Your description of the elevator (dirty buttons) is just the kind of thing I was expecting. I stayed

The renovated Plaza hotel in Downtown Las Vegas is officially re-opening best rental car prices on September 1st but it's been accepting guests for the past week or so. I was one of those people this past week and this is the story of my experience (for what it's worth, so was Chuckmonster from VegasTripping - his post is here ).
My interest in The Plaza's renovation was sparked when they revealed they had purchased furniture best rental car prices originally slated for Fontainebleau. It's an interesting story of something good coming from a huge mistake. When I realized I'd have some overlap in town with their soft-open, it seemed like a good match. I booked.
It's hard not to notice that the building has been painted, though on closer inspection you'll discover that there are plenty of places that haven't had a new coat and still feature several decades of grime as a skin. Valet service was quick and simple - I was on my way to check-in moments later.
best rental car prices The new front-desk area is one of the highlights - it really does look nice. Everything is fresh, crisp and clean. After walking up to the desk, I got a preview of what might be the biggest best rental car prices problem with the property, if they actually aspire to moving up the food chain of downtown hotels.
The gentleman checking me in was clearly perplexed by the computer - looking at it with a tilted head and expression best rental car prices of complete confusion. Despite him muttering about things not making sense, his manager, who was standing next to him, didn't even look over and instead fiddled with his cell phone. It wasn't until the clerk called out that the manager explained whatever the various options on the screen meant. Ok, no problem - new computers best rental car prices I guess. Check-in took about 20 minutes after I had stepped up to the desk but now I was on my way to my room - 938 in the South Tower.
best rental car prices The South Tower is located all the way across the casino from the check-in desk, giving a great opportunity to take in all the floor renovations. If you've ever been in the old Plaza, it's like they firebombed and started over. The casino floor generally looks night and day from it's old appearance. best rental car prices Instead of a smokey, piss-esque smell, it's clean, best rental car prices fresh and nicely laid out. If you're just visiting the joint and all you see is the lobby and casino, you'll likely view this renovation as a home run - and from that perspective, it is. Other than the Nugget, it's one of the nicest floors on Fremont right now.
I made my way past the security guard and into the elevator lobby - the elevators themselves have new carpet but the other controls don't look to have been replaced. The buttons are very dirty and some of them don't light up, etc...
When I reached the ninth floor, I had the same problem that Chuck did - there's best rental car prices absolutely zero way-finding at all in the guest room corridors. best rental car prices You basically have to guess which way your room is and figure it out on your own. This is even true for the fifth floor where the pool is (will be). Good luck.
The furniture is all new (and already scuffed!), though it doesn't seem to really fit the room. It's clear they had x furniture and y space and had to figure out how to make it work. Some oddities noticed off the bat: the bed had no skirt or comforter, making it look oddly bare, there's a big empty space between the desk and the window and the walls are mostly empty, save a large print of a vintage Plaza.
On closer inspection, I noticed that the in-room safe was locked open - turns out they didn't have the codes and couldn't unlock them until the safe company called back... which didn't happen in the 24 hours I was on property. Standard rooms don't have mini-bars, like most other Fremont best rental car prices hotels.
I unpacked my crap after taking some photos - I had some work I needed to upload and had planned best rental car prices to sign on to the WiFi and get it out of the way... Well, that wasn't happening. I couldn't get the WiFi to work ( lots of error messages ). A call to the desk and I discovered that it was known-non-functional and I was told it would be fixed on September 1st (official opening day). This turned out to be the mantra I got from the staff over and over when asking about stuff that didn't work. Will it all be fixed by 9/1? I have no idea. Some of it certainly could be but I have a feeling bits will persist into September and beyond. I asked jokingly what else didn't work and the person on the phone told me that the TVs only worked in about half the rooms.
The bathroom was small but functional, best rental car prices with all-new everything. Unfortunately there was no soap anywhere to be found. Whoops. How many Fremont hotels have room-service? The Plaza doesn't. A final note on the room: despite what the pamphlet says, in-room checkout didn't work either. September 1st.
In addition to the updated best rental car prices rooms and casino floor, there's a whole range of new restaurants and bars, such as Anthony Cool's 'Swingers Club' in the mix. Almost none of these were open - Hash House was in play-dates, McDonalds and the sushi joint had plastic wrap on 'em. Subway was rocking but I didn't need any foot-longs. There's also a new coffee best rental car prices joint in the lobby that also has a bunch of snacks, etc...
Swingers Club, the piano bar/mini-golf place did open while I was there. I think I may have been one of the first customers - it was just me and a couple of bartenders. The place is sorta shaped like a big triangle with a bar in the middle. There are a lot of chairs, a piano and a few tiny strips of mini-golf around the edges. When this place was first described to me, I imagined golf being the major hook but it's actually a pretty minor part of the whole experience. This is basically a dueling piano bar. Glass windows open to the casino and the music is clearly heard at the table pits. I was pretty underwhelmed by this place - I'd actually be surprised if it lasts a year. I overheard a conversation with a manager who was telling a friend that they have no idea if the piano thing will work - they might do karaoke, etc...
I spent about four hours playing in the casino that evening, alternating between craps, roulette, 21 and Let It Ride. My impression best rental car prices is that The Plaza is getting a lot of break-in dealers - very slow to make payouts and constantly making mistakes. Actually, while sitting at the roulette table, the pit boss came over to berate the dealer, calling her 'stupid, stupid'. It was actually pretty best rental car prices awful to watch this guy tear into her and was a huge turn-off.
This goes to the heart of my concern about The Plaza being successful with their transformation. My impression of the staff was very uneven. Many employees seemed to not care much about guest satisfaction. They had old-Plaza attitudes in a new-Plaza uniform. There were definitely a few employees I came into contact with that were eager to help and seemed excited to be there but they were the exception. Mostly I saw people that scowled, looked down, didn't make eye contact, and didn't attempt to go the extra mile (or even the extra kilometer).
My room was $41 for a Sunday - a sweet deal in any city... Except that's the same thing the Nugget best rental car prices cost for that night. El Cortez was $32 and The Mirage was $76. The Plaza can compete on price and the fact they now have significantly less urine in their carpet but that's not going to be enough.
For my money, the places to beat on Fremont are the Golden Nugget for luxury/Strip-comfort and the El Cortez for kitsch/value/nostalgia. I actually had dinner at The Flame (El Co) that night and the service there was insanely good - not pretentious at all but super personal and incredibly friendly. My server sat down and looked at pictures of my dog. I'd go back to The Flame anytime (food was good too).
I hope The Plaza succeeds and I think it's great to see investment downtown. Still, without investing in employees that care, it doesn't matter if you have new carpet... So yeah, I have doubts. I'd love to try Oscar's but I doubt I'll return to The Swinger's Club.
Man, I would like to see this work. Hopefully the problems get ironed out. I'd have to presume best rental car prices the culture best rental car prices is the hardest to change, and if it is not changed on Day One (or Day minus three), I can not be optimistic.
Your description of the elevator (dirty buttons) is just the kind of thing I was expecting. I stayed at the Plaza a few years before they closed and it was my worst hotel stay EVER! Non flushing best rental car prices toilets, standing water in the shower, cockroaches best rental car prices and a surly casino staff. I wonder how much has really changed just below the surface?
This looks a lot better than some of the current inventory down on the strip.lol. I haven't been to downtown in almost ten years (before I was even legal) but we may have to check this out next time we are there. In any case, I am glad to see this F'bleu stuff get used before it becomes irrelevant are worthless. It's still too bad that F'bleu will most likely never open, but it's kind of cool that a piece of it's short "history' will live on until the next major overhaul or eventual closure. I agree with the others and hope they get their kinks worked out. I'll never stay there, but it may give me a reason to head downtown for a few hours..
Did someone say cockroaches? I hope they have sprayed some serious pesticides in that place. Residual creatures from the old Plaza ain't going to cut it. I made a reservation for November. I'll have to keep my eye open in tripadvisor. Because the Diva doesn't do cockroaches.
I wish the Plaza luck, but am afraid this could end up as a false start and they fail financially regardless. I don't recall them doing anything about their debt and this might only stem the bleeding for now. It is definitely worth a quick visit now.
I don't think the Plaza owners (Tamares Group) have any debt issues. I have always read that it is a very low profile, best rental car prices deep pocketed, international investor. I think they bought Jackie Gaughan's empire as a real estate play, hoping to cash in on the run up in real estate prices a few years ago. Since that strategy turned best rental car prices into a long term investment, and jus