But years of neglect from a series of owners who didn't know what to do with the property pushed it into second and even third tier status - a tattered, worn, dingy place that you stayed at if you couldn't afford something better or if everything other hotel was full.

Now, finally, The Plaza has gotten a rebirth that could very well return it to icon status. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent on a top to bottom transformation of the property and the result is nothing short of a miracle that has turned the property into one of the best hotels in Downtown Vegas and probably the best deal in the entire city.

The entire property benefitted from the mothballing of the never-completed Fontainebleau hotel on The Strip. The Plaza picked up everything from furnishings to carpeting to marble floors to wallpaper and more, then stripped the bulk of the hotel to the foundation and put in all new stuff. All of that sexy, modern furnishing you see in the sparkly new hotel lobby? That was supposed to be at the Fontainebleau? The beds and desks and pretty much everything else in the 1,000 rooms? Ditto.

The reason this is important is because the Fontainebleau was supposed to be a multibillion dollar luxury resort that would have, in better economic times, cost hundreds of dollars per night for a room.

At The Plaza you can stay in a pretty good facsimile of what the Fontainebleau would have been for as low as $29 a night.

But probably the coolest thing they have done with the hotel is maintain a sense of history, both for the hotel and the neighborhood. Although they have put in a lot of new stuff, there is still a lot of refurbished "classic" stuff including some gorgeous chandeliers in the lobby. And check out the amazing black and white photography of old Vegas in the rooms and scattered around the hotel - it'll have you shouting "Vegas Baby!" for sure.

The new rooms are sleek and stylish, done in warm earth tones that include modern furnishings, 32" flat-screen televisions, built in desks, and all new fixtures in the bathrooms. The change from the old rooms is night and day - a dramatic improvement that makes them among the nicest in Downtown Las Vegas by a mile and puts the on par with mid-level hotels on The Strip. Rooms are generously sized although the bathrooms are pretty small so you'll have to set up a schedule if you are sharing it with someone.

Amenities are pretty standard and include wireless Internet, an in-room safe, clock radio, and other niceties. The rooms don't have an iron and board or hair dryers right now but will sometime in 2012 and in the meantime you can request them from the front desk.

The 80,000 square-foot casino got a complete makeover as well with new carpeting and wall treatments, lighting, gaming tables, and a lot of new slot machines. It may not be the Cosmopolitan in terms of cutting edge modernity but it is stylish, comfortable, and airy in ways that most Downtown casinos aren't.

They also have a bingo room (the only one in Downtown Vegas) and a race and sports book that will be getting a makeover in 2012 when it will be operated by Cantor gaming.

Virtually all of the restaurant offerings are new. Options include a branch of the fantastic Hash House a Go Go; Oscar's, a restaurant and speak-easy from former Mayor Oscar Goodman located in the iconic dome at the front of the hotel; Island Sushi, a branch of a local favorite that serves Pacific Rim cuisine; Zaba's Mexican Grill, another local restaurant offering south of the border specialties; McDonald's; Subway; and an outlet of Gigi's cupcakes, a national chain that got its start in Nashville, Tennessee.

Other new stuff: The Swinger's Club is a new lounge that features dueling pianos, disco music, and an indoor nine-hole, glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course (no, really); Exposed is a salon where men can get haircuts from women wearing lingerie (no, really, again); and Insurgo Theater is a local acting troupe doing plays and musicals in a 75-seat theater. The latter opened in their new home with "Waiting for Godot," which is both an odd and somehow remarkably appropriate choice for a theater in a Vegas casino hotel.

The pool area, which includes tennis courts, has gotten a sprucing but the full makeover will happen in time for the 2012 pool season.

The main showroom, a retro delight with decor straight out of 1973, is not getting a revamp at this time but may in the future.

It's important to note that although this is a major, almost epic, improvement over the old hotel there are still shadows of the old property here and there, most notably in some of the elevators, the parking garage, and valet area, the latter of which shares space with the Greyhound bus terminal. It's not a major turnoff especially if you can keep remembering how low the rates are.

As mentioned above, rooms can go as low as $29 per night during the week with weekend rates as low as $59, although as with any Vegas hotel rates vary wildly from week to week. Their reservations calendar is showing some non-holiday weekends as high as $149, but paying anything more than $100 is probably going to be rare.

The marketing phrase for The Plaza is "A Classic Reborn." I think this is one of those rare times when a marketing phrase is more than just hype.

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