Palms

Information

At a Glance

Full Review

The crucial difference between “current” and “classic” has to do primarily with the amount of effort you put into it. Pay a lot of attention to what’s happening in the world, learn lessons from your own past and the past of those around you, and throw a lot of time, money, and elbow grease at the issue and you can stay “current” for a long time. Anything less and you risk sliding into “classic” territory, which is not necessarily a bad thing unless you’re a Las Vegas hotel. Here, “classic” can mean irrelevant.

The Palms started out as the epicenter of “current,” with a line-up of hip nightclubs, celebrity chef restaurants, and a starring role on MTV’s “The Real World” leading the way toward party-central and even pop-culture dominance. But that was more than a decade ago, when tweeting meant making bird noises, a smart phone was one with speed dial, and slot machines were things with reels that accepted and dispensed coins.

Not willing to slip into “classic” territory, the last owners of The Palms threw a great deal of time, money, and elbow grease into into keeping the hotel “current,” with cutting edge design in the rooms, new nightclubs, a new casino, and more. Whether they were successful is debatable and mostly moot at this point since there is a new owner on board and they are throwing out the old playbook and going for something new once again.

Red Rock Resorts (owner of places like Green Valley Ranch and Sunset Station) now has the keys to the property and they have changed it a lot. Most notable is the huge wall of LED screens that now cover one of the hotel towers facing The Strip – at night it’s eye catching and makes quite a statement. But inside the changes continue. A big chunk of the rooms have been remodeled; all of the old nightclubs are gone and have been replaced by new ones; the casino has gotten a top to bottom overhaul; and almost all of the restaurants have been replaced by new ones from bold name chefs like Bobby Flay and Michael Symon. Oh, they also redid the pool, the lobby, the main entrance, and part of the parking garage.

The hotel is located just West of the Strip on Flamingo road (across the street from The Rio), meaning that you could walk to The Strip if you are a hearty type but you’ll probably wind up driving, cabbing, or Uber-ing pretty much anytime you want to leave the property.

Rooms in the Fantasy Tower are luxe, with earth tones in the design, comfy beds, casual furnishings, and some pops of color in the artwork. They’re not quite as bold as the rooms used to be, which is both good (the old ones were VERY dramatic) and bad (these are, well, not). They have all the comforts and conveniences you’d expect including a writing desk, a 65″ TV, and smallish bathrooms that have walk-in showers.

Rooms in the former Ivory Tower are still getting an overhaul so we’ll come back to those later.

You could also choose to splurge for one of the the Fantasy Suites, epic bits of Vegas silliness that feature everything from the space where they filmed “The Real World” (stripper pole included) to an indoor basketball court.

If you’re looking for the real peace and quiet(er) spot, The Palms Place tower, located on the far west end of the hotel’s property, is a residential/rental complex with condos that are both owner-occupied and in rentable. They range from one bedroom suites with full kitchens, Jacuzzi tubs, and fireplaces all the way up to multi-story palaces that are bigger than your average suburban home. Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly one of the people who owns a unit here but I doubt he puts his in the rental pool for you to crash in for a few nights. Don’t steal anything if you do.

The casino dominates most of the main floor and it offers everything you need in a casino including all the latest slots, a lot of video poker machines, a sports book, keno and poker rooms, a high-limit salon, and all the table games you may want. The new design scheme has removed the bold colors that used to be The Palms signature with more muted and upscale tones. It’s nice but a little bland.

New restaurants include a BBQ joint, an updated buffet, some high-end options, and more.

Other facilities here include a performing arts venue for major concerts, a movie theater complex, a food court, a recording studio, and more. It’s worth exploring.

Prices fluctuate dramatically here. You can find rooms on weekdays for under $100 every now and then but other weekdays will be twice that. Weekends usually start in the upper $100s and can go well above $300 per night. Note that there is also a mandatory $39 per night resort fee that covers things like Internet and gym access.

Casino and restaurant staff members are generally friendly and willing to help. Front desk and nightclub staff often come across as brusque. Not sure why this is but it’s been like that pretty much since they opened the doors.

For me The Palms has always existed in a strange netherworld, drawing too many of the party crowd for me too feel totally comfortable and yet appealing for its relatively low cost restaurants and gambling. The new changes haven’t done much to alleviate that, but I still think the hotel is worth taking a look at, especially if you’re one of the aforementioned party crowd.