From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip
Circus Circus
It’s Spring Break 2008 and the kids are morphing into teenagers. Time is slipping away from us and there are so many places they haven’t seen. We selected the Grand Canyon for our roadtrip destination, with a two night stop-over in Las Vegas thrown in for a little glitz and glamour. I looked to my travel agent for a package deal on the Grand Canyon and a hotel recommendation for teens in Vegas. The travel agent’s Las Vegas recommendation; Circus Circus.
Family friendly, budget lodging is one thing. Chipped, run down furniture, a less-than-reliable elevator to the swimming pool and a screenless window looking down to the RV parking lot is another. My daughter and I flew from the Bay Area to McCarran International Airport as I had a couple of frequent flyer tickets ready to expire. We arrived early at the hotel and asked at check in if our room was available. Room 19743, located in the Skyrise Tower, was waiting to be cleaned.
My husband and son were mini-van bound and arrived that evening to join us. Fortunately, the hotel offered complimentary parking as well as a huge RV park. Unfortunately, the hotel was located on the northern edge of the Las Vegas strip. The closest restaurant within walking distance was a Denny’s with an hour long wait. We had no interest in dining in Circus Circus with its smoke filled lobby.
Billed as a family favorite since 1968, I suggest the Circus Circus Skyrise Tower is in dire need of a face lift. While the West Tower has recently been remodeled, our room was dated, the plywood entertainment center was falling apart and the lack of a screen on the bedroom window was alarming. My 16 year old referred to our accomodation as the suicide room, noting the easy access to the cold, hard concrete 19 stories below.
When I called the first night to ask about canceling our room I learned that our AAA rate could not be refunded because our travel specialist had booked our reservations in advance. Not only did we over-pay, we were stuck there for a second miserable night. When an on-line customer satisfaction survey arrived in my computer mailbox, I mentioned all of the above noted comments and checked the box that gave them permission to contact me. I never heard a peep from anyone at Circus Circus.
Have you had a lodging disappointment? Have you been contacted by hotel management after a less-than positive experience? Leave a comment below. I promise I’ll read your feedback!
Circus CIrcus Hotel Casino 1 (800) 638-8595
2880 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
Photo by Kendall C. Brown
- If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Share
- Prev/Next
17 Responses
I travel about 200 days a year and I can sympathize with your bad experience. Its been my experience that cut rate places like Circus Circus want your money only and sincerely hope that your kids might actually outspend you and your husband while they drone away the hours in the Arcades.
I am a faithful but not hopeful participant in all Hotel and resort surveys and I have never been contacted after completing a negative response. Direct contact with management during your stay is almost the only hope you have of resolving a problem in my opinion.
I am still laughing about your teenagers comment about the suicide room. Why is it that we fellow travelers so enjoy tales of trips gone bad.I really hope you enjoyed the Grand Canyon.
Keith
I have never liked this place and I’m sorry your travel specialist booked you here. There are comparably priced hotels in Vegas that have better services and accommodations.
Was the travel agent a specialist in Las Vegas? I’m guessing he/she didn’t know the city very well at all. Circus Circus was a dump 10 years ago and it will probably be a dump in 2020 if it’s not torn down and replaced. A quick scroll through past guest reviews on any hotel site would have confirmed that it is one of the worst hotels in the city.
“The suicide room” – ouch. I’m always leery of any Vegas casino that also has a Reno location.
Thanks for the review, Nancy! I’ll steer clear. And if you go again, check out Excalibur! Seems like the hot new place for kids. (And also for moms: The “Thunder from Down Under” is based there…
)
Somehow, Circus Circus has gotten itself billed as family friendly Vegas accommodations. This is a bad rumor that never seems to stop going around. DUMPY!
I’ve been burned pre-paying hotels’ non-refundable internet only rates twice. I don’t do that anymore.
nancy – unfortunately not that rare a story. A couple lessons learned: 1) If you love your travel agent and ask them for something that’s outside their area of expertise, then a little double checking on the hotel from your side would be good. I know my clients cut me a little slack sometimes. For instance, I wouldn’t know much about Circus Circus as I specialize in ritzy stuff. And 2) If you don’t have a regular travel agent, then finding a Vegas or family budget specialist might be a good idea.
Josh
Josh Friedman Luxury Travel
JoshFriedmanTVL on Twitter
I’ve found that it’s best to book directly with the hotel for any Vegas stays, they offer the best deals. I’ve stayed in the Circus Circus; apparently I got an updated room, as it wasn’t so bad. Last year I decided to spend a weekend so I checked the Monte Carlo online, $49/night and the room was beautiful.
Sorry – I could’ve warned you.
[...] Lodging: Budget Lodging Gone Bad; Circus, Circus, Las Vegas, Nevada [...]
Worst Buffet EVER
whatever you do; DO NOT eat at the circus circus buffet; the adventure dome is fun, (if overpriced); seriously if you want cheap Vegas accomodations that are good for the kids – do the Fremont street experience; it is a fun walkable mini-strip with lots to do for a day or two, (two max) and it is in much better shape than the circus circus; if you want an ever better experience; stay at the luxor – it has a huge arcade and lots of non-adult fun.
[...] Casino is one of the nicer big hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. The Bellagio is more deluxe, but Circus Circus can’t hold a candle to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and its equivalents (such as the [...]
[...] Lodging Editor Nancy D. Brown recently stayed with her family at Circus Circus and wasn’t laughing at the accommodations they had to stay in. I can’t say I blame [...]
we stayed at circus circus when we came over for our wedding. we stayed in the west tower, which wasn’t bad at all…there were things like the elevators not working properly and yesthe evening buffet was terrible – the breakfast buffet was lovely, for the cereals and pastries, not the cooked food – they need a new approach to food. That said the garden grill restaurant was lovely, we had our wedding breakfast there and they looked after us so well.
yes it’s budget accomodation and yes it needs a face lift, but we paid $34 a night for our room, what else can you expect for that kind of money? we were only in our room to sleep and shower, and only in the casino when we were tired of running up and down the strip! we bookd cheap beacuse we knew we just wanted a comfy bed and a hot shower – we weren’t in vegas to spend time in our room (apart from our wedding night maybe)
i could have spent my money on a more luxurious place, but then i would have had less to spend on having fun!
does the job in my eyes!
Does anyone else have any experience with this?
The Circus Circus is a piece of sh*t. My brother got married in Vegas a few years back and my family and I stayed there, and I hated that place so much that if they ever decide to blow it up I’ll fly out there again just to watch.
[...] you are traveling with kids, you might want to take them to the Adventuredome Theme Park at Circus Circus Hotel. If you are able to afford a big splurge, I think a better spend would be on one of the many Cirque [...]
[...] to the Grand Canyon with a two night detour to sin city. As I mentioned in my review on the Uptake Lodging blog, I let our travel specialist select our hotel based on budget and the fun factor for a 13 and 16 [...]