Since 1971 the Plaza has sat at the foot of Fremont Street becoming a landmark in the Downtown Las Vegas Landscape.

The main entrance is located at the corner of Main and Fremont Streets. For those who prefer valet parking, it is located on the south side of the building through the driveway that goes past the Greyhound station. There is also a four story parking garage on the south side of the building that is also accessed from the same driveway as the valet parking. As you enter the front entrance of the hotel, you pass under an unusual looking structure that was once a swimming pool but now the Center Stage Restaurant.

After walking in the front doors of the hotel, the main casino is to the left along with The Plaza Diner, to the right is some slot machines, stores, and a McDonald's, and the front desk and the elevators to the north towers directly in front of you.

The poorly designed, small after thought of a front desk is located in such a way that at busy times the main walkway can get blocked, and you have to wade yourself through a sea of humanity to get through the area. However if you are in the North tower your its only a couple of steps from the desk to the elevator.

The North Tower:

The north tower was the original built in 1971. The tower is oddly shaped with rooms facing in three directions. Rooms either face east onto Fremont Street, southwest or northwest.
If you would like a view of the Fremont Street Experience from your room request a room on the Fremont side of the building on third through fifth floors. The rooms in the north tower have been refurbished in the last couple of years. There are new beds (on the soft side), a table and chairs by the window (a portion of the window does open for fresh air), and a big cabinet holding the television and some dresser drawers which located across from the beds. Some rooms do include a refrigerator next to the t.v. cabinet.
However, while the room is fairly good size, the big downfall of the rooms are the bathrooms which are extremely small. The entrance to the bathroom is next to the window, where there is the sink and an area to store luggage. Then there is another small room including the toilet and a full size bathtub. However the whole area is quit small and is hard to move around in.
Also to be noted is that the rooms that do not face Fremont street do face the mainline of the Union Pacific Railroad (The hotel was built on the site of the former Union Pacific train station and once called the Union Plaza Hotel). So if you don't line the noise of trains request a room on a higher floor or request a room on the Fremont Side.

South Tower:

The South Tower is the newer tower built in the 80's. The furnishings in the room are about the same as in the north tower, however the rooms are newer, a little larger and include a full size bathroom which is much easier to use than in the north tower.
Unlike the north tower the south tower is a basic two sided tower with rooms facing north and south. Once again people who don't want to hear the train noise request a higher floor room and rooms toward the east side of the tower. Also the lower floors on the south side may get noise from both the parking garage and especially the Greyhound bus station that is located on the lower level of the parking garage.

Parking:

The main parking structure is located south of the south tower at the far south end of the complex. If you park in the structure you need to validate your parking ticket which can be done at a self validating machine located on a column just in front of the cashier window in the middle of the casino.

Secret: If you are staying in the north tower you do not have to walk through the casino in order to reach your tower from the parking garage. If you get off on the third floor (or if you are parked on the third floor), just past the very slow elevators is a door that will take into another lobby that connects the two towers and some convention space. There is also some slot machines located on this level but it is much quicker and easier to use the third floor to go back and forth between the towers and the parking garage.
As you pass go from the north tower to the parking structure or south tower you also pass another front desk which was supposed to be the main front desk for the hotel when the south tower was added but has never been used. There is also a pair of unused escalators near the south tower elevators that will take you down to the first floor by one of the bars.

Pool and Tennis Courts:

The large pool and the tennis courts are located between the two towers and accessed through the seventh floor of the towers.

Stores:

There are several shops located to the north of the front desk on the main level. There is a gift shop and a smoke shop/liquor. My recommendation if you want snacks or beverages would be store at a grocery store before arriving at the hotel. You can save lots of money compared to the high prices in the hotel stores.

Restaurants:

The Plaza has three main restaurants: The Plaza Diner, Center Stage Restaurant, and the Chop Chop Chinese buffet.

The Plaza Diner:

The Plaza diner is located on the main level to the south side of the north tower's elevators and the front desk. The food is good, much like a Denny's or other coffee shop offering both breakfast, lunch and dinner. One notable breakfast they offer is the pound of ham. Which includes a one pound slab of ham, eggs, toast and hash browns. Most people cannot finish it. Also note that prices may change on the weekends, especially the busier ones. Most meals will cost between $5 and $10 a person.

The Center Stage:

The Center Stage is located on the second floor and can be accessed through the south tower elevators, or from an escalator from either the third floor or the east side of the casino just south of the main entrance doors. As stated before the restaurant sits on what was once the pool and is over the main drive up entrance of the hotel.
The restaurant has steaks, fish and prime rib. I have had the Prime Rib several times at the Center Stage and it has been excellent every time. Meals will average around $20.00 a person

Chop Chop Chinese Buffet:

I love Chinese food and like going to buffets so I can take a little of each item I love. I never encountered a Chinese buffet I didn't like until this one. The buffet is located in between the Omaha lounger and The Plaza Diner. There is not much seating are and not a large selection of food.
Among the items offered: Salad, Fruit, Egg Flower Soup, Hot and Sour Soup, Egg Rolls, Pot stickers, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Beef and Broccoli, Hot and Spicy Chicken, Mixed Chow Mien, Pork Fried Rice, Steamed Rice, plus Cake and Ice Cream. The cost is $9.99 a person which is more we paid the day before for the buffet the THE Orleans hotel which had more Chinese food even though Chinese food is only one small part of their overall buffet. In addition some of the food was cold and the Broccoli in the Beef and Broccoli had seen better days.

In addition to the restaurants, there is also a nice food counter located on the south side of the casino that offers small snacks such as hot dogs. There is also the McDonald's located on the north side of the lobby.

Casino:

The casino which stretches the length of the hotel on the first floor is really showing its age. From the north side of the casino you past slots, the card tables, then more slot machines. The are three bars located in the casino. One is the Omaha lounge which often have people performing, then there is the sports bar located in the southwest corner of the casino, and a third bar located near the keno area which is against the east wall.

Customer Service:

Overall Customer service seems to be in two forms: either you get very good prompt efficient, but it is very cold and unfriendly, or you get very friendly service but it will be very slow and very poor. It seems to be one extreme or the other.

Other Information:

The Plaza is located at the foot of Fremont Street, across the street from the west end of the Fremont Street Experience. You have several casinos with in walking distance, and is located within easy access of all the major highways that converge on Las Vegas. The Downtown Transit terminal is located about four blocks to the northeast and has every ten minute service to the strip.

Overall:

Overall the hotel offers what you look for in a hotel plus provides a little bit of the old Las Vegas atmosphere. The hotel is not glitzy like the more modern ones along the strip but does the job: comfortable rooms at a reasonable price, with a good location.

Misc. Information:

Changes may be in store for The Plaza as it and several other downtown hotels is for sale. One of the proposals is to turn The Plaza into a hotel catering to the Hispanic population, so change is in the wind. However if your looking from a hotel that invokes a little of old Las Vegas, is centrally located n the heart of downtown, The Plaza makes a good stay.

The Plaza was sold again in the Summer of 2005 and so the previous changes that where announced are not going to happen.


Update:

The hotel has done some remodeling in the area where the stores and McDonalds is, opening up the area by taking out some of the shops.

Prices for The Plaza are getting very high. The prices are currently running about $80 to $90 a night on the weekends and $60 a night on weeknights which is higher than comparable hotels in the area.

Recommended: Yes

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