Cal rooms vs MSS

Hi all,

On our January trip I'd like to do a night or two downtown. Looking like the Boyd places will be my best deal since no resort fee and its the only players club discount I get, and they seem to be priced the same.

Stayed at MSS last year and liked it, but I have a bias towards trying out new places.

So how do the rooms at the Cal compare to those at MSS? Any tips for room location? I guess I am curious about the Fremont too, but I am assuming that one would be noisier if nothing else.

 

I am a huge fan of the Boyd properties. We always make The Cal our home base. Can't compare the rooms to MSS as we haven't stayed there....however, play at MSS often and love 777. We stay in the west tower at The CAL....easy access to the casino and walkway between The Cal and MSS. Some pictures of rooms at the CAL.....they are all almost identical.

 

Aloha,

Stayed at all three properties, I think if you stay at Cal or Fremont, it will be a downgrade compared to MSS in every way from rooms, casino and dining.
The only downfall would be the distance from Fremont St.

 

How far of walk is it? Isn't it only like one block??

 

Yeah MSS is still pretty close.

Im not concerned about casino and dining as I can get around for just that reason.

Just a question of the battle between wanting value and trying new hotels. New places are fun, but if I can get either room for $30 on a weeknight, and one feels like a $100 room, and one feels like a $25 room, I'm not going to take the latter just to try something new.

 

MSS is slightly better rooms. Cal has slightly better location.

 

If you walk out the front door of MSS (valet) it is just over a block to Fremont. The other option is to take the sky bridge over to Cal, go back downstairs, walk to the east end of Cal. Cross the street and enter Binion's from the backside. Not really necessary imo.

 

We stayed at the Cal, in a basic room, nothing fancy. We had no complaints, everything was just fine. The next time that we go, we are staying at MSS. We spend all of our time there, it's our favorite casino.

 

If it's strictly rooms you're talking about, this is how I would rank them:
1. MSS
2. Cal
3. Fremont

If it's rooms alone that you're concerned with? Don't bother with Fremont, It reminds me of a Motel 6 and the bathrooms are tiny. (so tiny that the bathroom door hits the toilet if you're not careful)

 

I just came back from my vegas stay at the Cal. In March I stayed at the MSS.

I have to disagree with the "downgrade" comments as I like the rooms in the Cal west tower a lot better than the rooms at MSS. As you can see from Northerngirl's pictures the bathroom at the Cal west tower is far superior (IMHO) than the bathroom at MSS. At MSS (and also in the Cal east tower) the bathrooms are 2 separate areas, one room with a tub and toilet and outside that area is the vanity area which also includes an open closet for you to hang your clothes. No door outside the vanity area so if you are on the bed or that area you can hear them doing their thing in the vanity area (including hearing someone using the hair dryer).

Unfortunately the larger bathroom might take away some room space at the Cal but I really can't tell which has the larger room. You can't go wrong with either hotel and rooms IMHO though so I don't think it will be much of a downgrade/upgrade if you take either room. I think it's just personal preference to which place is better.

Personally I rather stay at the Cal over MSS. Not as far a walk to my room, very convenient to eateries and gaming and a closer walk to the FSE than from MSS.

Now, the Fremont rooms as smaller and have smaller bathrooms IMHO but they are right up on the FSE, elevators open right up in the middle of the casino so many people like staying there.

To each his/her own.

 

I liked the bathroom at the Cal better than MSS but my room at the Cal fronted Main Street and when a horn honked or an emergency vehicle went by it sounded like it was IN my room.
If I stay at the Cal again I would ask for a room facing another direction.

 

It sounds even louder if you have a high numbered room near or facing MSS. The honks and sirens just seem to reverb back and forth between the Cal and MSS. That's why I usually ask for a lower numbered room on a high floor facing main st. But this past trip (last week) I could hear the music from the FSE so it seems kind of noisy no matter what.

btw, if you take a room in the west tower but want to face away from Main st. (facing east basically) you may not like it any better, most of those rooms basically look into the east tower so you won't get a good view. Also beware that if you are on a lower floor you will hear the drone of the a/c fans that are between both buildings going night and day.

The east tower facing east would be the more "quieter" rooms but unfortunately the bathrooms in that tower all are similar to the MSS bathrooms.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I will keep that in mind the next time I stay at the Cal.

 

Point taken on the bathrooms, but Nevyn really wanted to know about the rooms not the bathrooms. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't only one side of the Cal is renovated? That's the reason why I would put the Cal below MSS. I brought up the thing about Fremont's bathrooms. and Aloha!

 

Actually the OP asked how the rooms at the Cal compare to the rooms at MSS. To me that includes the bathroom also, esp when we discuss the rooms at the Fremont which I think has substandard bathrooms (compared to MSS and the Cal).

I usually stay in the west tower when I stay at the Cal so I'm not sure if the rooms in the east tower were renovated recently.

To each his/her own, many people like MSS over the Cal rooms but for me I am partial to the rooms in the west tower at the Cal. But not by much but if offered MSS or the Cal I always take the Cal, but that's just me.

 

Yeah, when I said just the rooms I meant I did not care about Casino, restaurant (as I can just go to other props). Everything about the actual hotel experience stills matters (rooms, service, amenities, bathrooms, noise).

 

No problem Nevyn. Actually I don't think you can go wrong with either the Cal or MSS rooms. To me they are similar, just that I like the bathrooms at the Cal west tower better, esp when I'm staying with someone. It was a little irritating when I'm sleeping or relaxing and my roomie wanted to run the hair dryer. At MSS it was just like it was near you (because it was) but at the Cal she can go in the bathroom and close the door and it doesn't bother me.

 

For my player club anniversary I stayed 3 days @ the Cal. I'm very tempted to change to become my "home" casino after staying there. I think was in the east tower (had been told west better, but place was sold out), enjoyed the size of the room, plus the mini frig (is that standard?). Would like to try the MSS too. My question is amount of rooms per hotel & does the Cal get the most of the Hawaiian biz (and does this make it tougher to book)? Also, from my room I could see a small pool area, is that private or for all guests. TIA for replies

 

View attachment 18761 Stayed at MSS last week for 2 days. Then 3 days Fremont. MSS was very nice. Room we got was close to elevator and short walk to casino. Liked the fact that mini fridges are in all rooms. Couple trains but noise was not a factor. Very friendly staff and even the pit bosses knew my first name before we left. Signed up for our Boyds card there, so I presume that it is considered our base. On return I went to the site and looked up my points. Already offer for 2 free nights MSS(including weekends) and $25 rooms anywhere downtown. Size of room was fine for us, as we are not worried about fancy, just clean rooms. They even provided security vehicle to take us and luggage to Fremont since a sister property. Will be back in December. Fremont was OK. Room close to elevator and steps from casino. No fridge but ice machine was close. Room was smaller than MSS but clean. We faced Binions and the best thing we liked was the large window slid open all the way(3 feet) and we had a good view of part of Fremont street crowds and buskers. Food was better at MSS but with comps OK. Got rated better at MSS. Would like to try Cal if they have mini fridge in room. We like the convenience of not having to constantly get ice for my beer and her water and soda. So, does Cal have fridge in each room?

 

Fridges are standard at MSS and the Cal.