Las Vegas is a city which isn't renowned for preserving it's past. Anyone who loves the Rat Pack will have heard of the Desert Inn, Dunes, Stardust and Sands, but these legendary venues have been and gone - imploded to make way for ever bigger and supposedly better casinos, hotels and resorts.

The last vestige of "old" Vegas is downtown, located to the north of the famous Strip, and here you will find smaller hotels and casinos which still retain a flavour of how Las Vegas was before it became the fastest growing city in America and also became totally homogenous as corporate America moved in and the Vegas characters moved out.

The Main Street Station is a rarity because the casino has been lovingly preserved, giving you an idea of what it would have been like to gamble in the city in the era of burlesque as the entire theme of the place is Victorian.

The Location

Downtown Las Vegas is situated to the north of the Strip - when there's little traffic it only takes about 15 to 20 minutes in a cab to McCarran International Airport, however this being Las Vegas, you can find yourself stuck on the freeway for much longer in heavy traffic.

The hotel is located on Main Street, and is a short walk from Fremont Street, which is the main street for hotels and casinos in the downtown area. It is located about a five minute walk from the Downtown Transportation Center, where you can catch many service buses throughout the city, including the main "Deuce" bus which runs from downtown along the Strip.

Hotel rooms face either the freeway heading north on one side, or the railroad on the other. This can lead to some noise in rooms, particularly from trains going past. My advice is try to get a high floor if you came to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

The Hotel

If you come to Vegas and want luxury, the Main Street Station isn't really for you. If, however, you want a clean room in a hotel frequented by a quieter crowd, this will do the job.

The lobby is wonderful - it retains a genuine Western feel of polished dark wood with seating to match, whilst displaying artefacts from the Victorian era, including casino slot machines from the period. Breaking away from this theme however there is a piece of the Berlin Wall in the gents' toilets in the lobby. I obviously haven't seen this for myself but my husband confirmed its presence to me.

Rooms do have a slightly old fashioned feel - there are shutters instead of curtains for instance - but the actual beds and furniture are well maintained so nothing in the room is decrepit for instance. Most rooms have two queen sized beds and a table with two chairs beside the window. Some rooms offer a distant view of the Strip from the window and I used to enjoy watching the lights go on at dusk from here with my daughter.

All rooms have a large TV but there is not a huge array of channels on offer and the picture isn't brilliant either - but you don't go to Vegas to watch TV so it shouldn't be a huge problem. The TV sits in a cabinet with drawers underneath for storing clothing and there is also a relatively spacious wardrobe area for hanging clothes.

There is also a small safe in every room - this is opened with a traditional key. Take care of the key - if you lose it the hotel will want $100 from you for a replacement.

There is an en suite bathroom which is clean and functional, however the bathtubs are very small - I would recommend you shower instead if you stay here.

Parking is plentiful and free to guests at the hotel - there is a multi-storey parking lot right beside the hotel and an overflow parking lot across the street.

There is currently no wifi available in hotel rooms but free wifi is available in the lobby area and in the Triple 7 restaurant if you want to catch up on your e-mails.

Dining

There are three dining areas in the hotel. There is a micropub in the Triple Seven Pub and Restaurant so the beer in here is excellent, offering a great choice of differing brews. The food is reasonably priced and generally American in style so expect sandwiches, burgers, steaks and maybe meatballs and spaghetti. There are some deals to be had during Happy Hour (between 3.00 pm and 6.00 pm Monday to Friday) but even outwith these times it won't break the bank to eat here. There is also a sushi bar if you fancy something a little healthier than American fayre.

It is worth noting however that this place doesn't serve breakfast - it is closed for cleaning between 7.00 am and 11.00 am every day.

If you want breakfast the Garden Court Buffet Restaurant serves one of the best available in Vegas and is a bargain during the week for just $6.99. At weekends there is a champagne brunch available for $10.99. I have tried both and can heartily recommend them!

This is easily the best buffet restaurant I have visited in Vegas - it is very difficult to provide a buffet with a consistently high standard and I have visited some in Vegas which were, quite frankly, appalling, but the Garden Court Buffet has never let me down and remains one of my favourite places to eat in Las Vegas.

There was also the Pullman Grille Restaurant, which I never tried. This restaurant was housed in a preserved Pullman railroad carriage and offered fine dining but has sadly now closed, a victim of the recession. One can only hope it reopens when the economic climate in Vegas improves.

Entertainment

This is old Vegas but sadly there isn't any in-house entertainment to be found in the Main Street Station. It is, however, a short stroll from the Fremont Street Experience, which is always worth watch - a combination of lights and music that is free. Occasionally there are concerts held on Fremont Street - these will be heavily advertised locally however.

If you want to catch a major show the best place in downtown for this is the Golden Nugget, but most of the shows are in Strip hotels. Failing that there's usually a lounge act playing in the Plaza Hotel next door or if you are feeling brave, you could walk down Fremont Street to the Hotel El Cortez and enjoy the piano playing of Bob Williams, who has been resident there for years.

Casino

This is a small casino by Vegas standards and over time I have seen the penny slots that used to be abundant here disappear...a sign of both inflation and the fact Vegas seems determined to court the big dippers rather than provide a service to the low rollers. There are gaming tables which seem to be well used but there is no race book area in this casino.

The bar in the casino is stunning and features beautiful Victorian era fans which are both functional and lovely to look at.

I am not a gambler by any stretch of the imagination but I have gambled a few hours away in this casino happily, and drunk at the bar with my husband playing video poker...giving me many happy memories of the place.

If you are staying at any Las Vegas hotel with children it's worth noting that no-one under the age of 21 is permitted in the casinos...you can walk through them with your child to get to the hotel lobby or restaurant but don't stop and have a flutter - or even wait for someone near any of the slot machines or gaming tables - security staff will reprimand you - even if the child with you is a baby asleep in a pushchair. I speak from experience here.

Overall

This is probably my favourite hotel in Las Vegas - even though it's probably the last one in the tourist area before you hit some of the grittier parts of the city.

The service is low key but always excellent - in four stays here we never had any problems and you can get a room here for very little money, especially during the week. Rooms can be had for $36 then and even at peak periods if you book ahead you can get a deal here.

The hotel doesn't have a pool but the sister property The California does have one and both hotels are linked via a covered bridge over Main Street so you don't even have to go outside to get there.

Downtown isn't as vibrant or full of the bright young things you see down on the Strip but it's a great antidote to the crowds on the Strip and the huge mega casinos that can take an age to walk through.

The Main Street Station offers, for me, a far more pleasant experience than some of the mega hotels where you can wait half an hour just to check in on the Strip. It also has some excellent dining facilities which makes it a cut above some other properties which offer fast food and no character within their properties whatsoever.

So all in all, the Main Street Station is a hotel I can heartily recommend.

http://www.mainstreetcasino.com/

previously published by me on dooyoo under the same user name