Which property has the most sentimental value for you?

I'm having a hard time settling on which property has the most sentimental value to me, but I can easily tell you which property has fallen the furthest from its past greatness, and it's definitely Binions.

 

I loved the late night steak and eggs or ham and eggs.

 

Rio was my home casino for years during the Marnell era. So many fabulous memories with friends. After my Dad passed, I took my Mum to Vegas once or twice a year.

The first trip, we stayed on the strip and visited Rio. She loved it too so we stayed there on all subsequent trips. She met “a nice young man” one night who “was one of the entertainers” and told me about their chat and him helping her lug buckets of coins. The next day, she noticed his photo by the elevator. “Oh, that’s the man I was telling you about”. It was Danny Gans! Of course I then took her to see his show. My Mum passed in 2000; I am so happy we were able to share many wonderful times in Vegas and am happy the Rio is coming back to life.

 

Mine are gone.

Las Vegas Club - my first comp!

Barbary Coast - My mother's favorite hotel - she has since passed away

Riviera - My first NYE comp! I loved her so much

I don't know that I have sentimental attachment to any hotel right now. I am going up the Strip in my head, to downtown and nothing is tugging at my heartstrings other than the dead space that is MY Riviera.

 

First - Landmark

First on strip - Dunes

First down town - 4 Queens

First off strip - M that is still around

First Comp - Sahara before SLS

All time favorite - El Cortez

There many that have come and gone that we loved staying, eating, gambling at so any one choice would be hard.

We also bitch about Boyd closing the
Eastside Cannery every time we drive by so maybe that is the one we miss the most.

Jerrys Nugget also has many great memories.

Just had a great stay at the Durango Station and love the place.

But the Sahara would be the answer to this question

 

Caesars Palace. Stayed there only once but loved the mini suite with the two connecting bathrooms.

Also, cause The Hangover. Caesars was to Hangover what the state of Minnesota was to the movie Fargo.

Obligatory clip:

 

Planet Hollywood - was the first hotel I stayed in (seems to be a common thread here).

Technically speaking my first stay wasn't actually at PH - it was at Elara. But we played mostly at PH, and I won a decent chunk of change on my first trip (always helps).. so it always holds a sweet spot for me - even if I've soured on the gaming there post COVID (or rather post el dorado takeover).

It's in a perfect location to casino hop, has a ton of great low cost food options, and once upon a time it has good blackjack options.

Now, two out of three remain. Ain't bad, but the loss of good blackjack is a major bummer.

I'll still hit up Blondie's once a trip for the all you can drink happy hour, which I've done literally on every single trip I've taken to Vegas and have never grown tired of it.

 

Before my stint as a Disney Cast Member, I was unprepared for the amount of people, from all corners of the country and walks of life, that were disappointed that I’m from Minnesota and don’t have the Fargo accent.

One day I had a guest ask how accurate the film was to life in Minnesota. I deadpan “Well, we haven’t actually put Steve Buschemi through a wood chipper…yet.”

 

Not even close!
...but 2nd place would have to be the Mirage (under Wynn's management) and 3rd place is Golden Gate (suites only!), back when they still had Bay City Diner/DuPar's on-site.
Strong runner-up is the El-Co (back when they still realized they were a low-rolling, non-FSE downtown casino, offering $5 blackjack & craps, as well as $3 roulette.)

 

First stay at the Gold Coast in the 90s, we went eat at the Cortez Room for a steak. We felt a little out of place in shorts and polos with the white table cloths. Steaks were about $20, back then, so when the tuxedo shirt and tie server mentioned a PR special for $5.95, we all took the bait. salad was tossed tableside and the 10-12 oz PR was great!

Good memories about the Orleans too. I had checked in the day before and then picked up my buddy that day. They were almost finished with a new tower and the hallway was open to the const guys who were done for the day. So, on the way to the room, instead of passing by, I explained, as we walked down the paper covered hallway, that we got a great deal since the rooms weren't quite done! The look on his face told me, prank accomplished! Great memories though of the Canal Street and the Oyster Bar.

 

I'll go with NYNY from my first trip in 1996. I still like the hotel today, though I haven't stayed there in a long time. I always spend a little time gambling there each trip.

I can't think of any specific memories, but it will always have a place in my heart as the first.

 

@Fafa2e After the renovations, NYNY is a pretty solid place to stay. They have some rooms that have great views, and some of the floors only have like 4-5 rooms per floor. They still have the friendliest VIP checkin of any MGM property, outside of Delano.

NYNY also has my favorite High Limit bar of any MGM property. The women that work that bar are outstanding. They even started stocking specific mixers for me.

 

Wynn! We got married there.

 

I have had some Memorable experiences at Bellagio.

Once was on a St Patrick’s Day evening playing craps with a guy dressed as a leprechaun- or maybe he was really a leprechaun. Either way, it was a fun and very night

A second time I was at the Bellagio late morning playing craps standing next to a guy who introduced himself as “Rob”. It turns out it was Rob VanWinkle - AKA Vanilla Ice. I had no idea who he was and we played for about 2 - very profitable- hours. And later that night - about 2 am- I was sitting at the bar at the Baccarat Bar and he walked by. “Come on Joe, we are heading back to the table”. Another profitable session.

How can I not love that place!

 

Two for me...

Luxor - first comped rooms, went there for a good stretch of March Madness trips. No one knew the high limit bar existed, we would get the remote and have our own private bar for the games we wanted to watch. Bonus, full pay VP at the high limit bar back then. Always seemed to have luck at the Luxor/Mandalay craps tables.

Bellagio - Walked through this place on my first trip to Vegas and thought this is where I want to be, aspirational at that point. Many stays later and it's not lost on me that it was once a goal.

 

Can’t recall how many late night/early morning drunken meals at Victorian Room. We always seemed to have an older waiter named Buckey, always great service and patience with our drunken shenanigans.

 

This would be NYNY for me. My first trip to Vegas was in 97 and although I didn’t stay at NYNY, that was the first place that grabbed me. I’m not sure why, it just felt right and still does.

If Cromwell was still Barbary Coast/Bill’s that would have been a close second.

 

As a lifelong casino hopper this is a tricky one for me to think of an answer for. My trips will often be staying one place, eating another, and playing yet others, making it trickier to have a concentration of memories or be overly sentimental. My memories are by trip, and my trips are all over the place.

So really for me it is the city that is sentimental.

 

Paris: We got married there about sixteen years ago. Interestingly, we've been back to Vegas numerous times through the years, but we've never stayed at Paris again. We just weren't that crazy about it; but back then it met our requirements for availability of poolside wedding service including officiant, cabana for party afterward, rooms for friends, budget, etc.

 

Was not the first one... first one was MGM Grand with a roll-away in a standard room with 2 friends...would put that in 4th or 5th place

It is...like for some others...Planet Hollywood, with Bellagio/CP close seconds.

There isn't anything better in the world than arriving at PH/Bellagio, throwing the luggage on the bed and almost running down to their respective sportsbooks bars. That first Sam Adam's hits like (I assume) your first hit of crack, each and every time