Hotel Information
The Main Street Station Hotel & Casino is a 406-room, 17-story property located in downtown Las Vegas. The hotel also features a casino with blackjack, roulette, craps, video poker and slot machines (no sportsbook). The property itself is an older property but has been recently renovated.

Arrival Experience
I arrived in Las Vegas at approximately 9:05am on a Friday. We took a cab from McCarran Airport to the Main Street Station. The cab fare for the trip (15-20 minutes) was approximately $18. We arrived at the front desk just after 10:00am to see if we could check into our three rooms. The front desk clerk was very nice and told us our rooms were not yet ready, but if we wanted to come back in about two hours she would make sure housekeeping got them ready. My friends & I did some gambling and grabbed some lunch before returning to check-in at noon. The same front desk agent got us checked into our rooms, with the check-in process taking about 10 minutes total. She directed us to the elevators and informed us we were all on the fourth floor.

Guest Room
Let me say this straight out: the rooms at Main Street Station are not fancy by any means. The rooms are standard size (maybe 300 square feet) but the bathrooms are VERY small. When I say small, I'm saying I could almost stand in the center of the bathroom and touch all four walls without moving. The bathroom has a toilet and tub/shower, while there is a powder area outside the bathroom with the sink and toiletries. Another word of caution about the bathrooms is the height of the showerhead. I'm 6'2" and with the showerhead pointed up as high as it went, the water hit me square in the center of my chest. I'd estimate that anyone who is 5 1/2' tall would have to bend forward to get their hair wet. As for the room itself, again it was nothing fancy. I was given a room with two queen sized beds, which were comfortable enough. There were two pillows on each bed, as well as a blanket and mini-comforter. What is a mini-comforter? Well, it's a comforter that comes about 2/3 of the way up the bed. I really don't understand why the comforter is made that way, but having worked in the hotel business for 13 years I actually appreciated it. I know the sheets get washed regularly in hotels (at least I give them the benefit of the doubt), but I know the comforter and blankets don't get washed very often. So the thought that I wouldn't have a somewhat dirty comforter pressed against my face while I'm sleeping was comforting (hmmm...is that why it's called a comforter??). The room had a small safe (I don't know that you could have fit a laptop in it, since I didn't use it), a T.V., an iron & ironing board, but no mini-bar. The room also has a huge mirror in it. I'm talking something like 5'x5'. Big. My room (#403) had a "view" of the hotel next door. FYI, a tip about room location: ask for an odd-numbered room as close to 01 as you can get. The even-numbered rooms overlook the interstate, while the higher-numbered rooms are closer to the train tracks.

Dining
Here is where I think the MSS really stands out (keep in mind I'm a 30-something guy and am not at all into fine dining). The MSS has three different dining options: The Pullman Grille is the property's steakhouse and is open for dinner. The Garden Court is the breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet restaurant. I went to the buffet for breakfast and lunch and found the food very good for the price (don't quote me, but I belive the breakfast buffet was $6.99 and the lunch buffet was $8.99). There were plenty of options, including an omelette station. The 777 Brewpub is open for lunch and dinner. They brew five different beers, and I tried them all. In order, I'd rank the High Roller Gold #1, followed by the Royal Red Lager, the Pale Ale, the Belgian Wheat Beer (seasonal) and the Blackchip Porter. The beers were $2.00/pint during happy hour (which I believe ran until 6 or 7pm) and $2.50 after that. My friends & I had 18 pints, 3 shots of Patron Silver and 3 appetizers and our bill was about $60. Oh yeah, the appetizers are half-price during happy hour too.

Location
The Main Street Station is located on Main Street (of course) in downtown Las Vegas. The property is about 3 blocks from the west end of the Fremont Street Experience and about 3 miles from The Strip. There is no cab stand at MSS, but you can either have the hotel call one for you or do what we did and walk over to the Jockey Club and catch one there (where there is a cab stand). The area around the hotel felt pretty safe to me. There are a lot of bicycle cops in the area as well as a lot of tourists on the streets.

Complaints
The Main Street doesn't have a sportsbook, which I didn't think to check on before I reserved. There are sportsbooks within a 5-minute walk from the MSS, but it would have been nice to have one on property. The hotel itself was fine for what we paid ($55/night after 10% tax). However, if you're looking for a nicer property, you'd probably want to look somewhere else. While the hotel & rooms are clean, I'd say the accommodations are a step above a Super 8. Another thing that may dissuade some people is that there is no swimming pool at the Main Street. There is also very little "eye candy", so if you're looking for a younger crowd, you'd be best to stay away from downtown.

Overall
You get what you pay for. The hotel is absolutely fine if you're just looking for a place to crash for a few hours a night. I like the downtown area, as the table limits are lower than they are on the Strip, and the crowds tend to be a lot lighter as well. I'd definitely stay here again when I'm in town strictly for gambling. If I'm looking for nightlife, I'll look to the Strip or to the Hard Rock.

Recommended: Yes