The Good:
This place is really beautiful in every way. The lobby, the casino, the restaurants, the rooms were all very upscale. The staff members we dealt with, especially the parking valets and the pool people, were friendly and seemed to genuinely care about whether or not we were enjoying ourselves or needed anything. We like the location away from the Strip because we like to fly to Vegas and rent a fun car like a Mustang convertible, so driving to and from the resort is no problem, and then we can also drive around in Red Rock Canyon which is beautiful. Who needs to be on the Strip (especially if you've "Been there/Done that") when you can have views of Red Rock Canyon?
Also, there is almost no smell of cigarette smoke in this resort. The only time we smelled cigarettes was when we were in the casino and were right next to a smoker, and then we could just quietly walk away. (By contrast, on a previous trip last month, we stayed in a condo, and we went into the Tropicana to eat a quick bite, and we were literally blown away by the disgusting smoky smells at that old hotel - from the minute we walked in the door, throughout the entire casino, and in the restaurant. Our clothes and hair reeked after we left the Tropicana, and I doubt we will ever go back in there again!) The Red Rock must have more modern air exchangers, because the air was truly fresh, everywhere we went in there.
The backyard is what they call the pools area, and it was also spectacular. You can tell from the photos on this website that they don't have any of the traditional old-timey lounge chairs around the pools. Instead there are these really comfortable single and double beds. Some are round, and others are in the shallow water at the edge of the main pool. There are many pools and an interesting fountain.
We had booked a package called Party at the Pool, not something I would have chosen ordinarily, but I happened on it on their website, and found that we would actually save significant money on our room and as a free bonus have some fun at the pool with a ca-bed, some snacks, and liquor thrown in. The room in the package is a signature suite which is very very nice. It has a living room area, bedroom, and two bathrooms, one of which is a toilet and vanity, and the other is a full bathroom larger than some hotel rooms I've seen. Everything in the suite was first class from the three televisions to the linens and bed, to the toiletries. The sound proofing was excellent and we heard no noises from the hallways or footfalls from rooms above us.
When I booked this package, I had no idea what the ca-bed is or what bottle service at the pool means, but the cost of the suite went down and the rest of the package was thrown in, so it was a no-brainer!
Here's what it turned out to be: The ca-bed is a little upgrade at the pool. It is not a traditional cabana which is much much nicer, but very expensive. The ca-bed is like a canopy structure around the lounging bed. It has canvas curtains on the sides that you can untie for privacy, I guess, but no cover on the top of the canopy to shade you from the sun. I do not think I would have found the ca-bed to be worth its cost separately from the package, but, by booking the package, as I said, we got the ca-bed, chips and salsa, bottle service, and the suite for much less money, so yeah the package was a great deal. By the way bottle service means that the server at the pool brings you a bottle of your choice of a premium liquor and whatever mixers you want, plus lime slices, cups, and ice buckets. Things were looking pretty good to us after that!!! The food we ordered at the pool was excellent, by the way. We got some appetizers like chicken satay skewers and coconut shrimp, all with different dipping sauces. Later, my husband also got some hot dog sliders which he loved.
Do not leave any of your food when you get up to dip in the pool as the crows are always watching for any opportunity to move in for a feast!
The bad:
The only problems we had on this trip were with the suite. It took them three tries to get it right.
At first we were sent up to a suite with a view of the backyard and mountains that still had the previous guests' luggage in it! This was a new experience for us. It was really a shock to open the door (yes, our keys worked) and find someone else's luggage standing inside the door as if the people were maybe waiting to move to a different suite. We called out, but there was no one inside, just luggage. It was about 3 p.m., too late for them to be waiting to check out (check out time is noon), so the only thing I can think of is that they were waiting for a better room to be ready. We beat a hasty retreat back to the lobby, and they were as surprised as we were by the luggage in the room.
They couldn't find us another equivalent suite and told us we may have to wait a while for one to be cleaned. At this point we were getting pretty frazzled, and when they wanted to give us a suite on a floor designated as a smoking floor (I think there are two of those floors), we asked if we could just have an upgrade (no) or a break on the price. The clerk offered us $50 food credit for being on a smoking floor, but my husband was not happy about having to do that. The clerk went to talk to a manager, and after about 10 minutes came back having "found" another suite for us.
When we got up there, oh my gosh it was horrible! I think they had taken it out of service and that is why it didn't show on the clerk's computer. The minute we walked in we could hear the water pipes rumbling like a locomotive. The sound varied from a drumming sound to a very loud chugging. If you turned on the water, it stopped. My husband was getting cranky and looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him if he wanted to go back down to the lobby and try for yet another room. Since the sound was mainly in the living room, that night we just closed the bedroom door, and we could barely hear it unless it was in its chugging phase. At about 2 a.m., he yelled to me over the chugging sound, "Let's call the desk in the morning and ask if there is another room!"
Two other problems with the room were that it was on the 4th floor, "Strip view" side, and actually gave a view of a parking garage and the side of a building. It was depressing, especially since the windows were totally coated with grime. When I called down, they apologized and found us another room which was to be ready between 1 and 3 p.m. It wasn't ready at 1 or at 3. After 4, they finally had a room for us, and it was spectacular. It was on the 8th floor and had a view of the backyard and those beautiful mountains we had come there for! Clear windows! No noise from the pipes! Hooray!!!!!
Bottome line:
I do not hold it against them that they had to try three times to get us a decent room, and I will definitely go back there again!
The food at the pool was the best. The buffet was really good as was the cafe. As another Trip Advisor reveiwer noted, the beers you can order brought to you within the buffet were the best price, so thanks for that great tip!
By the way, we had a ball gambling at the Red Rock. Although we've been to Vegas many times, our most recent gambling had been at some of the Indian casinos like Pechanga and Pala where the slots odds do not seem to be good at all. But at the Red Rock, we got many many smaller payouts all the time which made it lots of fun, and we got one or two nice bigger payouts so we didn't feel like total idiots. All in all I'm sure we left a little more money in their machines than they gave back to us, but it seemed like the slots were looser there, and it was much more fun hearing all the bells and whistles going off all the time.
All in all, I highly recommend the Red Rock. It was well worth the money, especially since we found that special on their website that brought the cost down and the fun way way up.
