I Love Station Casinos

I just love playing at the Station Casinos. The atmosphere is different from the strip casinos. The staff and the visitors are fun and friendly. When you sit down, don't be surprised that the person sitting next to you will smile and wish you good luck. Before you know it, you both are cheering each other on to win, swapping gambling stories, telling each other a little bit about life and generally enjoying your visit. Its geared to locals, but it has a nationwide

following.

I got into Station Casinos because of friends who live in Las Vegas. I'd have never left the strip if they hadn't dragged us off. We hit Boulder Station and then made the loop north to Texas Station down to Sunset Station. My husband and his buddy went one way, we girls went the other. I saw games I'd never seen before and something I didn't see as much on the Strip, actual jackpots! And the food...wow! Great prices and huge portions in the cafe. We rate the buffets 4 yums. And if you walk out with a fist full of cookies, no one will say anything as long as you are munching on them.

Love the rooms at the Green Valley Ranch. Great big bathrooms reminds me of the bathrooms at the Venetian! Very luxe. And every time you go to hotel valet to get your car, they'll hand you ice cold bottles of water. Nice touch!

The rooms at Red Rock Station will rival any of those 4 star rooms on the strip.

Red Rock Station Casino

My new favorite Station to stay at is the Red Rock. I love- love- love all the crystals. This place is luxe. Just be prepared if they tell you your room is down the hall, its DOWN the hall maybe a quarter of a mile. You'll walk off that buffet just going back to the room, so its OK to do double deserts. Bose radios in the room, plasma TV's, this is the good life. In fact, Britney Spears hid out here after one of her spats with her then husband.

The last time we stayed at Red Rock, there was a band practicing in the Rocks Lounge. I was playing my Little Lucy game and rocking out. I kept saying...that band is amazing, they sound just like the Average White Band. Good cover band. Duh, I should have read the massive sign...it WAS them! I felt like it was my own private concert. Those guys can still rock, they actually sound better live!

My husband likes Red Rock for one reason. He sat down to play the dollar slots, put his card in and before he even spun, over $350 from one of their fast hit jackpots that ties all the Station Casinos together. He was hooked. And during our stay, he hit close to $800 on that same promotion. Put in card, win. Play their money. He loved it.

Men like to play at Boulder Station because it has that "manly" atmosphere with wooden floors and low limit tables. Yeah, it does have ugly rugs, but the plank flooring is cool. I like it because I can find the restrooms. After being hopped up on 4 high octane Starbucks coffees, it helps to know their location. I sat down to play video poker on a triple double machine and hit 4 aces and a kicker for a thousand dollars followed by 10 other set of quads in two hours! Like that will ever happen on the strip!

Boulder Station

One of my local friends won 50 grand...yes, 50 grand on a Zorro penny machine at Boulder. Is her picture on the wall? Nooooo, she was having a bad hair day! LOL!

I was dragged kicking and screaming (well, not literally, but close) from Red Rock a few weeks ago. We needed to get back to our hotel on the Strip because of an early morning flight home. Dang, I want to go back now!

Las Vegas Hotel Implosions, Mourning the old Hotel Casinos

In Las Vegas, old hotels never die. They are put to death in a massive
implosion, done with fanfare, as only Las Vegas can do.

I will always mourn the Dunes' sign. The sign was the first thing we spotted
as out plane started to land. The neon and the glittering lights was old Vegas. The casino inside pretty much sucked, in the last years it was nearly empty. But the sign beckoned me in every time. I'm not mourning the Dunes, because my favorite hotel, the Bellagio took its place. I just miss the sign.

The Hacienda made way for Mandalay Bay. The old Hacienda housed some amazing acts: magician Lance Burton when he was starting out, the late Red Foxx and Cook E Jarr ruled the lounge and the casino in his leopard spandex. The casino was full of cigar smoke, but I miss the atmosphere. The buffet was horrible,but hey, they served free wine.

The Desert Inn was imploded to make way for Wynn's. The Crystal room at the DI was THE place to see a Las Vegas. I remember seeing Frankie Vallie and the 4 Seasons. The room was gorgeous, but you had to go through this claustrophobic tunnel to reach the showroom. The showroom manager led me to the best seat in the house WITHOUT a tip! Guess he liked me or it was easier to shut me up by seating me!! At one time, staying at the DI was the hottest room in town. Wynn's took its place with the most expensive to build hotel rooms in Las Vegas.

And who can ever forget the Sands, with their round towers? It was the home of the Rat Pack, Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. I regret I didn't go there during the Rat Pack heyday. You still hear stories of how Sinatra would deal cards after a show in the casino and pay off all the losers. The Sands was a fun place, I still have a lot of the old Sands cups and mugs they gave away just for walking in the door. And it was the home of the original "Viva Las Vegas" afternoon show that was ALWAYS packed. The wood in the casino was dark, ceilings were low and full of chandeliers, unlike today's ultra modern casinos. Today, the marble palace, the Venetian stands in its place. I wonder if their ghosts haunt the Venetian? Wouldn't that be a fun haunt?

I found this page on Vegas.com that shows the old hotels and their implosions. Its a fun look at the old hotels going down!