Downtown Vegas Hotels, the Historically Special Specials
Going “old school” in Vegas? If yes, you may be staying at one of the downtown Vegas hotels, where the rooms are a bit more retro and not necessarily in the cool way. Hotels in downtown Las Vegas tend to be older (mostly circa 1970s, though the Golden Gate Hotel Casino dates to the turn of last century), sometimes seedier, and almost always cheaper. The idea of Las Vegas hotel rooms downtown may appeal to the anti-establishment naysayers, the Vegas visitors who will never follow the scenesters to the 5-star brasseries, or stand in line at a club where they just might catch a glimpse of anyone remotely important or famous. But when you think of downtown Vegas hotels, you just might find some items of trivial and even historical interest if you look hard enough: Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel – the Fitz claims to have the largest variety of table games in Vegas, and a “Best of Las Vegas Readers Poll” rated their machines the best slots in town. Four Queens Hotel & Casino – offers single deck blackjack at 3 to 2 odds, and is the only location downtown where you can check out the Tix4Tonight booths to save on discount vegas shows. Gold Spike Hotel & Casino – self described as the “friendliest” casino in Vegas. Golden Gate Hotel & Casino – opened in 1906 and assigned the first Vegas phone number. The Golden Gate is also known for starting the cheap eats Las Vegas craze, serving the first bargain-priced shrimp cocktail. Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino – the largest downtown Vegas hotels casino also owns the largest golden nugget on display. This rock weighs in at over 60 pounds. Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hall – opening in 1977, this property now contains a self-guided antiques tour, featuring a portion of the Berlin Wall, a chandelier from the Coca-Cola building in Austin, bronze doors from the Kuwait Royal Bank and the Louisa May Alcott Pullman car. Plaza Hotel & Casino – crowned by a rooftop swimming pool, The Plaza marks the location of the first train depot in Las Vegas. Vegas Club Hotel & Casino – installed the first neon sign for a casino in 1930; the second neon sign in all of Las Vegas, which started a glowing trend that had locals calling Fremont Street Glitter Gulch for a while. Which is not to be confused with the Glitter Gulch strip club now located at 20 E. Fremont Street. Hotels in Downtown Las Vegas PerksThere are more reasons than the odd bit of trivia for booking Las Vegas hotel rooms downtown. For one thing, there's plenty of free entertainment on Fremont Street. Take a stroll through the Viva Vision canopy light show, situated 90 feet above the sidewalk and stretching on for 1,400 yards or more.Throughout your visual journey under the lights, you'll also be treated to half a million watts of stereo quality sound...all tuned to mesmerize the unwary traveler. If it's a very hot summer day, you can use the canopy to help cool off too – the Fremont Street Experience mists you as you go. And not all of the downtown Vegas hotels are cheesy. The Golden Nugget for example, has earned a AAA Four Diamond Award for over thirty years in a row. Check out one of the Rush Tower suites, which just opened in 2009 and offers views of the The Strip, The Tank (Golden Nugget's huge, state-of-the-art pool with three story water slide) or the Spring Mountains. Granted, hotel rooms in downtown Las Vegas with this kind of luxury will cost a little bit more than the typical Las Vegas hotel rooms downtown...but still. Four and five star luxury on Fremont Street costs significantly less than the same luxury on Las Vegas Boulevard. You might want to take another look at downtown Las Vegas hotels before you finalize your reservations.
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