I got room here for a couple of days after Christmas, and the room rate was $40 a night, not bad. For being in downtown, not a bad place to stay. It's not the Nugget, but not bad. I like the walkway that connects the California Hotel to Main Street Hotel & Casino. I usually play at Main Street, cuz I have better luck at the craps table, and can play for hours at the bars poker machine and get free beers (Porter, Black Chip) and watch the Sports on the TV's. When your luck has turn bad, there is a great 2 cent machine that pays if you got the time. Its all for fun.

Now for the food. If you like Hawaiian food, try Aloha Specialties for Loco Moco, Chicken with gravy, Spam musubi, Saimin, Teriyaki plates, etc... At the 24 hour Market Street Cafe, the breakfast buffet is pretty good. I love the late night Oxtail soup, which is served from 11pm to around 9am, or when they run out. Market Street Cafe has a regular menu, but the line last night for the oxtail was amazing. people from teens to seniors were in line for it.

If you like walking around in shorts, tee shirt, slippas, then this is the place for you. So relax here, and the $5 tables are great too. Fremont Street is good entertainment for their light show at night, and you can dart in and out of all the other Casinos. If you want to go to the strip, it's only a $20 cab ride to the Venetian.

Only caution I have for you is, if you hate the smell of cigarette smoke, do not gamble here from mid afternoon til three in the morning, well that's when I go to bed. Early morning to noon is good.

I've stayed at this hotel countless times over the years and it's probably one of the most under-rated hotels in Downtown! So many people here rave about the Nugget and a few others in Downtown, but the Cal is definitely worth mentioning. Great place to stay!

I took advantage of an offer I received for two free nights at the California and was pleasantly surprised by all aspects of the property. The room was comfortable and nicely decorated; all of the furniture seemed fairly new and well-maintained.

Most of the personnel I had contact with were friendly and helpful; there was one person working at the slot club booth who needed to work on her people skills, but otherwise I was pleased with all interactions I had. i cannot comment on the restaurants because I ate most meals at Main Street Station, a short, enclosed walk by bridge from the California.

My gaming experiences were better than average. I enjoy playing video poker, and was able to find some full-pay machines, and the blackjack tables were always fun. The dealers seemed to enjoy their jobs, and the other customers were generally ready to have a good time with each other. In fact, I have never stayed at a place that had more customers who helped make gambling fun.

This was my first stay at the California, and in fact downtown, but I plan on staying there on my next trip to Las Vegas.

i specifically asked for a non-smoking room and when i got there they put me in a smoking room saying they didn't have anything else available.

make sure to double lock your door because housekeeping just barges in without knocking.

don't believe the front desk people when they say they are taking some unjustified charges off your account. those charges are bound to appear on you credit card anyway so get their word in writing.

called customer service/accounting about the charges and they weren't very helpful either.