What's a Borg?
by - Written: Jun 29 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Friendly service, great rooms, great price, on the monorail system
Cons: Didn't win any money in the casino. No coffee maker in room.
The Bottom Line: I said recommended for "business" travel, but I would recommend this hotel to ANYONE!
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| unhappycarrie's Full Review: LAS VEGAS HILTON |
The Las Vegas Hilton's slogan is: "Las Vegas Hilton - Like No Other" and I have to agree.
The Room
The Las Vegas Hilton has about 3,000 rooms total in three towers. We stayed in the central tower on the 14th floor in a deluxe room. We had an incredible view! You could see the strip off to the left and the mountains straight ahead. You can get a room with either a king sized bed or 2 double beds or a suite. There is a 27" t.v. with wireless internet access, cable t.v., air conditioning,(thank goodness!) hair dryer, iron and ironing board, and a room safe (for a fee). They also give you two bottles of Hilton water in case you get thirsty for $4.00 a piece.
The bathroom was your typical sized hotel bathroom with the toilet and bathtub in a separate area with a door. They give you LOTS of bathroom goodies such as: shampoo, conditioner, body bar, facial bar, shower cap, etc. I usually am really picky about my soaps because I am allergic to practically everything, but the oatmeal and honey soap smelled and looked so good that I had to try it, and guess what? I LOVED it and so did my fiance'.
So, what did I think of the room? It was very nice and super clean. The colors were nicely understated. The 14th floor gives you a BEAUTIFUL view. One afternoon we saw Navy Fighter jets right outside our window! They were kind of loud, but pretty cool for someone who has only seen those in the movie, Top Gun, never before in real life. The only thing that I found that was missing was a coffee maker. I CAN NOT remember the last time I stayed in a room without a coffee maker. How strange that they overlooked that.
Check-In/ Check-out
Checking in was so painless. Maybe it was because we didn't have to wait in a line because we arrived at the crack of dawn, Maybe it was because the lady at the front desk was so spunky and helpful, maybe it was our excitement of being in Sin City, Maybe it was all the coffee I had at the airport...? I'm not sure what it was, but we walked away from the front desk toward the elevator with 2 room keys in our hands feeling PROUD that we had chosen the Las Vegas Hilton and OVERJOYED that we were on the 14th floor which is actually the 13th floor if you think about it, which I try not to.
Check out is very simple too. At any given time you can view your bill on a special channel on the television. To check out, view your bill, say ok, and then drop your keys in the box in the lobby.
Services
Being that the LV Hilton is close to the convention center there are a lot of business services here. There is also a limousine service, shoe shine, and it has a monorail station. The Monorail is an above ground transportation system along the Las Vegas Strip. The first stop is at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino and the last stop is at The Sahara. It runs from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day and trains arrive at stations about every 6 minutes.
Room Service - You can have a snack, meal, flowers, chocolate covered strawberries, etc. delivered right to your room for a small charge.
24 hour Housekeeping - Here's a tip: When you leave your room, you should put out the door tag that says something along the lines of "make my room up now." I think the other side says something that is along the lines of, "do not enter." If you do not put the "make my room up now" sign out, they will NOT make up your room. We found that out the first day, luckily, so we weren't out of dry towels or yummy soap or anything.
Amenities
The LV Hilton brags about it's 18 million dollar pool and recreation deck, and they should. There is a huge pool, a whirlpool, spa, fitness center, cabana shop, cabana bar, and tennis courts. You can rent a private cabana with a stocked refrigerator, phone, t.v., and room service availability for about $50. for 4 hours. Oh, and if you feel so inclined, there is a tennis pro available on request for a private lesson.
On the first level inside the hotel, there are 8 shops in case you forgot something, or need a souvenir, or LOVE Barry Manilow or Star Trek. There is also a Regis hair salon and a coffee shop (yeah, they need to have one of those if there are no coffee makers in the rooms!).
Restaurants
There are 11 restaurants at the LV Hilton where you can have everything from a hamburger (hamborger?) to Italian to sushi. We ate at 4 of the restaurants so I will concentrate on those.
The Paradise Cafe - This is a 24 hour restaurant that serves mainly American cuisine. After we checked into our room, we had breakfast at The Paradise Cafe. It was about 9:30 a.m. and the cafe was VERY busy. I ordered one of the breakfast specials that included ham, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and toast. It came HEAPED on the plate, but everything basically tasted the same - the best way I can describe it is a McDonald's french fry dipped in liquid smoke. Ew. So, I ate the toast and drank some coffee. My fiance didn't enjoy his food either. Oh, and it wasn't cheap either. I give it 1 out of 5 stars. I would give it 0 stars, but the waitstaff kept my coffee cup full.
The Buffet - What can I say. I typically hate buffets. In fact, we agreed not to eat at any buffets in Vegas on our last trip out. I'm not sure why we ended up there for the Sunday morning champagne brunch, but we did. One thing I have to say is that I did find quite a lot of things to eat here that I enjoyed. There was an array of fresh fruits and pastries, as well as your typical breakfast foods. There was a guy making made to order omelets who should have been a comedian - he was that entertaining! Honestly, if he hadn't kept me laughing I wouldn't be rating this restaurant as highly. Oh, and I had 2 glasses of champagne so that might have had something to do with the rating also. I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.
Quarks Bar and Restaurant - This is a Star Trek themed restaurant. I have never watched a single episode of Star Trek in my life, but I LOVED this place! You feel like you are sitting in a spaceship of some sort and everything is metal and very futuristic looking. The drinks all come in strangely shaped glasses and are bright, BRIGHT colors. We both ordered Rikerritas. His was blue and mine was purple. Yum! They have a wide selection to choose from on the menu - mostly American cuisine and it all has funny names like the "Hamborger, or the "Klingon Kabob." The food was very good. I highly recommend the Kilingon Kabob. Then Quark himself (who in the heck is he?!) came around to talk to people dining and of course when he was at our table my cell phone rang, I pulled it out, and he said, "Ohhh...Intergalactic communication device..." Funny. There was also a Klingon walking around and people were getting their pictures taken with him. Personally I thought he was really scary looking. These actors are all part of the Las Vegas Hilton's Star Trek Experience, but I will get to that later. At the end of our meal our waitress came with our "damage report." Think Applebees prices but better quality food. My rating? 5 out of 5 stars.
Benihana- Benihana is a exhibition style japanese restaurant in the LV Hilton's Benihana Village. The Benihana Village consists of a group of japanese, chinese, and sushi restaurants in a little "village" with ponds, gardens, trees, and fish all around. This place is huge! We were greeted upon arrival and told to follow the hostess. She led us through the trees on a little pathway (you really did feel like you were outside!) and then into an elevator, where she pushed floor 2. That was weird, but cool. I have never followed a hostess into an elevator before. I am from the Midwest for crying out loud! Then she sat us at a hibachi table with 4 other people. You place your order and then the chef comes out swinging, so to speak. All entrees come with vegetables, shrimp, soup, salad, rice, green tea, and dessert. I can not imagine anyone walking away from one of these places hungry! You get so much food and it is all fabulous! Benihana at the LV Hilton is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and reservations are highly suggested even though the place is quite large. This restaurant was voted the best restaurant in the city three years in a row by locals and tourists in What's On Magazine and I agree. 5 out of 5 stars for great food and entertainment.
Bars
There are 8 bars located in the LV Hilton. There are 3 in restaurants, 1 outside the Hilton steakhouse, the cabana bar, 2 bars inside the casino itself, and The Nightclub. The Nightclub showcases sports events on t.v.s during the day and djs spin disco tracks at night. The cool thing about this place is that there is not a drink minimum or a cover charge. In Las Vegas, this is hard to come by.
Casino
The LV Hilton's casino features table games such as: Baccarat, Big Six, Blackjack, Craps, Let it Ride, pai Gow poker, and Roulette. They also have a wide selection of slot machines, and a race and sports superbook betting area. What I noticed at the casino, besides the fact that I wasn't winning money, was how quiet and clean it was. The quiet can be good or bad depending on what you are in the mood for.
Entertainment
Barry Manilow - Barry Manilow is all over the Las Vegas Hilton. As soon as you step on to the elevator, the monorail, shopping and dining hallways you can hear the smooth sounds of Barry Manilow coming through the speakers. Barry Manilow has made his home at the LV Hilton and you can see him perform Wed. through Saturday at the LV Hilton theater.
The Star Trek Experience - This is an attraction with actors, 3-D film, and physical effects that make you feel as if you are actually part of the adventure. In the beginning you actually get beamed up which is a cool experience even for non-trekkies like me. There are actually two different adventures going on at the Star Trek Experience - The Klingon Encounter and Borg Invasion. I still don't know what a Borg is, but I can say that they freak me out! You can enter both attractions and then tour the Star Trek Museum of the future for $34.99 per person. Each attraction takes about 18 minutes.
My work here is done
Would I stay at the Las Vegas Hilton again? Absolutely. Without a doubt.
To make reservations call: 1-888-732-7117 or book online at www.hiltonlasvegas.com
Another tip: I always try to find the best deal on hotel stays that I possibly can by spending hours online researching every travel and deals website that I can find and I found the best deal right at the Las Vegas Hilton website - so please check there first.
Thanks for reading!
~Unhappycarrie
Recommended:
Yes
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