Spotlight - Downtown Grand

After a few more visits to Vegas and staying at Four Queens, circumstances meant we had to choose elsewhere to stay (Four Queens was fully booked). There isn't a place in and around Fremont that I wouldn't consider so as usual, price was the main factor although a positive opinion from a certain Matt Bridger also helped. Our next trip would have is staying at the Downtown Grand.

Located on 3rd and Ogden in the middle of Downtown Vegas, the Downtown Grand was initially the Lady Luck casino and opened in 1964 and operated until 2006 when it closed down.

The following two videos aren't mine but are quite interesting even if one is spoilt by the creator using a free version of video editing software which then covers up a lot of the pictures;

In 2011 after years of failing to make anything of the casino, $100 million was invested and Lady Luck was renovated and renamed the Downtown Grand. It eventually reopened late 2013/2014.

Out of all the casinos we've stayed in Downtown Grand is the biggest. It has 1124 rooms, a recent increase to three towers after the building of Gallery Tower in September 2020 with some of these new rooms having interactive augmented reality art. Knowing my luck I'd be in the room with Freddy Krueger coming out of the wall.... although that would actually be pretty great.

The Downtown Grand describes itself a boutique hotel with modern rooms and decor and it's something I agree with. There's no theming, everything is pretty understated for a place in Vegas and it's all very modern and pleasant. The bedroom was the nicest of the ones we've stayed in, it had all your standard amenities like a safe, TV and a nice bathroom. Some reviews I've read have said you can hear the noise from Fremont but I'll be honest. We heard nothing, maybe it was because we were quite high up. In the room they have a 'white noise' machine. It plays sounds like wind and rain to help you sleep. It also looks like a Google mini. We never needed to use it but was a nice thought by the casino.

Check-in was a breeze and we quickly joined their loyalty scheme for comps and bonuses etc.

We had been on the casino floor on previous trips but typically we didn't really pay much attention. The casino floor is nice and spacious with 25,000 square feet of gaming featuring 30+ casino table games and over 600 slot/video poker machines. We found the casino floor a very relaxed place, something I welcome when having an off day. As with all these spotlight reviews I can’t really go into too much details with the table games as it’s something we never really play. I do like roulette but have only played it at Tropicana when it was very quiet so I didn’t embarrass myself too much. There’s a nice range of slot machines both new and old, fans of Lightning Link have a fair few to choose from although it has been two years for myself and you know how quick they can change the machines. There is also a William Hill Race and Sportsbook which I’m sure is not too far from the Art Bar where you can get a nice cup of coffee and a continental breakfast. Starbucks run here becomes the Art Bar run.

For a more substantial breakfast there's Freedom Beat. Serving up all American food, we particularly like the All You Can Eat Bruch. If Freedom Beat still do the all you can eat brunch then I definitely recommend it. It costs $24.99 and for an extra $10 you can have either unlimited mimosas or Bloody Marys. Or if you’re like me, you can order 3 x very large Micheladas for $10 even though you have no idea what they are……

With the unlimited brunch you choose from their brunch menu a couple of dishes at a time and the slowly bring you a few bit by bit until you’re too full to eat any more. All the food we ordered tasted nice and we will definitely go back there again…..I won’t be ordering the Micheladas though. It wasn’t because they were horrible but after 1 and a half of these I never wanted to taste tomato ever again.

On Saturdays and Sundays at Freedom Beat you also get to enjoy live music although I’m sure someone was setting up and singing when we were there for breakfast. Good thing is though it’s not too loud and is a perfect accompaniment to the restaurant.

The Downtown Grand also advertise the Triple George Grill Steakhouse and Pizza Rock for food and also Sidebar and Hogs&Heifers for drinks although none are actually inside the Downtown Grand they are located on the opposite side of the road. For a nice relaxed steakhouse grill, you have Triple George Grill Steakhouse, for pizza to go or to sit in at their dining area you have Pizza Rock. We’ve only ever been to Pizza Rock for takeaway and it was very nice, reasonably priced pizza that we will always look to go back to and maybe even have a sit-down meal there but it’s really nice to just have one to go and sit outside people watching.

We’ve not tried Sidebar nor Hogs&Heifers but I do know that Hogs&Heifers is definitely a place you want to go if you want downright riotous partying and dancing on bars. There are always some really nice motorbikes outside which I know one day I’ll lean against one and knock them all over. Whether or not it’s too loud for my precious ears I don’t know but I’m willing to give it a shot if I’m ever allowed back into the country.

After all that bravado from myself I see in the local Vegas news there is still an ongoing battle between Hogs&Heifers and Downtown Grand. It appears Michelle Dell – the owner of Hogs&Heifers had sued Downtown Grand (the landlords) in 2019 over a lease agreement breach only for Downtown Grand to counter-sue. There is a lot more to this story so here’s a link to a very recent article. : Las Vegas saloon, casino battle in court; closing arguments heard | Las Vegas Review-Journal (reviewjournal.com)

You can’t talk about Downtown Grand and not mention the Citrus Grand Pool Deck. This rooftop pool area is large, spacious and has a bar for drinks an area for snacks. During the Summer months a poolside DJ keeps those banging beats erm banging…. You reserve a private cabana for the price of one kidney - smallest one (2 to 4 guests) minimum $100 up to the largest (18 to 25 guests) at a minimum price of $700. There is just the one pool here, the area is brightly coloured, in the week it’s pretty chill but it does have games and parties on weekends and as with every other pool it gets very busy in the Summer. We visited in October and the pool was open so don’t do what we did and not take any swimming gear with you or decide to visit the pool on your last day because you’ll regret not making the most of what is a very nice rooftop pool.

Another thing we didn’t even know about so either it was poorly advertised or we were just distracted by Pizza Rock is the Delirious Comedy Club. It’s had very good reviews and the comedians frequenting here may have been on HBO or BET or Bob & Tom or some other American show I’ve never seen, or they may have been on YouTube or Netflix or even the Tonight Show but not the Late Late Show because no-one/everyone finds James Corden funny/not funny. I’ve sat on the fence there as I know not everyone likes him, me? I don’t mind his old stuff, I really don’t care much about carpool karaoke.

Shall we get back on track?

In a nutshell, Downtown Grand is a very nice place to stay. It’s in a good location not too far at all from the Fremont Street Experience and you have the amazing and brilliant Mob Museum just a short walk away. The rooms are clean, spacious and modern and we had no problems with noise but other people have said it can be noisy but that’s going to depend on which room you’re in and how sensitive you are to noise. The pool deck is very nice and I regret not visiting it earlier during our stay. Casino floor in uncluttered and spacious with a good selection of machines. There’s a good selection of places to eat and drink and the three places we went to – Freedom Beat, Art Café and Pizza Rock were all great.

Any criticisms? I can’t think of anything that made us grumble and there was nothing that would make us not want to return…..

I say that but there was one thing that was literally a shock………

Time for me to buzz off. Ta ra a bit.