Stratosphere, Las Vegas

I spent the extra money to get a suite at this hotel, one with a nice luxurious hot tub. after the first night, I awoke with some bug bites. I assumed there must have been a mosquito in the room. after night two, i was covered on my arms and some on my legs with bug bites. It was clear that I was a victim of bed bugs. I checked out of the hotel, reported it to the front desk who had me go to security to fill out a report. Security took pictures of my bites and told me to call the Risk Management person the following day. The next day I called and they said that they found no signs of bugs. I begged them to close the room and treat it so no other guests would get bitten. They stuck to their story and said that nothing is in the room. I asked what they thought caused all the bug bites on my body during the night. The person from Risk Management got nasty. With that the call ended. They will not treat the room. GOOD LUCK to the next person sleeping in that room.

We moved to Stratosphere from a higher priced hotel and when you stay at Strat you get complimentary admission to the tower. The line to get up to the tower is LONG. Rides are extra and none of them interested me. I thought I remembered they had a roller coaster on the tower and I would have done that ride, but it wasn't/ is no longer there. Up in the tower, they have several levels: Nightclub (very loud music), expensive restaurant that rotates, and a bar with elevator music overlooking the rotating restaurant. We enjoyed a quiet and romantic drink in the bar- just perfect for us 45+ year old folks!!! Their 2 wedding chapels plus a small banquet room are on another level up in the tower. The outside viewing deck was quite windy when we were there on the night of June 30th. Room was clean, bed was comfy, small closet with only 2 hangers! No fridge or coffee maker. Bathroom sink was large; tub didn't drain well when taking a shower; toilet made a lot of squeaking noise when flushed. We had just stayed 4 days at a much higher priced and supposedly more luxurious hotel so I really noticed the shorter towels at Stratosphere!!! We discussed with a hotel discount company, about staying our last night of the week at another place and just paying for Strat Tower admission but readily concluded the best bargain for Tower admission comes with a room at the Strat. It is on the far north part of "The Strip" and the neighborhood is really, really ratty, in addition to lots of construction and industrial places. (maybe the construction is trying to get rid of the ratty neighborhood???) But when we pulled into the self park garage the first people we saw were 2 security guys on bicycles; before we finally found a parking spot, we saw another security guy on bike patrol. IHOP is within 2 minute walking distance (safe) and the self-proclaimed "World's Largest Gift Shop" is another 1 minute walk past IHOP. If you want to drive up to Fremont Street, Strat is very close and traffic is not congested departing from Strat, as opposed to down on "The Strip" were all the action is. The casino at Strat is quite large, a band was playing after 10pm on Fri night, but my husband and I didn't think they were very good. They were more loud than they were good. Hint-- if ya want a BIG casino with lots of action, dancing girls, shopping and rock bands, check out The Rio! Checkin and checkout at Strat went very smoothly, not much waiting. The hotel discount place I used, warned me about their $7.50 resort fee; and the Strat honored their room discount. Would I stay at The Stratosphere again? Yes, for a few nights but probably not for a whole week.

Checked into the Stratosphe on Tuesday April 17, 2012. Wednesday while at he convention center all day, I returned to find my makeup bag had several missing items (eye shadow, powder etc). Friday April 20, 2012 I returned to my room to find 3/4 of a bottle of vodka gone. It was a new bottle. For some reason I had to have security unlock my safe on Friday, as the our digit code I had been using was no longer working. The safes are VERY small, so if ou have anything larger than an iPad, it probably will not it in the safe. Disappointing as this is, to top it off, I had left a tip for the housekeeping staff as well. So whom ever took the items from my room also drank the vodka and got tipped for it.

The advertised price of the Stratosphere is not the real price of the hotel- There is a resort fee" which you will get hit with that is hidden till you get to check in. It should be specifically noted you get nothing extra for this fee-It is just added to your stay making the nightly cost higher than the advertised rate. The Hotel itself is all right but nothing special except for the view at the top- The location is inconvenient to walk to most places but if you take the time to figure out the bus system you will save a ton on taxi cabs. The hotel is on the main bus lines. We also thought the service could be better and we got no explanation at all for the resort fee-other than "it is required.

The hotel is definitely worth a visit on your Vegas itinerary, but I don't know if I would stay there again. I chose this hotel for my first visit to Vegas not realizing just how isolated it is from the rest of the Strip. The area surrounding the hotel is full of unfinished construction projects and has a bad reputation among the locals I talked to. Fortunately, there was ample security so safety wasn't an issue. They were discounting their rooms very low when I booked so I was not happy to be nickel-and-dimed once I got there. First, there's the "resort fee" that was not included in my booking price. The amenities there were bare minimum, so I don't see how they can call themselves a "resort." My room did not even have a closet door (just an open rack)! Then they charged me one dollar for using the room phone to call the local airport shuttle service they misleadingly made to look like they provide themselves but is actually run by a separate company. Oh, and you don't get a discount on the SkyJump for being a hotel guest. The SkyJump and the views from the top of the tower were amazing and I highly recommend visiting the Stratosphere for those, but save your money and energy for staying at a cheaper or nicer hotel that's centrally located. I don't care about my hotel having fancy amenities but even budget hotels I've stayed at in other cities have had free HBO, hotel shuttle service, mini-fridge, coffee pot and computers to use.

Obviously, high rollers will use the other hotels with more stars. It looks like the hotel is targeting the younger crowds. Firstly, I got a complimentary upgrade to the Select Towers. I have to pay $7.5 resort fees per night, included is free entry to the tall Tower, free use of pool, and some two for one's. I always use discount services on Vegas. I never heard of resort fees in Vegas. But I paid $20 resort fee per night for Palm Springs this summer, but that's a real large resort with it's own golf course. The room is pretty small, just enough for two queen beds and walking space. The crouch, the coffee table, the desks, and in particular the wardrobe, are all on the small side. At first sight, the bold color scheme made the room like a boutique hotel. On 2nd sight, the furnitures are all made of plywood. The bathroom is good sized. The bathtub and the wall tiles around it are made from the same mold, plastic or probably fiber glass. Sure it's easy to clean. The plywood furniture are mounted on the walls. There are no obstacles on the floor, which is made of good stones (or fake stones). The toilet is airline style. When you first flush, it will scare the kids. The toilet looks clean, but sometimes I sense a faint foul smell. I can't tell where it's from, and I have no stomach to do a thorough search. Certainly it's not me. If you are in for a little bit you may not notice it anymore. You also can't smell it outside. It may be minor malfunction in the air vent. I didn't bother to ask for a room change. Nobody else seemed to notice it. But usually bathroom smell fresh, you know. The pool isn't small, but the deepest part is 4' I think. On weekends there will be two volleyball sections on the pedal shaped pool. Of course there will be young adults socializing. The music is too loud for "mature" adults. Staff wears bikini, whereas in country clubs, waiters usually wear spot outfits. There are also a few tables at the pool where the dealers wear bikini. The ones I have seen wearing bikini aren't too bad, or else they won't get the job if they turn people off. But since people there are younger, I came across a few good looking bodies in bikini. Actually a girl sun bathing next to me got herself a stalker, who follow her around, sat next to her and stare at her. But she is more like a woman so she handled it well, and security aren't necessary before the stalker backed off. The tall signature towel is worth going up (free for guest or included in resort fee). The restaurants and bars can maintain a high fee because of the nice 360 view. If you have vertigo, you will have problem enjoying the view because of the exposed view of the windows. Through the lift of the gift shop, you can get to the top where the rides are. I will not go up because every time the rides are on, the shaking send shivering to my spine. Even worse, there is the sky jump where you can jump off the window, and there's a TV channel for all the hotel guests to watch. It's not exactly a bungee jump so I suspect that you can ask for a more gentle decent on the way down to the ground. Also, I think the hotel has the best view of the surrounding mountains because there's no obstruction at the north strip. Yes, the north strip is under developed. At the garage entrance is an old motel, the sort you see in CSI. But typically you don't walk. I saw walking people drop down like flies in the summer heat. Since the hotel grounds are large, you waste a lot of energy walking from hotel to hotel. And there plenty of cabs around waiting. And honestly significant number of people are from So Cali, so they are bringing their own car. The surrounding area isn't that pretty, but it would be mad for the LVPD to let anything happen there. It's colorful with wedding chapel, supermarket, convenient stores along Sahara. A fridge cost $10/night. No coffee maker. Get a $10 kettle from Walmart.

Luckily we only stayed two nights there. What I considered to be normal amenities, like a coffee pot, small refrig were not available. We shrugged it off for two days. Then when I went to take a shower the first morning, when I turned on the water the faucet came off in my hand. We were told maintence would be there to repair it. So we sat and waited for them so repair it so we could shower. No apologies or offers of another room. When we commented at the front desk about the missing coffee pot, we were told too many customers break or take them. Very poor customer service.

Had no problems while we were there. The rooms were nice and clean. The price is great. The staff, especially those in the resturant, were great. The only downside is the location, but if you are willing to walk and lets face it you are probably going to walk the entire strip anyway, than it is great for the price.

My husband and I stayed here for our honeymoon. We were totally impressed. Great room, great service, it has anything you could possibly need or want. We plan on staying again.

Rooms are total shit and even when they move you to another ones, you still feel like you came into a horse shop, not a bedroom. Buffets are such overpriced crap, McDonalds has more choices than them. Prepare to burn all day at the pool, not a single sun umbrella to keep shade. My friend got robbed in their elevators, sad ass security said they'd investigate but never bothered to call once and once I called back, they were just as rude. Fuck this hotel, stay the f**k out of it, it's the worst place in Vegas.