Post #250707 by JenTiki on Fri, Aug 25, 2006 10:44 AM

I've stayed at the Aladdin twice, and I must say their financial troubles may have something to do with their crappy service. On the first visit, with my parents, my mom found a pink polished toenail clipping between her sheets upon arrival. The bed in my room was quite hard and the sheets had a thread count of about 50. The complementary shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel all had a rather unpleasant, overly spicey scent. While there, we had dinner at one of the "high-end" restaurants above the casino, but I can't remember the name of it and it is apparently gone now. It was way overpriced for the quality and quantity of food, and the service was extremely slow. We also had to wait in line about 30 minutes to check out (we couldn't do TV check-out for some reason). Standing in line for 30 minutes sucks when you're really hungover from a long night out with a local friend. I chalked most of it up to growing pains since the hotel had only been re-opened for about a month.

On the second visit (I went back because I was offered a great rate and free gambling money and hoped the initial problems were just because it was new at the time), I was able to get an upgrade to what they call a "spa room" by tipping the front desk person as I asked for a view of the Bellagio. I think they call it that because the bathroom area is quite large and you can watch the Bellagio fountains from the bathtub. However, the bed was again quite uncomfortable and for what I paid for the room, they could afford to put softer 2-ply tissue in the bathroom. I know that's knit-picky, but let's be real, who wants to use thin, scratchy TP? The room service food was also quite bad.

I go to Las Vegas often and when friends ask me which hotels to stay in and which to avoid, Aladdin is always the first on my "avoid" list. But I'll admit I enjoy browsing around the Desert Passage. It's a pretty cool atmosphere and there is plenty of seating for when your feet get tired or swollen from the desert heat. Trader Vic's should fit in quite nicely. It's just the hotel part that really sucks.