ph Vegas 2009

Each year we pick a new hotel-casino to stay at for our week in Vegas. Recently, we have chosen to stay one night on Fremont Street and the rest of the trip on the strip. In 2009, we picked Planet Hollywood and The Plaza. Our experience at the Plaza was one of the most disappointing we have ever had in Vegas, while Planet Hollywood became one of our favorite properties. What is more impressive is how they managed to take such a damaged brand name and reinvent it into something this cool.

The Planet Hollywood Hotel-Casino is a complete remodel of the old, often troubled, Aladdin. The Aladdin was a property we always admired but never had the chance to stay at. So when we learned that Planet Hollywood had bought it, we were quite upset. It is not an exaggeration to say that we hate the Planet Hollywood brand and always regarded its restaurants as a poor man’s Hard Rock Café. However, once we started seeing the results of the ongoing remodel, we were intrigued. After taking a stroll through the casino, we were convinced that this was a property that we wanted to stay at. Our experience was nothing short of awesome.

This year, we changed up the usual August formula and decided to go in September so we could be in Vegas for the NFL season opener. I had always heard that football season in Vegas was a madhouse and it was next to impossible to find seats in the sports book for the games. So we decided to call and see if people were able to reserve seats. What we got was the VIP package including a roped off entrance, our own couch, three oversized chairs, four individual flat screen TV’s, a personal waitress and concierge for the entire day. It was amazing! They even allowed us to reserve the same section again for Monday Night Football. It may be the coolest experience we have ever had in Vegas, and IT WAS ALL FREE! I like being phamous at ph Vegas!

For the rest of the trip, our experience somehow maintained its momentum. We loved the décor and atmosphere of the casino. It is incredibly modern, young & hip with places like the Heart Bar to hang out in, located in the middle of the casino. The place is huge so it took a little time to get used to the layout but that, is part of the fun of staying at a new property. It has a nice selection of slot machines and some great video poker. This is one of the coolest and possibly our favorite casino on the strip.

The room was nice with a great view of the Fountains of Bellagio. It was hands down the second best room view we have ever had of the strip (the first being at TI with a view of the entire south strip). We enjoyed the Pulp Fiction Hollywood Hip room. The beds were comfortable and the room looked cool but it did feel a little cramped with the large plush chair and themed end table by the window.

The pools at Planet Hollywood are located on top of the casino, in front of the hotel. This was cool because for the first time when we hung out at the pool, we had a strip view. The pool décor was a little lacking with Astroturf grass walkways that made it hotter to walk on than the concrete it was covering up. We also felt the pools were too cold to swim in most of the time which is unusual for pools without a waterfall element attached. The pool area is huge, so we didn’t have any problems finding a chair any time of the day, as long as we didn’t want to sit by the pool. All and all I would say that we liked it but hope this is still a work-in-progress for Planet Hollywood.

We didn’t get a chance to try the Spice Market Buffet but loved Planet Dailies. I highly recommend the Crème Brule French Toast. It is amazing but be prepared for a delicious sugar overload. Planet Hollywood’s sports book doesn’t have a bar style grill that you can order food from, so we got a chance to try the famous “Pinks Hotdogs” before their grand opening. Being a guy who likes his food simple, I was impressed. I enjoyed a simple hot dog with mustard and some chili cheese fries and loved it so much, I went back for seconds. It was exactly what I needed during a Vegas, NFL football Sunday, drinking binge. Ph Vegas has a great food experience.

I can’t say enough good things about this resort and even more impressive, they changed our perception of the name. I still hate Planet Hollywood Restaurants but I love ph Vegas. Once we have stayed at all the resorts of interest in Vegas, this place will definitely be on the top of our list of places to stay at again and a must visit casino during every future trip to Vegas. Ph Vegas is all good!

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