Aladdin Resort & Casino: Make Your Wishes Come True in Las Vegas

Aladdin is located on the right hand side of Las Vegas Boulevard as soon as you make your left off of Tropicana Avenue. It is between the Harley Davidson Cafe and Paris. You can't miss it-- It looks like a Sultan's Palace from the street.

Parking
Frankly, finding the parking closest to the hotel is a huge pain in the rear-end. My sister and I took the right into the parking garage located underneath the resort. It is a labyrinth of lanes, ramps and lines. We followed signs to go to what we thought was the parking structure for the hotel. Instead, we ended up in the parking structure for the Desert Passage Shops.

Don't get me wrong-- The shops are amazing. The ceiling is painted to look as though you're outside, and the facades of the shops are built so that you feel like you're walking down the streets of Agraba. (QUICK! Name that movie!) The problem is that the shops are located SO far away from the hotel registration. You have to walk for quite a while before you actually hit the casino entrance, then you have to walk through the casino and go down the escalator to the hotel registration. It really is a pain in the butt.

My recommendation? Valet parking is free. Splurge that $1 for a tip. It's worth it-- Especially if you've got a ton of luggage. It was annoying for me and my sister to walk that far, and we just had one suitcase between the two of us.

Desert Passage Shops
As I mentioned above, the shops are done so that it looks like you are walking down some fairy-tale, Indian (?) street fair. There are even performers here and there, including some amazing acrobats that perform in the Hall of Lamps. Be sure that you don't get lost, though-- The shops are a labyrinth of high-end stores, restaurants, and kiosks with a couple of shops and eateries that you will find in your local mall.

Some of the stores have excellent sales and prices, such as Victoria's Secret. Others, however (who shall remain nameless), inflate the prices-- probably to entice the big casino winners to spend their dough. People don't go to Vegas to shop, however, so the stores really aren't that big.

An interesting aspect of the Desert Passage Shops is the indoor rainstorm. If you're there on the weekend, the rainstorm occurs every half-hour. During the week, though, it is every top of the hour. My sister and I watched it, and it was neat. Rain dripped from the clouds painted on the ceiling, then turned into a torrential thunderstorm. Since we don't get thunderstorms in this area (or very rarely), I'm sure it's interesting to watch. However, I'm from Long Island. The indoor rainstorm got a little old after about 3 minutes of watching. The kids there, however, LOVED it.

Casino Layout
The casino is fashioned in an enormous circle. At either end of the casino are the hotel elevators: One set to the North Tower and another set to the South Tower. You have to get used to the orientation, or you will be walking in circles. We were staying in the North Tower, but I kept going to the South Tower elevators.

At the center of the casino circle is where you would go downstairs to go to either the Spice Market Buffet and hotel registration. Both are located on opposite ends of each other. I walked past the escalators to the hotel registration about three times before realizing what they were.

While the casino is efficient in that it is a circle and everything is easily found, it is confusing when you are trying to find someone. The table games are all located in one central area, and the main cashier cage takes up one section of wall by the tables. Next to the main cage is the main Club Aladdin center. The Promotions center is located on the opposite side of the casino. Confused yet? Wait until you get there.

Check-In
Checking into our hotel room was fast and easy. The hotel registration area is also in a circle (are you noticing a pattern here?). We waited in line between the velvet ropes, then were called to the arc-shaped desk.

The man that helped us (I can't remember his name) really wasn't very friendly. He checked us in quickly and efficiently, but he didn't have a very pleasant demeanor. For example, Julienne said, "Happy Holidays!" as we were leaving, and he just answered with, "Whatever." That's not really the kind of attitude one would expect at the front desk of a successful resort.

We left my credit card number for any incidentals we might incur, but nothing was charged up front. When we checked out (which I will get into more detail about later in this review), nothing more than the room rate was charged to the account.

Hotel Room
Even though Julie and I had a "standard" room, it was ENORMOUS. I couldn't get over how plush it was. The room was decorated in earth tones with gold accents. The wood furniture was a golden oak, which was beautiful. The bathroom was huge-- almost like a second bedroom. There was a water closet (the toilet in a separate, small room off of the main bathroom), a large tub, and a shower stall. Don't forget about the vanity and the wall mirror, either. It was fantastic. Julie took advantage of the huge tub the first night.

There is a mini bar (which you have to pay for if you use anything), television with cable, table, desk and computer (yes, a computer) with Internet access, chairs, armoire, and two soft beds with one nightstand between them in the room. Personally, I think there was too much furniture, but I'm a bit of a minimalist. The desk was right next to the bed, and the table cluttered the bottom of the other bed. The room is also equipped with an iron, ironing board and safe.

Unfortunately, you have to pay a little extra if you want a view of the Strip from your room. In my humble opinion, it's not worth it. After all, how much time do you spend looking out the window of your hotel room while in Las Vegas?

The sheets and towels were all clean. Housekeeping did a fine job of keeping our room tidy for the three days that we were there. The halls were pretty quiet, and the rooms were easy to get to from the elevators. I have absolutely NO complaints of the room whatsoever.

Club Aladdin
I have mixed feelings about Club Aladdin. You can earn points through gambling in the slots and through giving your card to the pit boss while playing at a table. For all that you spend, though, it doesn't seem like you earn very much. You have a choice of either cash back OR food and beverage comps. At Paris and other casinos, however, you can opt for both. It seems as though Aladdin is being a bit cheap with the comps.

The points are easy to earn, however. I think you get 1 point for every $10 you spend in a slot machine. I'm not familiar with how the points work with the tables. Sorry! The points are also easy to redeem, once you have enough of them to use. Julie and I redeemed for two buffet dinners at the Spice Market Buffet as well as a discount at the Zanzibar Cafe.

Comps are NOT issued towards spa or hotel charges, which is kind of a bummer. At other casinos, you're able to use your comps for virtually anything. Now that I've got my Club Aladdin Gold card, maybe I'll be able to use it for other things.

What is Club Aladdin Gold? Well, if you spend $7500 in 12 consecutive months on Aladdin slots, you receive a gold card. Now, don't freak out. I did NOT spend $7500 in slots at Aladdin. I didn't even spend $500. My sister and I stuck the card into 2 different slot machines (one at $25 a pull and another at $100 a pull), then went to bed. Who knew that they would be in there the entire night and be used??? I hit Gold that same night. Because I am now a Gold member, I get lots of benefits. For example, my guests and I get to use the spa for free. Since Mechelle and I are going back tonight, I get to enjoy the full run of Club Aladdin Gold benefits.

Service
As I mentioned earlier, the first staff member we encountered at check-in wasn't too pleasant. The housekeeping staff was great. The buffet staff was one extreme to another. The cashier gave us a huge attitude because, it seemed, we paid through a voucher and she had to call to validate it. Our server, on the other hand, was incredibly nice and accommodated my sister (who was in a sling) very well.

There is one woman that stood out in my mind: Linda at Club Aladdin. She was so nice and so helpful. Be sure to ask for her if you go to the Club Aladdin booth next to the main cage. The other people in Club Aladdin just didn't seem like they knew what they were doing. I can't begin to tell you how frustrating that was! No one (except Linda) could tell me how high my account balance was. Linda punched it right up on the computer screen. Perhaps a bit more training might pay off for these employees.

Overall, the service was terrific. i wouldn't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch here.

Restaurants
While staying at Aladdin, Julie and I patronized two of the restaurants there. The first we went to was the Zanzibar Cafe, located on the casino level near the North Tower elevators. They specialize in Asian food. Julie and I shared the Asian Assortment Appetizer, which was fantastic. It was served hot with different dipping sauces. It was $13.50, but totally worth it. Later that trip, we went for lunch. I can't remember what Julie had, but I tried the Rueben Sandwich and pasta salad. DO NOT ORDER THE PASTA SALAD!!!!! It's in some sort of creamy cheese dressing, and it tastes downright spoiled. I was NOT impressed. I told my waiter that I thought it was spoiled, and he asked the chef. The chef told him that it was fine. The reuben didn't have very much Thousand Island Dressing, which disappointed me. The saurkraut was horribly bitter, and the meat was very fatty. For some reason, they make it with 3 pieces of bread. I took the rye bread out of the middle and covered the pasta salad with it. It just wasn't good.

The Spice Market Buffet, on the other hand, was quite good. Not as good as Le Village in Paris, mind you, but good none the less. Julie and I found that the Sunday brunch was much better than the Saturday dinner buffet. Why? No idea. It has many different stations: Asian, sushi, seafood, Middle Eastern, Italian, American, Carving, Dessert, soup, salad, and bread. I HIGHLY recommend trying the baklava. Yummy!

Casino
While the casino is kept very clean, the service is disappointing. I waited 30 minutes to be paid a $100 jackpot on nickles. Completely uncalled for, in my humble opinion. Aladdin has been around for a while, and it shouldn't take that long to have a jackpot paid to someone. I don't care if they're playing the $100 slots or penny slots. If they're not paid quickly, it's downright rude.

There is a large variety of slot machines. They range from penny slots to $500 slots. Believe me, I get nervous when I go to the quarter slots, so I was happy with pennies and nickles. You have the classic slot machines up to the 25 line video slots. They had some neat ones I had never seen before: The Honeymooners, Sidney Omar's Horoscope, Sale of the Century, etc. Julie and I had a lot of fun playing the different ones.

There are also many different table games, ranging from $5 minimum to $100 minimum in the main room. (I didn't go to the high stakes room.) I taught Julie how to play 3-card poker, which was a hoot. Mechelle likes the roulette table, and my friend Joe enjoys craps. Believe me, they have it all. The dealers are friendly and will offer advice if you ask how to play your hand.

Check Out
Checking out was faster than checking in. Julienne and I didn't have any charges to the room, as virtually everything was comped. I just signed the bill, turned in the keys, and we were off.

In Conclusion
Aladdin is a nice place to stay and play. There is a daily slot tournament that you can enter for $25, and they constantly run promotions. Take a stroll through the Desert Passage Shops, sit through the rainstorm, eat at the buffet, and just enjoy yourself. I know I did, and I'm looking forward to going back soon.