Palace Station - Off the Strip and Fun!
We've stayed at Palace Station many, many times. Formerly the Bingo Palace, it resembled a Motel 6 with a casino. Over the years Palace Station has grown: they've built a hotel tower, a multi-level parking garage, and they've enlarged the casino greatly. The photo shows the Tower.
The hotel is composed of the "tower" and the original Motel 6-like "Courtyard". Both have interior hallway areas and all rooms have electric locks, A/C, TV, etc.
To use the pool, ask for the Courtyard because the one of the two pools will probably be right outside our room. This also translates to noise from the pool area, but I don't mind. The rooms are older, but clean. We always ask for two beds which are full-sized, not queens. The rooms are small but sometimes go for as low as $19 a night!
The Tower is pretty new/renovated, less than 15 yeard old? All the rooms have newer everything: furniture, interiors, etc. Sometimes the rooms have coffeemakers. I heard from staff that it is due to either cleanliness issues (gotta clean all the carafes) or safety (hope the safety turn-off works). Tower rooms go anywhere from $29 to $159+ a night depending on the season. If there's a less than $20 difference between the Tower and Courtyard I'll take the Tower if I don't plan to use the pool just for the extra space in the Tower rooms.
We have gotten some nightmarish customer service in the past (Elliot at the front desk - cute minion of Satan? Tell me!) - checking in one night to a Tower room we were sent to a room that already had a guest in it, a room that didn't exist and a room that was so smoky (we're non-smokers) my eyes swelled up and I started wheezing when we opened the door. This was one night! We ended up eventually getting a room in the Courtyard and paying the Tower rate - about a $50/night discrepancy which was later refunded.
Other minor problems have been faulty door locks/keys that don't work, crazy long lines at the coffee shop and buffet, grumpy staff, but nothing really as bad as our problem with the room that one time.
Unique Quality: I like the hotel a lot, but I think they get a little stupid with their pricing: at times Courtyard rooms go for $99-they're worth $39 max. My philosophy in Vegas is that if you have to pay $100 for a room, try priceline.com - at least you have a chance to get a hotel that's worth it. I go to Vegas to gamble - even though I love this hotel, if they charge too much, I'll take myself and my money elsewhere. Why let them overcharge you on the room when they are going to get your money in the casino?
The thing about the Tower I don't like is that to get to the pools in the courtyard you have to walk across a small casino annex from the Tower on the main floor to the walkway to the Courtyard. It is not the casino proper you walk through, just an annex.
The casino is great, all the games, poker room, sports book, craps pit - but I go for the Bingo - yes Bingo - try it, you'll like it.
The restaurants are the best - a Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, a Seafood/Steak Broiler with a Seafood Bar, a great coffee shop (they serve green and jasmine teas if you ask), a buffet that will just kill you and an Irish Pub. There may be a snack bar or two that I missed. Food prices are good - they advertise this as a "locals" casino, so there are always food specials.
For entertainment there's a lounge that doubles as a nightclub on weekends. The Irish pub also has entertainment.
Sometimes they run an airport shuttle - check the website or call, it can save you some money. They also usually run a shuttle to the Tropicana Hotel and the Fashion Show Mall - again check.
Palace is part of the Station Casinos chain that has several hotels in Las Vegas. All of the other "Station" (Boulder Station, etc.) hotels are pretty new and they all have the same "feel" - active, lively, fun. There are a few properties that aren't "Stations" - Wild Wild West is like a motel for example. Some of the other Station properties have movie theaters and child-care also.
There's a Krispy Creme and a Starbucks at Palace - that's what I left out!
