Like just about every other hotel in Vegas, this 70's institution received a major facelift that made it lighter, brighter, and more upscale. Gone (for the most part) are the garish big-top colors replaced by whites, golds, and earthtones with a European Harlequin feeling.

The problem is that makeover happened several years ago and what was once bright and spiffy is already feeling a bit dingy and outdated.

The big top itself is still there, covering the main casino area and featuring continuous circus acts (trapeze artists, high wire, etc.) for most of the day and night. The giant midway/arcade is still functioning allowing kids an opportunity to gamble legally with stuffed animals as the jackpots.

The property itself is sprawling, with very long walks, trams, or even shuttle buses carrying you to the extreme reaches.

Rooms come in a bunch of different configurations and styles. Tower rooms are nice but totally unremarkable - average size, average decor, and nothing surprising as far as amenities. Rooms in "The Manor" offer you little more than basic motel accommodations, which are fine if you can get them for basic motel prices, but if they want anything more than $50 a night for them, go elsewhere.

Another attraction is the Adventuredome theme park, a fully enclosed air-conditioned play land featuring a bunch of rides. There are a couple of pools to swim in or lay out by but be warned: this is kid central so if you are looking for a nice, quiet, relaxing hour poolside you aren't going to find it here.

There are several restaurants of varying caliber and a couple of informal bars but no nightclubs and no traditional showroom.

Now that I've broached the kid issue, I may as well dive in. I want to state implicitly and without reservation that I am NOT anti-kid. I like children and in fact I was a child at some point in my life. Some of my best friends are children, or at least act that way.

The thing is that I am not wild about children in Las Vegas. Since the city is primarily a playground for adults, there isn't a lot for them to do. Consequently they get bored and apparently decide that the only way to relieve said boredom is to bug the crap out of everybody around them. The long and the short of it is that if you don't want to be around children, Circus Circus is not the place for you.

The upside is that this hotel often has rooms that are substantially cheaper than other hotels on The Strip. You can get the tower rooms for as low as $79 (although over $100 is more common) and the Manor rooms can be even cheaper. I know a lot of people who will check-in here, drop their bags, and run off to the more appealing, more adult casinos to gamble and play with all of the extra cash they are saving.

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The MGM Mirage folks did say that whatever the development wound up being it would include a major refurbishment of the aging Circus-Circus property that would probably involve them getting rid of the low-rise motel buildings out back and the RV park.

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