect the season or the celebration of the year. At thanksgiving for example there will be a horn of plenty, while at Easter there will be a theme that is interesting to this religious time of the year. All of the flowers are real and in pots. They are kept fresh daily and watered to maintain their optimum beauty and freshness. There is a team of people who are constantly trimming flowers, updating and replacing the flowers to keep everything at maximum beauty.

Sometimes this area is so busy it can actually be difficult to get the picture that you want. We find the best time is early afternoon, and early morning as well before the crowds start. Most people stroll through admiring the flowers and the overall design and then head on to their rooms or to the casino. This is one of the free things you can do in Las Vegas and it is one of the must-see things to do while you are staying in Las Vegas!

While you are in the Bellagio, take a minute to stroll across the valet parking to the fountain on the other side. Here you will have a birds-eye view of Bellagio lake and the fountains that operate. They are choreographed with music and play every 20 minutes or so.

Save

Save

We recently dined at the Carson Street Cafe at the Golden Nugget in downtown  Las Vegas on Fremont street. All of the casinos face Fremont street, which is enclosed with a glass ceiling for approximately six blocks. There are street performers. There are bands and there are zip lines at various locations along the street as well to entertain everyone. Also every 30 minutes or so at night they dim all of the lights of the casinos. A light show on the underside of the glass ceiling accompanied by music entertains everyone.

Golden Nugget Las Vegas – Shows

There are some really good shows and it is of course free to the public. This post is about the Carson Street Cafe. However, when we saw this great picture of  Fremont street and the Golden Nugget, we just had to include it as part of this post.

The Carson Street Cafe at the Golden Nugget is a nice reasonable place to eat. Prices are pretty much average and the food is plentiful and presented well. The tables are clean and the food is very good. We also found the service to be on par with most other restaurants in Vegas for cafe-style locations. This is a place to catch a quick meal. While you take time off from gambling or visiting the pool area of the Golden Nugget.

We always stay on the strip at one of the strip hotels,. But we usually also come downtown to visit the Golden Nugget and take in the Fremont Street Experience. If we have friends with us and they have never seen this spectacular show, then we will make the trip downtown as well to show them.

Park at the Golden Nugget Parking Garage

When you travel downtown to the Golden Nugget, we suggest that you park at the hotel’s parking lot. Then walk across the street to the hotel. You can have your parking ticket stamped to receive a few extra hours of free parking, however, there will be a charge for parking if you stay for any significant length of time. It is convenient and  the charge for parking is not that high. All parking along the strip used to be free, however, they are now charging a fee. However, like all downtown areas, space is at a premium and I guess they feel they need to charge for parking.

Visitors can also take the bus downtown or take a cab. If you split the cost between several people it is not too expansive and you do not need to be concerned about a designated driver.

Always be careful when you are in any city downtown at night. Stay on the main streets where there are lots of people and beware of pickpockets, especially when you are looking at the light show and perhaps are distracted from what people might be doing near you. Ladies should hold onto their purses and men should keep their wallets in their front pockets or in zippered pockets for proper security.

Golden Nugget Casino

This is an older-style casino that has been given a facelift and presents itself very well. The casino is always crowded and the machines are crammed everywhere so you may feel a bit claustrophobic while you are there particularly if it is busy.

They have all of the usual machines of course and although we do not know if this is true or not, rumors have it that the downtown casinos pay much better than the casinos along the strip. They have to have an edge to get people to come downtown and gamble at any of their locations including the Golden Nugget.

Rooms are also inexpensive and if you have a slot card and play a little bit, chances are you will receive invites to stay at the Golden Nugget for free next time you are in Vegas. We have not stayed at this hotel, however, we would expect them to be comparable to other mid-range hotels on the strip.

Next time you are in Vegas, make sure you head downtown for a few hours to see the Fremont Street Experience, visit the Golden Nugget and have dinner at the Carson Street Cafe. We believe that you will not be disappointed by the trip downtown. Always go in the evening so that you can see the light show as well.

Save