My husband and I have gone to Las Vegas almost every year for the last 10 years. We have stayed at the Flamingo, Mirage, and the Venetian. This was our first time at the Paris and the first time I have enjoyed staying somewhere so much that I felt compelled to write about it. My husband and I stayed at the Paris August 22-27, 2004. We enjoyed gambling in the Paris casino during our trip to Vegas last year so we thought we'd stay there this year. It also helped that we received an offer in the mail for $79 a night! The offer was only good for 3 nights, so we spent $129 for the additional 2 nights.
Our experience with the Paris started out well. We arrived at the Las Vegas airport at 10:30 in the morning and went to the hotel check-in desk at the baggage claim area. We were happily surprised that we not only got a room, but also keys immediately so we could go to our room as soon as we arrived at the hotel. We had hoped for a room with a view of the strip, but instead got one on the 23rd floor facing east. We inquired if we could get a strip or pool view, but the woman at the desk said there were only two rooms available and the one we got was the better of the two. Not wanting to delay checking in, we took it and were not disappointed. Besides a view of the mountains to the east, we also had a view of the airport which made for an interesting backdrop (for the few times we were actually in the room to take in the view). We also received some coupons for match play, free drinks at the pool bar, and a discount at the hotel cafe.
Upon entering our room we were happily surprised at how roomy it was. We had a king bed, small couch with coffee table, upholstered side chair, desk with chair, and large ottoman which could also be used for seating if necessary. There is no closet - the tv is in a large armoire with doors on either side - behind these 36" doors are your closets, safe, iron, and ironing board. There are three rather small drawers below the tv for clothes. If you need more clothes storage there are two nightstands, one on either side of the bed, which each have 3 drawers.
The bathroom was beautiful and spacious. The floor, countertop, backsplash for the tub, and the entire shower are marble. The shower has clear glass shower doors. There are three shelves under the countertop on either side of the sink for storing your bathroom articles, a large, powerful blow dryer, and a two-sided make-up mirror that pulls out from the wall. The only thing this bathroom needs to make it perfect is two sinks! The towels are thick and we always seemed to have extras. The only complaint we had about the bathroom was the bath soap - they give you some kind of French milled soap which looks like an oatmeal soap. It had all kinds of hard things in it which really scratch your skin when you use it. And since the Vegas water is so hard, you can't get any lather so the pebbles in the soap really hurt! The hand soap is normal - no pebbles - so we just requested extra hand soap and used that in the shower. They also provide shampoo with conditioner (which was ok) and lotion (which smelled awful - bring your own).
After unpacking our next stop was the pool. One of our favorite things to do in Vegas is lay out in the HOT sun, so a hotel with a nice pool area is very important. We usually stay at the Flamingo because we like their lively pool area and were a little afraid we wouldn't be too happy with the Paris pool. Well, again, we were happily surprised! The pool isn't that big by Vegas standards - it's kind of an octagon and all one depth. There is a VERY large deck area around the pool, along with two hot tubs (one hot, one cold), a pool cafe and bar. The pool isn't in the sun until about 11:00 so there's no rush to get up early and hurry to the pool for chairs. In fact, we never had a problem getting chairs or finding a place for them, and we were with a group of 5 people so we needed a rather big area. At some hotels we've stayed (Flamingo and Mirage) you have to get down to the pool before 9:00 to reserve chairs or you're out of luck. We liked the fact that we could have a relaxed breakfast then go out to the pool and not have to worry about where we were going to sit. There's nothing going on at this pool, so if you like having a party while you're poolside (like they have at the Flamingo) or you want some water aerobics (like they have at the Mirage) you might be bored. We were in Vegas with a bunch of friends and we were using our pool time to catch up with everyone, so the quiet pool area was just what we wanted.
The service at the pool isn't that great - you sometimes have to wait quite a while for a waiter or waitress to take your drink order - but the bar is close by which makes it convenient to get your own. My daughter was staying at Bally's and since I had read on other postings here that Bally's patrons can use the Paris pool I inquired of the pool staff if this was correct. I was told they are not allowed to use the pool, but when I told them my daughter was staying at Bally's they said that wouldn't be a problem since she would be my guest. While she was with us at the pool she ordered drinks and charged them to her room at Bally's with no questions asked.
The breakfast buffet at the Paris is outstanding. They have all the usual breakfast fare - omelets, bacon, sausage, bagels, toast, waffles, pancakes - along with a crepe station where you can get made to order crepes, French cheeses, a ham slicing station, and all kinds of fresh fruit including my favorite, a neverending bowl of berries - strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. The setting is the prettiest of all the buffets we have been to in Vegas - including Bellagio and Mandalay Bay. If you are staying at the Paris and have a slot club card, go to the Connection Desk in the casino your first day and check in. They will give you a line pass which entitles you to bypass the line at the buffet and go right in. Unfortunately we didn't go to the Connection Desk until the day before we were leaving so we didn't get a chance to use our line pass. Both days we went to the buffet there was a 30 minute wait to get in, so that pass would have saved us a lot of time.
We also ate a couple times in the Le Saint Louis Cafe. Breakfast was good but costs almost as much as the buffet, so you might as well go to the buffet for the price. For dinner they had a prime rib and crab legs special for $16.99 that several people in our party ordered and enjoyed very much.
The best deal in the hotel is in the Boulangere. You can get a sandwich (or wrap), soup (or salad) and a drink for $6.99-8.99. And these sandwiches are piled with meat!
All in all, we had a great time during our stay at Paris. In fact, we have decided it's our new favorite place to stay when we're in Las Vegas.
