Paris Las Vegas Review: Pros, Cons & What to Expect

Our last visit to Vegas, we had stayed at Mandalay Bay in December 2011 having enjoyed Disney’s Lion King Musical and the Sky Jump at the Stratosphere adventure. Why were we in Vegas this time? Answer: a family reunion. Paris Hotel wasn’t our 1st choice for accommodations, but other family members were planning to book there.

OVERALL RATING: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 stars)

In summary, would we stay in the Paris Hotel again? No. And here’s why.

Review: Dec. 19 to 29, 2017 at Paris Hotel

Service

Registration 👎 - The trip package we purchased through Travelocity gave us a Classic 2 Queen Beds Non-Smoking Room with a French countryside feel on the 9th floor. We inquired about any floors facing the strip, and they said we’d have to upgrade to a higher room for $45/night (probably not including their $39.68/day resort fee, giving us access to the fitness center for two people per day… which I have a complaint about below). He warned us that weekends may get loud in our room due to the nightclubs. We felt this was only mentioned to sell an upper floor. We declined and luckily we did (see Smoke-Free Room comments).

Luggage Service 👎 - 10 days at Paris Hotel and it’s 11:00am. Time to check out. We needed to store our luggage as our flight departure wasn’t until evening. Dec. 29, 2017 - JOE at Luggage Service outside was very RUDE.. barking orders at us and people in line looking for service. How about some politeness?! Simply say, "Please stay behind the line. One of us will be right with you. Thank you." Customers pay a good price to stay at this hotel not to be barked at especially during the holidays.

Ambiance 😢 - For the Christmas Holidays, there were little to no decorations, unlike other hotels that have gone all out to make you feel like you were visiting during the holiday season. I think there was a lonely, single Christmas tree in the lobby and a few wreaths here and there.

There was a lot to look at with their facade, which is a nice touch.

Smoke-Free Room No.908

Comfort - Mattress was comfortable but the pillows were lumpy although it’s hard to beat (Affiliate Link) Marriott’s feather & down pillows.

Noise Level - Room No. 908 faces the rooftops and no streets so it’s quiet... unlike what the Check-In Representative tried to upsell us to a quieter, more expensive, higher floor. The only noise comes from the thin walls with neighbors and any passerby in the hallway.

WiFi - Great in-room Wifi for streaming.

Spa & Fitness Facilities

For $39.68/day, can’t the Mandala Spa and Fitness at Paris Hotel Vegas facilities be 24/7?! I don’t understand the early closing time (6 am - 7 pm). A representative explained that they get the hotel ready for nightlife. Poor excuse. I was able to get to the gym and the steam room 4x on our 10-day visit. As far as customer service or simple courtesy at the spa, they should’ve also announced an abbreviated schedule for Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day for the facilities. Tried to visit, and they were closed even earlier than 7 pm. It got really frustrating, also, because on one occasion, the attendant said they start shutting down at 6:30 pm to prepare to close at 7 pm. So we really had to rush through a workout and a steam room experience. Then another worker saw how rushed we looked and said they would start shutting down at 6:45pm to give us more time. If they close at 7 pm. They should be open until 7 pm and do all their clean-up and prep after patrons leave.

TIP: Showers at the spa had better quality shampoo & conditioner than our rooms so bring a change of clothes.

Casino and Gaming

No designated smoking or smoke-free areas in their casino. This is Vegas after all. The Le Bar Du Sport - sports bar seemed to be the least popular area to escape the smoke-filled environment while enjoying watching football. Felt bad also for the dogs at this pet-friendly Paris hotel. They have 40x the sense of smell than us.

Back to the casino area... not enough cleanliness at the slots (see picture below). As we did some hotel hopping this holiday season, Paris had to be one of the most smoke-filled casinos amongst visits to Wynn, Bellagio, and Planet Hollywood when we scooted around. Maybe the other hotels have better air filters? 

If you’re a non-smoker like myself, the only escape from smoke would be to:
(1) not gamble and get outdoors
(2) escape to the spa
(3) walk away from crowds and anyone who lights up.

What's Nearby

A plus staying at Paris Hotel was the annex to Bally’s Casino without stepping outdoors. Very nice when it’s cold outside, and gave our family reunion alternative places to dine and gamble without going too far. But there are several in-house Paris eateries we dined at:

Restaurants & Bars

• Le Central - A great place to gather with a big group as we were visiting Vegas for a family reunion. No outside food or drinks allowed at this bar though. They will say something about it.
  
  
  
  
• Le Café Ile St. Louis - Hoping to enjoy breakfast here but the service & food was so-so for the price. I ordered Strawberry Crepe (strawberry, vanilla bean creme brûlée) $14 and Sausage Cheddar Grits & Eggs $12. Crepes were better at La Creperie a few steps away. Bill returned the grits as it was all too cheesy and went for the St Louis Signature breakfast $16 (two eggs, applewood bacon, and potatoes). Nothing memorable.
  
  
• La Creperie - 🏆 My favorite place to have late breakfast or brunch staying at Paris Hotel. Prices were reasonable and couldn’t get enough of the Shrimp Scampi Crepe $11.25.
• Yong Kang Street Dumpling & Noodle House - Enjoyed an evening here of fried rice, shrimp dumplings and red bean sesame ball.
• Sekushi - Found their Bulgogi Beef Bento too sweet. But they allowed us to dine there while ordering from the menu to their extension right next door - Iron Skillet - where we had dinner several times during our stay at Paris Hotel. Favorite skillet-prepared dishes was their sirloin & corn over rice with a side of asparagus. We also tried their salmon skillet.
• Gordon Ramsay Steak - A fan of Gordon Ramsay for years, we finally enjoyed his famous Roasted Beef Wellington 6oz $59. Thanks again to Bill’s big sister Mary Jane for this treat!

Only thing I regret missing was a visit to Napoleon's Dueling Pianos.

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