Golden Nugget May 21 to May 23

Hotel:
We arrived at The Golden Nugget late Friday afternoon to check in. Check-in took just a few minutes, even though it was late afternoon on a busy Friday. We had a one-bedroom crown suite in the North Tower. North Tower rooms are the epitome of convenience because the elevator lets you out directly adjacent to both the casino and the main hotel entrance if you need a cab (That said, South Tower rooms still aren’t too bad. Sure, it’s a longer walk to the casino, but it’s still no sweat compared to most anything on the Strip).

The room was clean, spacious, and nicely appointed. A gift basket awaited us with a bunch of lotions and such in the box. I don’t know if that was because they knew we were in town to get married, or if that is standard procedure, but either way it was a very nice touch. The crown suite is simply two standard rooms converted into a suite; one bedroom is just like any other hotel room, and in the other room the bed has been removed and replaced with a large couch, coffee table, and an additional marble table with four chairs. Both rooms have Bose radios tucked under the TV's. A small wet bar with refrigerator is against one wall. Surprisingly, there was no mini-bar, but with your own fridge and a convenience store next door on Fremont Street, you really don’t need those overpriced temptations anyway.

We entertained 24 guests in our room for a small reception after our nuptials. First, I was surprised, but 26 people fit into that suite fairly comfortably. Second, the room service staff did a great job of putting together a special order spread of finger sandwiches, chips and dips. In fact, the entire hotel staff was highly professional, and exceptional at accommodating all of our special requests over the weekend.

Gaming:
Blackjack has been getting worse and worse over the years, both Downtown and on The Strip. Golden Nugget, thankfully, is a small refuge from many of those terrible games. Double-deck pitch 21 is still available for just $10, and without that insulting 6:5 pay on blackjack. Downtown was bustling in part because of the start of the World Series of Poker, but even at the height of Friday and Saturday night good $10 games could be found on tables, both two-deck pitch and six-deck shoe. Penetration into the decks was fairly good on most tables.

The Golden Nugget has upped their odds on craps, allowing 6x8x10x odds, but table minimums were almost always $10. You’ll need a good bankroll to be taking full advantage of those odds. Decent 3x4x5x odds or better are available everywhere else you look downtown, so a two minute walk will find you at a budget game with nice odds.

The new poker room at The Nugget is a real gem. It has been carved out of the south section of their pool area and is very bright. Large TV’s show ESPN programming and sunlight streams in from the large windows facing the pool. This is easily the best poker room downtown, and probably one of the better rooms in Las Vegas overall. Quality players have already taken notice, and lots of WSOP players could be seen getting in some side action here.

Overall, The Golden Nugget is my favorite place to stay and play in Las Vegas. The table limits are at a comfortable level for me here, and the hotel has so far maintained an outstanding level of service and quality. There was a recent ownership change, but so far so good.

I’ve found that I need to take cabs most everywhere I’m going when I stay on the Strip anyway, so the fact that The Nugget is downtown doesn’t feel remote or bug me a bit.

 

Nice report! Glad you had a good time! Also nice to hear GN is a quality place to play still despite new ownership.

 

The poker room was great, but it looks very temporary. It's pretty much just a tent, so once the best spring weather is gone, they are going to need a more permanent solution.

As for the hotel, the owners just took the reins so recently that I didn't expect much of a change right away. It has yet to be seen if the new guys will keep the standard up or if I'll have to head back down to the Strip for my stays.