NY NY hotel in Las Vegas

[NOTE: I wrote this review shortly after my stay in 2006, but inexplicably didn't post it that time.]

Blah. At $159 a night, you can do better.

First, you should understand a bit about my Vegas feelings to put this review in perspective: I agree with one fella on the Web who likened the city to a great big "Golden Turd." Seriously, the city is gaudy, artificial, obnoxious, crude, expensive, and -- IMHO -- largely not worth visiting except for some good shows.

And speaking of gaudy and artificial... gah, NYNY just made me wanna puke. I'm guessing that if any REAL New Yorker met up with the designer of this place, they'd a punch'im in da face. And rightly so.

It's basically a cartoonish, 204785471285-slot-machined, loud faux imitation of how a mentally challenged two-year-old might perceive the actual city of New York, right down to the "street" signs and other signs, wall coverings, and so on. And the "America" diner? Just like real diners in NY and around America, except more polished, obnoxious, and expensive.

The pizza I had? Definitely not NY pizza. The "dueling piano" bar? 'twas people playing one real piano and a fake-piano synth. They couldn't even have gotten two real pianos in the place? No, wait, that'd be too much realism.

The rollercoaster? $12.50 a ride. You've got to be kidding me. I didn't bother.

Blackjack tables? Mostly $25 a hand, cheapest I saw was $15. Again, no thanks.

And, like most big hotels in Vegas, I guess, it's laid out and lit in such a way as to make...
- getting to your room from the lobby entrance about a 20 minute trek
- finding an exit a particular challenge unless you have a compass
- enjoying even a tiny sliver of peace and quiet basically impossible, except in your room.

Oh, wait, even THAT isn't very quiet, due to the paper-thin walls.

And speaking of my room...
It was barely serviceable, with a tiny tiny desk, Internet access that required you to string a cable (literally) from one end of the room to another (TV to desk) and pay $11.99, a fan (hot/cold) that had no automatic setting, and bedsheets that clearly didn't fit snugly on the bed 'cause they got all bunched up after laying on the bed for 5 minutes.

And why is it seemingly a universal rule that tap water in hotels tastes and/or smells disgusting? NYNY was no exception to this rule.

Having the hotel store your bags after checkout? Expect to wait over 20 minutes while they tag them and then later try to (with difficulty) find them. Other service aspects were no better. "Where can I get breakfast here in the morning?" elicited great puzzlement from the person at the weirdly-named Bell Desk, who didn't seem to have any knowledge of which of the 10-15 eateries in the hotel actually served food in the morning.

* * *

So, with all this crapitude, why do I give the place two stars?

The bed, despite the ill-fitting sheets, was pretty comfy. Room was nicely cleaned and not too horribly cramped. Shower worked decently.

But still... avoid this place. There are MUCH finer places to stay in Vegas. If you want peace and quiet, for instance, stay at the Renaissance Inn; no infernal slot machines, huuuuuuuge rooms (suites, basically), and friendly staffers.

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