Was looking for a cheap place to stay in Vegas and found a gem in the SLS Las Vegas, Starwood Tribute Porfolio. The hotel was initially signed on as a Hilton Curio Collection property but rebranded at the end of 2015 to Starwood. Average night here cost about USD$100 plus the USD$30 mandatory resort fee, but still it was extremely affordable,
Drove over to Vegas from LA and reached at about 11pm. The LA traffic was so bad and the drove took way longer than expected. The location of the SLS Las Vegas at the end of the strip on the north side is not exactly the most ideal. One is far away from most of the action. But a way to rationalize staying at this hotel would be that you’re still technically on the strip, but away from all the craziness and loudness. Walking to the main strip area is quite impossible considering the heat and cabs are hard to come by. Thankfully there is a monorail station linked to the hotel that takes you to Bally’s and beyond so it is not too bad.
Parking places were plenty but check in was slow and took more than 20 minutes. The front desk staff told me that I have been upgraded to a room in the Lux Tower (despite me booking the entry World Tower room) thanks to my status. In addition I was given a $50 food credit to be used at Northside Café for breakfast. I was rather impressed by the elite recognition and things only got better.
Was allocated a room on the 19th floor and was thoroughly impressed by how modern and trendy it was. The room was dark and very Victorian inspired with the walls plastered with tapestry. It reminded me of W or Andaz where they get a celebrity designer, Philippe Starck in this case, to design the property and they make it as loud and in your face as possible. I absolutely love the décor but I am sure if I were travelling with my parents, it would definitely not be a hotel they would like to stay in.
There was a super long white couch in front of the bed, which was ultra modern yet seemed very impractical because it was made of PVC material. The beds and the pillows were soft, yet firm enough which made for an extremely good sleep. There was a fully stocked minibar and fridge which was very overpriced. There were also tons of mirrors everywhere, even on the ceiling and I cannot think of any good reason one would need mirrors on the ceiling…
The bathroom did not have a door though, so people who are travelling with their family might want to take note. There was also only a wallpaper covering the glass panel that separated the bathroom from the bedroom, so again, not so appropriate if you are staying with friends or family. Toiletries were provided by Ciel Spa and smelt lovely with a tinge of coconut oil.
The casino was small but sufficient with plenty of LED coloured floor tiles and a 3D hovering video screen in the middle of the bar in the casino itself. I got a little bit too carried away though and lost USD$500 whilst playing Roulette. Beat myself up for it till this day.
The food credit that was given could be used at Northside Café. I checked the place out in the morning and it was so packed I decided to just get takeaways. The food was rather normal and is not worth mentioning.
The pool looked really good, but I never got the chance to use it because I was stuck in the casino all day. I kid you not. And partly also because I headed over to Wynn cause Zedd had a gig there whereas there were no celebrity DJs at SLS.
Overall I was super impressed with the room I had. It had such a good vibe and I was happy.