Red Rock Resort - Trip Report
Posted: 10 May 2007, 13:38The Red Rock Resort opened in 2006 and by now you'd expect it to have worked out all of its kinks. This traveler learned otherwise on a recent visit that despite the disappointments showed RRR to be a pleasing alternative to life on the Strip.
Descriptions of the Resort will invariably include the following: huge, sprawling, still growing. Huge: 85,000 square foot casino and 94,000 square feet of meeting space. Sprawling: if you walk and walk and walk some more, you will arrive at the RRR's bowling alley, it's 16-screen movie theatre, a food court "casino mall". Still growing: construction is ongoing. The sprawl continues.
Entering the Resort gives one no clue that gaming is nearby. A two-story lobby gives way to a cocktail lounge and dual staircases leading to the casino. A well-appointed spa (with gentleman's haicuts beginning at US50 -- ouch) is a short corridor's walk from the lobby.
The Casino, operated as part of the respected Station Casinos group, features close-in parking, something Vegas locals really like. A Starbucks sits astride the entrance to the Casino and with your Vente-sized coffee you can then stroll and stroll and stroll through this massive gaming parlour. As with many of Vegas' hotels, the Resort's restaurants are located throughout the casino. There are eleven eateries, including the ubiquitous buffet, a steakhouse, a sushi bar and even a barbeque eatery with the rather unappetizing moniker "Salt Lick BBQ". The fast food court is well beyond the main part of the casino but once there you can choose from Chinese fast food (the Panda chain), burgers (with excruciatingly slow service) and more.
But the main event is definitely the casino itself. All your favourite machines and tables (the tables begin at US5 minimums) are here. A variety of games is found throughout. Smoking areas are not obvious but for those who do smoke, you will not be bothering your non-smoking mates thanks to well-designed smoke scrubbers (more on that in a moment). A big guest-friendly plus are the currency changer and slot ticket redemption machines. Long lines at the cashier? Not during the author's visit.
While average or even smallish in total room count (a second hotel tower is under construction), the guest rooms are spacious and well-furnished. The author was upgraded to a Signature Suite complete with a sumptuous bathroom, wonderfully comfortable bed and flat screen televisions everywhere, including next to the jacuzzi in the bath.
If you enjoy lying in the sun or frolicking in a pool the RRR will please your senses. The pool area is extensive. Teak lounge chairs with cumfy cushions are placed close to the water's edge. A cocktail bar (who would need that??) and roving servers are always close. Allergic to the sun? Try out the Spa or spend some money in the shopping arcade, though shopping at the RRR is not the resort's top draw.
With so much to offer what is missing at Red Rock? New-hotel kinks not yet solved: baggage taking too long to arrive in your room; your first night arrival delayed past 5pm due to your room not being ready (a major annoyance if you favour a freshening up and a rest on arrival); emergency alarm system activated for no particular reason at various times. The author requested non-smoking accommodations but was assigned a smoke-filled haven instead. A portable smoke-scrubbing ion machine was dispatched (24 hours after a good cleaning was requested) but it failed to remove the foul odor that is so revolting to non-smokers.
Candidly the Red Rock is not anywhere near the Vegas Strip, so if you enjoy the nightlife on the Strip you will not find anything like this at RRR. There is no "Strip" here -- yet. There are also no sounds of police sirens, no crowds jamming taxi stands or pushing you off the sidewalks -- there aren't even many sidewalks at RRR. The RRR is so far away from "downtown" Vegas that it is in another town, Summerlin.
Strip hotels uniformly feature glitz. There is little of this at RRR. Instead there is an extensive artwork collection and "cool" jazz playing on the sound system. Whereas glitz and bright lights define the Strip polite, conservatively uniformed employees and low key elegance are the bywords at the Red Rock. If you are a Strip enthusiast you may want to take a drive up Charleston and enjoy a meal and some gaming at the Resort. If you like what you see, you may well enjoy this alternative to the "bright lights and big city" that is all of what most visitors ever know about always new, always exciting Las Vegas.
Regards,
Chuck-
Descriptions of the Resort will invariably include the following: huge, sprawling, still growing. Huge: 85,000 square foot casino and 94,000 square feet of meeting space. Sprawling: if you walk and walk and walk some more, you will arrive at the RRR's bowling alley, it's 16-screen movie theatre, a food court "casino mall". Still growing: construction is ongoing. The sprawl continues.
Entering the Resort gives one no clue that gaming is nearby. A two-story lobby gives way to a cocktail lounge and dual staircases leading to the casino. A well-appointed spa (with gentleman's haicuts beginning at US50 -- ouch) is a short corridor's walk from the lobby.
The Casino, operated as part of the respected Station Casinos group, features close-in parking, something Vegas locals really like. A Starbucks sits astride the entrance to the Casino and with your Vente-sized coffee you can then stroll and stroll and stroll through this massive gaming parlour. As with many of Vegas' hotels, the Resort's restaurants are located throughout the casino. There are eleven eateries, including the ubiquitous buffet, a steakhouse, a sushi bar and even a barbeque eatery with the rather unappetizing moniker "Salt Lick BBQ". The fast food court is well beyond the main part of the casino but once there you can choose from Chinese fast food (the Panda chain), burgers (with excruciatingly slow service) and more.
But the main event is definitely the casino itself. All your favourite machines and tables (the tables begin at US5 minimums) are here. A variety of games is found throughout. Smoking areas are not obvious but for those who do smoke, you will not be bothering your non-smoking mates thanks to well-designed smoke scrubbers (more on that in a moment). A big guest-friendly plus are the currency changer and slot ticket redemption machines. Long lines at the cashier? Not during the author's visit.
While average or even smallish in total room count (a second hotel tower is under construction), the guest rooms are spacious and well-furnished. The author was upgraded to a Signature Suite complete with a sumptuous bathroom, wonderfully comfortable bed and flat screen televisions everywhere, including next to the jacuzzi in the bath.
If you enjoy lying in the sun or frolicking in a pool the RRR will please your senses. The pool area is extensive. Teak lounge chairs with cumfy cushions are placed close to the water's edge. A cocktail bar (who would need that??) and roving servers are always close. Allergic to the sun? Try out the Spa or spend some money in the shopping arcade, though shopping at the RRR is not the resort's top draw.
With so much to offer what is missing at Red Rock? New-hotel kinks not yet solved: baggage taking too long to arrive in your room; your first night arrival delayed past 5pm due to your room not being ready (a major annoyance if you favour a freshening up and a rest on arrival); emergency alarm system activated for no particular reason at various times. The author requested non-smoking accommodations but was assigned a smoke-filled haven instead. A portable smoke-scrubbing ion machine was dispatched (24 hours after a good cleaning was requested) but it failed to remove the foul odor that is so revolting to non-smokers.
Candidly the Red Rock is not anywhere near the Vegas Strip, so if you enjoy the nightlife on the Strip you will not find anything like this at RRR. There is no "Strip" here -- yet. There are also no sounds of police sirens, no crowds jamming taxi stands or pushing you off the sidewalks -- there aren't even many sidewalks at RRR. The RRR is so far away from "downtown" Vegas that it is in another town, Summerlin.
Strip hotels uniformly feature glitz. There is little of this at RRR. Instead there is an extensive artwork collection and "cool" jazz playing on the sound system. Whereas glitz and bright lights define the Strip polite, conservatively uniformed employees and low key elegance are the bywords at the Red Rock. If you are a Strip enthusiast you may want to take a drive up Charleston and enjoy a meal and some gaming at the Resort. If you like what you see, you may well enjoy this alternative to the "bright lights and big city" that is all of what most visitors ever know about always new, always exciting Las Vegas.
Regards,
Chuck-
