My wife and I spent three nights at Red Rock in early August. We had a fantastic time. After reading the reviews we were a little concerned that we had not gone the "safe" route and stayed at the Ritz at Lake Las Vegas. After our trip, however, we could not have asked for a better off-strip experience.

Briefly, the room was 5-star quality. To address the construction and noise up front, we did not hear any from our room. We specifically requested, both several days before we arrived and upon our arrival, a room by the elevator. We got a strip view room by the elevator and you could hear a pin drop at any hour of the day. From the size, to the decor, to the bathroom to the top quality bedding, everything about the room gave you the sense that this hotel was committed to getting all the details right. The service was also impeccable: twice daily housekeeping with turndown service, helpful concierge and very friendly dealers at the casino.

The pool was great. This was the only place we heard construction noise, and it was little more than background noise. The chairs in the water are very nice and the lounge mattresses are the great. You do have to get their early to get one, but the pool doesn't open until 9am. My wife and I got there at about 9:15 on a saturday and had our choice of loung mattresses and chairs. The cabanas looked very nice and, had we been spending a whole day at the pool, we would have considered renting one.

The Casino is very nice. I am not a big gambler and this casino was very approachable. Bright, not too smokey and everyone from the dealer to the pit boss was friendly.

The restaurants were also great. We ate at terra rosa, which was excellent. We had a late lunch at the Tides, also great, and had very enjoyable breakfasts lunches at the Grande Cafe. I also recommend Rosemary's, a zagat rated place about 2 miles from the hotel. You would have no idea it was there if you weren't looking for it. But its wine list and food is great. We had a $400 dinner that the Paris on Saturday night and it was far exceeded by our $150 dinner at Rosemary's on Sunday.

Finally, the spa was world class. My wife had a couple of the treatments designed for pregnant women and was very impressed. I used their gym facility (including in the resort fee) and it was great. I am a gym rat, especially on vacations, and this fitness center ranks among the best resort fitness centers I have been seen or used.

The only problem with the hotel that we experienced was that the pool closed too early -- pretty minor considereing the positives. Also, the hotel is truly off the strip -- about a 20-40 minute drive depending on traffic. This was a real plus for my wife and me as we were not interested in drinking 1/2 yard margaritas as 2 in the morning. But if you want to party late into the night or hop back and forth between the strip and your room, this hotel is probably not the right pick for you.

To summarize, we loved this place. My wife stayed at Ceasers a few months back and Red Rock made it seem like a Days Inn. We could not have been happier.

The Red Rock Hotel and Spa in Las Vegas is a relatively new property with some growing pains still in evidence. Having said that, when the shakedown cruise and construction is complete, I think it will be spectacular.

First all guest spaces and rooms are beautifully appointed and not in a fabulous, glitter, I wish I was somewhere else kind of way (Venetian, Paris etc) but rather very high style. I liked the appointments and thought the king size bed was one of the best I have ever had in a hotel.

The bathroom appointments were great. My partner is currently traveling with a broken foot -- his foot is in an immobilizer not a cast. On a lark, he decided to call to see if they had a shower chair. They did! It was a proper chair, not something designed for some other purpose.

The restaurants are very nice, with huge portions. Nothing is really very high end except for T Bones, but we did enjoy a late night nosh at Tides, lunch at Salt Lick BBQ and breakfasts at the Grand Cafe. All meals were very good.

The casino is huge and stretches with the restaurants and night clubs along the edges. At the far end, there is a 16-screen Cineplex -- what a nice thing in a hotel. I love movies, but too bad I didn't have time.

The pool area is spectacular. I enjoyed the chaise lounges that are set up in the wading part of the pool.

The downs:

Construction noise during the day! Really annoying.
They don't have rooms waiting for people with reservations. We arrived after check in time with a reservation and were asked to wait for an indeterminate amount of time. After an hour, we demanded a room immediately and compensation. We got both -- so at least it was handled well.

Generally, a very nice experience. The good / bad thing is that you are 45 minutes (or so) from the Strip. We went to shows at Caesars and Mirage -- so we had to make the long trip, but it was fine.

The hotel is awesome, complete with plasma tvs. The casino is state of the art, with massive digital screens in the sportsbook, like a movie theater. The poker room is one of the best in the city, as is the spa.

Red Rock is clearly a top 5 property in all of Las Vegas, and if you are planning on doing any outdoor activities at Red Rock Canyon (hiking, biking, etc.), Red Rock Resort is very close.

Finally, like strip properties, if you can stay during the week, the room rates are substancially lower then the weekends.

My wife and I decided upon Las Vegas for our short honeymoon weekend June 30 to July 3, 2006. We visit Las Vegas 3 or 4 times a year, usually staying on "the strip." We had booked our Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa "Canyon View Room, with King size bed", in January of 2006, wanting a non-traditional Vegas property for our weekend get-away. Overall, our experience was good, but it could have been a lot better! We have two major complaints:

1. When we booked the room in January, we told room reservations that our flight would be a late arrival from British Columbia. We also called reservations a few days before our arrival to confirm that we'd be arriving around midnight or thereabouts. Needless to say, we were not impressed when we arrived at the Red Rock Casino at midnight Friday night, only to be told that there were no Canyon View rooms available, and we were further disappointed when we were given a Strip View room with a crane right in front of our window. At 7:15 am Saturday morning (a mere 4 hours after we went to bed), the construction began and it sounded as though the workmen were coming through our ceiling and into our room. Horrible way to wake up on our honeymoon and first night in Las Vegas.

2. Our second area of concern is the spa. We had booked a spa treatment, including massage, for 11:30 am Saturday morning. While I thoroughly enjoyed my deep tissue massage, my wife found her massage to be "average" at best. We both agreed that the massages were very overpriced (bill came to $465 USD), and the fact that they added a 15% gratuity to our bill "for our convenience" was not appreciated. I tipped my massage therapist with cash and, quite frankly, it resulted in her getting a very large tip, while my wife would have preferred to give her massage therapist a smaller tip than 15%. And yes, I too heard people on the casino floor discussing how they could sneak in and use the "hotel guests only pool area" despite the fact they were not staying at the Red Rock Casino.

Otherwise we enjoyed our stay. The hotel room was a very nicely appointed room, with very comfortable King size bed, nice washroom and 42 inch plasma television. Quite frankly, a lot nicer room for $159 per night than the Bellagio or Caesar's Palace rooms I have stayed at in the past at significantly higher prices. The casino area is nice, the buffet good, and the shopping mall across the street appreciated. I also note that there was no construction Sunday or Monday morning and in response to our complaint about the Saturday morning construction, Red Rock management gave us each a free breakfast buffet. Obviously, I would have preferred a refund of the cost of a night's accomodation. The Red Rock Casino does not have a honeymoon package or any other type of honeymoon promotion, which surprised us.

One final note and a piece of advice: the "strip shuttle" runs only four times a day (last trip leaves Red Rock Casino for the strip at 7 pm and leaves the strip for the Red Rock Casino at 8 pm). If you fly into Vegas, make sure you either rent a car or else be prepared for $45 cab fares (one direction to/from the strip). A limo will run you anywhere from $46 to $100 (each direction) depending where you catch the limo and what company provides the limo.

Overall, we enjoyed the Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa, but it really is a long, long, long way from the strip.