Harrah's Las Vegas Valley Tower suite REVIEW & pictures

I stayed at a Harrah's Las Vegas Valley Tower suite this past weekend.

For those of you that don't know, the Valley Tower is newly renovated, and is now very much superior to the other tower (Mardi Gras). You should try to get a Valley Tower room whenever possible.

While Harrah's has a (deservedly) bad reputation of being run down, the renovations look pretty good, and it's not a bad place to stay, provided you get the Valley Tower.

Also, if you are a Seven Stars member, you have a much higher chance at being given a suite than if you stay at Caesars or Paris.

This is a review of the suite, including pictures. Keep in mind I took the pictures AFTER my stay, so apologies that the beds aren't made, and that some furniture is pushed around.

This review will take a few posts, following this one...

This was my first time at Harrah's since 2004. I had never stayed in a suite there, prior to this.

The suite I stayed in was called an "Executive Suite", and faced the High Roller Ferris Wheel, which was fairly interesting to see from the room at night (sorry, no pictures of that).

It appears that they created this particular suite by combining two standard rooms, knocking out some walls, and sealing up the former second door. This isn't immediately obvious, but if you inspect the shape of the room, as well as the position of the door in the hallway, you can figure it out.

The room, and the Valley Tower itself, have a modern, art deco type feel to them.

The bathroom is quite large, but it has some notable flaws.

Here's a picture of the bathtub and shower area:



Notice anything odd yet?

Let's have a closer look...



Yes.... the shower has no door!!!

WTF?!?!?!

I guess this is supposed to be a stylistic design, but in practice it's awful.

Let me count the ways:

1) It's cold

2) Water can splash onto the floor

3) If anyone else walks into the bathroom (even your wife), they actually see your bare ass in the shower without a door separating you, which is just kinda weird.


I have no idea why a door-less shower is supposed to be a good idea. Also, the water pressure was TERRIBLE, presumably because the shower head had some kind of water-saver feature which they didn't bother to break/disable. (This is totally legal and advisable to do if the pressure is having issues.)


But wait... there's another stupid "modern" bathroom feature!



Yes, the toilet area has a partially-see-through door. Why? I have no idea. Again, this is something nobody would ever want. Furthermore, the toilet area isn't sealed off from the rest of the bathroom, so if someone defecates in there, it will make the entire bathroom smell.

A smarter design choice would have been to simply make a separate toilet area, like Caesars has. While they were knocking down and re-erecting walls, why couldn't they have done this?

Here's what you can see if someone else is in the toilet area:



On the plus side, the bathroom has two sinks, and is very roomy.

I'll go over the bedroom next...

The master bedroom is fairly nice.

The bed is comfortable. This one had two queens, but you can get a king version, as well.



Again, apologies for the messed-up beds. I took this just before checkout.

Not pictured in the bedroom is a makeup table along the wall, which I guess is nice to have if you're female (or with a female).

I was going crazy trying to figure out a place to plug my phone charger next to the bed. There is ZERO access to plugs behind the bed, as the beds and headboards are bolted into the wall, and there's no way to move anything. Also, there's no plug as part of the light fixture, as is common nowadays.

The next morning, I finally discovered that the plug is in a very non-standard place: On the SIDE of the night table!



The master bedroom DOES have a door. However, it's of the "sliding" variety, as is the bathroom door. Both are a bit noisy, which can be frustrating if people are sleeping. Even worse, the master bedroom door does NOT lock, which kills any potential for "privacy" if you're a family with kids sleeping in the other part of the room.

Also, the bathroom is directly connected to the bedroom, so anyone sleeping in the living room will need access to the master bedroom in order to use the bathroom (maybe that's why there is no locking mechanism for the door?)

There is a small window in the room, and as I mentioned before, this one faced the High Roller Ferris Wheel.


Next I will show you the living room area, and describe a typical Harrah's customer service FAIL involving that room.

The living room area has a couch, a table, and a wet bar area.

Notice I moved the small table aside for a rollaway bed. That involved some FAIL which I will describe shortly. In the meantime, here are the two pictures I took of the living room:





A small refrigerator is located in the lower portion of the wet bar cabinetry.


Anyway, we had 4 people, so we needed a rollaway bed. I called up TWICE about this, and both times was told that they could NOT put a rollaway in this room.

Why?

"The rollaway will damage the room's hardwood floors."

WHAT!??!

Why design a hotel room with fragile floors? Does that ever seem like a good idea, especially in today's day and age where everyone has heavy luggage on wheels?

When I got to Harrah's, I was about to ask for a DOWNGRADE to a regular room which could have the rollaway, but I gave it one more shot.

"Can I have a rollaway in the room?"

I was told that YES, we could, and that the only restriction was that it would have to be in the living room portion (which was where I wanted it anyway).

After they submitted the request to send one up, I asked, "So why was I told by two people we can't have one in the room?"

The front desk guy said, "I have no idea. Rollaways are allowed in any room where the fire code doesn't forbid it, so they're allowed in all suites."

It's so amazing how clueless the employees at Harrah's/Caesars are, especially on the phone. I had to sit around late at night waiting for the rollaway to show up, which fortunately didn't take too long (because I pushed them to speed it up, due to the mistaken information from earlier.)


I realize that most of you won't be using the living room as a sleeping area, but that's what I mainly needed it for.

The rollaway fit in the living room quite well, once I slid that little table over.

Other small notes:

The ice machine was broken on my floor.

Fortunately, there's an easy to access staircase right across, so I went up the stairs to the next floor, and that ice machine worked great.

I called in the ice machine failure, and they said they would fix it.

The next day, the ice machine functioned, but made slushy, tiny pieces of ice, rather than big cubes like it was supposed to. Sigh.

The elevator was also renovated to have more of an art deco feel:




There's one other weird idiosyncracy with the Valley Tower you should be aware of, if you use self-parking.

First off, there is NO registration parking. This is becoming more and more common at hotels everywhere. If you want to self-park and handle your own luggage, you can't just leave the car near the front while you do so.

Anyway, once you walk in from the self-park, you will be on floor #2, and will pass by Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill. Right after you pass that, you will be at a bank of elevators. You will need to take the elevators DOWN one floor to check in at the lobby. When leaving, you will need to select floor 2, NOT floor 1, if you're in the self park.

Also, as I remembered from 2004, the floors at the Harrah's self park are really weird. I believe they are in two different areas, so the floor number rises by twos.

I parked in section "5B" (floor 5, section B), but was right next to 7C (floor 7, section C). I could not see floor 6 anywhere, nor did I see floor 4 when driving up. However, you CAN go to floors 4 and 6 from the parking elevator,. From what I remember, those are a separate lot.

I would suggest noting what floor/section you're in, and then going to the floor TWO ABOVE when checking out (so it's a downhill walk to your car). In my case, I took the elevator to floor 7, and then walked down to 5B, which was easy. Had I taken the elevator to floor 5, it would have been an uphill walk.

Dan

I loved the detail of the above and appreciate it for future visits.

However when I read your first post, I was expecting that this was going to be a place I would want to stay.

However as I read down the thread...its anything but. The placement of the bathroom is horrible, and the semi see through is creepy.The staff originally in charge of honoring your request for a cot was incompetent.

Although from your first post its not intended to be a warning to stay away from this property.........I take it as that.

Thanks Dan, never stayed there but have gotten suites at other CZR properties. I don’t see this marching up, even with the updates. As Larry said, I see nothing that wants me to change that. Very poorly designed.

I haven't stayed there in at least 25 years, and this also won't make me try it again. In the last 15 years, I have only stayed at Caesars and TI, and the TI suites are surprisingly outstanding with two separate bedrooms, 2 separate full bathrooms, a huge living area, etc. I have no use for all of that but no sense turning it down either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by regnis

I haven't stayed there in at least 25 years, and this also won't make me try it again. In the last 15 years, I have only stayed at Caesars and TI, and the TI suites are surprisingly outstanding with two separate bedrooms, 2 separate full bathrooms, a huge living area, etc. I have no use for all of that but no sense turning it down either.

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I've only stayed in 10 or 12 suites in my LV in my life, and I don't discern much. Here's my question for Dan: have you ever stayed in the retro style suites at the Rio? I was curious as to your take on them. I figure on one hand, they are really roomy and have the fancy tub and nice bar, but on the other hand, if you're not a fan of the 70's, ouch.

Hi Dan:

Thanks for the info and for suggesting the Valley Tower for Harrahs Vegas. I agree that Harrahs (and Flamingo) give one a better shot at a free suite upgrade. As for waiting for the rollaway bed, I found that if you mention that you are Seven Stars, they will speed up the service.

I, for one, like staying in Harrahs, Vegas. It may not be a five star place but the oyster bar has top notch freshly shucked oysters and in the morning, the Fulton Street market has good breakfasts. Also the Diamond Lounge at Harrahs has the "Cheers - TV show vibe" and is not nearly as crowded as the ones in Ceasars and Paris. I also like Harrahs location. As I can still walk to Ceasars and use its Qua Spa for free.

Did you get an amenities basket when you were there?

FAB:

I didn't get any amenities basket. I had no idea I was entitled to one.

I did mention I was Seven Stars to speed up the rollaway bed arriving. It didn't take that long. Sometimes they do take a long time, though (at Caesars, at least).

I would rather have a suite at Harrah's than a regular Augustus Tower room at Caesars. However, that's only if I'm with at least one other person. If alone, I'd prefer the Caesars Augustus room, as I feel suites are a waste when I'm alone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redietz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by regnis

I haven't stayed there in at least 25 years, and this also won't make me try it again. In the last 15 years, I have only stayed at Caesars and TI, and the TI suites are surprisingly outstanding with two separate bedrooms, 2 separate full bathrooms, a huge living area, etc. I have no use for all of that but no sense turning it down either.

---

I've only stayed in 10 or 12 suites in my LV in my life, and I don't discern much. Here's my question for Dan: have you ever stayed in the retro style suites at the Rio? I was curious as to your take on them. I figure on one hand, they are really roomy and have the fancy tub and nice bar, but on the other hand, if you're not a fan of the 70's, ouch.

---

Yes, I've been in them a few times in the Ipanema Tower. They actually call all of their rooms "suites", which is a misnomer. All Rio rooms are fairly large, but the regular rooms do NOT resemble suites in any way.

But I've been in a few real suites at Rio. Didn't find it to be a thrill, though the 2 bathroom thing was nice. (I didn't have much use for it, being alone, though.)

However, I've actually turned them down during the WSOP, because they tend to like to offer to put me on the 3rd floor. I tried that once and it was awwwwful regarding noise. They do something when the restaurants close which is very noisy, and you're right above it.

At the Ipanema Tower during WSOP, I find that floors 6-10 are ideal -- high enough to be quiet, and low enough to where you're not stopping at every floor on the elevator during tournament breaks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LarryS

Dan

I loved the detail of the above and appreciate it for future visits.

However when I read your first post, I was expecting that this was going to be a place I would want to stay.

However as I read down the thread...its anything but. The placement of the bathroom is horrible, and the semi see through is creepy.The staff originally in charge of honoring your request for a cot was incompetent.

Although from your first post its not intended to be a warning to stay away from this property.........I take it as that.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Boz

Thanks Dan, never stayed there but have gotten suites at other CZR properties. I don’t see this marching up, even with the updates. As Larry said, I see nothing that wants me to change that. Very poorly designed.

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This wasn't actually meant to be a slam on Harrah's suites.

It definitely had flaws, but I was happy to get it, versus getting a regular room.

The fact that these are far easier to obtain than Caesars suites (where they've ALWAYS have turned me down) was nice.

I did like the fact that these suites were new and modern-looking.

I just didn't like the idiotic design decisions in the bathroom, nor did I like the non-locking bedroom door. (At least there was a bedroom door, though. Some hotels just have a separate bedroom with no door, which sucks.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redietz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by regnis

I haven't stayed there in at least 25 years, and this also won't make me try it again. In the last 15 years, I have only stayed at Caesars and TI, and the TI suites are surprisingly outstanding with two separate bedrooms, 2 separate full bathrooms, a huge living area, etc. I have no use for all of that but no sense turning it down either.

---

I've only stayed in 10 or 12 suites in my LV in my life, and I don't discern much. Here's my question for Dan: have you ever stayed in the retro style suites at the Rio? I was curious as to your take on them. I figure on one hand, they are really roomy and have the fancy tub and nice bar, but on the other hand, if you're not a fan of the 70's, ouch.

---

Yes, I've been in them a few times in the Ipanema Tower. They actually call all of their rooms "suites", which is a misnomer. All Rio rooms are fairly large, but the regular rooms do NOT resemble suites in any way.

But I've been in a few real suites at Rio. Didn't find it to be a thrill, though the 2 bathroom thing was nice. (I didn't have much use for it, being alone, though.)

However, I've actually turned them down during the WSOP, because they tend to like to offer to put me on the 3rd floor. I tried that once and it was awwwwful regarding noise. They do something when the restaurants close which is very noisy, and you're right above it.

At the Ipanema Tower during WSOP, I find that floors 6-10 are ideal -- high enough to be quiet, and low enough to where you're not stopping at every floor on the elevator during tournament breaks.

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It was so big and spread out with the separate bedrooms and bathrooms that I had the thought (and it was just a thought--but if I were younger!!!) that you could have the wife in one room and the girlfriend in the other and they would never have to meet. I don't know why I would remember but I think I was always on 12.

As I recall, someone from California sued the Rio for misrepresentation regarding calling all of its rooms suites. Not sure how that turned out.

I have stayed in the Rio quite often (in fact I stayed there during its soft opening ages ago), but I only got an actual multi-room suite once, and that was when I had a reservation for a normal room and was in line with my girlfriend. I suspect someone might have had "eyes on" us while we were in line, as she had been part of management at an LV property back in the 90's. Anyway, they just offered us out of the blue. I liked it, but I'm not sure everyone would.

The Golden Nugget also had 70's style rooms that were considered upgrades. Not sure if they still do or not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I didn't get any amenities basket. I had no idea I was entitled to one.

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Hi Dan:

I am not sure what entitles one to amenities baskets in Vegas. Some CET properties have automatic baskets for Seven Stars. I was just curious if you got one. If you recall, last NYE I stayed in Flamingo and the amenities basket consisted of a two paper bags of single-serve potato chips, a Styrofoam bowl of nuts, and some water. Two weeks ago, at Ak-Chin, I got some water bottles and a small box of mini size snickers. See below:

Just stayed at Harrah's Las Vegas again, this time not in a suite.

Unfortunately, I can confirm that all rooms in the Valley Tower seem to have no shower door.

What a fail.

I have an entertaining story regarding Harrah's not knowing their own room types (which I'm sure will surprise no one), but I'm tired and will relay it later.

Oh, and FAB, again I didn't get an amenity. Maybe they don't have them at Harrah's LV.

I did get a Seven Stars amenity at Harrah's Tahoe and Harrah's Laughlin.

I also got them at Harrah's Rincon.

Maybe I will call Harrah's Las Vegas and ask if I was supposed to have gotten anything (just out of curiosity).

I appreciate the review. At the end of the day, you were at Harrah’s, which is in the bottom quartile of Strip properties. The suite looked decent, but I would rather be in Augustus or Octavius at CP any day.