Come for the hotel, not the casino
Written: Apr 26 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice rooms. Can be quite a bargain. Very quiet, low key.
Cons: Far from the Strip. Far from just about everything.
The Bottom Line: An out-of-the-way location with very quiet surroundings. Great for a roadside, slightly upscale place. Not a destination hotel.
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| mistsy's Full Review: Arizona Charlie's Boulder |
Arizona Charlie's East is a long, long way from the Strip, despite what it looks like on the map they have on the website!
That being said, this place was great for the price. It is classified as a 2* hotel, and that it is. It's rather motel-like, with all guestroom door opening to an outside corridor.
The rooms are comfortable, if sparsely furnished, and mostly suites at that. You get the usual collection of standard stuff like small tv with cable (actually two tvs - one in the living area, one in the bedroom), standard bed linens (the bedspreads are kind of not nice), a coffee maker, etc. Nothing special, but that's just fine - they make no claims of being a luxury property.
It was very quiet and peaceful, although the self-deadbolting doors had me wondering if this was a not-so-safe area. In fact, it's a fine area. It's on the Boulder "Strip" (which is a misnomer - ain't no strip here!), about 10 miles from downtown's Strip.
You have ample parking, and, if you stay here, you had better rent a car as there's precious little in walking distance. With a car, you can go down to Sam's Town or over to Castaways, or even go the Strip itself!
The casino is OK. I'm not a gambler, so I don't really know what you might be looking for in a casino. There are tables, slot machines, and I guess what you'd expect in any casino. I found it to be a bit lackluster as I'm accustomed to the glitz and glamor of big-wig casinos. However, you might like a little quiet.
There is a restaurant and a buffet. I tried the buffet, which I thought was rather Orlando-ish - lots of fried stuff with heavy cream sauces accompanied by a "special" (on my night, steamed crab legs.) It was OK, but I wished I'd gone to the restaurant as very little of the buffet was appetizing to me. (I'm lactose intolerant, so many of the entrees were off limits to me.) The "prime rib" was a bleeding hunk of flesh that, under a heat lamp, looked like roadkill. Still, I think people like their beef that way... I like it dead! The "Seafood Newburg" was really gross-looking. It had a tan sauce (slightly shiny) with hunks of that fake "surimi" stuff flourescently poking out. Ack! The steamed vegetables were nice and fresh. The pork roast was pretty good too, although you had to fish around the hunks of fat to get to the meat.
At $11, I guess it was priced about right for a buffet.
All in all, I was very pleased with this place. I can see no reason to stay here, though, and that's the rub. It's not near anything at all. I ended up here because I was in Vegas on business during a packed weekend. There simply were very few other options. At $33, this was a tremendous bargain.
The rates vary wildly, though. For the first night I stayed, they charged that $33. The next night, a Friday night, they wanted a whopping $189 for the same room, so I stayed elsewhere.
I recommend this place highly based on comfort and price. It might be good for those on a road trip looking for a roadside inn, as well. If you're in Vegas for other attractions, like nature, the hotel is right on the highway and you're within reasonable driving distance of Lake Mead and Nellis without being in the not-too-good area of North Las Vegas.
If you're coming to Vegas for a vacation looking for gambling and glitz, this is the wrong choice.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mistsy
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Location: Austin, TX
Reviews written: 125
Trusted by: 40 members
About Me:
Old, cranky, but still, umm, trying to be hip (if it hasn't been replaced yet.)
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