Travel FanboyOf the themed hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, I don’t think there’s one better than NYNY. It’s a great hotel for Vegas virgins who aren’t looking for a luxury experience. Obviously, there are much better hotels. But NYNY is fun, relatively inexpensive, and has a comfortable casino. Here are a few thoughts from my most recent stay:
I landed in the late afternoon on that December Thursday and went to check-in. The line was short and the front desk agent was incredibly nice. She said my name multiple times. This is standard resort etiquette, an attempt to make guests feel welcome. It works. See if you notice it on your next trip. I was only staying for one night on an outright comp via myVegas. I still had to pay the roughly $30 resort fee, but no matter. Now that myVegas has been around a while, the redemption process is painless. The agent even complimented me on getting the free night. I asked what checkout time was. She said it was at 11am, but offered to push it to 12 for me for free. I didn’t ask her to do this, but she took the initiative. I love this. It starts a trip off on the right foot.
My dad and I had an hour or so to kill before we were meeting my sister for dinner (oh yeah, this was sort of a family trip), so we hung out in the casino. My dad developed an affinity for the Beetlejuice slot machine for no other reason than he won $70 after a few pulls. Now he’s hooked. Slot design for the win. For the record, and maybe this is a tad embarrassing, NYNY is probably one of my favorite Vegas resorts. It may be hard to pinpoint why. I like that it’s still rocking the theme. Though, it would be hard not to. Luxor, as we know, tried, but is now a bit of an enigma in terms of interior decorating. There are no notable restaurants at NYNY that get me excited. Tom’s Urban seems ok. Shake Shack may be a tad overrated. The steakhouse is a steakhouse. I like Nine Fine Irishman. I’m not sure it’s what has helped me developed my fancy for NYNY. More, I just like a good pint of Guinness.
The casino seems a bit more smokey than other MGM resorts. It’s not an overwhelmingly large gaming space. This makes it pretty comfortable. Table game minimums are low roller friendly. You can find $5 craps occasionally. I even saw $10 3:2 blackjack, which is nice. They even have a few playable VP machines at the $0.25 level. The sportsbook isn’t anything special. It’s a tame version of MGM’s across the street. The book is rarely busy, so it can be a good spot to make a quick bet.
If you’re staying on the property, finding your tower may be a little confusing at first. If there’s more than one turn I’m bound to get a little turned around. Finding it after the initial journey at NYNY is usually pretty easy. I like to find landmarks near my tower to help guide me. These could be a restaurant or a bar, really anything to help guide me in the right direction. This is especially useful after a few Mr. Pibbs. The room was surprisingly nice, especially for a myVegas reward.
I was in one of the Park Avenue rooms, which is their basic offering. It’s a small 350 sq ft., but fine for a solo traveler or couple who don’t tend to spend a lot of time in their room. The room felt clean. I didn’t break out a blacklight or the white gloves, those are only for special occasions, but it passed the eye test. The bathroom wasn’t anything special – it was clean and large enough for me to take care of my bathroom related activities.
I quite enjoy NYNY. There’s really nothing great about the property. Then again, there’s also not much to complain about. To see what’s changed and what hasn’t, check out Vegas Tripping’s 2011 Park Avenue room review.
NYNY: My Kind of Good
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room
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casino
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service
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location
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low roller friendly
VFB Takeaway
A fun, heavily themed property with small, but comfortable basic rooms. You’ll find lower gaming limits in the early afternoon and most times during weekdays. Proximity to center Strip is a big plus.
I redeemed my first free night ever for NYNY. My boyfriend redeemed it too and we booked them back to back. At check-in, they were kind enough to let us stay in the same room for both nights. Upon entering our room it looked good enough, I was relaxing on the bed, then my friend pointed out a dildo sitting between the wardrobe and the wall. We called to complain and were immediately upgraded to a Player’s Suite. We tried to milk it a bit more and ended up getting $150 spa credit (amazing massage btw). Then they accidentally charged that to my card at checkout and we ended up getting the whole room for free, no resort tax at all. I made money on that trip since I didn’t pay a dime for the hotel. The manager was a bit rude though, but the maids aren’t doing their job very well if we find a dusty dildo in the room….
Meanwhile, there was a person frantically searching for their dildo and finally, exasperatedly, gave up. I agree, anything dusty, especially dildos, is a clear sign that housekeeping could improve. What’s really interesting is the transaction cost for your problem. They are valuing 1 rogue dildo to a Player’s Suite comp. I wonder, now, what you would have received had you found two. Here I am, because of your comment, sitting at work thinking about dildo transaction costs and their equivalency across the different Las Vegas resorts. I’ll have a full report soon.