Vegas: Digs

When we went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon in March 2001, we stayed at the Paris.  We loved it.  It was our first time in Vegas and the Paris was all new and swanky.  For this trip I researched prices on lots of hotels on the strip but coincidentally got the best rate (in a decent hotel with good reviews) at the Paris.  We were there Sunday- Thursday night for $49.50 a night.  Woot!  We already knew we loved the location of the Paris- right on the strip across from the Bellagio, at the heart of the strip near all the good hotels.  We were interested to see how the Paris had held up over the last 8 years and with a change in management.  In 2001 the Paris was a Hilton hotel but now it’s part of the Harrah’s company.

**lots of photos after the jump. click them to enlarge**

We arrived at the hotel just after 11 am.  The line at the registration desk was miles long.  I asked the concierge about early check in as check in is at 4 pm and my knee was killing me. –Turns out I’d popped my knee cap out of the socket (or whatever it’s called).  Add that to my poor arthritic knees with barely any cartilage and it’s not a good scene.  But that’s a whole other story.–  Concierge told us to come back around 12:30 pm and they’d see if they could check us in.  We gave our bags to the bellmen. We had lunch then checked back around 1 pm.  Sure enough they  let us check in early.  Now, had we waited a bit until all the rooms had a chance to be cleaned then we probably could have gotten a better view, but we just wanted to get in a room quickly.
That’s the view of the Bellagio lake from our room. We could still see the fountains. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the fountains, so you’ll have to Google them if you aren’t familiar.
I find George Wallace extremely annoying on Chelsea Lately. You can imagine, then, my displeasure at having to gaze upon his mug every day for a week!
I did love looking at the architecture of the Paris through our window. I would love to get inside the top floor rooms.

Our room was great!  Nice and big with a powerful air conditioner- a must with 107 degree temps!  The furniture was really nice and the bed was super comfy with tons of pillows.  The bathroom was big too.  All marble with a big shower and nice tub. A good hair dryer too.  That’s important!  I hate those wimpy hair dryers some hotels have.  Big, soft towels as well.

There were some noticeable differences in the Paris since the last time we were there.  Not sure if all of it can be attributed to Harrah’s owning it now.  First of all as soon as you walk into the main casino area it is so smokey.  It didn’t used to be.  And at the Venetian & Palazzo, even though people smoke there too, it doesn’t smell.  We spent minimal time gambling at the Paris because of the smoke.  In 2001 the hotel was all about Paris, France, and an overall French, luxurious vibe.  You could tell they were going for the feeling of stepping off the strip and on to the streets of Paris.  Now it feels much more commercial.  There are flat screen tvs everywhere constantly promoting the other Harrahs hotels, shows, & casinos.  On the street lamps there are now flags promoting other Harrahs shows & hotels.  And we noticed all these people walking around with these tacky, giant plastic Eiffel Towers full of booze. Those were the only differences that really stood out to us. Everything else was great!

Our entire trip we received fabulous service from the hotel staff.  We would definitely recommend the Paris to others.  Next time we go we’ll stay somewhere else just so we can experience another hotel, but the Paris will always be special to us.

Next up: Sights!