Rate Vegas

On December 13 2008, Jeff French wrote:

I have stayed at the sahara every year for the past 12 years and I can honestly say I have never had cause to complain. From the time I walk into the lobby I have been treated with great respect and all my needs have been taken care off as a wheelchair user I need to know I’m going to be ok. All the staff from lobby clerks to bell desk staff, waitresses , cleaners to top line management have all been fantastic and I’m planing to go back in 2009 for another visit.

On December 31 2007, K wrote:

I booked a room in advance, paid in advance, and when I did this I was speaking to someone at the casino and asked them if my late check in, approx 1:30 in the morning, would be an issue. I was told no. When I arrived I was told that there were no rooms available….with beds in them. But if I chose to I could stay on a pull out sofa bed. I figured booking in advance and paying in advance would somehow guaruntee a bed. Actually I assumed that booking a room at a hotel, especially in Vegas, would guaruntee a bed. Needless to say, if you are considering the Sahara say a prayer or two before you check in. One that the staff is courteous to you as the guest…which they were not. And two that you actually get a room with a bed in it. Not the couch that pulls out into a saggy three inch thick mattress with a sheet and very thin blanket. Had it not been two in the morning I would have seeked other accomodations, which I did first thing in the morning. This was a shocking experience and now I am half tempted when making any other reservations to ask if I might wind up on a couch? This is not something that is advertised on their website, nor is it something the person I spoke to told me about. The room itself was not great. Old, smelled like smoke, tv was tiny, and the outside had cigarette butts all over. The water has a mind of it’s own. Hot? Cold? Like dancing in the shower…never know what the water was going to do. I just hope I didn’t catch something from staying there. Needless to say, I DO NOT recommend this hotel to anyone.

On September 20 2007, Paul Eversman wrote:

This was my 1st visit to Vegas in 14 years and I was very impressed with the Sahara. The check-in took 10 minutes. Stayed in a deluxe room ($53 a night) which was very nice, clean and had wireless internet. Nice view of downtown. Soda and ice machine right outside the door. The casino was very comfortable, $3 blackjack and higher, huge variety of slots and video poker (at which I won back cost of my trip). The poker room was the best. Friendly dealers made me feel very comfortable as I hadn’t played live poker in years. Very loose players made it profitable if you were patient. They gave a comp coupon for the buffet after a few hours of play. $60 tournaments three times a day with about $1,800 top prize. Sports book is away from the rest of the casino, a good place to relax, place a bet and watch the game. The buffet was very good and very large. Around $10 which got you a salad bar, fish, pasta, taco’s, carving station, omlette station, fruit, etc. Club card points added up very quickly and after my two day I recieved $45 off at the gift shop. All in all a great value. If you are looking for a relaxed, friendly atmosphere the you won’t be disappointed. It’s the last “Rat Pack” era hotel on the strip

On September 04 2007, John Rohrer wrote:

Upset, disappointed, angry… these are my milder reactions to my stay at the Sahara on August 17th and 18th, 2007. My wife and I checked into our room Friday, August 17th only to discover that a steady drip from the ceiling above the sink was hitting a saturated towell, and the same thing was happening from the ceiling above the shower. I went to the registration desk and very nicely asked for a different room.At this point I came to the realization that no one really cared about the problem with the room. A maintenence man did arrive later and was able to slow down one of the two leaks, but suggested that we move to a different room. I again went to the registration desk and was told that a room might be ready on Saturday. There was no offer of concern, no help with the luggage, just a here’s another key.
My troubles followed me to the Casino floor. My wife and I played slots only at the Sahara, using our club cards,
and calculated that we had run about $2500 through the machines. As it turned out I was not allowed to use any comps toward my room or meals, and their final offer of $10.00 match play seemed like an insult. While playing slots I ordered a drink and moved to another machine, only to be approached by the cocktail waitress who said she would have to take away my drink because I was not sitting at a machine.
DO NOT GO TO THE SAHARA.

On April 07 2007, Mike wrote:

The Sahara may be old, but it’s still a great place to stay. I had a nice room in the Tangiers tower and while it’s not Wynn, it was still clean and pretty comfortable. The pool is definitely above average and the casino still has some great deals and a cool retro atmosphere. This place also has one of the most interesting restaurants in Vegas – The House of Lords steakhouse. Great food at pretty cheap prices. If you can swing a suite, the accomodations are even better!

On February 03 2007, DP wrote:

Stayed here August 2006, room was adequate, casino was adequate, hotel registration staff was horrible. I was over-charged for my room (they price-matched the rate I found on travelworm), and the man I was dealing with tried to convince me to leave because it “wasn’t a huge price difference and I was already getting a good deal on the room.” I waited around for an hour to speak to the hotel manager, who never became available. I finally left and paid the extra money. While I would stay here again if the price is right, I would make sure I brought documentation of the room price.

On June 16 2006, RateVegas.com User wrote:

Great room for the price. Only two complaints: 1) Do expect the “Do Not Disturb” sign to keep maids out of the room. They ignore them and go in anyways. We called and complained, we were told you have to call house keeping and tell them not to enter your room. 2) there is no in-room safes. That should be a standard room item.

On March 10 2006, RateVegas.com User wrote:

horroble place, dirty, the lamps aren’t working and the room is dirty and cold, the heater isn’t working, i never advice anyone to go to sahara hotel..

On December 20 2005, RateVegas.com User wrote:

Suites at the Sahara are great! Pool and casino always have been great and service is above average…

On August 31 2005, RateVegas.com User wrote:

Book your own reservation by going to saharavegas.com. This is much cheaper to book a reservation online that to go thru a travel agency or to call the hotel direct.

On May 24 2005, RateVegas.com User wrote:

The ratings on this site had me so worried about this hotel. When I got to LV, I realized that there are always people who expect $150 rooms when they pay $40. This is a great, reasonably priced, hotel.

The room was clean, as was the bathroom. Sure, they are old, but they worked fine. The room was quiet as were the hallways. There was no odor. Everyone was friendly.

It is extremely convenient as the last stop on the monorail, probably the most convenient hotel I have stayed in there.

We had a nice view, not of the strip, but of the Stratosphere. Check in and out was very quick with the kiosks they have. The casino is nice and during the day there are $3.00 tables if you are not a big spender like me. It was a very pleasant stay.

If you are looking for the Bellagio, then stay at the Bellagio. If you are looking for a decent place to stay and have a great time at an inexpensive rate, then this is it!

On June 14 2004, donovan713 wrote:

We stayed in the Tunis tower, which is pretty darn dumpy. I knew things were going to be rough as soon as we got on the elevator. It was dark, dingy, and dirty. Actually, that pretty much describes any part of this hotel that’s not lit up by the supernatural glow of slot machines. The room was about what we expected in terms of size and amenities, and was passing. There was a buildup of black mold in the bathtub which turned me off of an otherwise acceptable bathroom.

On our last night we decided to go back to our room around 3am, and guess what… no elevators! That’s right everyone in the Tunis tower got to hike climb or crawl up anywhere from two to twenty something flights of stairs after being out walking around Vegas all day (I suppose you could sleep in the lobby if you chose). I understand things happen, but the Sahara adamantly refused to do anything to make up for the incovenience to their guests. While standing with the group of misplaced guests who had gathered on the first floor another person told me that in a previous stay they had gotten stuck in the garage eleveator for about five minutes. It wasn’t a big inconvenience for them, but they immediately reported it to the manager so it could be fixed. Well, management didn’t do anything and let people to continue to use the elevator. Later that day, an elderly couple got stuck in the same elevator for four hours.

I forgive elevators ceasing to function, but not management.

Some other things to note: eCheckout did not work from the rooms and everyone was forced to stand in line to check out. I couldn’t count the poeple standing in line as there were way too many, but the lobby was completely full and I had heard the wait was over an hour (I got lucky and arrived as a new line opened up).

I know this sounds unbelievable, but there was a piece of glass in my eggs benedict a the buffet (Fortunately I did not bite down too hard, and apart from a little soreness in my jaw I wasn’t hurt). I refused the offer of a comped meal because I didn’t want them to think I was fabricating the incident. Somebody could have been seriously hurt.

About 25% of the electronic games I played, malfunctioned and had to be serviced while I sat there and waited.

I stayed at the Sahara because I was meeting a bunch of thrifty friends and we all wanted to stay at the same place. The reality was that staying at the Sahara wasn’t all that much cheaper than my last trip where I stayed at the Bellagio (esp. if you factor in extra cab fair for being all the way at the end of the strip). Check out some of the airline/hotel package deals offered by the nicer casinos. It may be a little more, but it is totally worth it.

On July 09 2003, ww wrote:

We are regular visitors to L.V. about 4 times a year. Have at Sahra many times and have many points and have received comps…But recent visit last week we discovered something we do not like at all. Upon arrival we checked in and received our room key and were instructed that we could go up and put our luggage in the room even though it had not been cleaned from the just checked out visitors. We did go up and my wife saw that the bed had not been made up yet and just made mention to me that she wanted to notice when we came back if the bed linens had been changed. She noticed identifying marks on the bed spread and blanket…Well when we returned to the room she noticed neither of them had been changed. She called and asked for a supervisor to come to our room. The supervisor was there in a short time. My wife explained the circumstance and asked if this was normal, and supervisor stated that it was. My wife requested all new lines and we got them quickly…but we wonder if this goes on a lot, so we thought we would post this comment to see if anyone has had this experience or caught it. We understand that not changing them everyday while the SAME people are checked in a room. We shutter to think that we might be sleeping under linens that complete strangers from another part of the country or world might have slept under the night before we check in.

On June 06 2003, wolfman1953 wrote:

I’m 6’4”, my wife is 5’2”. My wife said the furniture is too short on this tiny room. The water was off for several hours as I discovered when I tried to turn on the shower. The place was clean and the staff were friendly and acted concerned, although they didn’t do any thing.

On March 09 2003, kevbo222 wrote:

Just got back from a 3 day weekend in Vegas in March, 2003, and stayed at the Sahara. It was not a fancy place, but the rooms were clean and comfortable even if a bit dated. Every meal we had at the coffee shop was very good, and overall the service was fine. The dealers at the table took the time to get to know you and how you bet. It’s location wasn’t great for access to the newer grander hotels, but the place was great. It offered lower table stakes for gambling purposes and it was a perfect place for a bunch of guys to go who weren’t going to spend a ton of time in their rooms anyway. I wouldn’t take my wife or golfriend there if I was looking for a little posher experience, but otherwise, I would definetly recommend it as a great place to stay.

On January 09 2003, RateVegas User wrote:

Stayed January 2 and 3, 2003. My stay was great. No troubles. The room was large for the price I paid. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom was large. The casino was great, easy to get around, and Speed was fun. The staff was pleasent and professional, from check in to check out. If I went down to the other areas of the strip, I used the Trolley or the CAT buses. Really recommend the Sahara, to those that are on a budget. Will be staying here again.

On April 20 2002, RateVegas User wrote:

I stayed at the Sahara last month. I found the front desk people to be really rude and uncooperative. I had to wait four hours for my room. The rooms are OK but there were not enough towels or shampoo in the bathroom. I will not stay at this particular hotel again.

On December 17 2001, RateVegas User wrote:

Stayed there for 5 nights in early June. Very good value and an excellent location if you have a car and know the area a little.

On September 04 2001, RateVegas User wrote:

We stayed at the Sahara for 1 week in January of 2001. We had an excellent time. The rooms are comfortable but nothing fancy. The service was fantastic. Excellent comps for us low rollers. I don’t think we paid for a meal in the Caravan room the entire stay! The casino staff was polite and speedy. We’ll be back in Feb. 2002. One word of warning.. stay clear of their buffet. I’ll be polite in saying it stunk!

On May 03 2001, RateVegas User wrote:

We just returned from a 3 night stay [April 2001] and found the hotel to be marginal. A great value undoubtedly, but talk of a recent 100 million dollar make-over seemed all but lost on us.

On January 09 2001, RateVegas User wrote:

Great place to stay. Only drawback is the location. However, if the Disneyfied megaresorts aren’t your style, look into the Sahara, it has all you really need.

On December 14 2000, RateVegas User wrote:

My favorite hotel. Excellent service always. No need to go to LV & waste $$$$ on a fancy hotel when you’re never in the room anyway! I believe one of the only hotels in LV with balcony rooms. Wonderful view. I’m not a major high roller but am always treated well there.

On September 06 2000, RateVegas User wrote:

You’ll get what you pay for here. Rooms are decent if out-dated. Buffet is cheap, and it shows. Good cheap casino gaming to be had.

On May 23 2000, RateVegas User wrote:

Clean, affordable, comfortable and friendly staff…. what more could you need????

On May 21 2000, RateVegas User wrote:

Quite a nice livable place to stay. Elevators are horribly slow, but you get what you pay and the friendly relaxed feel makes it a favourite of mine

On May 16 2000, RateVegas User wrote:

Our room in the Tunis Tower was nice but plain. Comparing notes with friends, Tunis Tower has faster elevators than the other 2.
Only amenity in room was iron and board, no safe, no What’s On or Showbiz magazine like most of the other places have. Buffet was cheap and decent, really.