I am a 25 year resident of Las Vegas and was happy to enjoy a hotel special at the Palms Hotel and Resort to play tourist.

Around Thanksgiving and Christmas, many of the local hotels have unbelievable rates for high quality rooms, great views, etc. The Palms is an off-Strip hotel that opened in 2002 with a lot of hype. Celebrities and events for the rich and famous can be seen and heard there frequently, so we were looking forward to the “royal treatment” during our trip.

The following is a very detailed review our suite. We were assigned to the 26th floor – Suite #26-102 (on the southeast corner of the Palms Tower – the original tower). I originally found on the Internet a Junior Suite at the Palms, regularly priced for $300, for an awesome price and booked it. All Junior Suites are 500 square feet and have a view of the strip. When we arrived to check in, we received a complimentary upgrade to a Grand Suite (regularly $500 per night) – a 1,000 square feet room with a King bed and two full bathrooms (could have been two adjoining rooms). The first side has its own entrance with a separate living room area. There is a desk, loveseat, and two chairs along with a TV armoire/closet combination. From the window in this room, there is a southern view of Las Vegas with a view of the Playboy Fantasy Tower (opened October, 2006).

The loveseat in particular looked like it had seen better days. I felt it could have been steam cleaned or just plain re-upholstered with a fabric that is not so thin and would not look so wrinkled when used. The furniture in general is nice but a couple of pieces are starting to show some wear.

Entering through a door in the room near the window, the second side of the suite included a large room with the King bed and TV armoire/refrigerator (stocked with saleable beverages) and safe. The second bathroom is close to the King bed, and there was an armoire closet containing two Palms robes. A second door near the bathroom can be using for entering or exiting. There was another window with a southern view of the Playboy Fantasy Tower, and then an eastern view of the Las Vegas Strip starting at the Mandalay Bay north to the Wynn Hotel – absolutely stunning.

There is no room in the refrigerator to place your own beverages. Cost of mini bar menu items include: Nuts - $4, Candy - $3, Pepsi/Diet Pepsi/V8 - $3, Gatorade - $5, Liquor - $7, White Wine - $12, Champagne - $16, Red Bull/Domestic Beer - $5 and Imported Beer - $6. Items removed are automatically charged to your room; refrigerator can be locked so it cannot be opened.

The bed consists of a duvet covered down comforter with sheet set and five pillows, four of which are wonderful down pillows. The mattress is above average – I would not say horrible nor fantastic. There is not a bed in the loveseat, and there are two separate temperature controls, one for each room.

Interestingly, the suite is categorized as “Optional Smoking” though we had requested a non-smoking room. The front desk advised us that they assign the Optional Smoking Rooms to non-smoking guests all the time and that they find these acceptable. My husband is sensitive to cigarette smoke and he was not bothered by the room at all. Surprisingly, I, the lesser sensitive of the two, did smell a lilt of smoke on the complimentary robes in the bedroom closet and in the down comforter.

The bathroom is very large with four sets of towels in both bathrooms. The towels are high quality spa towels. There is also a small coffee maker, a battery operated hand razor, and Aveda face and body soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, toothpaste, a vanity kit (sewing kit?), and red eye drops. Disappointingly, there was no exhaust fan in either of the bathrooms. However, the floor has travertine (?) and marble, and the countertop appears to be marble. There are full length mirrors in front of both bathrooms.

I took a shower at 4:30 a.m. The tub handle fell into my hands. I was shocked to find that the water was lukewarm and by the end of my less than 5 minute shower, the water was cold. I left the shower shivering.

Internet is available for $12.99 for a 24 hour period and can either be a wired connection or wireless. I did not utilize the Internet so I can’t comment on how it works.

The overall cleanliness in the room was very disappointing. In both bathrooms, you could clearly see multiple water and ring spots (from a glass) that dried on the stone countertop. The coffee maker had a film of dust. The small, round table in the bedroom had a ring on the glass top. Trash from the previous guest was left in the room by housekeeping – baggage claim tickets with his name listed along with receipts. When I went to use the pen and paper in the drawer next to the bed, there appeared to be a pubic hair on it. The large window with the eastern Strip view had fingerprints on it.

The casino itself is small. There is no particular theme compared to other casinos in Las Vegas. There is a nice variety of restaurants and a movie theater. I would not mind staying here if I were going to a concert at the Pearl. Though it has been a place of many celebrity sightings and events, perhaps the real luxuries are in areas we were not able to access.

With regard to the service, it was hit and miss. Some staff members were wonderful. Unfortunately, some employees treated us in a bland fashion (surprising for people working for tips).

The highlight of this suite is definitely the view. The room is very spacious with ample closet space. My husband and I were very grateful to enjoy the suite for such an incredible rate. However, since this hotel is listed as 4 stars out of 5, what a guest finds should be of the highest quality. I would be very upset if I paid $500 for this suite due to the cleanliness issues and cold water, as I have enjoyed Embassy Suite rooms more for a much lower rate.

In all fairness to the management, I am writing a letter to the Executive Offices to voice my observations.

An absolutely offensive hotel! Staff is rude, no management presence after 8 PM. There were 2 forms that needed to filled out to use a stapler in a meeting room next door to the business center. Linens provided in the meeting room were filthy, tables that were not ordered were stacked against the wall as if my meeting room was a storage facility. Front desk could not program a key to the meeting room, a locksmith finally came to reprogram the whole mechanism, not so much as an insincere apology for the room being opened an hour late.

When I voiced my dissatisfaction with the lack of value in the $391.00 per night rate on the guest room in the old tower, I was told by one of the front desk staff members that I could go down the strip to Bellagio for $459.00 per night!

I will never step foot in this hotel again!

Seeing the Palms always on tv, I decided to change my hotel, since I usually always book at Venetian or Bellagio. (knowing that i stay there for luxory scene, but palms is more ritzy hip hop cool). When I got there, it was afternoon, not too busy,, but I liked that so I could see the place before it got tooo busy. Knowing that this is a hotel for fast, loud fun,, this hotel is straight out not designed for older people or couples who want quiet romantic times. A word the the wise who complain about noise in the middle of the night or loud clubs,, then dont book at a hotel thats on mtv every time you click the tv channel!!! Another thing that boggled my mind walking thru the casino is people with their kids! Las Vegas is not for children to witness half naked women going to clubs, drunken behavior or gambling, k? I saw a couple of people with their small kids, hanging around 11pm at night,, gambling, and stuff. And then THESE people i saw in the morning, and they were complaining about a noisy room? My room was dark wood finished, it had a comfy soft robe in the closet, my safe was cool, i entered a code, it locked. There was a bit of noise down the hall, and when i walked by,, a neighboring guest came out to see what the noise was, she stated she was here for business and had called security to quiet it down. As she said that,, there was security! Fast service. Noise,,, was gone! That was pretty accomodating. VIP services was very helpful when i needed information about clubs, restaurants, and even gave their truthful opinion about buffet versus cafe. 24/7 cafe has a lot to offer too, I did have a little wait for the food, (which VIP told me) but food was great. CLubs were fun, but i am a girl, i could see the men have a harder time getting in,, but that goes for all clubs in vegas. My total stay overralll was great, but if you want big generic rooms, with low quality tv's, no updated clubs, and old quiet people, go somewhere else. Palms definately offers fast paced, no time to sit and order a movie on the tv kind of stay. PS the beds are the most wonderful thing in the world! I have NEVER slept in such a wonderful bed ever! And,, you can actually call housekeeping and they will tell you the company that makes them. Now THATS service!!!

We got a good deal on Travelocity with an upgrade to a junior suite. We stayed here for 2 nights after our wedding. We were upgraded further upon requesting it at check-in. We went to look at the suite first and it was in the older tower (not the Fantasy tower). The room was HUGE with a large jacuzzi tub, but decor was dated and boring. I prefer modern rooms even if we lose the size.

We returned to the front desk and asked to switch to the Fantasy Tower and were upgraded to a Parlor suite for an extra $100 per night. Smaller room that the other tower, but more our style. Flat screen TVs (3 of them), nice view, great tub, living room/bedroom style. I would not have paid $750 for the room per night (as advertised), but for an upgrade and a total of maybe $350 a night or less...it's a great room!!

Food at the hotel is okay....no mind blowing restaurants. The breakfast buffet is a good deal. The pool area is nice, but the best I've ever seen. LOTS of slots...especially video poker. Only 2 craps tables :(

Overall, the hotel is fun and close enough to the Strip to venture to other places and shows. The new Playboy club is nice. Great view from Ghost Bar.