But as with most of the hotels in that company's portfolio, it may still be worth a trip if you have a rental car at your disposal because Aliante Station offers a lot of what people complain doesn't exist anymore: fashionable but affordable fun.

Just in case you don't know Station Casinos, they focus their efforts on hotels off the beaten track, including stunners Red Rock Resort and Green Valley Ranch Resort plus Sunset Station, Texas Station, Boulder Station, Fiesta Henderson, and more. Aliante falls somewhere in the upper middle of their "fanciness" spectrum but is on the lower end in terms of price.

The town of Scottsdale, Arizona keeps coming up in discussions of the overall design scheme. Think clean and simple lines, lots of earth tones, and extensive use of natural stone, wood, and fibers to give it a desert resort feel.

As with their beautiful Red Rock Resort, the designers at Aliante have gone the extra mile to put forth a visual feast everywhere you look. There are no blank, boring walls here. Everything has a texture, a pattern, and a richness that you don't expect to find in hotels that aren't on The Strip and that don't cost $400 a night to stay in. Even the ceiling in the casino has a funky feel to it that makes it look like the tiles are falling.

The smallish lobby is a cool, sand and stone beauty and can be accessed from its own valet parking, which if you're checking in should be used because the one and only parking garage is at the far opposite end of the property. If you are casino averse, why are you coming to Vegas? But at least here you could check in and go to and from your room without ever seeing a slot machine.

The hotel has 202 rooms ranging in size from 400 square feet to more than 1,000 for the luxury suites. Each room features a flat panel television, iPod docking station, CD player, high-speed Internet, minibar, and all of the usual amenities you find in Vegas rooms like hair dryers, irons and boards, and the like. The decor is sleek and modern like most newer Vegas hotel rooms with liberal use of dark wood, soft lighting, and very comfy furniture.

If you've gotten used to the size of the expensive rooms in Las Vegas, these might feel a little small but for most people it is more than adequate and bigger than many of the rooms on The Strip that cost twice as much.

King rooms have a little daybed tucked into the corner that is a nice touch.

The bathrooms are not very big either but have more than enough floorspace for one individual. Most have only showers so if you're looking to soak in the tub, get a suite or go elsewhere.

Rates start at around $59 a night, which is crazy cheap for any room in Las Vegas much less one this nice.

The casino features more than 2,500 slot machines, most multi-denomination (pennies and up) and many that are multi-function so you can play a bunch of different games without having to move. High-limit players will be limited in their choices as there aren't too many dollar and up machines.

More than 40 table games run the gamut from blackjack to baccarat and there is a separate poker room featuring low buy-ins. A race and sports book completes the gaming offerings.

As usual for a Station property the place is packed with restaurants: MRKT is their signature steakhouse; Pips serves Italian fare; Camacho's Cantina has Mexican specialties; The Original Pancake House has your breakfasts covered; and TGI Friday's does, well, just about everything. There is also be an edition of their beloved Feast Buffet and a food court with a Capriotti's, Dunkin Donuts, Panda Express, and more.

Several bars and lounges are scattered around the property and although there is no formal nightclub the bar in the center of the casino will have entertainment and dancing.

For more entertainment there's a 600-seat showroom, a 16-screen movie theater, and a small video game arcade. There is a large pool area but no spa so you'll have to massage yourself. Wait... that came out wrong.

Service is as local-hotel friendly as you'd expect. Everywhere I went I got smiles and greetings and I spent hours at a three-card poker table not because I was winning but because I was having so much fun with the dealer.

Aliante Station is in North Las Vegas. To get there from The Strip you would hop on I-15 and go north about 13 miles to the I-215 Beltway, which for those in the know is the exit right before the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Then you take the beltway west about 8 or 9 miles to Aliante Parkway - the hotel is just off the freeway. Another option would be to take I-15 to I-95 near Downtown then take I-95 north to the beltway and go east several miles. There are surface street options as well that I won't bore you with here.

But the bottom line is that if there is no traffic the hotel is a solid 20-25 minute drive from The Strip. But of course there is ALWAYS traffic in Las Vegas so you can figure to double that on most days. Going there on a Sunday night from The Strip took me about 20 minutes and coming back in late morning Monday rush hour took more than twice that.

That's a barrier that most tourists won't be able to overcome. But those that do may find some rich rewards.

Aliante Station
7300 Aliante Parkway
North Las Vegas, NV 89084 877-477-7627
website

It's not necessarily "good" in the way that word is usually used, but it's not the unmitigated disaster that many of the early reviews would have had you believe.

"It" is "Believe," the latest Cirque du Soleil production to take up residence on The Strip, a sometimes uncomfortable partnership with illusionist Criss Angel now playing at Luxor.

For those unfamiliar with either of the major players, Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian performance company that specializes in aerialist style circus acts, dance, and dramatic avant garde theater. Criss Angel is a magician with a rock and roll attitude and his own show on A&E called "Mindfreak."

Putting the two of these powerful forces together seems, on paper, to be a really interesting idea. What would you get if you put Cirque's mind-bending theatrics together with Angel's mind-bending illusions?

Well, apparently you get "Believe," a production that isn't terribly successful as either a Cirque production or a magic show.

The evening starts out as a typical Criss Angel show - loud music, flashing lights, lots of jewelry and leather. But the real show starts with Angel is "accidentally" electrocuted by one of his own stunts and spends the rest of the show hovering between life and death in an alternate reality populated with magician's rabbits, a love interest, some nefarious henchmen and women, and clowns.

Sounds weird? Yeah, well, most Cirque shows do when you try to put them into words. Let's just say that as a concept, it's an intriguing one, but as executed it's only occasionally interesting.

The production rambles through a series of Angel's illusions separated by avant garde dance numbers (choreographed by Wade Robson for all you "So You Think You Can Dance" fans) and Cirque-style theatrics although none of the acrobatic wonders we're used to. Instead you get a lot of big puppets and some very dramatic visuals.

As an illusionist, Angel is engaging in his own milieu but here, shoehorned into a "story," he comes across as a bit uncomfortable. There are only six or seven real illusions in the production so you'd think that would have encouraged him to do the really cool stuff. Instead, it's mostly of the "you thought I was over there but hey look, I'm over here" variety and some obvious wirework that he seems to think is much more worthy of applause than pretty much anyone in the audience did.

Angel is at his best when he gets to be his cool-dude self, an easy-going guy that you want to be buddies with. But when that happens it puts the brakes on the whole struggle between life and death storyline that is going on and feels out of place. So it's a quandary. But he takes his shirt off a couple of times so ladies, you've got that to look forward to.

The dance part as choreographed by Robson is evocative. If you're at all familiar with his Emmy-Winning "Zombie" routine from "SYTYCD" you'll recognize the style, all herky-jerky and envelope pushing. It's a taste that I have acquired and I thought it was brilliant throughout the show, but it is definitely an acquired taste.

The Cirque stuff is also winning even though I'm not enjoying the move away from their traditional circus style acts. The puppetry, both small and ginormous, is eye-popping and a few of the set pieces are simply beautiful. One scene transforms the stage from a snowy field into a brilliant red poppy-filled springtime scene in what seems like the blink of an eye. It's a great moment and exactly the kind of thing you expect from Cirque.

So pieces of the show work; moments are memorable. And I think if they allow the show to evolve, finding a way to keep the general concept while emphasizing Angel's natural abilities, that "Believe" could become a good show. It's happened before. Witness the evolution of Le Reve at Wynn Las Vegas, which started as an overblown, dark, angry downer and has become a very entertaining evening at the theater. But as it stands, this is not the kind of show that I can "Believe" in.

Criss Angel "Believe" by Cirque du Soleil
Luxor
3900 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
800-557-7428
website

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