My sister and I were traveling north and decided to stay in Vegas for two days. Unfortunately the first day fell on Christmas Day and major hotels on the Strip were bit too pricey, so I gambled and booked this Holiday Inn which was about a mile away from the Strip. I've been to Vegas many times but never stayed at a hotel which is off the Strip and didn't know what to expect. Luckily once you pass the Las Vegas Boulevard, it only takes about 2-3 minutes to the hotel. There are many popular restaurants around there, including my new favorite, Firefly. The garage had the gate which made me wonder if the area was not safe or I should be looking around when we unload our luggage but that was the only part that made me feel a tiny bit uneasy and everything else was great. Unlike those Vegas hotels, there was no waiting line to check-in and the young guy at the front desk was very pleasant. The room felt like it was still new and we thought it was a decent size. Oh, but I kept hitting my feet to the bed frame. Overall, everything was clean and new except the bed sheet. When I opened my comforter, it had wrinkles like someone was sleeping on there already. I checked the pillows and they looked clean and didn't smell anything and I was too tired to call the front desk and wait for someone to come and change it so I've decided to ignore it. I went to sleep right away and heard nothing but my sister said many people came back to their rooms after midnight and got pretty loud. She said she thought someone was in our room talking. Next day, I was able to enjoy my favorite TV channel on a big flat TV while my sister was able to check her emails for free. We knew we'd sleep in late until we had to check-out so didn't bother to ask if we get the free breakfast as some of those Vegas websites stated but I think I've read we could get complimentary coffee in the morning at their cafe. We were going to shop whole day so we moved to a hotel on the Strip next day, but when I come to Vegas by myself, I often go to places off the Strip and don't need to stay at those pricey major hotels. Especially, many hotels nowadays have been cutting down many amenities anyways (do you remember we used to get stuff like cotton swabs, shoe polish clothe or mending kit?) but adding ridiculous Resort Fees for nothing (this past year, I've stayed at Mirage, Treasure Island, Venetian and Planet Hollywood which recently stopped charging the Resort Fee). I didn't feel like I downgraded and stayed at a cheap motel. It was nice that there was no awful smell of smoke to go through when you come back to the hotel or stupid Resort fee to pay but got a free internet access with many good dining places to choose from. I'll definitely stay here again (but I will call the front desk if I see wrinkles on my bed sheet next time).
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