My wife and I recently stayed at the LV Hilton for the first time in our many annual (sometimes semi-annual) jaunts to Las Vegas. We were attracted by a good room rate, decent reviews, the chance to whack up HHonors points and an immense desire to avoid the constant overcrowded, drunken, boisterous 20-ish-year-old-away-from-mommy-for-the-weekend kind of experience that most of our stays on-Strip have been. By the same token, we wanted to avoid checking into an armpit of an off-strip hotel where they didn't really care about out-of-town guests because their money-makers were the locals (see my updated comments on Gold Coast, which used to be our favorite place to stay AND play 'til last year). Oh yeah... the chance to stay completely OFF of Las Vegas Blvd. whenever possible was also a nice plus!

What we found in the Las Vegas Hilton, in retrospect, was reasonably satisfying and pleasant, and we would certainly consider a return trip to it-- particularly if it was between major conventions, which tends to fill the place up with... well... conventioneers attracted to the adjacent Las Vegas Convention Center (duh). They, in turn, tend to make this very large complex and good-sized casino seem very small, somehow, at least in the "front" casino-- fortunately, we discovered the "back" casino (the one patterned after Star Trek to celebrate the "Star Trek Experience," which died on September 1... kinda sorry we missed it) which always seemed semi-hip and never OVER-crowded, despite the fact that it's the smaller of the two main gaming areas.

Here's the breakdown of our experience:

GETTING THERE: getting to the Las Vegas Hilton from McCarran is pretty quick and easy, as long as you stay OFF of Las Vegas Blvd; I prefer taking a cross street to Koval or Paradise (the latter of which the hotel is actually on) and zipping down to the hotel in a few minutes' time. We were greeted at the entrance to the complex-- which seemed at night for first-timers, at least, like its own small country, and I'm sure they at least have a couple of independent ZIP codes (grin)-- by what appeared to be the world's most monstrously large flashing sign. I suppose in retrospect, places like Bellagio and Venetian have similar or larger signs, but I appreciated that the difference with THIS one was that it looked very "classic Vegas"-ey. At first, we circumnavigated the parking lot looking for the free self-parking; given that when we found it, I'm not sure we were still in Clark County, however, we circled back around and opted for valet parking. FIRST BIG PLUS to the Hilton-- valet parking is complimentary and works solely on tips. I know some other places do this, but some don't... .and I appreciated the ability to give decent consideration directly to our valets without being charged some sort of standard, overpriced per diem for the privilege.

As we discovered throughout the stay, the valet parking is pretty efficient and usually requires no more than about 5 min. max to get your car (dropping off, you just have to wait for a free valet-- 2 min. was the most we had to wait)... although at peak times, as they warned us, it can take closer to 10-12. I recommend using the valet service for anybody staying at this property.

CHECK-IN: other reviews have indicated that checking in can sometimes be a loooong hassle at the LV Hilton. I have no doubts about that point given SOME of the lines we saw in our four-day stay at various times, although it seemed that the worst lines coincided with what we're pretty sure was the start of a major convention (duh again). When WE got there at about 7 pm on a Wednesday evening, there was only one person in front of us in the HHonors expedited check-in, and two couples in the "regular" line. The front desk staff looked and seemed a little uninspired and underwhelmed, but checked us in with reasonable dispatch and our person was respectable about showing us all the stuff in the little check-in portfolio and suggesting we look it all over when we got up to the room-- no big problems.

Warning to the uninitiated-- figuring out the "tower" system and the elevators and how to get to your freakin' room is sort of like being on a cruise ship for the first 24 hours.... highly confusing, and paper maps are far inferior to resolving yourself to trapse aimlessly about figuring it all out. The hotel has three "towers" (arms, sticking out from a triangular core), and while the initial elevator ride up Central Tower was effortless (later in the trip, waits usually weren't bad, but the two worst were 3 and 5 full minutes, respectively), we then spent the better part of 7-8 minutes scrupulously following the room number signs yet still managing to circle the triangular core a couple of times before we more or less accidentally bumped into our room! It was an interesting puzzle in both philosophy and dimensional physics for the rest of the trip trying to decide whether to turn LEFT or RIGHT out of the elevator lobby to get the shortest walk to our room. Both directions got you there... and even as we left, I marveled that whichever direction I turned, I was convinced that turning the other direction would have resulted in a shorter walk. And yes, I was (mostly) completely sober the entire trip.  :)

ROOMS: wow.... can you say "60s retro?" My first joking comment to the wife when we turned on the lights and set our luggage down was, "well, honey, isn't it grand to be alive, well and living in a free country with Senator Kennedy heading for the White House...?"

I kinda grooved on the room once the shock of the design abated, particularly since I'm really into the "classic Vegas" kind of experience. Ours was design-dated, to be sure, but in quite good condition and respectably spacious. There was a big jagged-cut-by-design hole lined with little marble "martini shelves" between the sleeping and dressing areas. The bathroom sink had a small marble riser shelf that was useful, and closet space was ample (includes iron and ironing board). The bathroom, because of the curvy tower design, was a bit of a funny elongated shape and nothing overwhelming, but basic tub, toilet and towels were OK. My only gripe in there was that some of the ceiling tiles needed replacement and the shower head was pretty miserably old and underwhelming; replacement with some nice power-shower Speakmans or something would be advisable. Soaps, shampoos and other acoutrements were of respectable quality.

In the main living/sleeping area, there was a nice and semi-new flat-screen LCD HDTV on a Danish-minimalist style dresser, to match the Danish-minimalist nightstands. Half-cup padded chair and hassock for sitting along with a Scandinavian-style bedframe made the room seem UNDERfurnished, in fact; I wondered why a small loveseat or at least another chair hadn't been put against the 6--7 feet of bare wall between the dresser and the window. Tray ceiling over the center of the room added to the "Kennedy and Elvis-Era Effect" somehow! Against the outer wall, oh... more Kennedy and Elvis. A wall-long marble sitting-level counter with one rolling chair and a wall-long half window to look out of (enjoyable view, even though we were looking over the back end of Vegas out toward the mountains). And here's the kicker-- POWER CURTAINS that opened and closed with the flick of a wall switch, just like The King his'se'f must've enjoyed doing after an encore of "Burning Love" down in the showroom! There was also a well-anchored room safe under the counter, although as I discovered before I almost put valuables in it, you have to PAY to use it. This is a minor but still noticeable demerit in a city where the overwhelming majority of hotels, figuring their patrons will have SOME things of value to store in-room, use the good ole freebie "set your own code, but leave it open when you leave" room safes.

The only other thing about the room that I didn't like was the conspicuous absence of even a small, simple coffee maker. Hotels worldwide are in the hospitality business, dammit, and if they can't spring for even a little four-cupper with generic coffee packs, that's an issue for management in my book. I know LOTS of Vegas hotels would rather see you trapse down to the shopping concourse every morning to buy three large cups of overpriced coffee and try to drink them all back in the room before the last two get cold-- but that's just not the way to treat java-loving paying customers!

The king-sized beds are respectably comfortable, and the quality of linens, bedspreads and pillows is OK too. We didn't have problems being comfortable when we slept.

FOOD/BEVERAGE: there are lots of dining opportunities at the Hilton, and as far as we could tell, in all different price ranges. We wound up dining out-of-property at some of our other area favorites most of the time, but DID get the chance to use Hilton's 24-hour "Paradise Cafe" twice, once for breakfast and once for dinner. It's spacious, service and menu options are good, prices are respectable. Nothing about which to write home, but fair food at fair prices. A very good range of snacks and small foodstuffs, along with cold drinks, are for sale at the Paradise Shop (souvenirs/sundries), a little further down the concourse. This was handy for the odd late-night snack and overnight bedside drink. There were decent vending machine options for snacks and drinks on our floor, too, although we've discovered the virtues of hitting Walgreen's as we leave McCarran Airport for that kind of stuff.

Re: coffee, mentioned above as the elusive prize of a 24-floor treasure hunt daily since they were too cheap to put coffee makers in the room (grumble grumble again)-- there's a fancy coffee shop in the main lobby area next to the Central Tower elevators, as well as a Seattle's Best way back down the North Concourse next to a tasty-smelling Pizza Hut Express. They're both gently pricey and don't deliver what I'd consider the most orgasmically wonderful coffee for the dough, but if you're a coffee nut similar to my ilk, you'll find the stuff satisfactory at the very least until you can rush home to your own Papua New Guinea or Ethiopian Yergacheffe. One warning about the pastries in the fancy shop, based solely on our purchase of three different items (besides coffee) during the last trip-- we didn't find any of them particularly good.

GAMING/CASINO: as noted above, there are two main casino areas in the LV Hilton; other reviewers have noted and recorded their proper names, but I call them the "front bit" (hits you in the face as soon as you turn away from check-in) that includes the sports book and tables and the "back bit" or "Star Trek bit" that's just behind the Central Tower elevators a short stroll away (no tables, but a fair collection of slots, video poker and video roulette). We enjoyed both areas, and the selection of games is good. Unlike one other review at which I glanced before I started writing this one, I didn't find the gaming "too expensive;" to be sure, there are higher-limit slots available... but also ample nickel and penny machines for low-stakes wagering. Most of the "old favorites" are available in slots, as well as a good selection of new multi-player, progressive, etc. banks. The sports book looks a little dim and old-timey, but I kinda liked that! Good selection of TVs for catching major sporting events, and there are food/beverage options back that way as well. I'm a roulette player at heart, and I liked the fact that the inside and outside minimums during my entire stay were five bucks. They might be more during big-drawing events like conventions, but $5 tables were my experience. The only thing I DIDN'T like about the tables were (A) the craps people were regularly loud and obnoxious, but that's just craps players... c'est la vie, c'est la guerre; (B) even when the ONE open roulette table was packed and additional folks were walking by and casting eyes of interest, no other roulette tables were opened. I mean, c'mon.... even on a FRIDAY NIGHT with obvious interest from passersby to join a game.... the pit boss can't grab a croupier and say "open up?" :)

I did have a couple of good streaks on successive mornings when I played my preferred non-crowded, quiet, "gentle" games of roulette, and met a couple of nice co-players along the way, however!

Both casino areas were enjoyable, and even in the heavier-smoking areas seemed nicely smoke-free. We joined their player's club and got nice free t-shirts for the effort, though we weren't expecting much in the way of comps or other freebies as first-timers and don't have enough experience with the club as yet to comment reliably on how they compare with MGM, Coast or the other properties where we have club cards. I didn't get the sense that slots were noticeably looser or tighter as a group than most other casinos in the area, though I did find a couple of machines in a four-day stay that were very profitable, thank you very much. :)

SHOPPING: good, with a decent range of shops. Not comparable to the mall at Planet Hollywood or anything, but for a stand-alone property, there's enough to window-shop and buy in jewelry, souvenirs, clothing, electronics (well, iPod stuff, anyway), etc.

LOCATION/PROXIMITY TO OTHER STUFF: pretty darned good, given that you can traverse Paradise Road to get behind other major "Strip" properties you want to visit and then take cross streets up to the dreaded LV Blvd. to get to their parking lots. We're generally tired of and a bit jaded on the Strip casinos now, but it's nice to know we're there if we want access to them. Even though we won't stay in the Gold Coast any more, we still enjoy playing some stuff there and it's a quick and relatively easy trip up Paradise to Flamingo to get there-- which also gives you access to Rio and The Palms. We also discovered the "local joys" of Terrible's on this trip, which is straight up Paradise AT Flamingo, about five minutes' drive from the Hilton once you get your car from the valet! The Hilton offers easy access to the interstate as well as most major roads in and around the tourist enclaves. It's also pretty breezy getting to downtown/Fremont St. from the hotel.

SHOWS: Barry Manilow is there, as is Terry Fator and a few other shows. We weren't there for the shows, so we didn't go to any. The lounge band was an interesting assemblage of good musicians (loved the 70s P-bass you were playing, dude!) and a scantily-clad group of female singers with OK voices, but in all honesty, I don't think anyone in the place including me was going to be the harshest critic of the singing given the...er... scantily cladding. :D

SUMMARY: You've got to be in the mood to enjoy the Las Vegas experience that the Hilton offers, but if you are, I think it tends to offer a respectable value, good comfort and convenience and an enjoyable gaming experience.

Recommended: Yes