Casino Reviews

The Palazzo  Hotel & Casino is another one of the most beautiful and elegant hotels in Las Vegas and a sister hotel to the  Venetian Hotel & Casino. You can enter from the strip at street level . There are indoor and outdoor canals both with gondola’s to ride. You enter the Palazzo Hotel & Casino on the main floor from the strip. Vacationers can also take the moving walkway to the second floor from the strip and enter the canal shops area. This is also a must see with many beautiful shops and restaurants including the artificial ceiling. There is a pedestrian walkway across Spring Mountain road to the Wynn hotel and Casino, with direct entry into the Palazzo hotel.

Palazzo Casino & Hotel – Restaurants

There are 15 restaurants in total in the hotel. The Palazzo Hotel & Casino provides excellent service and is a full service hotel with all of the services that anyone could require. These include of course the casino, restaurants, fine dining, coffee shops, gorgeous pool, shops, large conference facilities, and ample parking. The PalazzoHotel & Casino also has several bars with entertainment. The rooms are a bit more expensive, with everyone of them offering a suite style accommodation. This is a brand new hotel with the last few years. Everything is spectacular, with beautiful rooms, great views of the strip and the mountains.

We have toured the Polazzo casino as well as stayed at this hotel. However it is much the same as the Venetian, i.e. Elegant! You will not be disappointed.

Slot Machines

The Palazzo features Megajackpots® machines from $1.00 Megabucks® (with jackpots that have gone higher than $30 million) to Wheel of Fortune®. There’s something here for everyone.

The Palazzo proudly offers a luxurious high-stakes slot experience. For example with denominations ranging from $1.00 all the way up to $1000.00 games. And jackpots go as high as $1,000,000.00 with progressives slot machines.

They also have a wide variety of video poker games with denominations ranging from $0.25 up to $25.00.

Table Games

The Palazzo offers a full range of table games in lavish and friendly surroundings. With over 139 casino games, there’s sure to be something for everyone. They also offer a high-limit salon, which includes 20 table games including Baccarat in a gaming area. Casino table games include:

• Baccarat
• Blackjack
• Craps
• Roulette
• Pai Gow tiles
• Pai Gow poker
• Caribbean Stud™
• Big Six
• Three Card Poker™
• Spanish 21
• Casino War
• Texas hold em Poker
• Let it Ride

Restaurants

All of the restaurants are excellent and include the following:

• Carnevino – Steakhouse
• Cut – Steakhouse
• LAVO – Italian
• Moreles French Steakhouse and Bistro – French
• Table 10 – New American
• Sushisamba – Japanese, Peruvian & Brazilian
• Zine Noodles Dim Sum – Pan Asian
• Canyon Ranch Grill – Healthy Spa Cuisine
• Dal Toro Ristorante – Italian
• Dos Caminos – Mexican
• Expressamente Illy – Italian Cafe
• First Food & Bar – American
• Grand Lux – Global Cuisine
• Solaro – American
• Lagasse’s Stadium – American

Palazzo Casino Major Points of Interest

If you are just passing through the hotel, you will want to take a moment to see the following areas of the Palazzo Hotel & Casino.

• Shopping area joining the Venetian and Palazzo Hotels
• Canal shops
• Gondola rides inside and outside in the canals
• Open and bright almost cheery casino
• Live entertainment beside the casino
• Great pool area

What We Liked

These are some of the items or areas that we liked about the Palazzo Hotel & Casino.

• Free entertainment
• Canal shops
• Great Casino with good comps
• Suite style rooms
• Large Convention Space
• Elegance everywhere
• Free drinks while you are playing the slots or the tables
• Central location, close to several other excellent hotels and the Fashion Show Mall

What We Don’t Like

These are some of the items or areas that we did not like about the Palazzo Hotel & Casino.

• Could not think of anything

Palazzo Casino Slot Player Card

They are part of the Palazzo slot players card system called Grazie. Slot members can take advantage of benefits at the Venation as well as the Palazzo.

There are a number of benefits that many slot players should consider. For example free or discounted rooms, email mailing list of promotions. Also free or discounted meals, access to entertainment. As well as a tax report outlining your losses and wins for tax claim purposes.

Parking

There is ample parking at the Palazzo hotel & casino in a large parking garage beside the hotel. There is no surface parking that we observed. You can access the hotel from the garage via an elevator from all levels. The parking garage is also patrolled on a regular basis and it also protects your car from the weather.

Directions:

The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89109. The Palazzo hotel is near Spring Mountain and Las Vegas Blvd across the street from Treasure Island the Mirage Hotels. Down the street you have the Venetian, the Wynn and the Encore and the Fashion Show Mall.

We visited the AVI Casino again this year and thought it would be appropriate to give an update to our previous post. You can refer to the previous post by, clicking here.

For those of you who have not been to this casino before, the picture on the left gives up some idea about the property.  It is located on the banks of the Colorado river. It is a sprawling property with a show area for conventions and entertainment. There is also RV parking and a golf course all within walking distance of the hotel and the casino.

We visited the casino on two different days and enjoyed ourselves both days. We even participated in a slot poker tournament. You start with 1350 credits and have 10 minutes to see how well you do. I ended up even, which is not very good as it turns out. Several players were up over 500 credits and this is on jacks or better video poker.

Pool Area

One of the comments we made last time was how much we admired the pool area and the beach along the Colorado river. Since we are not guests at AVI, we cannot enter the pool area, however we did take a picture and also made a short video of the beach and pool area. Since a picture is worth a 1000 words here it is.

The Beach on the Colorado River

The following video shows the beach area on the river during off season.

AVI Casino – Environment

One of the issues we had with this casino along with many others is the amount of smoke from smokers that you have to deal with. We are not sure if there are less smokers or they have a better ventilation system. But the air in the casino was much better than previous times we have been there.

Visitors should note that there are smoking areas in the restaurants since this casino is in Nevada. It is also on Indian tribal lands were they make their own rules. I wish someone would bring them up to speed about the problems with smoking and the impact it has on cancer rates. Their machines and casino would be a lot cleaner as well.

We recently stayed at the Wynn Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. After staying at a number of other hotels in Las Vegas as well other cities, this hotel is by far the best we have visited to date.  Steve Wynn has done a fabulous job of designing and building a work of art. He also runs a hotel the way it should be run. Everything is kept clean and sparkling. It is updated on a regular basis with new furniture in the rooms, electronic controls for the lighting and the curtains. Everything is state of the art.

For a full review of the Wynn Hotel and Casino, click here.

Wynn Casino Las Vegas Update

We used to think that the Bellagio, which was also built by Steve Wynn, was the best hotel in Las Vegas. Make no mistake, it is a beautiful hotel. One that we would love to stay at anytime. However if I have to rank the two, the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas is a step above the Bellagio.

Dining at the Wynn

We ate at the deli the first  night, not wanting to take too much time out from playing the slots. The service and the food was quite good. This is a deli after all and a fast food kind of place for a casino. I hesitate to use that term at the Wynn, since it does not compare at all with the traditional fast food kind of places that we think about. Cloth napkins,  regular utensils and meals served to you at your table. You order your meals at the counter. This is the style we are describing at the Wynn’s deli restaurant.

We also dined at the Wynn buffet. Now this buffet would probably be considered expensive by many people who go to buffets at $35 a person. However when you consider that you can choose from lobster, crab legs, and all of the other usual types of food, the price does seem to be more reasonable.  Very few buffets will include lobster ! Need less to say we thoroughly enjoyed the meal and also ate way too much!

Our Room

Our room at Wynn was located on the 23rd floor over looking the strip and the western mountains. You could not ask for a better view. We could see the pirate show at Treasure Island as well as the volcano eruption at the Mirage.

The room itself was simply elegant and we did not have an upgraded room. I can just imagine what a suite would be like. White Leather furniture, two flat screen TV’s, one for the bathroom, one for the main room, a desk to work at and a fantastic view. There was also an electronic console which allowed you to control the lights and the curtains as well as the temperature all from the comfort of your bed. The only thing missing is the ability to make a coffee for your self in your room.

Waterfalls

Outside at the front of the hotel along the strip is an actual mountain complete with large pine trees, several waterfalls and lakes. surrounding the lakes are several restaurants that on nice days in Vegas you can sit and enjoy your meal outdoors. Most days are spectacular in Las Vegas, although you do get a few when it is too cold or even rain, however these are very seldom.

The picture on the left is one of those waterfalls, however on the day I took this picture it was turned off for maintenance. There was a guy in the lake at the bottom taking out leaves and other debris that accumulates from time to time. Still even with no water it is a spectacular view in the middle of the desert!

We will stay at this hotel again and we can personally recommend it to anyone reading this post. Feel free to leave comments if you also have stayed at this hotel. Spam comments will be auto deleted.

All you can eat hot juicy crab legs,at the Aquarius buffet on Friday or Saturday nights, or perhaps you like prime rib or both! We just ate at the Aquarius buffet for two for the huge price of  .92 cents. Can you imagine what a deal this is. We also had  4 glasses of wine! There was a choice of red wine, white wine, beer or margaritas and we could have had more to drink, however this was enough for us.

Nice View at the Aquarius

We sat by the windows along the Colorado river, had our meal of crab legs, desert and coffee, and we could have also had all of the other selections such as mashed potatoes, gravy, prime rib, salads, soups, buns and a hundred more items from this fabulous buffet. So how did we have such a fabulous buffet for only .92 cents. Well it is all about using the casino slot card while you play and then taking advantage of your comps! Some of our other posts have talked about the advantages of using slot cards, however this just demonstrates why everyone should have a slot card and use it when they play.

The following is a short video of Laughlin Nevada, taken from the eastern side of the river in Bullhead City, Arizona. Click on the following link.

Colorado River in Laughlin Nevada

We are also taking advantage of a free rooms offer from the hotel while we stay here. This is  because of the slot card that we use. We have had breakfast as well on the comps which was also actually a brunch. We had one of the best omelets we have had on our trip.  For more information about slot cards and why you should always carry and use them when you are playing the slots at any of the hotels, click here.

If you would like more information about the Aquarius Hotel and our original review of the hotel and casino, click here.

Aquarius Hotel Casino Updates

There has not been a lot of changes at the casino or the hotel. We noticed that the elevators are being updated. Some of the rooms have been redone since we here last. There seemed to be more poker and keno machines around the floor. We spend most of our time in the non smoking section of the casino. However there are just as many people smoking as ever. So if the stale cigarette smoke bothers you, then this is the place to be.

We noticed one new penny slot machine which was getting a lot of action. This is the wheel of fortune with 6 seats or slot machines sharing a giant 10 by 8 foot TV screen were you get to watch everyone’s wheel of fortune wheel spin when they get the free spin award. It is fun and exciting to see people win, however as with all of these machines you must be careful about how much money you bet. The maximum is $2.70 per spin, so you can go through a $100 in a hurry. We watched one lady work her credits up to over $300, only to lose it all over a period of 30 minutes.

As the saying goes, know when to fold them. It was fun to watch these players as well as play. Unfortunately for us we did not win anything on this machine.

Buy Gas on the Arizona Side

A note to readers if you drive to Laughlin, Nevada. While you may be tempted to fill up with gas on the Nevada side, take the time to drive over to Bullhead, Arizona. It is just on the other side of the river. Gas is a lot cheaper on the Arizona side. You can even get better deals if you wash your car at the same time. When we filled up, gas was selling for $3.09 on the Nevada side, while it was $2.91 on the Arizona side . I also got my car washed and while the car wash cost $10.00 for the works, the gas was further discounted to $2.71 a gallon for regular gas. A great deal!

They even scrubbed the car  first with a brush to get the worst of the dirt and bugs off the bumper before we went through the car wash. They gave us a cloth to dry the car and an air  freshener, what a great deal.

There are water taxis along the Colorado River which you can take for $6 a ride or $10 a day. check with the local taxis to confirm prices, since they seem to change on a regular basis.

Satisfied with the Aquarius Casino

We were very happy with the service and the quality of the food and drinks that we received at the Aquarius casino. Although we did not win anything at the slots, our room and food was comp’d and we had as much as we wanted in terms of drinks. All in all not a bad deal.

We are off to Vegas next, staying at the Mirage Casino and Hotel. If you would like more information about the Mirage, click here.

Your comments are welcome, to assist our readers enjoy their vacation in Laughlin Nevada. Spam comments will be auto-deleted. For more posts about Laughlin, click here.

This is a news alert for anyone planning to go to Vegas and stay at the Mirage Casino and Hotel in Jan and Feb of 2016. Pool Closed at the Mirage Casino. It is usually closed for major maintenance at this time of year. We suggest that you check with the front desk before making reservations during the winter months if you want to use the pool area.

Sometimes it is closed for maintenance. The water has been drained and it looks like the bottom and the sides of the pool are being redone. It can be very disappointing if you want to use the pool during this time.

Checking the Mirage web site did not show any indication that the pool will be closed. Nor any update as to what is planned for the pool. We are never sure if the pool is being repaired or if the MGM group will be making major changes to the pool area. For any that have been there, you will recall that it was always a great place to be with lots of sun all afternoon, waterfalls and bridges. A great place to spend the day working on your suntan.

Annual Maintenance

The Mirage hotel routinely uses Jan to perform regular maintenance on the pool. The weather is usually cooler and the pool is not heated so it is a good time to perform this maintenance, however, the least they could do is let people know that it is closed before they book their trips. It would be a big disappointment if you were planning to soak up some sun on warm January days. Right now you cannot even go out on the pool deck due to all of the workman and the noise.

For more information about the Mirage Hotel and Casino, click here.

We are staying at the Mirage hotel for two nights at the end of Jan comp’d by the hotel. We have not stayed here for a few years, preferring to stay at the Wynn or the Bellagio hotels. I guess it is a slow time for them and they wanted to get us back to spend a few dollars. For those of you who are not aware, using a slot card at a hotel will usually get you free meals and free nights. However, if you stop gambling at a hotel, sometimes they will invite you back, give you some free stuff, etc. to get you coming back to their casino. We used to stay here all the time and then stopped.

Well, we are fortunate to be able to take advantage of this offer this year as we are on our way to California.

Updates at the Mirage

The Mirage is very nice and has been updated in recent years to be more contemporary. We like bright airy places and the casino is now darker than it used to be. It still has the beautiful fish tank behind the reception desk. Also he tropical waterfall at the entrance to the casino and classy bars and restaurants.

Our room has also been updated with new furniture and designs. Gone are the boxy clothes drawers. They have been replaced by a sleek glass and wood wall that encompasses the flat-screen TV. There is a desk for those of us that feel the need to work while we are on vacation. Also for road warriors to keep up with the email back at the office.

Speaking of email, one of the things that the MGM group has started in Vegas and Atlantic City is a resort fee. They now charge from $15 to $35 per night for access to the internet, newspaper and the gym. There is no choice in this, even if you do not use these features. Apparently Harrahs also does this as well. Most of us cannot exist without the internet these days. However, there are also so many free sites around that we do not need to pay for the service.

As of this writing, we do not think that Wynn is levying this daily charge.

Comments are appreciated.