Note:this also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.
Like Joe Pantoliano's character at the end of Risky Business who couldn't "go $40 on the artsy fartsy thing", I just can't go 4 stars on the Venetian. 3.5 stars, tops. (Actually, that comparison might not make any sense whatsoever, but I'm leaving it because I love that line for some reason.)
Three main take-aways from my three-night stay at the Venetian:
1. The place is massive.
Public spaces are crawling with people, including the usual assortment of cliche Vegas characters: twits, schmucks, hustlers and greaseballs of all backgrounds (but the jackass factor here was noticeably lower than it was over at the Palms, for whatever that's worth. I'm not a Vegas aficionado, so my grasp of the relative knob factor from property to property is limited at best).
2. The rooms are big and spacious, but weirdly unstylish.
The bed area is fine, but the living room furniture reminded me of my Grandmother's place in Jersey circa 1980. I was looking around for the box of Thin Mints and glass of 7-Up that she always hooked me up with. Had to settle for a Heineken and some Kit Kats out of the mini-bar.
3. The gym is excellent.
It is also expensive @ $80 for a 3-day pass, but excellent. And underused. Only a handful of people there each time I used it. All the equipment options you could want and little competition for using it.
Other assorted notes:
- Bring something to entertain yourself in the check-in line. Maybe a Nintendo DS, your blackberry a yo-yo, whatever. Felt more like an airport security line than checking into a hotel. Yikes.
- Bathrooms are huge and have a nice lil' TV for your viewing pleasure (plus, with their channel lineup you can watch random Asian game shows while you shave. Beat that.)
- Service might need a little prompting if you're not a 'whale'. The key I was given upon check-in didn't work. I learned this after it took 20 minutes to pick up some food to-go at the San Gennaro stop in their food court (took crazy long time for them to serve the 5 people ahead of me) and I had trekked the additional 8 minutes through the casino, over to the elevator and then all the way to the end of the hall to my room (suite 14329). Called the front desk on my cell and they said it could take 30 - 45 minutes for security to come get me into the room. I calmly suggested that wasn't optimal for me. After a brief hold I was then told they'd try to put a rush on it. Wound up waiting only about 5 minutes. But it still kind of stank to be sitting there feeling my dinner getting cold in the bag waiting for security to correct what should be just about the most basic hotel / guest interaction possible.
Would I stay there again?
Sure. Why not? Great gym. Seemed convenient enough to everything I needed to get to. The Grand Canal Shoppes and restaurants in the Piazza San Marco were nice enough. But I really don't have a lot of Vegas experiences to compare it to.
Did it seem like a good value?
Hard to say, as I was here during CES, which is the busiest week of the year for them and probably also when prices are the steepest. Think my (work expensed) room averaged $400/night for the three nights. Not cheap. But the room was bigger than many 1-bedroom city apartments.
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