But their first and best located hotel for most Vegas visitors, Palace Station, has always been an “also-ran” for me. While they were dumping money into their other properties, this one located just off The Strip on Sahara, languished in comparison to its sister hotels and to Las Vegas hotels in general.

A few tens of millions of dollars later and Palace Station is ready to take the crown as one of the best deals in town, where you don’t need to sacrifice comfort, amenities, or location in order to get a low room rate.

The casino has been completely redone with new machines and tables, carpets, wall treatments, and lighting fixtures. While it is still crowded and a bit smoky, it is a huge upgrade over the former incarnation and provides every bit of gambling entertainment you could possibly want.

There are more than 1,600 machines in all denominations but focusing on the penny, nickel, and quarter varieties. All have the ticket-in, ticket-out capability and there are a higher than average amount of video poker machines for fans. Over four dozen table games of all stripes offer lower than average limits and if that doesn’t do it for you there is also poker room, a bingo hall, a race and sports book, and a keno lounge.

Most of the restaurants and lounges have also been redone including the very popular Feast Buffet and a host of other options including a fine Mexican joint, a 24-hour café, a steakhouse, and more. Again, I have to stress the cost factor here. The buffet, while certainly not the most extravagant in town, is only $10 at dinner and unlike some places that charge that kind of rate, you won’t regret not having paid more elsewhere.

For entertainment there is a comedy club and an Irish pub plus several casino lounges and a 175-seat entertainment venue/lounge with live bands.

There are two styles of rooms – the older “Courtyard” rooms are located in low-rise motel style buildings surrounding the pool. While nothing to write home about, they did receive an extensive remodel recently and are nicer than your average motel room with simple but comfortable furnishings, high-speed Internet access, hair dryers, and irons and boards among other amenities. The bathrooms are on the small side, so luxuriating in the tub is not really on the menu here.

The “Tower” rooms on the other hand are the ones to pay attention to. They have also been completely redone sleek, modern furnishings in warm earth tones, flat panel televisions, safes, Internet, coffee makers, and more.

The bathrooms have also been completely redone with big wrap around vanities and glass-enclosed, walk-in showers replacing the tubs in most rooms.

The beds are comfortably plush and the linens are soft, expressing a much higher quality quotient than you’d expect in a hotel that charges the kind of rates this one does.

So as long as we’re on the subject, let’s talk about the prices. Courtyard rooms go as low as $39 a night during the week and $79 on the weekends, with $59-89 more common for the former and $89-$119 more common for the latter. Tower rooms will be about $20-30 more per night.

Even on the high end, those are remarkable rates for any hotel in Las Vegas, much less one that offers this much in the way of service and amenities.

Although it is not right on The Strip, it is only a short cab ride away. They also offer a free shuttle to and from the airport for guests and another that goes from the hotel to The Tropicana and the Fashion Show Mall. If you’re driving they offer plenty of free parking in an uncovered lot or a parking garage and also have a free valet.

The staff is unfailingly pleasant and helpful – a hallmark of the Station Casinos brand and a welcome relief from the sometimes too stuffy goings on at the big Strip hotels.

Every time I think I can’t be more impressed with the Station brand, they go and throw another delightful surprise my way. Palace Station is one of them.

Highs: Low cost, high value.
Lows: Not as luxurious as some have come to expect in Vegas.
Location: 7 – Close to The Strip and a free shuttle to boot.
Price: 8 – Rooms are often very inexpensive here.
Value: 9 – Hard to do better for the price
Rooms: 8 – Recent upgrades made them very comfortable and modern.
Casino: 7 – Big and offers plenty of gaming options at low limits.
Amenities: 7 – Missing a few niceties but only a few.
Facilities: 8 – Lots to see and do here.
Service: 9 – As good as at all of the Station properties.
Fun: 8 – Low costs and lots to do – what’s not fun about that?
Bonus: 8 – Terrific remodeling = terrific hotel.
Vegas4Visitors Rating: 79

Palace Station
2411 W. Sahara Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89102
800-634-3101
website

But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that the building that used to house The Aladdin has gotten much more upscale now that it is Planet Hollywood and may actually be a worth competitor for the more grandiose, more expensive hotels like The Palazzo. And we all know that room rates fluctuate wildly in this town, so it could be that the rates for rooms at the two hotels may not be as far apart as you would expect.

I recently had the chance to stay back-to-back at these two hotels, so here are my thoughts on the good, the bad, and the ugly for each property from start to finish.

Parking and Access
The list of things to complain about at Planet Hollywood is very, very short but parking is definitely at the top of it. The self-park garage is located at the back of the property and requires a sole-crushing walk through a crowded shopping mall to get to the front desk. Valet parking is not much better, with long lines and wait times.

The Palazzo, on the other hand, is a dream compared to just about every other hotel in town. The four level garage is located directly underneath the hotel (a first for Vegas) so it’s a quick elevator or escalator ride directly to the casino or lobby. I have heard that at busy times the garage fills up and finding space can be a challenge, but I can only go on my experience and it has been a breeze for me.

The clear winner in this category is The Palazzo.

Checking In
This category exposes a bias of mine, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I hate multiple-line check-ins; there, I said it. Instead of having one line where people go to the next available agent when they reach the head of the line, many hotels have converted to the idea of having a line for each agent, which means you may get stuck behind the person who wants to argue about the $3 mini-bar charge on their $1,000 bill. At least, that’s what always happens to me.

I don’t know if a single queue line is viewed as tacky or if they just don’t want to risk scuffing their marble floors with rope stanchions, but many of the most expensive hotels in town have converted to the multiple line formula and I think it’s silly.

The Palazzo has multiple lines; Planet Hollywood has one. Therefore the winner here is Planet Hollywood before we even get to the question of how the people behind the desk behaved. In this particular instance, the front desk folks at both hotels were courteous, efficient, and knowledgeable so that part doesn’t factor either way.

Getting To Your Room
At Planet Hollywood, the lobby is located one floor down from the main casino and there are elevator bays for the guest rooms down short hotels adjacent to the front desk. This means no painful trek through the casino to get to your room.

The Palazzo, on the other hand, requires you to walk straight through the heart of the gambling madness to get to the room elevators. Granted, the pathway is direct, relatively short, and very wide so I never had any serious issues with it but it simply isn’t as convenient as not having to deal with the casino when you are saddled down with luggage.

This category goes to Planet Hollywood.

Rooms
The standard accommodations at The Palazzo are bigger, more luxuriously furnished, and kinda boring while the rooms at Planet Hollywood are smaller, nicely furnished, and fun so this category really goes to matters of taste.

At The Palazzo you get a suite of sorts, with a formal sunken living room, three televisions, electronic drapes, and a bathroom big enough to park a car in. But the décor and the overall ambience is one of bland luxury. It’s a pretty room, mind you, and the folks back home will be impressed with your slide show but there just isn’t anything here besides the size to make you go “wow.”

Each of the Planet Hollywood rooms comes with its own theme, complete with unique entertainment memorabilia. It may be Judy Garland, complete with a nightgown she wore in one of her movies encased in glass or it could be vampires, with one of the swords used by Wesley Snipes in the “Blade” trilogy. Regardless of whether you are a fan or not of the particular subject you happen to get, there is something undeniably fun about the concept.

Although not as big, the Planet Hollywood rooms are very well furnished also. The beds are plush, the furnishings modern and colorful, and the bathrooms, while not airplane hangar size, are more than big enough for the things you need to do in there.

My taste tips me toward the Planet Hollywood rooms by a hair.

Casino
The Palazzo casino aims for more of that upscale ethos and to be blunt, comes across as dull. I spent a decent amount of time in there and I honestly can’t recall one stand-out feature. In addition, most of the slots and all of the table games have higher limits making it difficult for a moderate gambler like me to find something to do.

Planet Hollywood’s casino, on the other hand, is dramatic in a variety of ways. The soaring ceilings, bold colors, artistic flourishes, and elegant décor touches make this a place you will remember. The place has an energy that The Palazzo just can’t touch.

On top of that, I have had a remarkable track record of winning at Planet Hollywood whereas The Palazzo left me much poorer than when I walked in.

Planet Hollywood wins this one by a mile.

Service and Amenities
The staffs at both hotels were terrific during my stays so I really can’t draw a distinction here.

But when looking at things in the room and in the hotel, there is simply more to see and do at The Palazzo. There are more restaurants, more clubs, more shopping, a bigger pool and spa area, and more things in the room (three televisions versus one, for instance) at Palazzo and the connected Venetian (which in essence are one very large hotel).

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of the above at Planet Hollywood – there is – but Palazzo has more so it wins this one.

Cost
In general, The Palazzo is going to cost you more if you are paying for the room. It’s a bigger, more luxurious room than you’ll get at Planet Hollywood, but if price is a consideration in your choices (and isn’t it always?) then Planet Hollywood is the clear winner here.

The Decision
Planet Hollywood not only wins 5 of the 7 categories above but it wins the really important ones. The victor in this edition of Casino Cage Match is Planet Hollywood.

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