Which property has the most sentimental value for you?

Mine would be the Mirage...daughter wanted to go to Vegas for her 21st birthday trip, so the whole family went in '04. Taught her the ins and outs of Blackjack when you could still play a $10 table that paid 3-2 on the strip and she left town with a few hundred in her purse. Walking through the rainforest atrium and checking in in front of that huge fish tank will always be special.

 

My first trip in '92, I stayed at the IP on a cheap package. Didn't like the casino or restaurants, but the room was great. A carbon copy of any Best Western, but, on the 2nd floor, overlooking the pool with a balcony! Hard to beat.

The sentimental favorite though would have to be Sam;s Town. This was home for the summer golf outing that started at our local watering hole and lasted for almost 15 years. We had Smokey Joes Cafe, Mary's Diner, Billy Bob's Steakhouse, Papamios and Diamond Lil's for restaurants and I've got stories about each one.
One of our guys nicknamed the Ram's Head Bar "The Rock Bar" for it;s appearance. Most of the BTs knew a few of us by name and we managed to play golf with a couple. Room to car exit was quick and the gamble was good. If a bar regular went to LV without dinner at Billy Bob's, their sanity was checked!
This was home for about 3 years 3-4 times a year. Beyond that, it sold me for off strip joints and their value for the next 25 years.

 

The former Monte Carlo was my first and I have some great memories staying there during my early days of going to Vegas. I liked the location, the casino was easy to maneuver around, and I had pretty good luck playing slots over the years. I haven't stayed there, since it became the Park MGM, but I like the fact that the property is non-smoking and has some good dining options like Bavette's Steakhouse and La La Noodles.

The Orleans also has sentimental value as well, since I've stayed there more times than any other hotel/casino in Vegas. I'm always able to get comp rooms with no resort fees and some food credit/freeplay so I usually stay there for at least a few days during my trips.

 

Sahara...1985...my first time in Vegas. It was special with George Carlin headlining one night and a fight in town so lots of traffic in the casino all night long. $32 a night. I've seen it for less a few times since then...

PHo...our (my wife and me) first time going out to see George Strait and enjoy her first trip to Vegas in the 20004-5 timeframe. We stayed there a few times and watched City Center being built.

El Cortez vintage rooms...only a one time thing, but took us back to a time we that we only have read about. Once was enough, though...

I enjoy Aria, which is where we have stayed most often overall, but it has little sentimental value for me other than the kindness of one worker there when a treasured item was lost and she went overboard to make it up to us...and still helps us... There are a couple of other staffers there we like but it just isn't the same on a sentimental level as the first two.

 

Mirage. Only stayed there once or twice in the 90s. Never made it back for a stay (had a rez canceled 2020 shutdown).

 

I love this thread! Y’all will laugh, but Excalibur is mine. In my “former life” I used to go to Vegas with my sister, her boss and her bosses sister once a year. I had a budget of $100/day for gambling, this was in the 90’s. We never stayed at the Ex but somehow we always ended up playing there. Fast forward to my “new life”, I went to Vegas for my 40th with my then boyfriend, now husband, and we stayed at Luxor. Again we seemed to gravitate to playing at the Ex. I played roulette a lot and made friends with a pit boss named Chip. He gave me his card and the card for a host so we started staying there. In those days I played in at least one slot tournament a year, and the month before we got married in 2007, I got stuck in Vegas for an extra day because of bad weather and I ended up being in an episode of Criss Angel Mindfreak. In Feb. 2007 we got married at the Chapel of the Flowers, we brought friends from home and were able to get everyone really cheap rooms for the weekend. One of our friends was a more frequent player at the Caesars family of hotels, so he had a nice suite comped that we had our reception in. It was a really fun trip.
Over the next years we started getting offers from Mandalay and Monte Carlo, so we graduated to those hotels. I haven’t been to the Ex at night in many years, I’d like to think that Chip has long since retired.

 

This is like asking me to name my favorite child.

Sahara ~ Like @ronc, it was my first and I also saw George Carlin for about $20

Landmark ~ I had little money and stayed there with my father, our only solo trip anywhere together, three months before he unexpectedly passed.

Tropicana ~ Simply because I loved their pool complex back in the day and I found it so relaxing, swimming, volleyball, good music and wonderful vibe.

 

El Cortez. I had been to Vegas a few times for work and decided to extend a worktrip to stay the weekend and have fun. Was broke, so booked one of the cheap rooms at El Cortez. Like the ones that are in the parking garage - it was pretty shady. Hit up all the cheapish prime rib specials that were scattered around downtown at the time. And played VP for the first time on the old coin droppers at ElCo even though I had no clue what I was doing. Threw away a garbage hand and pulled four deuces on the redraw. And I was hooked.

 

Tie between nothing still in existence:

Silver City: $2 per hand and free deck of cards with every blackjack

Desert Inn: couldn't afford to play, but enjoyed the jazz stylings of Keely Smith and Sam Butera in the Starlight Lounge several times.

 

Gold Coast. We used to have so much fun there, walk in and yell We're Home! Was a day I wouldn't think of staying anywhere else. Unfortunately, they gutted their Bconnected program, closed the buffet and Young at Heart is a big nothing now. I still go for the Outback Jacks and free rooms, but it's not the same and never will be.

 

Still standing- Nugget. I've stayed there plenty of times and way too many memories.

RIP- Las Vegas Club. Greatest coffee shop ever and stories I would never tell my girlfriend.

 

Excalibur for me. Never stayed there as it was out of our price range growing up, but it was always a dream when I was young. Although I've had plenty of opportunities since, I rather enjoy the novelty and enchantment of what I'd imagine it would've been like back then. Vegas for me, wouldn't be Vegas without the Excalibur on the strip.

 

Aria

This is the Aria commercial before the property opened:

 

Cosmo. Some great times there, my first Royal, and OPM (rip).

Edit: Oh, and QQQQ of course! Love that place.

 

So many of my Vegas memories are tied up with my late father who I went on so many Vegas trips with. Of those properties that are still open:

Circus Circus: Went there as a kid decades ago and it basically hasn't changed. Loved the arcade and circus acts. I only go back occasionally, but I want to check out the revived Slots A Fun next trip.

Plaza: Stayed there my first trip as an adult with my dad when I was 21. I still remember coming down the escalator into the casino for the first time. Another trip we hit a $1k keno ticket from a keno runner while enjoying their 'pound of pig' ham & eggs breakfast in a diner there.

Flamingo: Lots of memories there with my dad and his cousin over the years. We would always walk back behind Flamingo to eat at Battista's every trip.

Sam's Town: Both the old version with the huge Western Emporium and the new one with Mystic Falls. I remember hitting a $2k Royal Flush on a 50 cent coin dropper (no TITO's back then) and getting a free Sam's Town jacket as a bonus.

Four Queens: So many memories there. I remember when they had playable blackjack.

 

Mirage for most pool memories. (Young and dumb!)

……I am also weirdly sentimental about Circus Circus/ slots-a-fun. I always imagine CC with the personality of a drunken party clown yelling “You think you’re too good for me?” as people people pass it by in disdain. (Nope! Sad clown….. I see you. I’m not “too good” to hang out with you for a few hours!)

For casinos that are no longer with us, I miss Mermaids and La Bayou! Downtown isn’t the same without them! Always stopped in for the coin droppers.
Always left that place reeking of cigarette smoke with dirty hands from the coin droppers, sticky shoes from cheap margarita mix spilled on the floor and a powdered sugar mess on my face from the fried Oreos. And also, like 30 Mardi Gras bead necklaces wrapped around my neck! Good times!

 

Luxor. I have a lot of fun memories there! People (in my experience) don’t take gambling too seriously there, and tend to be the most fun at the table. Despite the customer service in Vegas going south, I’ve noticed the Luxor hasn’t dropped off that much.

 

Holiday Inn Boardwalk (where Aria is now). First stay in Vegas for a Fraternity formal. That stay hooked me on Vegas

 

I never stayed at IP, but some of my best times were also at the Mai Tai bar with friends. Flamingo is where it all started my Vegas passion in early 90’s, so Flamingo. Had my first “fancy “ Vegas meal at Conrad’s Steakhouse, remember it like yesterday.