Golden Nugget

Someone I know is going to Vegas their first time and are booked at the Golden Nugget. I have always stayed on the Strip. I heard that Downtown was seedy. Any input. How does Downtown compare to the Strip as a first time experience in Vegas.

 

Depends on the person, I suppose.

There are many, many threads on the board here comparing downtown to the Strip.

The Nugget is the best joint downtown.

 

What are the ages of the people going? Is it a couple? Are they used to going on vacations with a little more glitz? or are they okay at hanging out at places that will feel like locals casinos/dives?

Really depends. The Nugget feels like a Strip hotel but they surely will not remain inside that building their whole trip. Some people once exposed to Fremont St are immediately turned off or immediately in love.

 

We do most of our gambling downtown and usually stay there. We feel very safe and love everything about downtown. It may also depend on your age, most of the young kids are on the strip. The odds are better and the table limits are much lower.

 

Agree with what has been said already. We stay at the Golden Nugget because it has the nicest hotel rooms downtown. We stayed on the strip our first few trips, but then realized that we were taking the bus downtown to play blackjack every day. Now, we never stay on the strip, but we do go there to have a nice dinner and see what's new. If it's someone's first trip, I might suggest they stay on the strip to get that "Vegas experience", but visit downtown to see how they like it.

 

NY
Can't go wrong with the GN
The strip and DT are two different animals.
Very safe and many other safeguards in place.
Even if you think you are alone, your're not, there is an eye on you from somewhere.
Ton of fun things to do in and around DT.

 

I stayed on the strip for my first 4 trips, but now I stay/drink/play* at the Nugget, and only head to the strip for shows/dinners etc.

Love the closeness of everything downtown, and it's nice to be able to have a good old English pub crawl along Fremont street on an evening, with crawl being the operative word by the end of it

I would say that downtown is no more seedy than walking along the strip getting porn cards slapped in your face, but it's very much something that varies from person to person.

My suggestion would be to give yourself a couple days at the Nugget to try it out. If you like it great, but if not there is no real harm done.


*My average trip is 2/3 weeks, and I still feel sad when I leave after July 4th weekend every year

 

I'll also stay away from the "hate/love the strip, hate/love downtown" debate, lots of threads on that

The Nugget is very very nice

 

Stayed at the nugget last year, and booked rooms for next month there again. The area didn't seem seedy at all. Im 23, but I like to gamble. I will say most of the people Downtown were older than me, seems like it caters to an older crowd. I had so much fun DT I never even went to the strip though lol.

Edit: You cant really beat the price either, our room is like $50 a night

 

I will be staying at the Golden Nugget from 5th May for 8 nights, stayed there last year and loved the atmosphere of Fremont Street ---------- I refuse to stay on the strip because of the ridiculous resort fees, let's hope the Golden Nugget keeps their fee to $5 a night.
I found the area safe, lots of security guys on duty.

 

Breeze and Paulie both love the Nugget.

 

Love the Nugget as well. Friendly staff, decent BJ games, great rooms at much better rates than comparable rooms on the strip and a great location. By far the GN is the class of downtown.

 

Downtown isn't seedy in the slightest but some of the people are. The same could be said about the strip.

I'm 32 and my wife is 26 and we love downtown. We tend to split our time between downtown and the strip.

Ultimately it depends on what you like to do. Downtown is for gambling, drinking, and live music and that's it. If you are in to show, clubs, or pool scenes then you should go to the strip. Or do all of the above and split your time.

 

1st time DT stayed at the GN. Absolutely loved it and that was with no pool (prior to the revamp with the sharks etc.)
I insisted in staying in the old part closest to the casino. Doesn't get much better than that. 20 steps from the elevator and you are making a bet! Best bed I ever slept in. Nice suite. Someone said it was a famous movie stars favorite room, can't remember who. I think everyone would say it's the crown of downtown.
We had a dealer at GN pay us wrong and the floor almost fired him on the spot in front of us, old school Vegas.

Really though, you are not in the room too much except to rest, clean-up and get ready to go! So, to me the room and hotel being important, is not that important as proximity to what we are planning on our trip or comped perks.
Personally I'd sleep just about anywhere, but occasionally I get over ruled.

One evening while we thought we were alone on a side street alley off of Fremont doing what we did back then...within 5 minutes we had Metro interrogating us ...very, very safe area...
fortunate not to sleep on a hard rack that particular night...lol
nuff said

 

The Nugget was appealing before they renovated the pool and added the Ice Bar and Bar 46 which enhanced the place even more.

 

This!

 

Damn. Guess the Mrs. and I will have to slightly alter our plans.

 

Downtown has some outstanding small scale shows. The Mike Hammer show is great he is a young Don Rickles with the addition of magic tricks. I have taken 5 different people there from age 23 to 68. and they all loved the show and it is a bargain especially with discounts all around.

 

Downtown's not as glitzy as the Strip, but it's hardly seedy... though as stated above, there are a few seedy characters around (same as the Strip). The Nugget is easily the "class" of downtown and delivers a strip "like" experience. It has the nicest pool area. The limits are lower downtown and gaming overall is a better bargain and value. Hopping from property to property is by FAR easier downtown than on the Strip. Don't forget to check out the night life on Fremont East (just outside the canopy) and Container Park. Not sure how long the visit is, but the Strip is a quick cab ride away.

 

I love downtown. As others have said, the close proximity to other properties, the cheap drinks and gambling, not to mention the interesting people watching. It's not somewhere I'd go with a family but as adults, I like it so much I am double booking myself with a comp at The D in order to A) have a place to crash if necessary while downtown and B) take advantage of some pretty good comps (room, free play and food and beverage) for comparatively little play compared to what is needed to get the same comps on the strip.