| Reno / Sparks |
Hotel ReviewsEl Dorado, Silver Legacy Hotel/Casinos in Reno, Nevada, plus Circus Circus and Cal-NevaJohn Ascuaga's Nugget in SparksEater's Guide to Downtown Reno, Sparks and beyond |
| Are you thinking of traveling to Reno or Sparks in Nevada? Your trip may be for gambling, but even if you don't gamble there are numerous events every year worth visiting. Reno has the Reno Balloon Races, Truckerfest, the Air Races, Hot August Nights, Street Vibrations, many other street festivals, cook-offs, conventions snow sports and year-round recreation for all. RENO'S DOWNTOWN HOTELS - EL DORADO FIRST, SILVER LEGACY SECONDFor years I used to take my parents to Reno, sometimes five times a year. We stayed a few different places, which I talk about later. The main point is my observation about Reno hotels -- the El Dorado is the only big casino hotel that understands it's a hotel. The Silver Legacy pretty much get's it, but based on sheer size comparisons, the El Dorado is small enough to be more accomodating. The Silver Legacy is huge and just can't provide the same level of service, but they go a great second-best. To be fair, I don't review the Siena or the Grand Sierra nee Reno Hilton nee MGM Grand. The Grand Sierra, near the airport, is a hotel that's also selling condo-space in converted rooms. Either hotel is good, but if you look at the Eldorado online or ask for the Economy Rooms, you can get an off-season room for as low as $35 a night (as of Feb 2007). To be fair, these Economy rooms at the El Dorado are small, and only the recently remodeled Economy rooms have a small half-desk if you need computer space. For another ten bucks the off-season rooms at the El Dorado and Silver Legacy get down into the $45 and up range, so for all the available amenities, it's a great deal. THE TRUTH ABOUT HOTEL REVIEWSLook, you can only trust hotel reviews as far as you can throw them. I used to travel last-minute for business on the company's dime, sometimes in first class hotels and sometimes in First Class on the plane. Although I still love camping and sleeping in my Suburban in the desert, I may have gotten a little spoiled. There are plenty of places to stay -- even on a busy Hot August Night, when everything was sold out, the Cal-Neva still had rooms at $69 when the El Dorado sold out at $250. You go figure, why did the Cal-Neva have rooms available for one third the price? I passed, but it might have been fine. My point, reviews are based on the perceptions and loyalties of the reviewer. I might say that such and such hotel is great, like the ACRO in Amsterdam. But the night you stay there might be the night the busload of Danish teenagers on their first school trip to Amsterdam might run up and down the halls and keep you awake. The El Dorado is nearly perfect, but my one complaint was that room 422 is right over the nightclub, Bubinga. I've stayed in 421 across the hall before, and didn't hear anything. On a recent night in 422, the booming bass went on until 2:45am. I didn't bother to call, because I figured there's a reason it's called an Economy room and sold for $35. Also, your economy room might have a view of a roof with satellite dishes and A/C units. Again, there's a reason these rooms are cheaper, they were squeezed in there. Room 425 overlooked the employee break area for smokers. You don't smell the smoke but the loud employee laughing at 2am woke me up. ONE MAN'S GREAT HOTEL IS ANOTHER'S HOTEL HELL Despite all our desire to pre-plan every risk out of the travel experience, one man's perfect hotel room might be another man's one-night-hell. If some hotel does stick you in the boom-boom room, at least there's 24-hour food, drinking and gambling. STAYING IN SPARKS? CHECK INTO JOHN ASCUAGA'S NUGGETIf you're a railfan the Nugget makes sense. If you ask for (and get) a room with a southern view, you'll be looking over the Union Pacific yard at Sparks, complete with the Fernley Flyer local service, two California Zephyr's a day, and numerous through freights and local switching. If you don't care about the railroad, southern and western views give you Mount Rose and sunset, while northern views look over Victorian Square and to the east is a bunch of new housing in the hills and the City of Sparks below. The Nugget is a place I've stayed in the last six months, and it's a cut above in terms of service and completeness. You may forget to go to downtown Reno, because there are many events in Sparks, including the Hot August Nights shine-and-shows, concerts and hot rod cruises on Victorian Square. At the same time, the sometimes affordable ($70-100/night) Nugget is like all good Reno hotels. On the weekends like Hot August Nights, room prices basically go up three to four times, so your $79 room might go for $350 the next night. One note, if you try to save a few bucks by staying in the Nugget Courtyard, DON'T let them check you into a room facing the freeway. Opening the window is truly undesirable, and the Victorian Ave. side of the Nugget Courtyard will offer views of Victorian Square. Some of the Victorian-side Nugget rooms on the top floor have balconies, which would be extremely sweet to have during Hot August Nights. OTHER HOTELS AND MOTELS WORTH MENTIONINGI can't tell you about every hotel in Reno or Sparks -- the main focus of this article is the downtown Reno locations of the El Dorado and Silver Legacy casino-hotels, and John Ascuaga's Nugget casino-hotel in Sparks, Nevada. Now, I will mention places I've stayed in the past. A few miles south on Virginia St. in Reno are the imposing casino-hotels Atlantis and Peppermill. I have stayed at both, they were nice but I like being near the train tracks in Sparks or downtown Reno, so I haven't gone back. The Peppermill is a hot spot during Hot August Nights, hosting several car shows and events. The Peppermill is well known for it's restaurant, but the service can be spotty and so can the food. As of the last few times I at there, it wasn't all it used to be, but you might have a better time. I found the food at the Silver Legacy to be consistently better than the Peppermill, but that's just me. In Sparks is the Silver Club. The last time I stayed there, years ago, the Silver Club was a value, because for motel prices you got a clean room right on Victorian Square in Sparks. At the time they had an outside service to deliver food from a local restaurant, so the effectively had the cheapest room service in town. They don't have that anymore, now they are a high-end budget hotel. The Silver Club is directly across the street from the Nugget in Sparks, so all the restaurants and gambling you need can be found in the Silver Club's casino or at the Nugget. Rumor has it that another hotel is connected to the El Dorado and Silver Legacy, called Circus Circus. Honestly, I haven't stayed there for years, but I have spoken with several guests at Silver Legacy and El Dorado who won't go back to stay at Circus Circus again. While the prices may be cheaper, there is no room service and the rooms aren't as nice. Don't get me wrong, Circus Circus is OK, - if you have kids you will have to visit Circus Circus to play circus games and check out real live Circus acts. Even for grown ups it's a fun place. Just stay at the Silver Legacy or El Dorado and use the interior connections to visit Circus Circus. There is a Harrah's right downtown, plus the Cal-Neva and Fitzgerald's offer older tiny rooms but at very low prices. |