Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

106
CHAPTER 5 . WHERE TO STAY
Fri–Sat $119 and up double; $119 and up suite. No charge for extra person above double occupancy. AE, DC,
DISC, MC, V. Free parking at your room door. Amenities: Restaurant; outdoor pool; small exercise room;
Jacuzzi; business center; limited room service; coin-op washers and laundry service; dry cleaning; nonsmoking
rooms; executive-level rooms. In room: A/C,TV w/pay movies, dataport; coffeemaker, hair dryer, iron and board.
Crowne Plaza An upscale sister of the Holiday Inn chain, this businessoriented
hotel is right next to the Hard Rock, but is hardly a Gen-X destination.
Each room is technically a suite, but apparently after building its five-story
atrium, the hotel didn’t have a lot of space left for the rooms, and so each is on
the small side, made more so by the sheer amount of stuff crammed into them.
Expect a wet bar, a sitting area complete with convertible sofa bed, a fridge, and
a desk. Summertime can find calypso bands playing by the pool, making it a
party spot for the many flight crews who regularly stay here.
4255 Paradise Rd. (just north of Harmon Ave.), Las Vegas, NV 89109. & 800/2-CROWNE (227-6963) or 702/
369-4400. Fax 702/369-3770. $125 and up for up to 5 in the room. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Free self-parking. No
valet parking. Amenities: Restaurant; outdoor pool; small exercise room with Nautilus, weights, and treadmills;
Jacuzzi; sauna; concierge; airport shuttle; business center; limited room service; dry cleaning; nonsmoking rooms;
executive-level rooms. In room: A/C, TV w/pay movies, dataport, minibar, fridge, coffeemaker, hair dryer, iron and
board.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino As soon as you check out the Hard Rock
clientele, you’ll know you are in a Vegas hotel that’s like no other. The body-fat
percentage (and median age) plummets; the percentage of black clothing skyrockets.
Yep, the hip—from Hollywood and the music industry, among others—flock
to the Hard Rock, drawn by the cool ’n’ rockin’ ambience and the
goodies offered by a boutique hotel (657 rooms could be considered a “boutique
hotel” only in Vegas). Our problem is that we are not famous pop stars and we
do not look enough like Pamela Anderson to warrant the kind of attention that
the staff seems to reserve for those types.
It’s that Boomer-meets-Gen-X sensibility that finds tacky-chic so very hip.
Luckily, the “no-tell motel” look of the older rooms has been updated to more
closely match the decor of the rooms in the new addition. We still aren’t crazy
about the decor scheme in any of them—even the newer section is too ’60s-futuristic
hip to come off as posh, and all of it is showing more wear than it ought to.
Bathrooms are a big step forward—bigger, brighter, and shinier; though in the
older section, they can be cramped, space-wise, in suites. On a high note, the beds
have feather pillows, and mattresses are surprisingly comfortable. Uncharacteristically
large 27-inch TVs (most hotel sets are smaller, since they want you in the
casino, not staring at the tube) offer special music channels.
The lobby borders on the casino (you can see how that immediately plunges
you into the action, like it or not), which takes the center position in the round
public area you immediately enter when arriving. On the perimeter is a collection
of rock memorabilia, ranging from sad (a Kurt Cobain tribute) to cool
(various guitars and outfits) to useless (various other guitars and outfits). The
Hard Rock now has a permanent, if unwelcome and sad, bit of rock memorabilia
for its collection—John Entwistle, bassist for the Who, died in one of its
rooms on the eve of the start of a tour with the band.
There are several fine restaurants, including AJ’s Steakhouse, a tribute to owner
Peter Morton’s dad, who brought us the legendary Morton’s. You’ll also find
Nobu, a branch of highly famed chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s wildly popular Japanese
restaurant. Kicky and funky Mexican food can be had at lunch and dinner in the
Mexican, folk-art-filled Cantina Pink Taco, while three diner-type meals a day are
served at the 22-seat Counter. The Hard Rock’s premier restaurant, Mortoni’s, is