I won my stay at the Rio, and I looked forward to it as I'd heard about it ever since my first stay in Las Vegas several years before. Most people said it was worth it even with its location off the Strip.

Check-in was barely-organized chaos. I waited 10 minutes or so to check in and mercifully had no problem with my prize voucher. It took me a little time to find the elevators for the older tower (when they were actually very close to registration), but soon I was exiting at my floor.

The first thing I noticed was that the hallways were nowhere near as nice as the Monte Carlo, my previous hotel in Las Vegas. I also noticed that breakfast dishes from room service were still sitting on the floor by several doors even though it was after 4 PM. That was pretty gross.

Our room was large enough for two beds and a large L-shaped sofa arrangement - with coffee maker and little refrigerator near the closet and bathroom - but we soon learned we had a decision to make. The room was nice and roomy and pleasant with the drapes open. But if we wanted to watch TV (situated against the glass wall that gave us a view of a parking lot) or have some privacy, we had to close the dark drapes, which made the room dreary and claustrophobic. It was fine with the sun streaming in, and I decided right away that the blinds would not be closed as long as I was there!

Everything else was fine, just nothing particularly special. I'm sure the new tower is better, and my room was certainly worth the $69 per night I see advertised at times. But when we tried to add a night, we were quoted $149!

I found the casino slots and video games to be MUCH tighter than any on the Strip, probably because of the lack of competition. In summary, nice place to visit but I wouldn't pay to stay there!



Recommended: No