My thoughts on the Downtown Grand

I stayed at the new Downtown Grand for the first time, coming in for this year's Superbowl. I, along with my wife, stayed in a suite, as did her brother and his wife. We all loved it and will definitely be back again.

Only open for a few months, the Downtown Grand is now the nicest casino downtown. Most people think of the Golden Nugget, but the Nugget is showing it's age. While not 'run down', it has lost a lot of it's luster. The Grand, everything is new, and the casino, the rooms, the restaurants, the bars, every part of the Downtown Grand is new, clean, and classy.

While the VP paytables are not so great, I play very little VP, so that doesn't effect me much. I do play blackjack though, and the blackjack rules are excellent. Double after split, resplit aces, all blackjacks pay 3:2....those are the rules that will keep me coming back. My wife enjoyed the selection of slots, and I actually played a few myself. For every 1000 points you collect, you earn an entry into their slot tournament, which can be played at any time on a number of different machines.

I ate at two of their restaurants, Stewart and Ogden, and Red Mansion. S and O was ok, I just had a grilled cheese, not something that's gonna blow you away, but the Chinese restaurant was excellent, and well worth going out of your way to visit.

But the real appeal of the place is the service. Everybody was incredibly friendly. The dealers, the pitbosses, even the drink girls, they all remembered my name and said hello to me whenever they saw me, even if it was just in passing, walking by. I place a lot of value on personal service like that.

The casino is small, but to me, that's a good thing. The Grand is still finding their customer base, so the casino, even at it's busiest, was never overcrowded, and finding a table or a machine was never a problem. The 3rd Street area around the Grand has undergone a lot of changes, and is now well lit, very populated and lots of bars, restaurants and other businesses are in the area. The area is just as safe as under the canopy, daytime and nighttime.

The bathrooms in the rooms are what everybody says they are, the lack of a shower curtain is a headscratcher, but if that's the worst you can say about a place, then they must be doing a good job.

The are a ton of bars and restaurants in and around the casino that I didn't visit, but there are lots of options for food and drink. I had no problem with noise in my rooms and didn't need the earplugs that were provided. The beds were comfortable and I always slept well. There was also a small workout room that I never visited.

Overall, it was a great experience and I will definitely be back. I'm hoping to return when the pool\picnic area opens up, as it looks like it will be a lot of fun.


TFK

 

Thanks for the insight on Downtown Grand, we have a group staying there for the first weekend of March Madness and are really looking forward to it. Good to know about the area all around there having a safe feel, was kind of wondering how that would be. Have stayed at several of the downtown hotels including Golden Nugget and I think you are correct in saying the Nugget is starting to look a little tired, especially the Carson Rooms. Updates needed the last time we were there. Nice to have another choice for downtown!

 

Thanks for the positive report! I strolled through a few weeks ago and too was impressed with the facility and appreciative of the investment... I hope they do well.

 

Is it really close to all the other downtown hotels?? We want to be able to walk all over downtown and this sounds nicer than the Nugget.

 

It's very close. A small block walk and you're right under the canopy, right by The D, The Fremont and the 4 Queens. The 3rd Street stage is also right there, were there is live music nightly.

The way they have built up 3rd Street, it is really now just an extension of Fremont Street, just without the canopy.

TFK

 

Is it a safe walk for two women in the middle of the night?

 

Absolutely! I mean it's right there...

 

Sounds great! Looks like we'll be heading down there to try it out this trip. Thanks for all the info.

 

Thanks for the data point, I'm impressed by the personable service and the fact it's all new is why I will be staying there in two weeks.

Just out of curiosity, how much freeplay did your group win when signing up for the players club?

 

$3 all around!

TFK

 

Wow, what a fortune!
They said they average five 1000$ winners a week.
Guess it was not meant to be.

 

As in any city you still need to be aware of your surroundings just in case.

IMHO, I was there last month (january), it looked safe to walk during the early evenings but later at night I wasn't as sure. I think you just need to make sure that there aren't any "seedy" characters in the area, while most are harmless you don't want to be the one that encounters a problem person.

It is less than a few minute minute walk from the DTG to the FSE. Unfortunately there isn't any place to duck and hide if you see/encounter any problems. While I was walking I saw security apprehending someone in that promenade area between the DTG and FSE, next to the back side of the Fremont Hotel.

While I thought the place was okay I didn't like the $10 and $15 tables, would rather stay elsewhere where they had $5 tables. But that's just me.


As others have mentioned, it looks pretty safe to make the walk but you never know........I know that many like the DTG but I just wanted to temper the enthusiasm with a warning to be aware of your surroundings.

 

There was plenty of $5 and $10 blackjack while I was there. In fact, I sat down at a $15 table Saturday night, and the pitboss dropped it to $10 so it would get more action. Table limits getting lowered on a Saturday night is something I have never seen before.

TFK

 

I was there on a wednesday night, the tables were all $10 and over. The craps table and many tables were completely empty. I visited the DTG on saturday night after the CES and many tables were still empty with $10 minimums. I guess YMMV with the table minimums but it seemed like they were more than $5 most of the evenings. Good that the pit boss would drop the minimum from $15 to $10 but still, so easy to find most casinos downtown with $5 minimums.

 

The shark tank at the GN still can't be beat. If it wasn't for that we'd probably try the Grand

 

Downtown Grand

Just got back last night (Saturday) from four nights at the Downtown Grand. I agree with TFK. This is a very nice property, and assuming they keep it up it could give the GN a run for its money. We had a standard room. Asked for something high, quiet, and away from the elevator. Got a corner room on the 15th floor of the east tower, facing east. Pictures of the room and view are attached.

From other reports, it sounds like even the standard rooms vary. Ours had a shower/tub with the half glass. It is a bit awkward, but works fine. Great vanity space, and the room size overall is good. The thermostat allows the fan to be turned on full time to provide white noise at night. They provide ear plugs, but our side didn't have much noise except from the Gold Spike Friday night. They had a good-sized line at about 11:30 pm waiting to get in for the live band. Even then the noise wasn't objectionable.

The included wifi (part of the "resort fee") worked fine but was pretty slow. The free coffee in the mornings at the Art Bar was replenished frequently. It is a nice area to sit and enjoy the paper (they have a few sitting out) or use your laptop/tablet.

As all have noted, the VP is poor - 8/5 JOB and 7/5 Double Bonus. We wasted a few twenties in hopes it would provide enough action to get some emails. The table games are better. $5 minimum craps and blackjack every day until Saturday night. The casino had a decent crowd Friday night, but was pretty slow other times.

The pool area is not yet accessible. They said it is opening in a week. No hot tub, but the pool is heated. There will be gaming tables, a bar and a stage. Sounds like they would like the option to create a party atmosphere

Didn't try the restaurants or bars. The couple of floor drinks we had while gambling were poor (like, where's the alcohol?). Front desk people were friendly, and managed our "back to back" reservations without drama (taking advantage of a comp match for two nights my wife had from a different property).

It's a one-block walk over a well-lit pedestrian plaza to the FSE, and there are generally people around. There are random homeless/beggars throughout downtown. I would understand if my wife felt unsure about walking to the DTG at 2 am alone from the FSE, but that's because she's the really cautious type. It's not scary.

This is a nice place a good deal (for now, anyway). I've stayed at the GN a half dozen times (in the Carson and Gold towers), the Plaza three times since it's remodel, the Four Queens, "D", and El Cortez tower. The rooms compare most closely to the remodeled Plaza, but with better bathrooms and overall environment. There is more going on at the GN, but the DTG will be my first choice on our next trip.

 

I was there in December. Didn't stay but wanted to check the place out. $5 3-card tables were open, and the dealer and drink service were great. Chatted w/ the Pit Boss for some time and he offered to show me the rooms and the pool set up. Asked what I thought about the music and a few other things. I appreciated that.

Been getting 2 free night offers the past 2 months, and hopefully we'll get that this summer when we go back.

 

Do they have Pai Gow Poker and mini baccarat? Thanks in advance.

 

Pai Gow

No Pai Gow. Didn't look for baccarat.

 

They had some kind of Pai Gow game, I don't play them so I never gave it any attention. They also had a baccarat room that I didn't go into.

TFK