My standard hotel reviews include a breakdown by the following topics. Feel free to skip to whichever section you find most interesting.
- Highlights
- Lobby & Check-in
- Room
- Hotel Space / Ambiance
- Food & Drink
- Fitness
- Miscellaneous
HIGHLIGHTS: SLS Las Vegas
Previously the Sahara Las Vegas, the SLS Las Vegas sits far north of the Las Vegas Strip. Highlights include great food, a quieter, more low-key casino, and a monorail station (although I didn’t use it). The SLS is part of the Starwood Tribute Portfolio, and my upgrade to a nice suite was much appreciated. Service was also slow, confusing, and/or difficult.
LOBBY & CHECK-IN
From the main entrance, walk through the casino to the right, all the way in the back, where the SLS check-in desk is located. It’s separate from the W Las Vegas, so when the helpful associates ask, be sure to let them know where you’re going. Resort fee is a ridiculous $30+/night, plus tax, for internet and amenities access…which I already get as a SPG platinum member I’m quite disappointed in the property’s resort fee, although they did grant me a nice suite upgrade.
ROOM
A nice large suite with separate living room was a nice touch, on the top floor, with great views. However, the television was broken, refusing to turn off with not one but two remotes, requiring an associate to come up to manually shut it off (no buttons on the television?).
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- Entryway Art
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- Living Space
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- Bed
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- Desk
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- Bar Area
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- Closet
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- Bathroom
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- Room View
HOTEL SPACE / AMBIANCE
We saw a lot of young people, which befits the “hip” brand. The casino was sparsely populated and quiet, never crowded. Never had to wait in a line for anything. Lots of flight attendants and pilots stayed here, as well. The casino had lower minimums than I expected, but that befits the lack of foot traffic. Sign up for a promo card to win up to $5,000 free play.
FOOD & DRINK
My stay, which cost $48.30 + Resort Fee, came with a nice $50 in dining credit which I made sure to use. Between amazing dinner and whatever breakfast at Northside Café, to a poor dining experience at Umami Burger, I did a fair amount of sampling.
Northside Café is their quick eatery, 24 hours. They serve Chinese food as well – which was decent, with great fried rice and a decent tofu dish. They have dim sum as well, which I did not try. Be sure to bring your American Casino Guide or Las Vegas Advisor for BOGO deals – these books saved me so much over this trip. However, their breakfast options were sad. Platinum got me $30 of credit, which I used on a ham steak and side sausage. Overpriced and not good.
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- Yang Chow Fried Rice
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- Tofu with Eggplant
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- Breakfast Ham Steak
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- Side Sausage & OJ
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- Menu
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- Menu
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- Kitchen
Umami
Umami Burger was, frankly, disappointing. One tired, overworked waitress snapped at me when I pointed out my fries and burger were not even warm. I wish they could just heat up the burger, but not allowed for sanitary reasons. My phone died so I could not take a photo, but it wasn’t anything to write home about.
Their hotel bar was quite interesting with an open lounge concept. I had their house special cocktail, which was as stiff as three drinks combined. I could not even use both my drink certificates and had to settle for a Gatorade from the coffee shop, Perq.
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- Stiff Drink
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- Coupons
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- Bar
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- Check In from Bar
FITNESS
Fitness Gym
This was in the other tower, and was a little small for the hotel’s size, but had all the requisite machines and fitness equipment. Lastly, the luxury boutique SLS Las Vegas has a pool – but it’s closed for the season.
Miscellaneous
Would I stay here again? I’m not really sure. Yes, it’s close to Circus Circus, but you still have to take a (cheap) Lyft. Yes, it has a monorail station – but the tickets are outrageously expensive for what you get. There is little to no ambient foot traffic which makes gambling and advantage play more difficult. Their casino is problematic, with their promotions not automatically going on my card. Additionally, I lost what I consider a bunch of money, but they were too stickler to comp my resort fee.
Nor were they competent enough to apply my measly fifty cents in points towards my bill. The front desk and the host stand had me walk back and forth 2-3 times at checkout, with all of my luggage, because each said that was the responsibility of the other party. By the end, I was furious and sweating, and just wanted to leave. Also, I don’t think it’s terribly difficult to figure out the situation, but what do I know. Lastly, it was my first time at the SLS Las Vegas, a newer property, and part of the SLS brand, so that was a nice experience.
Having typed that all out, would I stay here again? No, not unless things were remedied.
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Unfortunate about Umami as that had been the one bright spot at the SLS the past couple of years. But I haven’t been since the new management so maybe that influenced the quality of staff and food.
Interesting – about to finalize another trip back due to a comp offer I received, but I really enjoyed Northside as it’s solid. Umami was disappointing. I knew what I was getting into food wise because I tried it many years ago in LA, but the service and the food was just gruesomely bad.