Four Queens - Have you stayed? Can you help?

I have a 5 night trip booked for Oct 23rd-28th. The reason for this trip is mainly to attend the Life is Beautiful Festival on 26th/27th which is being held in downtown (exact locations yet to be announced but likely around El Cortez).

Here's my dilemma: Currently have a room booked at the Aria. Have stayed there 3 times this year so far, and tbh am a little bored of it and the immediate area.
I will be relying on buses and cabs to get to/from downtown. I don't really like the Strip scene at night on a weekend and usually book Sun-Thurs, but the festival is being held on a weekend (hence the Weds-Mon stay).

So, I have been looking at staying in downtown instead. I'm getting a 3 day bus pass and would go down to the Strip in the daytime, but I would be able to walk back to my room after the gig at night.

The Four Queens is coming up the only downtown property I can change to within the package I have booked (the first and last time booking a package!). I enjoy the casino here, but are the rooms ok? And most importantly - does it feel safe?

My other option is to book The Mirage as this is the area of the Strip I enjoy most but have not stayed there before.

Some background info: Female, 27, smoker, travelling solo, 13th trip to LV, Mlife Gold member, always stayed on the Strip, enjoys slots and eating cheap but not clubbing!

Thank you for reading - any help much appreciated!

 

I love the 4 Queens, but of course it is not going to be even comparable to Aria.... If you do stay there, I would pay the small extra amount for a DELX room. When I called them and asked the difference between standart and DELX, I was told the DELX guarantees your requests, such as smoking and which tower. Choose the South Tower. I dont care much for the North Tower. Their suites are also reasonably priced, and nice.

 

Thanks, I have been trying to find out what the difference is between Std and Dlx! Did you happen to use the in room Wifi? I know there is a charge, but I'll need to use it fairly often.

 

I never did use the wi fi, did not even know they had it.

 

4-Queens rooms are like Motel 6 - basic, plain & clean. But nowhere near the luxury of Aria. If the price is much, much lower and you can deal with a plain room then its fine. I've never had any safety worries there. Here's a good link with pics of their standard room at oyster.com http://www.oyster.com/las-vegas/hotels/four-queens-hotel-and-casino/photos/guest-room/

 

You should feel at least as safe walking on Fremont as you would walking on the strip at comparable hours.
As you know, DT has a completely different 'feel', and that goes for the rooms as well.
The Nugget is the only place (so far) that has rooms & amenities with close to a "strip" feel. (Although, I suspect the new "Grand" will as well when it opens).

If you're locked with 4-Queens as your only downtown alternative, then yeah - I would book it in a heartbeat over taking cabs or the bus between downtown and the strip.
I've never stayed in anything there except the 'standard' rooms, but even those are certainly comfortable, clean and well-maintained. As with many of the DT properties, the bathrooms are small, but being solo, you should be ok with that.
The casino is fun - at 27, you will be a bit younger than the "average" gambler there, but that will be the case everywhere downtown. You may actually like that aspect, as the whole 'party-all-the-time-drunk-frat-boy' factor is minimal compared to the strip on a weekend.

If your event is 'near' the El Co, you can minimize your outdoor stroll considerably - just go out the east side of 4-Queens, walk 50 feet into 'theD'. Go through their casino and then walk the 2 non-canopy blocks to the El Co.

But yeah - the rooms are fine & I think you will feel safe and comfortable at 4 Queens.

 

I've stayed in the 4 Queens a few times and had absolutely no issue with it at all. We had a deluxe room, and I can't remember if it had wifi or not. It is remarkably affordable, and clean. Bathrooms worked fine, t.v was flat screen and a decent size, safe in the room, housekeeping was on schedule. It's a great value, and a great hotel, just be prepared for a world of difference coming to the 4Q from Aria. As far as feeling safe, I know when my wife and I got separated somewhere between the Palms and d.t one time, and were staying at 4Q (story involves a lot of Absinthe, a drug abusing doctor, my convict brothers, and an embarrassing amount of high grade cocaine, but that's for another time) she asked a security guard to escort her to our room, and they obliged happily.

The only issue I've ever had at the 4Q is with one of their pit bosses and a dealer that spoke no, and I mean none at all, English. She was literally speaking Chinese to to us at a roulette table - it was myself, a Chicano gangbanger and his girlfriend, and a really drunk dude from Wisconsin - no it wasn't Joe from these boards either.....When I complained about it, I was basically told to fuck off. This may have had something to do with the fact that I'd just hit for 2k on the same table.

I did very well on a few of their slots (like 3k good) and had a bunch of great vp sessions at their main bar. Make sure you join their players club (Royal Players I think) they have some really decent match and freeplay offers.

Magnolias is good value for the money (I'd compare it to a Denny's or a Perkins with a little higher quality food and better service.) Hugo's Cellar (their steakhouse) is good, but I like Vic and Anthonys better. The one time I ate at Old Chicago I had a chili cheese dog, that gave me an instant case of the meat squirts. Seriously. No sooner than I had devoured the last morsel, it hit me with the intensity of a medicine ball being thrown at my gut. I avoid that place now.

Cocktail service is good and fast. It's a small casino so it's as it should be..Bartenders are great at the center/main bar. They are more than willing to point out good machines, and they also keep an eye out for good bartops as well. Tip them generously...

Hope this helps.

 

I have had a very good success rate with the $20 trick at check in at the queens. The petite suites are nice rooms. As for safety, I wouln't have any more concerns than anywhere else in town.

 

I'm a Four Queens fan.

That being said, I admit that I always look for value, which 4Q normally delivers. It's got everything I need, which isn't much besides a clean room, convenient location, and low price.

No, it isn't the Aria or a luxury hotel by any stretch of the imagination.

A few quirks:

The north tower is the one by Fremont St. Rooms facing the street can be noisy at all hours, if that's an issue. Should you end up there, request an odd numbered room. They face away from the street and are serviceably quiet.

Also north tower has ice machines and soda machines on alternating the floors. (HINT: Walk down the stairs and take the elevator up.) Even so, they're closer to your room than at any Strip property, IMHO.

On the plus side:

North tower rooms are just a dozen steps (20 at the most) from Fremont Street. You can be in and out of four casinos in the same distance as walking to the front door of any Strip hotel or a Carson Towwer room at the GN.

 

My last two stays were at The 4Q, once in each Tower. Clean and adequate room. The bathroom is small.

Get a south side room no matter what Tower you're in. Not for the view but for the noise. In each Tower the view of the Strip is blocked by other buildings.

South Tower ice machines are only on floors 2-5-8-10-14-18.

If you're in the North Tower and do not use the Bell Service you'll be hauling your luggage through the casino to get to the elevators. The South Tower elevators are steps from Check-in and the parking garage.

Magnolia's has good food but it is small and a line forms fast at peak times. Try the Gumbo.

In room 1446 (south side of the South Tower) I got the free FSE wifi. Pretty good signal.

 

Thank you everyone for your reply's. Still weighing it up. I am getting a great deal at the Aria (1 night free and no resort fees to pay), but I do want to be closer to where I need to be that weekend. First world problems, hey?

My husband won't be happy if I stay downtown as he feels it's unsafe - but I don't think it's any more unsafe than the Strip (I know that conversation's been had many times). I'm usually walking back to my room for the night at around 1.30/2am (Mirage to Aria).

 

I too did the $20 trick and got a suite. It was a smoking suite too.

 

Gino, would you mind telling me more about Hugo's Cellar. I have stayed at the 4 queens many times but never ate at Hugo's.

 

4 Queen's rooms are a value. Nothing fancy but solid. Ask for a quiet room away from the noise of Freemont Street.

 

It's really kind of odd that such a renowned gourmet place is in a no frills hotel like the 4Q. That being said, they did some things very well, and others not so much. My wife and I ate there when we stayed in Jan. 2009. She's a wine drinker and said their wine list was aaaamazing and had a glass of something that cost me $19!! We ordered an appetizer called seafood on the rocks (cold) it was lobster, shrimp, crab legs served with an awesome remolaude sauce - really pricey for an app, but well worth it. She ordered Hugos chicken which was an enormous breast stuffed with sun dried tomato pesto and other veggies, roasted garlic I think, had a bite it kicked ass. I ordered the filet mignon, and ordered it rare - mooing almost tartar rare - sans the bearnaise sauce. Food and apps came out in good time, all was going well, until I cut into my steak and.... Torched. Well done. I wear more tender work boots.. I knew what happened immediately, server grabbed the wrong dish. This shit happens I know - being a restaurant owner and a waiter I've done it, and have seen it done. I'm assuming the person who got mine had taken a bite so they made me a new one. The server brings it out, and it has bearnaise sauce on it. Two things that make me gageople that chew or talk with food in their mouths, and bearnaise sauce. It reminds me of horse cum So, they take it back and as my wife is finishing hers, I start mine, and we had a show to get to on the strip. Brown bag it up to the room, and it made a helluva midnight shack. Other than that, it was great, and I will most likely go back this November..Bring your checkbook, it's not cheap by any stretch - for the two of us excluding tip was over $200..Hope this helps..

 

Golden Nugget

Ok, now Golden Nugget is available so I have two downtown choices.

My package provider (British Airways) says they have Carson or Rush rooms available. As a smoker, Carson it is. Worth the move from Aria?

 

GN is at least in the same solar system as Aria. Rooms still not comparable but GN rooms are very nice. I believe GN is a 4-Diamond AAA hotel. When you check in try the $20 trick to upgrade to a Gold Tower room. Gold is directly off the casino floor & has smoking rooms. Carson Tower is fine as far as the room goes, but walking back to your room at 3am, tired and drunk, it will seem like an uphill death march thru the desert.

 

I stay at the GN every visit. The hotel is just as nice as anything on the Strip. The Carson Tower is o.k, but somewhat dated. I don't know your gambling proclivities, however, here is a really sound piece of advice: Don't gamble at the Golden Nugget. Slots are tight, vp is unplayable, table games have shitty rules. I play there early in the mornings on a $5 roulette table and that's it.

One more thing, look to booking direct with whatever hotel you decide on. I have found that packages, while somewhat more convenient, can be more expensive, very rigid as far as upgrades are concerned, and can basically be a gigantic pain in the ass should anything go wrong.

GN is definitely worth the move from Aria.

 

I just stayed at GN and had a Carson room booked on a weekend. At checkin I asked for an upgrade to Gold Tower, and was granted one for $20 a night. To me it is well worth it not to have to make the trek back to the Carson tower. Upgrading should never be a problem even if you booked a package. They simply charge you the $20 that you normally would have paid the package provider.

 

Nevada1278...
I have stayed both downtown and on the strip. I actually feel safer walking downtown late at night because the casinos are so close together and there are always normal looking people walking around and usually a police presence also. You will be safe going to bed downtown and not having to worry about returning to your hotel on the strip. I believe you will really enjoy downtown... especially the closeness of everything... walking in the casinos and on the streets is much less tiring.
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Hugo’s is delightful and although it is moderately expensive, your meal can include everything at one price... including dessert... and I love the old
vegas atmosphere... Although I usually dine with someone, I have on occasion dined there by myself and they really made me feel special... not like there was something weird about a female dining alone... we try to have at least one meal there every trip...
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Also follow the advice of others... book direct with the hotel... then you get better offers later and if you gamble, may even get something off on this trip... you don't get upgrades, etc. when you book with others. Personally, for our hotel, we love "The D"... they treat us like they appreciate our business and we get magnificent offers after we stay with them. They usually are near much of the action on Fremont... so it is not a long walk afterward to your room.
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Most important have fun!