Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas

We spent the night at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on our way home from Illinois.  It is rated a 5 star hotel, but I was sadly disappointed.  We booked through Priceline and were quoted $100 which was to include everything.  When we checked in, the hotel charged us an additional $25 “resort fee”.  When we asked about it, we were informed it was mandatory and was to cover the Internet and shuttle service to the strip.  I found this disappointing since they advertise free internet, and having a car, we did not need or want the shuttle service.

I did however appreciate the smoke free environment.

We sent an email to Priceline to inquire about the fee, and were told that the hotels have the option to add up to $40 in additional fees.  This was the first time we had encountered this.  The reality is that had we not booked through Priceline, we may have ended up paying less.  Lesson learned.

The room was spacious, modern and clean and the bed comfortable.  The bathroom had a fancy mirror that included an embedded 13″ TV in the center of it in case you wanted to watch while brushing your teeth.

Bathroom with TV built into the mirror

We arrived just before 10 p.m. and the restaurant was closing for the night.  Our only food option was a too pricey room service which we decided to forego.

The lobby was glitzy, but not classy and the location left much to be desired with the view from our window of several strip clubs.  I’m sorry to say I would not recommend this hotel and will stay elsewhere on my next trip here.

Trump International Hotel Lobby

The next morning we drove to the Golden Nugget for brunch.  In the past they had been voted the best buffet in town.  I will guess this is no longer the case, but the bread pudding is still exceptional.

Tim tried his hand at the blackjack table for a short time, but sadly lady luck must have been on a different itinerary than us.  We left around noon and headed back toward our little cabin in the San Bernardino mountains.

Rain storm over the desert

This is the time of the year that when the heavens open up, rain can become a torrential downpour and the radio was issuing flash flood warnings.  We waited out some of the worst of it and then cautiously soldiered on.  A few more enthusiastic drivers sped past us and we sadly witnessed two of them collide into each other and then the third car hydroplaned, did a 360 spin before going over the embankment and landing in a fast-moving stream of water.

We pulled over and ran to the car where although shaken up, they were unhurt.  After calling 911 and reporting their off-the-road hidden location we moved on, being now thoroughly soaked to the skin.

Do you have any favorite places to stay in Las Vegas?