Hi!! Husband and I are heading out on Sunday night. We have 3 nights comped with CET, and we chose Rio. We have stayed on strip plenty of times, and have always been a bit intrigued by the Rio. SO -- what kind of rooms do we want? Which are the freshest, newest, etc. All opinions welcome! Thanks in advance!
This should probably be moved to the off strip forum but I stayed there in October. Two towers, Masquarade and Ipanema. Masquarade has recently renovated Samba Suites. They are pretty nice but some people complain about noise from the Voodoo Lounge. If you are a light sleeper this could bother you. We stayed in a Ipanema suite room. Very nice. Strip/pool view. As you probably know, the basic Rio rooms are 600 sq foot suites. I like the extra room vs. a standard hotel room. The Ipanema tower is closer to the lobby and casino but the Masquarade tower is not that far really. Overall I liked the Rio, like the casino, frequent shuttle service to both Harrahs and Paris. A good value. ETA, there is a Starbucks right by the Ipanema elevators if that matters to you. It didn't to me but my GF liked it. There is another Starbucks somewhere on the property, I don't recall where exactly. Also, not all of the Masquarade rooms are renovated Samba Suites, some are regular suites. Samba Suites aren't any larger, just more recently renovated. Going Sun-Tuesday a $20 sandwich should get you one if you want to go that route.
Just to add to what vegasvic posted, We were there the week before he was on the Masquerade side and it was slightly noisy on the higher floors due to the club above. The $20 sandwhich got us higher floor Samba on a corner, free coffee and they waived the resort fee as well. Check out the this thread Impressions of Rio Lots of good info in there.
Staying at Rio right now. $20 got me a connecting room next to some kind of special suite on top floor of Ipanema Tower. Newly renovated with jacuzzi, new bathroom, stereo system, dvd player, etc. Very nice.
the rooms have one cup Keureg machines. Pack some from home (or steal 'em from work like me shhhhhhhh). They USUALLY will charge for coffee from the minibar and it's expensive. Perhaps a tip for the maid will get you some, but I like flavoured coffee, which they don't have. Tim T-42 MGM and Harrahs and NASCAR T-114 Rio and Rod Stewart
Just got back from the Rio. Third trip within a year. I LOVE the rooms! I stay in the Ipanema Tower, both Strip view and Mountain view are great. We do bring our own Keurig cups, but this time we did get Rio Coffee cups left for us. I LOVE the World Carnival Buffet, and the All American Grill. Late night snacks are at the BK Whopper Bar and Wetzel's Pretzels. The walk to the Gold Coast and the Palm's is short and the looser slots make it worth the trip. At the Coast, the shuttle goes to the Orlean's for a change of pace. The Rio shuttles go to Bally's and Harrah's. This trip, we found a 'non-threatening' Roulette dealer, and she taught us the game. I don't think that would have happened on the Strip. I also noticed the drink service is much faster at the Rio. I tend to get very thirsty on the Strip, as I rarely see a cocktail Gal. What originally bought us to the Rio was the Keno lounge. But we go back for the rooms and the Customer Service. I LOVE the vibe of the Rio! Party when I want to party, and laid back when I need to kick back. The looser slots are worth it alone. Hope this helps!
I love the Palms and staying at the Rio is a short walk over there which is cool. And in between is the GC if you want some cheap gambling/food.