Casino Reviews

We have visited the Golden Nugget Laughlin Nevada several times over the past few years, but never have actually stayed at their hotel. My wife and I plan to remedy that in a month or two. We thought that in preparation for our visit we should do a little research even though we have been their several times. The Golden Nugget is situated at the south end of the board walk along the Colorado River.  It is all white on the outside and has a tropical flavor as you enter the main lobby. There is a waterfall and tropical gardens with the check in counter to the right and Harlows restaurant on the left. We will write more about Harlows in a moment.

Golden Nugget Laughlin  – Visitors Enjoy this location

We spoke to one patron who is staying at the hotel. They have stayed at this hotel many times in the past and enjoy the hotel very much. The rooms are apparently clean with period furniture and most if not all look out onto the river which is a nice view to have. We will confirm this and update this report in the next few months. Stay tuned. The pool looks great too judging from this picture that we were able to find.

There is ample surface parking and there is a large parking garage as well to provide protection for your cars from the sun and any wind that sometimes comes up. We always prefer to park in the garage to protect our car from the hot sun. The parking lots are also observed by security with regular rounds being made by security guards.

Casino Facilities

The casino itself is on par with other casinos in the area, however the ceilings are low compared to many others which might bother some people. They have all of the common machines and tables that many people will look for and we also noticed a lot of penny and nickel slot machines. In particular they have lots of poker and keno video slot machines which the writer likes to play. Unfortunately there is a lot of people smoking and the low ceilings do not help with regards to removing it.

While we have only played at this casino several times for a hour at a time we have already received an offer for two free nights at the hotel, which we plan to take them up on during the spring.

Golden Nugget Laughlin  – Restaurants in the Casino

On the river side there is Joes Crab Shack that is on a deck that extends out over the Colorado River. On a sunny warm day this is a great place to spend your afternoon or evenings over a few drinks enjoying a meal and watching the boats go up and down the river. It is a casual environment, with shorts and sandals welcome. You can also observe the distant shore which is actually Arizona and in a different time zone as well.

Harlows is a restaurant that we have been to several times. The service is excellent and the meals are large and of really good quality. You get real home fries and not those frozen cubes that a lot of places like to serve. It is always busy and that tells a lot about the food and the service at Harlows Golden Nugget.

We will add to this post later this spring. In the mean time if you have stayed at the Golden Nugget Laughlin Nevada, please leave a comment. Let us know what you thought.

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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.

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MGM Resorts International has joined the ranks of many other hotel chains. As a result, it is now delivering free WIFI on its properties in public areas. Many casinos have now joined the ranks of WiFi available in Vegas Hotels. They finally have gotten the message that not only was this an irritation to their guests, it was also a missed opportunity. As a result, they now can advertise their services and activities that are taking place on the property.

In a statement, and we quote, “MGM Resorts said the system is currently live at Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, and The Mirage. The system is expected to be installed this year in the Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Luxor, and Excalibur”. They join other casino properties across the US that have been offering WIFI on their properties for some time.

WIFI Available in Vegas Hotels – Competition

In many Strip casinos, Wi-Fi is only available to hotel guests or convention attendees. With the new MGM Resorts system, basic Internet access will become available to anyone who comes into public areas. Areas such as the lobby, pool area, casino, and restaurants. The system, developed with Cisco Systems, doesn’t require a password. MGM Resorts hotel guests will pay for and receive upgraded service. Convention attendees can upgrade to a higher-speed system.

WIFI Available in Vegas Hotels – Service

Experience with this type of service suggests that the speed will not be fantastic. But will be useful and suitable for email and light browsing. MGM Resorts officials believe that the Wi-Fi system will turn their entire properties into a hot spot. It will support tens of thousands of guests with multiple Internet-enabled devices.

Apps developed for these casinos will advertise their services, and allow for reservations and other activities. We expect that over the coming years these services will develop into a rich set of services. — Paul Richardson 613 298 6297

The Wynn Hotel & Casino is by far the best hotel and casino from almost every aspect including the Wynn Casino Shops. We try to stay at this hotel every time we go to Las Vegas.

Pictured on the left is the corridor that leads in from the strip past all of the high-end shops. They are nice to look at, however way beyond our price range. I am not sure why all of the hotels do this, the Wynn hotel is no exception, but they all have these shops that the average person cannot afford to shop in. They have beautiful clothes, purses, diamonds and even cell phones that you would never even look at because of the price. Great place to window shop.

Wynn Casino Shops – Casino Entrance

As you near the end of this corridor of shops, you will be approaching another really beautiful area just before you reach the casino.  Wynn has designed a garden area were many people take pictures and spend time admiring the plants during the day and the flowers and lights at night. This is near the Wynn Casino Shops.

These flowers are constantly updated and kept flourishing by perfect care each and every day. Since we are easterners, we get up early when we are in Vegas and often are down stairs by five or six in the morning. The gardeners are still there working on the flowers making sure they are looking perfect for the coming day. They have probably been there all night working on the flower beds, trimming flowers that have matured and even changing plants that need to be recycled. Many people stop at these gardens every day to have pictures taken with their families.

Gardens are Beautiful

We will show one more picture that we really enjoyed. These flower gardens run the length of the casino along the front of the hotel facing towards the mountain with its cascading waterfall and lake. There is also a bar in the middle of the gardens which looks out onto the casino on one side and on to the gardens on the other.

All of these pictures were taken during the day, however can you imagine how beautiful this area is at night with all of the lights etc. We find that this is such a beautiful area to stroll through. The only thing missing are benches were people can sit and taken in everything around them. They really should have benches for people to sit on. The Casino of course does not want you to sit among flowers, they would rather have you sitting in the casino and playing the slots for a while to help make them some money and pay for all of the beautiful things in the hotel.

More to See at the Wynn Hotel

There are many other features to take in while visiting the Wynn casino. for example there is the championship golf course, there are many restaurants to dine at, bars to visit and even a Ferrari store. You have to pay to get into the latter, if you want to visit this particular store. I guess they really want to keep kids and the riff raft out of the store. You have to be really interested to want to pay to see this particular store.

The hotel is also well situated along the strip. Across the road is the fashion show mall. On the other the corners are the Venation hotel  and TI or Treasure island. These are all great places to visit . Spend some time at either going to shows, watching free entertainment or playing in their casinos.

The Wynn hotel and casino is a must see if you are spending time in Las Vegas. Even if you are just visiting and staying at another hotel take some time to visit this hotel. It is definitely worth the walk. We actually go to Starbucks every morning across the street at the Fashion Show Mall. Coffee is a little less expensive and you get out for a walk. It is approximately a 20 minute walk to get from your room, walk through the casino and the hotel, across the street and over to the Starbucks store.

Imagine and it is just across the street. Always take good walking shoes when you are in Las Vegas. You will need them even if you just stay within your own hotel. They are huge and designed to keep you on their property instead of staying to other hotels. Have fun and enjoy Las Vegas.

One of our favorite things to do every time we visit Las Vegas is to go to the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio hotel. The gardens are located just off the main lobby and you can also access the restaurant as well by walking thought the gardens. The Bellagio changes the gardens to coincide with the seasons so there is always something new to observe.

We have included several pictures of the conservatory at various times of the year. There is always something different  to see and I would recommend at least half an hour to really see all of the gardens. There are usually lots of people taking pictures and looking at the flowers and arrangements of flowers etc in the gardens. This is definitely a must see while you are in Vegas regardless of whether you are staying in the Bellagio or not.

Bellagio Conservatory – Imagination and Originality

You have to really give the designers of these gardens credit. They have a lot of imagination and they definitely are original in their designs.  While the Bellagio does not encourage children at this hotel, this is a place you can bring your children and we are sure they will enjoy the Halloween and Christmas designs and decorations. They really pay attention to detail.

All of the flowers are real and they are watered and manicured every day. Any flower that is not doing well is replaced and any that grow too fast are trimmed. There is a lot of work to maintain these gardens and the folks at the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens do a fantastic job. Again we encourage you to visit and enjoy these gardens.

Other Things to See at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino

This is one hotel everyone has to visit and spend some time at, even if you are not a gambler. As you walk along the strip in front of the hotel you cannot miss the lake in front of the hotel. During the afternoon and evenings, they run regular shows playing beautiful music which the water fountains follow in sync.  Definitely something to see while in Las Vegas.

Inside the hotel there are at least 5 pools that customers can visit and spend relaxing afternoons at. There are several viewing areas for people to step out on to observe the pool area if you are not staying at the hotel. Guests of the pool area must show a valid hotel key in order to enter the pool area.

There are many restaurants at the hotel spread all over the property. This is a 5000+ room hotel plus a large conference center area so there is a lot of walking involved and many restaurants spread around the hotel. One that we enjoy and try to visit every time we go is the little coffee shop just down from the guest elevators. They have really great muffins and coffee among other things and fantastic jam to go along with them. Windows look over the pool area as well so you can enjoy your coffee with a view.

Getting to the Bellagio

If you are driving to the Bellagio, the entrance can be found off the Las Vegas Strip. Use the same entrance for the valet parking or to the parking garage. There is ample parking. It is very safe with an entrance from the garage directly into the hotel lobby area. They now charge for parking in the publich parking garage. If you are walking,  it is a bit of walk. However you can enter from the strip and walk through the shopping area from one side. Or along moving walkways from the other end of the lake.

Both are very enjoyable and there is lots to see as you enter the hotel and the casino. We really like the Bellagio and stay there every chance we get. If we are staying somewhere else at another hotel we always take the time to go to the casino, the gardens and the coffee shop as a minimum. It is almost a tradition now for us to visit the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, the Bellagio Casino. We think you should too even if you do not spend any time gambling, it is well worth the visit.

Other pages on our web site that you may want to visit about the Bellagio hotel can be found by clicking here.