My first stay at the Plaza - Oct 2015

Background – for the last 12 years I have stayed at the Fitz (then the D) or GG when traveling to Vegas. Of course I’ve mixed in a few other properties in vegas, but I usually find my home @ these two properties. This trip I decided to give the Plaza a spin; I was solo and it was a quick two nighter.

Note– the Plaza is not the Wynn. I’m amused by reviews on trip advisor, etc complaining about how bad things are at a given hotel. If the room per night is $40, it’s not gonna be a Wynn-like room. So.. as I explain my stay remember the Plaza is not the Wynn

Yolla set up everything via email once I gave her my players card number. very easy and pain free.

Arrival – I arrived on Sunday at 8:30 AM and I couldn’t check in until 1PM. No biggie, I just checked my bag at the bellhop and settled in for Sunday football.

1PM – the line was nuts, I’m glad I lingered next to the check in desk about 12:50 because the front desk only had 1.5 people working and was not equipped to handle all of the people requesting early check-in. The Plaza check-in time is 4PM I believe, but if they have rooms ready you can check in at 1PM. Considering it was “early check-in” the long line really didn’t bother me, but if I were there at regular check-in time (4PM) and they only had 1.5 employees working I would have been very upset. Check-in can make or break my perception of a hotel.

The Room – had a standard room in the south tower (I think it was called south tower). I really liked my room. I’m not in the room much so don’t need much, but it was very spacious, comfy bed, nice couch, and a little desk for the couple of hours of work I needed to do. Overall was extremely pleased with the room, I just wish the bathroom was slightly larger. As a comparison, the rooms at the Plaza were nicer than the standard rooms at the D, GG, or DTG (IMO).

The scent – the scent in the hotel is pleasant, but way too strong. I even saw some survey sheets in the casino host services area regarding the scent, so it must be a recurring topic. I’m hoping they can find a way to regulate the intensity. Of all the casinos I visited on this trip, the only scent I noticed was at the plaza, and I don’t want to notice any scent. The other casinos just seem to “have it right”.
Gaming – Primarily played BJ and a little craps. The BJ rules were fine and I like they always had a $10 table. I’m not typically interested in $5 tables and I don’t always want to play $25, so I like to see a $10 or even $15 option. All weekend they had $5, $10, and $25 tables open.

Party pit – It’s small but kinda cool if you like party pits. 3-4 TVs are along the wall and had good music playing (not too loud). They had 3 $5 BJ tables (3:2 BJ) and roulette.

Food – Loved all the food options. Food court area was nice, pop-up pizza was great, and hash was always busy.

The people – Every employee I encountered at the Plaza was great. I met Yolla on day 2 and we visited about the property and she was eager to inquire about my stay and if there was anything she could do. I prefer good customer service to amenities, and the majority of the employees displayed genuine customer service with a smile. I used to stay at the Fitz because of the employees; they remembered your name trip after trip, and I got that feeling at the Plaza. When I was playing craps there were four guys headed out the door, one of the craps dealers told each one of them goodbye, by name, as they left the casino. That’s the type of place that I like to play.

Summary – I have my flights booked for January. My recent stay at the Plaza has me second guessing where I will stay in Jan. I really enjoyed my stay at The Plaza and if you like downtown and have never give them a shot, consider it.

Just remember, it’s not the Wynn!

 

Very nice report. Yeah stay away from TA reviews of Downtown hotels rooms... not sure why people think Vegas is all high end luxury. The reviews for like an airport Marriott are usually level headed but most downtown Vegas properties have overly negative reviews.

I'd like to give the Plaza a spin once, but with my offers from Boyd they cannot compete.

 

you might be surprised, all you can do is ask.

 

True. But I only have put in 600 points all VP one trip and about 400 points VP/Slots one trip. Not sure if I would get 2 or 3 upfront nights that way. I will email Yolla when I get my Jan trip settled.

 

Thank you so much for the review! It was great meeting you and glad to see you enjoyed your room and stay...Hoping to see you again in January

 

Thanks for the wonderful trip review. I agree that people don't adjust their expectations based on prices of hotels. There is a reason TripAdvisor doesn't add a "not" helpful button. We're headed to Vegas in February and may give the plaza a shot. Never been there, always walked by the property.

 

Wow, I do remember check in sucking. they don't seem to staff the front desk properly. if i remember correctly (stayed twice late last year) you couldn't check out on the tv either. I could be wrong and mixing hotels or possibly that has been remedied. I'm very much looking forward to my stay, Yolla set me up and was a pleasure to deal. I'm hoping to have the plaza become my new home base for DT.

 

I also just got back from my first stay at the Plaza and will piggyback on LDV's comments. This was a solo trip for me as well, with an emphasis on football and some blackjack and video poker thrown in as well.

I checked in around 5:00 pm Friday. There were three or four people working behind the counter and all seemed very friendly and helpful. I waited about 15 minutes, then it was up to the my room in the North Tower. The room was fairly large, except for the bathroom, which was on the small side, but there's definitely smaller ones downtown.

Prior to checking in, I stopped at the sports book to bet on Va Tech. After I dropped my stuff off in the room, I went down to the Omaha bar and played some VP while watching the game. Service was good and I always had a cold beer.

I didn't find the scent strong at all at the Plaza and may not have even noticed it, but I knew there was a recent change and wanted to make sure to smell it for myself.

One area I think the Plaza could capitalize on is the sports book. It's just not very inviting to me. There are a few rows of chairs in front of the TVs that remind me of being at the DMV. You have to bet $200 to get a drink ticket, which is more than a lot of places on the strip. It's unfortunate because there are zero other options downtown, so they have an opportunity to have the premier sports book downtown. If they would put in 2 or 3 BJ tables on the weekends during football with hot dealers, have another hottie selling reasonably priced beer, bring in some better seating, and put in some better VP options at the bar, that placed would be packed all weekend long. Instead I went to the Mirage all day Saturday and Stratosphere all day Sunday (which by the way I highly recommend their showroom on Sundays for the NFL).

Saturday night after I came back from the Mirage, I did stop by the party pit and had a good time. Also stopped in at Pop Up Pizza, which was also a pleasant surprise. Sunday night when I got back to the Plaza there was a guy handing out wrist bands for open bar at the Beer Garden until 3 am. I'd been drinking all day and was ready to go to the room and pass out, so I politely declined. I never did make it to the Beer Garden, so I can't comment on that. One other place I missed out that I wanted to try was Hash House A Go Go.

Monday I stopped by Casino Services and met Yolla. She is very friendly and asked me a couple of times if there was anything she could do for me. I was decked out in my Packers gear and she let me know she is a Bengals fan........could be the Super Bowl 50 match up!

Before I checked out on Tuesday, I inquired about the shuttle back to the airport. You need to sign up beforehand. It doesn't leave until after ten, which didn't work for me. No big deal, the WAX is convenient and a good option to get back to the airport from downtown.

Overall it was a good stay and will be probably be my new home when I stay downtown.

 

LDTV, I agree, customer service is a huge selling point for any place in Vegas. I have never stayed, or even walked into the Plaza before, but I would be a lot more likely to now with your review. I also appreciate the several casino hosts who post on this board...It shows that they do indeed care about the voice of Vegas regulars and seeing and hearing about them doing nice things for board members is always a nice to see. Glad you seemed to have a good trip

 

Speak to Yolla, they will match your Boyd offer. She did for me when I was out there, all they need is copy of the offer for there files. She even helped me by suggesting I go to the players club to get a printout so that I could complete it while I was there. Very nice woman, use to work at the D and knows many of my favorite employees from the Gate. I'm a low roller so my comp is small, 2 nights, $10 food, but if you're getting great comps from Boyd, you will get the same there.

 

Agree on the sports book. add some decent chairs (like Benny's bullpen used to have) an enforce some requirements for loitering in that area and it could be great. I placed my bets on Sunday and went elsewhere to watch the games. That said, I had always planned to watch the games in other places, simply because of habit, but had that area been more inviting it could have easily changed my mind.

Another note - Monday night there was a band playing on the stage near the table pit. 3M or some such. Awesome trio of men playing anything from Journey to GNR. High energy group that added to the entertainment while at the tables..

I already had my hotel and transportation booked with another DT casino hotel when I saw Yolla on the board. I inquired if she could match my current offer and there was no hesitation. The presence of the Plaza on this board is the only reason I made the switch.

 

Thanks yeah mine is close to yours. 3 nights and $10 food. Will do.

 

Thanks for the Plaza report.
I have enjoyed my two previous visits and I am about to enjoy my third.
It never occurred to me to ask if they would match my D offer.
Hmmmm.....

Some others have reported that the casino scent had been dialed down.
I guess I will sniff for myself in a few days.

 

We visited the Plaza last Monday because my dad wanted to see the changes. I didn't notice any over-powering scent and had pretty good luck on the DDB VP against the wall by the table games. It was the first time I had ever visited the Plaza and it was the only casino I have ever seen a Showgirls slot machine.

Mark

 

Yup.....I think that is new.

 

Saw it at cosmo as well. I did not like it...