Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood - A Last Resort

by nick
(nc)

I just got back from a business trip to Las Vegas. Other than my disappointing, costly, nickel-and dimed-to-death stay at the "newly renovated" (They must have missed my room) Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, I had a great time.

I pre-booked a “deluxe” room at this Las Vegas hotel and casino and before arriving upgraded to a "resort" room for an extra $80 a night. I arrived at Planet Hollywood about 10:30 (which I told them when booking) and finally got into my room about 3:30. In five hours time, they couldn't get anybody to prepare that room. It seems that despite what they charge they will not go out of their way for you.

And beware, everything at Planet Hollywood is overpriced and extra. They leave 2 bottles of water in your room but they don't tell you that for over $200.00 a night the water is just there for looks. If you drink it, a $5 charge per bottle shows up on your bill.

The room at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas was supposed to be remodeled but was very unimpressive and not quite like what I had envisioned after seeing pictures of the resort rooms online.

We stayed for four nights. They didn't change our sheets but they made the bed. There is no refrigerator, coffee-maker or even a closet like you would expect at any decent bargain hotel. There was one folding suitcase rack so if you had two suitcases you had to use the end table or the vanity in the bathroom. The wallpaper reminded me of a circus tent with one-foot-wide butterscotch and tan vertical stripes.

Like all casinos the real money goes into the glitz everyone sees when they are down on the casino floor losing money. I didn't gamble much but I've been in Las Vegas before and witnessed or been a part of exciting gaming. Even if you lost you had fun. However the casino floor at Planet Hollywood was dead. The dealers were incompetent and didn't keep things alive, on pace or even upbeat.

While you are gambling, if you gamble at a rate they deem profitable, drinks are free. Try to get one if you aren't at a bar playing video poker. The waitresses might as well not have existed. I guess with the overpriced rooms, nickel-and-diming their customers and not having very good payouts, they couldn't afford to have more waitresses.

I asked for an adjustment to my room and they said they "couldn't". I mentioned the litany of problems and they said they could take the $12.95 per day internet access fee off my bill. I used the internet twice but left my laptop hooked up so they naturally charged me for the time it was hooked up and not actual use.

I hated Las Vegas’s Planet Hollywood hotel and casino. The clientele that Planet Hollywood draws was another disappointment. I can't explain exactly why but the PH crowd was more obnoxious yet seemed to be having less fun than the crowds at several other casinos and hotels we visited while going to a show or out to eat.

My advice is to stay anywhere but Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino but while you are in Las Vegas do not miss Cirque du Soleil’s "O" at the Bellagio. It was fabulously surreal and absolutely mesmerizing! I would actually consider flying cross-county back to Vegas in order to take my family to "O". It was incredible. As for Planet Hollywood, it was incredible in an entirely different way.