We Stayed @ the Rio On Dec 20th –23rd this year. Our Flight from Wichita was fine and transition to the new rental car area was perfect, Love the new centralized area. We arrived at the Rio Lickety split (via Albertson’s for a few supplies) thanks to our new Garmin GPS, no maps to fool with. At check in the lady who helped us was cordial but not overly friendly, I told her it was our anniversary and was wondering about a room with a jetted tub or a room that has been recently remodeled. We were told nothing was available which was not a problem, and then she said that the king we requested was not available either, (fun anniversary sleeping in different beds). Oh we also asked if she had any passes to VooDoo lounge we got them last year and was told she did not have any and we would have to see the concierge the next am. So off we go at about Midnight to our room in the Masquerade tower, arrive in room view was good and we called for luggage, which showed up quickly, tipped the bellman a Fiver and commence to unpack. After finishing unpacking we start looking at the couch and it has big stains like you wouldn’t believe the type that under low light weren’t to noticeable but when you turn all the lights on were very noticeable. I pulled out the table chair and it looked as if someone sat there and done their business. I put a towel over it and decided to deal with it in the AM.
Kimberly suggested we stop by the front desk on the way to do a little gambling and let them know about the condition of our room so we would not be charged extra for damage or cleaning fee. Stopped at the front desk and talked to a different clerk who was upset at the condition of our room and poked around her computer an low and behold she had a room in the newly refurbished Impenana (sp) Tower with a king bed no less and produced to Passes to the Voodoo Lounge for us. She also didn’t remark at what great Rates we had managed to acquire. Thirty Minutes Later we were being escorted by another bellman with Luggage in tow to a beautiful room on the 14th floor.
CDS “O” if you have not seen it you are missing out on an experience of a lifetime Kimberly and I were mesmerized by the beauty, athleticism, and sheer man power it took to put on a performance of this caliber. I would try to explain it here but it would not do it justice and I do not have the vocabulary to put the experience into words.
Day trip to Mt. Charleston is well worth the Hour it took to drive there, it is very beautiful, and quite wild to leave the dessert floor and drive up to a snow covered mountain. Great little restaurant and lodge at the top with nice hiking trails, which we did not go up do to the snow and lack of proper attire.
Best Meal we had was at Smith & Woulensky’s probably one of the top two steaks my wife has ever had and the best Lobster Tail I have ever had (tristan Island Tail). Bring your appetite and Wallet.
Worst Meal (almost) we tried Rosewood grill on the strip and it was nice on the inside but besides us there was only one other table, the menu did not grab us but the had a lobster Fritter appetizer that sounded great, Well lets just say that we took one bite each and almost got sick. It was not cooked thoroughly on the inside and the ingredients looked as if they were the left over form someone else’s dinner. We sent it back paid our tab and got the heck out of there.
All and all it was a great trip and we will be back to Vegas but we will probably try a Different hotel next time. Last piece of advice if you do rent a car bring your GPS or rent one it made our life so much easier not getting lost.

we stayed at the rio in sept. 2007 the stay overall was great.
We arrived on thur. morning at 9:00a.m and we requested 2 connecting rooms smoking they were very friendly at the check in and assured us this would be no problem. Our rooms were both ready at 1:30 p.m. and they called my cell phone twice to let me know. We had checked our bags so we went to our rooms called baggage check and they brought our bags right up.
Our rooms were in the impanema towers and were great the only downfall is there are no coffee pots in the rooms so bring your own if you like coffee in the morning, you can only get a coffee pot if your a diamond card member for harrahs.
There is a safe, a refrigerator, iron, and a hairdryer.Our rooms connected we had 2 queen beds in one and a king bed in the other so with the door open we had about 1200 sq. feet. Gambling in general was not good the machines were very tight
the penny's & nickles were very bad, the quarter machines were a little better. However, on the strip this seemed to be the same every where. Beware table min. on weekends were $25 a hand to expensive for my blood we heared downtown was cheaper but did not get a chance to find out. Overall the rio is great there are shuttles that go to the other harrahs properties wich are on the strip and we never had to wait for them. I would not rent a car in vegas the traffic was horrible but the shuttles and monorail were very nice and not to expensive $9.00 got and all day pass for the monorail wich went from bally''s to mgm.

In my research on Las Vegas, I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to go to the Rio. It was off the strip and seemed like a waste of my time. HOW WRONG I WAS!!! Rio is owned/operated by the Bally's group, so keep in mind that there is a free shuttle from Bally's on the strip to the Rio.
We sat down at our new favorite game Texas Hold Em Bonus, and we were greeted by our dealer, who took our players cards. She read them to know our names, and told the pit boss that we were sitting down to play. Not only was our dealer friendly, but when she went for her break, she told the next dealer our names! And when we got up to leave, they called us by name and said goodbye!
We were starving at this point and made our way to the buffet. WHAT A SPREAD!!!12 cooking stations and they are packed!!! Everything was fresh and appetizing. I remember seeing a bread station, salad station, Italian station, carved meat station, Mexican station, pizza station, sushi station, dessert station (of course) and there was also teppanyaki (sp?) where you get your raw veggies, sauce and meats and they mix it up on the grill for you. YUMMO!!!
If we ever get back to Vegas, I want to stay here!

We had a great visit to the Rio Casino earlier this month. We took the shuttle from Harrah's which made it very convenient. We had very good luck there - which won't always happen, but made the visit especially good.

I thought the cocktail service was exceptional. The sign advertises the friendliest cocktail waitresses in Vegas and after visiting there I really believe it. Without exception, the girls are cordial, efficient and never afraid to make eye contact with a customer who might want a drink.

In addition to providing cocktail service, the girls take turns performing (usually singing or dancing) and they are as talented as they are beautiful.

I think Rio is definitely worth a stop while you're in Vegas.