Just stayed at the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas for a weekend with friends - three of us ladies in our 40s stayed in a standard room.
Firstly, we selected the hotel because its a Virgin product -and we are big fans - and it didn't disappoint! The environment and atmosphere at the hotel was wonderful -lots of fun and smart/cool virgin touches.
The pools were amazing (more on that later) and the rooms were very comfortable.
The hotel is off strip - which to us is another bonus - because we don't like the strip hotels as they usually smell of smoke and are old and creepy. Also the strip hotels often are wildly full of people and it gets very overwhelming.
The Virgin hotel is spacious and calmer, so its very nice to retreat and recoup from the dizziness of LV.
Not saying its boring there though! There are loads of lovely restaurants and food outlets, as well as cool bars etc. While we were there, there was a DJ on every night in the casino, and there was live music in The Shag Room (!) which is a cosy bar - which was brilliant. The musicians were very skilled and it was free to see them.
There are three towers in the hotel, Opal, Canyon and Ruby.
The room was in the Opal tower, which is located near the Paradise car park for guests. Its very convenient to get from the parking to the room, this end, so perfect if you hire a car like we did.
The room was light, bright, spacious and comfortable. We had two queen beds -which were large and absolutely gorgeously comfy! you will have no problem sleeping here!
Everything you needed was available in the room, like a hairdryer, a make up mirror, and plenty of towels and facecloths.
Other reviewers said that housekeeping was lacking, but we didn't find this - they were leisurely in that they didn't get round to doing our room until early afternoon, but we didn't mind that because we were out most of the day anyway.
We requested that they didn't do our room a couple of days because we wanted to spend part of the day in the room chilling, and they were happy to give us additional towels and toilet rolls etc when we asked. The housekeeping staff were lovely as well.
Other standout staff were the bell boys and valet's at reception -they were really helpful and full of tips for our stay and where to locate things.
Reception were stressed looking and a little terse, with very little time for our British jollity - but they obviously have a lot to do!
The Croupiers in the casino also hated our British jollity and also the fact that we were trying to play roulette with no clue and small bets (even though we were at the small bet table). The guy literally shouted at us because we did it wrong - to the much amusement of the other guests who took pity on us and showed us what to do! Luckily we don't really care for gambling either so we just wandered off afterwards ($100 in profit though thank you Virgin Casino!)
The casino is small and you don't get lost in it - which we muchly appreciated as well. Its fun if you like that sort of thing.
We didn't eat much in the hotel - as there are lots of amazing restaurants in LV to chose from (check out my other reviews), but we did have one meal at the Mexican restaurant Casa Calavera -which was absolutely lovely and not too badly priced.
We also had ice cream at the Anti Diet Club in the hotel which was lovely flavours - but really highly coloured (like electric green and blue) so that many e-numbers were a bit of a turn off haha but its only an occasional treat! It was good value for money though - giant US portions of ice cream for around $6
The Funny Library coffee shop was great too - Good drinks and snacks for relatively comparable prices to a normal Starbucks etc.
Dunkin Doughnuts in the hotel was terrible though -tepid bad coffee and overpriced.
Talking of overpriced, we don't drink much, but one of the days we had a few beers at the pool - and 6 small beers worked out to be $69 !! and this was a special offer.
Honestly, this is normal for LV, but I just wanted to flag it in case you are watching the budget. The hotel don't allow outside drinks or food to be consumed at the pool, but there is no problem in the room.
Within a 2 minute walk there is a massive CVS and a 7 - 11, as well as lots of small food outlets like a pizza place, Chinese, doughnut shops, and several burger bars and a liquor store - so no worries about sourcing outside food if you need it.
Tips -
-Take a reusable water cup (Stanley or similar) as you can refill this with ice at the ice machine and there are drinking water fountains everywhere - so you have an endless supply of drinking water (essential in this heat!)
-Go to the Shag bar for the free bands and a cocktail - a lovely way to spend the evening
-The pools open at 9am and you can get pool towels without charge if you are a guest at the hotel.
-There are loads of loungers, but get there early if you want shade - as the shady ones are taken first.
-You can hire an umbrella for $25 and its well worth it in our opinion!
-Cabana hire is also available from $100 for the day - and that includes a mini fridge, inside mister and waiter/waitress service (but drinks and food are additional) If you fancy this, you need to book in advance especially at weekends as the locals get a reduced rate, and its very popular.
-If you touch the minibar you will be charged! Its weighted and if you dislodge it (by picking it up to take a look) you will be charged! beware!
-There is an ice machine on every floor which is very useful.
Things Virgin Hotel could work on -
-Our shower door opened outward, which meant that you couldn't reach your towel or clothes hanging on the bathroom hooks - a small thing but just was a bit of a demonstration that it hadn't been thought out logically! An easy thing to fix which would make a lot of difference to the guests.
-Also...would love a retractable washing line in the shower (like they have on Virgin Voyage cruises) because there was nowhere to dry swimwear overnight.
-The corridors in Opal tower are like something from the Shining! They need to refresh them so they are lighter and brighter and better lit - but that is just my taste. You felt as though someone was going to come at you in a clown costume without warning haha
