I have stayed several times at the New York New York hotel, but this is the first time that I had to pay for it. Now having relatives in the Las Vegas area, I have enjoyed several trips there. I gamble enough that I have sort of come to expect free rooms midweek (and stay with family on the weekends). So when I called NY NY with a mailer offering me two free nights, I was a little disappointed to hear that they would not honor their promo.

Well, I called around to many of the hotels, and I guess I just picked a bad week since there was a very large convention coming into town. After booking two free nights at the Rio, I sucked it up and coughed up the $119 per night for the other 2 nights at NY NY.

I was pleasantly surprised at check-in to discover we had been upgraded to a spa room. The room was a decent size and had a large Jacuzzi tub in the corner of the room. The king bed was comfortable and there was a 42¡¨ LCD TV on the wall. The bathroom was all marble, and my wife seemed to appreciate the cleanliness of the room. So while I still believe a hotel should honor a promotion they mail to you, at $119 this beat the pants off of Motel 6, off the strip for $59.

My previous free rooms have always been clean, but sort of small and a very long walk from the elevators. Once the room was even next to the roller coaster tracks ¡V beware this room, the coaster starts running around 8 am.

As for the Casino, fairly large and spacious with a good assortment of table games and slots. The waitresses can be difficult to find if you are playing slots anytime except 8pm ¡V 11pm. I will also subtract some points because they actually closed my blackjack table (a full table) while we were on a pretty good roll and relocated us to a different table with a new dealer. Not a move that made any of us happy :(

There is an adjourning food court area that offers snack food and a Coyote Ugly with GIANT frozen drinks. This is also the entrance to the NY NY arcade and a roller coaster which circles the building. This feature must have been added before the ¡§What happens in Vegas¡¨ ad campaign. They once tried to promote Vegas as family friendly. So if you feel comfortable leaving your kids upstairs in the arcade while you hit the casino below, go for it, but I¡¦d probably opt to visit Disney instead.

The casino also plays host to an ESPN Zone and a great Irish Bar with live entertainment nightly.

The location of this Casino is perfect, sitting on the corner across from the MGM and Excalibur, with the Monte-Carlo next door. All of these casinos are truly a quick walk, not the typical 20 minute walk to get to the building next door that exists further down the strip.

So if you are on a budget but want to make sure there are no stains on the comforter in the room, this might be the place for you!

Recommended: Yes