Hotel Review: The Palazzo, Las Vegas

Wanting a last minute escape to the sun, but not wanting to spend all day on an airplane, I decided to head to Las Vegas for a couple of days last month.  Mid-November is a nice time to be in Las Vegas.  Although the nights are a bit chilly, daytime was in the 80’s giving me some solid hours for pool time without feeling like I was being baked to death.

On this trip I stayed on the strip at the Palazzo Hotel, (3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas).

The Palazzo, like its sister property The Venetian, is an all-suites Las Vegas hotel with an Italian theme in the rooms, common area, and extending into the casino.  You enter through a soaring multi-level lobby.  There’s lots of glass, arts, marble and faux marble, giving an upscale feel to the hotel.

For my stay, I had booked a room on the Concierge Level, a little larger in size and giving me access to the concierge lounge.  These suites are located on floors 24-28. There is a separate concierge level check in area, although it was not staffed when I arrived.  In fact, I didn’t see it staffed for most of my stay there, giving me reason to believe that this amenity may have been discontinued.

Still, the check in process was a breeze and then it was off to the room. 

The walk to the elevator bank takes you through the main part of the casino.  While I understand that the real money is made among these tables, I really like to be able to get to my room without having to roll my luggage through the casino floor.  This is the primary negative to the check in process, and in my opinion it’s a big one.

The suites have sunken living rooms with couches, desk and work space, Italian themed art and decor, spacious bathrooms and upscale amenities.  There were three plasma televisions, two large ones in the living room and bedroom and a smaller one in the dressing area of the bathroom.  The suites are quite large, the concierge level ones being slightly larger than the others.  I enjoyed the spaciousness of the room, and it was a pleasant to feel like my room was a pleasant place to spend time in rather than just to sleep in.

Keep reading for more information about the Concierge Lounge and Pool area

The Concierge Lounge is a very large multi-room area covering over 12,000 square feet on the 23rd floor.  It has its own concierge service, very handy for booking show tickets and dinner reservations, as well as for printing out boarding passes.  The lounge also has a business center with the typical equipment that you would expect, and if you’ve brought your laptop you’ll appreciate the FREE wi-fi throughout the lounge (there’s a charge in the rooms).

  Complimentary continental breakfast (cereal, pastries, bagels, fruit, coffee, juice, etc.) is offered in the lounge.  Pick a spot by one of the floor to ceiling windows for a bright space to look out at the pool or the strip while you ease into the day.  I spent an hour or so there every morning – having a bite to eat, catching up on emails and work, as well as doing a little blogging and other writing.  It was peaceful and productive time.

Come evening time, you can relax in the lounge with a complimentary happy hour offering appetizers and cocktails.  It’s a nice selection of upper shelf liquors and good wine, along with hot and cold appetizers.  It’s a good spot to meet up with everyone if you’re traveling in a group, or just to relax before heading off for dinner.

Since the reason for the trip was to get a few last days of sunshine, I spent much of the day at the pool.  It covers a lot of ground, with various pools and hot tubs.  The weather was nice, and it was quite crowded, so if you want a chaise in the sun, get to the pool early.  There are private cabanas available for rent along all of the pools, but I wasn’t able to determine the prime location for maximum sun time.  (None of the cabanas were in use the days that I was there.)

If you’re lying by the pool for some time, it’s entirely possible that you’ll need a cold beverage.  And that’s where this otherwise great hotel falls short.  Food and beverage service in the pool area is very poor.  It was difficult to find someone to even take my order, and it didn’t improve from there.  The service was slow and inattentive.  You’d better hope that your not dying of thirst, because it’s going to be awhile before you get anything to drink!

And here’s my real pet peeve!  If you’re going to charge $14 for a drink (and that doesn’t include the tip), even if it’s by the pool, it needs to be a decent drink.  No pre-made mix crap!  If I order a fluffy tropical drink like a pina colada, it should have REAL juice and ingredients and NOT come from a mix.  One sip of my drink and I knew it was a mix.  When I asked the cocktail server about it, she said that it was pre-made and came out of a machine.  Ick!

To her credit, she offered to take it back to the bar and have it made by hand.  OK, this had potential.  However, my mistake was in believing that “made by hand” meant “made with fresh ingredients.”  When the drink returned, it may have been made by hand, but was still out of a mix.  The closest thing to fresh in this drink was the maraschino cherry garnish!

Lesson learned – do not order cocktails by the pool!

Suites at the Palazzo start in the neighborhood of $159.  It’s hard to quote a price range as prices vary greatly depending on date and availability.  There are usually lots of promotions available that may package the suite price with other amenities like show tickets, dinner, and gaming coupons.

I’d stay at the Palazzo again.  And again and again, for that matter.  I enjoyed the spaciousness of the room.  I enjoyed the comfort and congeniality in the concierge lounge, providing me a location for some online time along with a bite to eat and drink.  And I even like the pool, although you can bet I’ll never order another cocktail there!

Image credit:  personal collection

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