First impressions on entering Planet Hollywood were very good. It has a very modern, almost Soho bar feel about it, the music is jumping and there is a real feel of energy. The designers have done a great job with the reception area, which is located on the lower floor.

Checking in was a bit of a nightmare, although there was 13 staff working behind the reception desk only 2 actually seemed to be checking people in at any speed and we spent a total of 22 minutes hanging around and getting checked in. Make sure you know exactly where you are going when you leave the reception as there are escalators everywhere in the casino and it can be a little disorientating getting to your room.

Room:

After being blow away by the ultra modern reception and casino floor, we now felt cheated. When you step out of the lift you are greeted by the old Aladdin, carpets, lighting the whole shebang, nothing seems to have been changed. The rooms them selves as well as being dated look like they have seen better days. They have had what some would describe as a face-lift, but to us a few pictures of famous actors in their starring roles scattered around the place did not take away from the fact you are staying in Aladdin’s cave. The beds were some of the best we have stayed in Vegas the cotton was excellent, so maybe they have changed something in the room. The bathroom was large with two basins and a bath and the usual array of freebie toiletries were available but again nothing to shout about.

The biggest complaint we had about the rooms was that they were very noisy. The walls must have been made out of paper, we could hear everything going on in the rooms either side of us, for a while it was like being on set of a low rent porno!! The plumbing also needs looking at, as soon as anyone took a shower or flushed the toilet you could hear the pipe work squealing under the pressure. So not the best nights sleep. We spoke to the hotel manager whilst checking out regarding the problems and whilst he said he couldn’t be held responsible from the noise coming from other guests he did apologise for the plumbing noise and gave us a free lunch at any of the restaurants in the Planet Hollywood Resort.

Gaming:

Planet Hollywood’s Casino is very cool and vibrant, very much orientated towards the younger Las Vegas visitor. They have 100,000 sq ft of slots and tables, It can feel poorly laid out and a bit disorientated, but this was still very much one of my Las Vegas favourites, it has all your usual favourite tables and minimum bets are $10 on most of the tables, if you want to play higher mins then pop upstairs where they start from $50. Later on in the night the podium dancers appear in the middle section of the casino and dance away to the cool tunes whilst you play on the adjacent tables. You can play the slots from a penny to $1000; the wheel of fortune was my favourite with a $15m jackpot.

The waitresses are pleasant, the cocktails good and strong and the service was good.

Dining:

We chose Planet dailies for a quick snack, the service was excellent and the food great, the burgers were as big as houses, the fries nice and crunchy and the buffalo wings hot and spicy with drinks and a tip four of us ate for $100. Excellent value, don’t bother with their coffee it’s awful!!

Spice Market Buffet offers great value and an exceptional variety of choice, from Italian to Asian and Middle Eastern. I had a little bit of everything and wasn’t disappointed, the dim sum was fantastic and if you have a sweet tooth make sure you check out the dessert section, pastries and fresh fruit and made to order crepes will leave you spoilt for choice.

Overall

A fantastic casino and hotel with a great Vibe, full of the cool and hip young people. Disappointing rooms. Be careful what you pay, we were quoted $300 on line but got a room for $99 at the reception. At $99 it ain’t bad value.