(Note: Bill’s/Barbary Coast will be interchangeable, they are the same place. Although when I stayed there it was the Barbary)Full disclosure: I stayed at Barbary Coast because the rest of my party was staying there. It definitely would not have been my first choice. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with my experience.
Check-in is interesting at the BC, it’s tucked into a back corner and the bell desk is more of a closet, this is definitely a casino first and hotel second. There is no porte cochiere, it’s more of a curb where you get left off and try and flag down cabs. The guest room elevators are out in the open, with a security guard posted there during busy hours.
However, the rooms have been recently redone, and are actually quite nice. They have plasma screen TV’s and are a pretty good size. I had a room with 2 queens, which faced Flamingo Ave. I believe that all the queen rooms face this way, with the kings on the other side of the building. The craziest thing about the room was that there was a small window IN the shower that opened all the way! Not sure what the purpose is, but it’s pretty wacky to be in the shower looking at people only a few stories down on the strip below.
The casino at Barbary is pretty small, and akin to a downtown casino. The limits are pretty low by strip standards, and drinks are inexpensive. The location is the main draws to the Barbary, as it is surrounded by much swankier places with higher limits. It’s right on the corner of Flamingo and Las Vegas Blvd, next to Flamingo, and across the street from Bellagio, Caesars, and Bally. It also has Drai’s, which is a pretty happening after-hours club. I happened to be up and around at 6 am one Saturday morning, and the group of party-goers milling around outside Drais after it closed trying for that one last hook-up was a sight to behold.
Harrah’s recently bought the Barbary Coast, and has since changed the name to the godawful ‘Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon’, and has downgraded the gambling conditions, such as the table rules, and video poker pay tables. Most likely, Bill’s is not long for this world as it is smack in the middle of Harrah’s side of the Strip, and is waaaay too valuable a piece of property to leave as-is.
For a (temporarily) cheap alternative to the bigger properties on the strip, I would give Bill’s a try…I’m just not sure what you’d say when someone asks where you are staying.
Score:
Check-in is interesting at the BC, it’s tucked into a back corner and the bell desk is more of a closet, this is definitely a casino first and hotel second. There is no porte cochiere, it’s more of a curb where you get left off and try and flag down cabs. The guest room elevators are out in the open, with a security guard posted there during busy hours.
However, the rooms have been recently redone, and are actually quite nice. They have plasma screen TV’s and are a pretty good size. I had a room with 2 queens, which faced Flamingo Ave. I believe that all the queen rooms face this way, with the kings on the other side of the building. The craziest thing about the room was that there was a small window IN the shower that opened all the way! Not sure what the purpose is, but it’s pretty wacky to be in the shower looking at people only a few stories down on the strip below.
The casino at Barbary is pretty small, and akin to a downtown casino. The limits are pretty low by strip standards, and drinks are inexpensive. The location is the main draws to the Barbary, as it is surrounded by much swankier places with higher limits. It’s right on the corner of Flamingo and Las Vegas Blvd, next to Flamingo, and across the street from Bellagio, Caesars, and Bally. It also has Drai’s, which is a pretty happening after-hours club. I happened to be up and around at 6 am one Saturday morning, and the group of party-goers milling around outside Drais after it closed trying for that one last hook-up was a sight to behold.
Harrah’s recently bought the Barbary Coast, and has since changed the name to the godawful ‘Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon’, and has downgraded the gambling conditions, such as the table rules, and video poker pay tables. Most likely, Bill’s is not long for this world as it is smack in the middle of Harrah’s side of the Strip, and is waaaay too valuable a piece of property to leave as-is.
For a (temporarily) cheap alternative to the bigger properties on the strip, I would give Bill’s a try…I’m just not sure what you’d say when someone asks where you are staying.
Score:
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