A good option if you don,t find accomodation in the principal hotels. Near the strip. no noise, clean and gently people working on it. A nice place to stay for what you pay. We stay there the last weekend of april 2007. My husband and I were very scare for what we read in the reviews, but everything was ok.

So my confirmed reservation at at Bally's didn't exist on their computer system when I tried to check-in at the airport. So, I needed a hotel room on a Saturday night on what seemed to be the busiest Sat ever in Vegas. For example, Marriott had no rooms within 50 miles! Everywhere I called was sold out.

Finally I was grateful to get the room here.

Shuttle driver from the airport gently ribbed me regarding location - the 'less desirable' end of the strip apparently although "I should be OK if I stick to the strip". Its far end of the strip - its really downtown - not a great location, little going on other than weddings. Certainly not 'strip central'. However, as my main concern was sleeping after a trans-alantic flight it wasn't an issue.

First impressions: Not bad internally. Nice room overlooking pool. Bit basic but what do you expect. Free wifi worked well. The Cuban style cafe on site is relatively lively and is entirely adequate for a sandwich and beer.

The downside: Thin walls, hear people moving above and in corridor. Room could have been cleaner – the edges and under the bed weren’t great.

Light switching system poor. Light by the bed is controlled by the master switch by the door - which also controls the entrance area light. No master light switch by the bed. Yes, the light by the bed can be turned off independently but this doesn't turn the entrance area light off. Turning the entrance area light off (using master switch by door) results in bedside light being turned off. Net effect is that you MUST turn light off by the door and thus make your way to the bed in darkness - madness.

So in summary, entirely adequate. I paid $250+ for the night which was outrageous (its really a $50-$70 per night place IMHO) but when every hotel room in the city is full (and as I checked in they were quoting $300 per night for their last 5 rooms which they sold judging by the 'sold out' posters on the doors this morning) it was a bed for the night and could have been worse – a lot worse.

This was the worst hotel I have ever stayed in in my life!

The manager "OSCAR" was so rude! I get to the front desk and I tell the manager I have paid for one night in advance. He tells me I have to pay for the other two nights up front. I say No I don't I have never done that before and that I will pay for the other two nights before check out time in the morning.

He got angry with me and told me that he would have to cancel my two nights and if they were still available I could get them but not at the rate I had if I didn't pay up front! I asked him where in his hotel did it say I had to pay up front for all nights he just said i'm not going to argue with you its the rule!

I told him to do what he had to do I wasn't going to pay up front. I usually do this because I want to see the room 1st. I AM SO GLAD I DID NOT PAY UP FRONT!! The room is on the second floor. NO ELEVATORS IN THE FREAKIN" HOTEL!!! I had to lug 2 big bags upstairs!! I get upstairs and there are the maids sitting and talking and eating lunch in the hallway!

I open the door to the room and it smells I look at the beds and the spreads on the beds look like they haven't been washed in 20 years! Just nasty and filty dirty! I pull the spreads back and see that the blankts underneath are nastier than the spreads!

I grab my things and go back to the lobby and I tell the manager he has to be kidding if he thinks i'm going to stay in that filth! I tell him to go look for himself but he doesnt want to which leads me to believe he knows what kind of hotel he is running A SLEAZE BAG hotel.

He gives me another room on the 1st floor. I go to this room SMELLS! I look at the bed spreads nasty and dirty! I pull the bed spread back and discover that these beds have no blanket just sheets. I go into the bathroom and there is a 2inch long COCKROACH! i run to the front desk and tell the manager to come look so he won't think I am making this up. He comes to look and gets a maid to come also. I show him and he says the reason there was a roach in my room is because my room was close to the pool area outside! (that is no justification for a big [---] roach to be in my room!) There were no hair dryers or irons in the room like advertised (I wouldn't have used them anyway) The pictures on the website are a smoke screen. The only thing remodeled was the lobby the rooms SUCK!

He then goes on to tell me he can give me a refund. I say that would be good. He then says well if I give you a refund you have to leave! I was like you're kidding me right!

This was All Star Weekend with a couple of conventions going also, even if I did consider leaving there were NO ROOMS available ANYWHERE! I was stuck! Luckily for me I am the type of traveler who brings their own sheets, pillow cases and bath towels or it really would have been all bad!

The next morning I was out of there! my trip was cut short because I didn't have anywhere else to stay and I am so glad my friend that was supposed to come didn't make it, that would have been so embarrasing because I am the one who made the reservations. DONT STAY AT THIS DUMP! If you are used to staying in nice clean hotels Like I am then this is one Howard Johnsons that is giving the chain a bad name.

I found out later through a series of complaints I am giving this hotel that they are all independantly owned and they have the use of the name Howard johnsons. If they get enough complaints the privlage of using the name will be stripped away from the owner. I HOPE SO they don't deserve to use it!

This is a great hotel for all the right reasons. It is clean, the staff goes out of its way to be helpful, it is reasonable. It's the kind of hotel Europeans love -- they know what's important. It is AAA rated 2 diamonds. The one drawback is its location. You are a few blocks north of the Stratotower, so really not close to the action on the Strip or downtown. (It is right next to the Little White Chapel where Britany Spears and a ton of celebrities got married.) You'll have to taxi around, drive, or take the new Deuce bus service that goes up and down the Strip and lets out a few feet from the door. About a half-year old, the Deuce (so-called because it is a double-decker) costs $2 a trip, or $5 unlimited trips over 24 hours. It's supposed to run every 10 minutes, and depending on the time of day, it is close. Busy times, the buses tend to bunch up. If you have a pet, this is the only place to go on the Strip except for the Four Seasons at 4x the price. The Cuban restaurant on-site is excellent, but not owned by the hotel, so you can't charge meals to your room, but take credit cards. There is an additional American menu for breakfast and kids' meals. The wedding chapel off the lobby is busy and a never-ending entertainment as you watch couples with families and friends bustle around on the big day.