I traveled here with my family between last Sunday, returning this Saturday.

I discovered Las Vegas in 1995, and have been coming back every year. As things change, I've stayed at various hotels, beginning with the Excalibur, then Treasure Island (where my wife and I arranged our first meeting), then the MGM, then Caesars, then the Paris, then back to the MGM, then the Bellagio, and now the Palazzo. The Bellagio and the Palazzo and the Wynn are the only hotels I'd describe as "luxury" any more, and the Palazzo has the best deal going.

Just for signing up with the Pallazo's "Club Grazie" I began getting invitations as recently as last fall to slot tournaments (with a 3 night free room) and increasingly more offers of 2-4 nights at a time with free rooms in the mail. This last trip we stayed for 6 nights with my wife and 4 year old son, all for free. How? By (1) booking one of those 4-night mailer offers, then (2) talking to a Club Grazie host and finding out I could use my Club Grazie points for an extra 2 free nights in the same room (or should I say suite, at 720 sq. ft.) for 3,000 points per night. I began with 16,400 points, had 6,000 points deducted, and left with 24,500 points. Not only that, but because we gambled there every day, the hotel picked up all our charges, and I do mean all - even tips and movies - for the first four days of our stay, a nice little bonus worth at least $800.00.

We spent time every day at their pools which are all child friendly, with ample space for little ones to walk around and swim in shallow water. Our son loved it. There are a lot of families with children here (more than I've seen elsewhere in Vegas) and speaking of people, we visited a number of our favorite places on this trip and the Palazzo was the only one that was really full of people on the casino floor every night. Word is obviously getting around about this place. It has something for everyone.

I gave a brief review of this hotel about a month ago, and it still holds true. The only negative experience we had was with one housekeeper who kind of sneered at my wife when she asked her to clean the room between 4pm and 7 pm (and then failed to clean it) last Monday. None of the other maids gave us any trouble at all.

BTW, if you're into slots, this place has all the most modern games in town. And people were playing them every night.

I can't say enough about the Palazzo - it seems they picked up the best of Vegas on every level and then improved on it all.

My family and I stayed at the Palazzo Hotel on June 22-24. The hotel is really beautiful and amazing. Every employee we encountered smiled and said hello.

The room (all suites) has a sunken living room with a pull out sleeper couch, curtain is operated on a remote, large bathroom with a tub, separate shower and toilet has its own enclosed area. The only thing I did not like is the décor, it’s not really for me. House keeping did very well in cleaning the room.

The pool area has several (medium-small) pools. Water dispensers are located everywhere. But that’s about it, it does not have a WOW factor. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful, clean and very relaxed atmosphere.

The lobby and atrium is (décor always changes) very beautiful and WOW! But it seems to have a very weird smell this time. My wife did not like the smell and got her dizzy (that’s why we checked out early and went across the street to the Mirage). It almost smells like a restroom.

The casino did not smell very smokey, like most casinos. A lot of shops ( with the Venetian)
without having to live the building.

The Palazzo and the Venetian are connected, across the street is the Wynn, Fashion Show Mall, Treasure Island, very close by is the Mirage, Caesar’s Place, Harrah’s and Imperial Place. All of these hotels are centrally located on the strip.

Overall we enjoyed our stay at the Palazzo. Just wish they didn’t use any type of fragrance in their hotel.

SHUTTLE SERVICE TO THE AIRPORT
We took the shuttle service for the Palazzo (I believe it is called Executive Coach and Carriage) for $6 each. We had to listen to a time-share pitch on the ride, which wouldn’t have been so bad if the guy would have had some interest. It was just hard to watch this guy not get anyone to take him up on his tour with a large captive audience. Just made me feel bad, kind of like when you hear someone singing badly at a Karaoke Bar.

ROOM NOTES
We were only on the 11th floor, non-strip side, but with the 1200+ square foot suite was still a thrill for us even if it was on Mars. Some of the general thoughts on the room.

- There was some wear and tear on the furniture and fixtures, but nothing that took away
from a great, relaxing atmosphere.
- The beds were amazing!! Pillows were soft and came in two sizes.
- The bathroom is bigger then my roommate’s bedroom. Huge walk-in shower, large
Jacuzzi tub, and duel sinks for each of our shower supplies and toiletries.
- There was a second ½ bathroom of the living room.
- 3 TVs were all great to have. I thought it may be overkill to have so many, but I was
amazed how nice it was to have them all.
- Our windows were dirty on the outside and had bird poo on them. Our view wasn’t that
great, but we could see the golf course at Wynn/Encore from a low angle and the
mountains in the background.
- The remote control shades and blinds came in handy in the morning when I was
trying to get us up out of bed.
- The bathrobes were nice, but as I’ve read on TA before, they were a little scratchy.
- Housekeeping was great. We never received turndown service, but we didn’t request
it either. Plenty of towels were always left, beds always impeccable. My GF was in
there once with them as they were cleaning and they had a great conversation about
Las Vegas.

CONCIERGE SERVICES
I recommend email them before your trip as all I had to do was tell her in one email all the places I wanted to eat and at one time. She made it all happen and even created an itinerary for us. I was sure to drop an envelope off for her at the Concierge desk as a tip for her trouble.

GENERAL NOTES ON THE PALAZZO
I found this property to be exactly what I was looking for. Everyone was friendly, atmosphere was classy, and accommodations were just what I was looking for in a vacation with the GF.

The Shoppes at the Palazzo and Venetian’s Grande Canal were both filled with nice shops, most out of our price range. GC has the whole Venice theme going for it which is kind of fun if you happen upon it while walking through. I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to watch a choir show or stilt walkers out of personal preference, but I could see what some people get a kick out of walking through and taking it all in.

There are some happy hour specials being offered at some places you wouldn’t expect. I saw chalkboard drink specials at Table 10, Delmonico, one or two of Mario’s places, and the best one, Sushisamba. Most places offered ½ price drinks, cheaper app prices, a few listed beers or wines on special, but this is a great way to get a taste of some great food without having to commit to a $50-$100 meal.

The Palazzo scent/smell is definitely apparent every time you walk off the elevators or in from outside. It didn’t bother me at all and it definitely did the trick to hide the smoke from the casino. It did not affect our stay and was not present in the room what-so-ever.

The ever-so-popular Walgreens is a normal Walgreens, with a bunch of souvenirs. Prices were a little higher than the one I frequent in Boston, but nothing too outrageous.

We loved our stay at the Palazzo and found the property’s restaurants and bars to be its biggest assets.

PALAZZO POOLS
If you hit the pools in the morning, the main pool at the Palazzo is not in the sun yet. There have been many posts/comments on this on TA and it is true. If you are looking to catch a tan, you should head towards the Venetian, where the sun seems to be out all day long.

The only big difference between the pool areas was that the Palazzo’s seemed to have better drink service and a more relaxed atmosphere. The lounges had more padding on the Venetian side, but it they are brown so grab an extra towel to lay out on it because those things get hot.

FRIDAY MORNING, CHECK-OUT AND CLUB GRAZIE
I woke up and took my laptop to the free WIFI hotspot on the second floor of the Shoppes near the guest elevator. It was outside a coffee shop. After I did the online check-in thing for that evening’s red-eye back to Boston, I went back up to the room to pack with GF.

Check-out was seamless, just like most of the other experiences we had with the Palazzo. The only thing for some people to notice is that the hold they put on my cc at the beginning of the trip didn’t come off until nearly four days after check-out. They said 24-48 hours at checkout. This was no big deal, but wanted to share.

Another thing to note to people who book via a third party like Travelocity or Orbitz. The address they list you as when you arrive is not actually your address, but the address of the company you booked through. It would be a good idea to straighten it out at check-in just to avoid any unforeseen consequences.

We stashed our bags with the Palazzo luggage crew down in the lower lobby next to the cab bay. Most hotels have baggage systems and will gladly hold bags for guests if you get their early enough and they have enough spare capacity.

Club Grazie gave GF and I each $15 for starting accounts, plus we had a $50 slot credit from our room package on Travelocity. Also, clarify your address with CG too, as anyone, not just guests can be CG members so they have two different systems.

I have already received offers for some pretty cheap rates from the Palazzo/Club Grazie (one this week was $109 a weeknight, $159 weekend night) and I’ve only been home for a week.


Overall, we stayed here because we got a really great rate on Travelocity, but we lucked out on getting upgraded during check-in which is why we were staying in such a great room. I felt very comfortable everywhere and it is a nice place to call homebase. Other properties have more lively attractions, but having a nice, calming place to come back to was great.

Palazzo is one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at in the entire world. Rooms are out of this world amazing: sunken living rooms, marble baths, marble showers, jacuzzi bath tubs, amazing window views. Pool outside is awesome. The Spa is also pretty nice. Palazzo does rock some of the rock n' roll party atmosphere you find at other resorts like Ceasars and Palms. Is kinda quiet at nights. Limited middle class restaraunt choices - most are high end. But if you're looking for a great hotel - and don't need the over the top Vegas party atmosphere, Palazzo is wise choice.