We stayed at the Plaza for 7 nights in November 2007 and 7 nights in February 2008. On both occasions we were extremely pleased with our overall experience at the Plaza from beginning to end.

We have been to Vegas several times and used to always stay on the Strip. But in Nov 07 we decided to try staying on Fremont and are we ever glad we did. The atmosphere downtown is far more fun and friendlier than on the Strip. Our days of staying on the Strip are done...downtown is where its at.

One of the main reasons we enjoy downtown far better than the strip is the hotel/casino staff. We experienced good, friendly service at all the downtown casinos, but the Plaza staff is second to none. Every staff member we encountered at the Plaza provided us with friendly, quick, and efficient service. Here are just a few examples:

- Housekeeping always kept our room spotless and handled any special requests we had quickly and with a smile on their face;

- Bar and cocktail service is super fast, as good as any in Vegas, and better than most. And, icing on the cake, the staff are all very friendly;

- Dealers, table games and slot attendants are helpful and friendly. They are happy to take the time to explain games you may not know that well, actually root for you to win, and seem genuinely happy when you do.

In short the Plaza staff make you feel like a valued customer and person. Basically they act as if it is their job and duty to ensure that you have the most fun and best Las Vegas experience possible.

As for the hotel itself, we've always found our rooms to be clean and with everything in satisfactory working order. They have all the necessary amenities that we require. I might add that both times we stayed their we were with groups of 8 people so we had 4 rooms between us. All our traveling companions were satisfied with their rooms and had no problems.

I won't tell you to expect the ultimate in world class 5 star plus swank when staying at the Plaza. Let's remember you are not staying at one of those $500 a night rooms at some of the places on the Strip. However, I can say, in my opinion, if you want to stay in a decent hotel, with clean rooms, a comfortable bed, a fun atmosphere, and great service, the Plaza offers probably the best value for your money in Las Vegas.

We, like most people we know, don't go to Vegas to hang out in the rooms. What we primarily want in a Vegas hotel room is one that is clean and comfortable and has all the basic amenities. At the Plaza you will get that. But you will get it for a very good price and with great all around service from the staff.

The last couple of things I'll comment on are the pool and the eating establishments.

The Plaza is one of the few downtown hotels that offer a pool. While its not as swanky as some of the Strip pools its big enough to serve it's purpose and there is plenty of room for sun tanning and relaxing in the loungers. Of the pools in the downtown hotels it's probably the 2nd nicest.

The Plaza offers a wide variety of eating establishments, from very informal/inexpensive to buffets, to fine dining. We've tried them all and we've always enjoyed our meals at any of the Plaza's establishments and never experienced any problems. The buffet is a extremely reasonable $7.77 for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

All in all our 2 stays at the Plaza were our best 2 trips to Vegas. We've already booked another trip there and we plan to stay there from now on.

Yes, the check-in desk is on the 3rd floor, and can be hard to find. Yes, the furniture is a little worn and dated. One of the lamps in my room didn't work, and we saw cables and cords going under the door to the adjacent room. On the other hand, the room was huge, the bathroom was small but still very functional. The window in my room actually opened (it appeared that there were some attempts made to prevent these windows from opening) onto a faux balcony. (I wouldn't call a balcony only 1 foot wide a balcony, although someone had left a glass out there.) The room was clean, and the maid was friendly.

This is vegas. You will not, or so the casinos hope, be spending too much time in your room. After you get back from gambling and the shows at 1am, the beds are plenty comfortable for a few hours sleep before going out again.

The Plaza has a McDonalds on the first floor if you are not feeling to adventurous for breakfast after the late night.

The location is excellent if you are interested in the older strip, Fremont St. Just walk out the front door of the hotel, cross the street, and you're there. Although the new strip is a bit of a walk, I found that walking there is still faster than the bus. Anything is faster than the "duce bus". Your granny could beat the bus there using her walker. Avoid the "duce bus". Take a cab, or check the other bus routes in the area.

One tip - ask for additional toilet paper. You may be sleeping when the maid stops by, and miss your chance for a refill.

arrived at the plaza from san fran, check-in wasn't easy to find...it's on the 3rd floor but once we found it, we were soon checked into our room for 10 days.
our room was at the rear of the hotel, overlooking a carpark and the railway lines. that didn't bother us as we were just sleeping there. you could see the stratosphere in the distance. it was big enough, with 2 double beds, tv, bathroom, dining table&chairs, etc. it was clean and that's all we ask for.
the plaza has the 777 buffet ($7.77) which was ok, edible but not spectacular and the sports bar which overlooks freemont street. it also hosts the viva las vegas show which is free if you join the players club, and it was a really good show we thought. there is also a stage in the casino with groups/singers on (they were pretty good too). nice to sit in the cosy chairs next to the bar and watch for an hour or so.
it has a pool (never too busy) on the 5th floor, along with tennis courts and a running track and small gym (which we didn't use!)
the casino is smaller than the ones on the strip, but it was nice and friendly. walk out of the hotel, across the road and you are in the middle of downtown. the deuce bus stop is about 5mins walk down freemont/LV boulevard.
for the price we paid, it was excellent value for money. we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.
one downside; during the night you can hear the trains going past, and the trains are so long (very very long) the noise seems to go on forever!

...While entertainment and dining options in Vegas have become less of a bargain than they were in the '90s, we found the afternoon variety show last week at The Plaza hotel downtown very satisfying. Comedy, magic, a little risque dancing and singing - for $10 (free, if you are registering for their slot players' club card for the first time).
...The selection of restaurants and food counters in the building provided a nice mix of affordability with specialty - quite refreshing on this, our tenth visit to Sin City from New York. All in all, we agreed to consider staying at The Plaza on a future trip.
...We have been hooked on The Orleans during the past ten years for all of the same reasons, but have found Red Rock, the SunCoast, the South Point and Silverton establishments also trying hard to appeal to us 'common folk'. The Palazzo and The Wynn are truly astounding - as The Encore, Fontainebleau and The City Centre will surely be, but just how many thousands of visitors can justify hundreds of dollars nightly for their accommodations?