Casino Boy Says: Jumpin' Jehosephat! This place has some kind of old school class.


Hotel Size:
Overall Quality:
Room Price:
Casino Size:
Value:
198 rooms
Very Good
$$
20,000 s.f.
Excellent

Casino Food Entertainment Race and Sports Amy's Theme Review

Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino
1-888-227-2279, 3595 LasVegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Check out their Website.

Map


Room Quality Outstanding for the price. The rooms are big, with canopied beds, Victorian furniture and great views of the Center Strip. This is a small hotel, and the casino is a bit smoky, but the rooms are surprisingly nice. The bathrooms are a bit small, with a weird shape, but they aren't uncomfortable small. All the single king bed rooms face Flamingo Road, Bally's and Bellagio. The double queen bed rooms face the Flamingo Hilton. They are quieter (although you get to hear the air conditioning system from the Flamingo), but the view ain't as hot. The tubs have a window you can open onto the world. We use them to yell to passers-by below that we are naked and wet.



Weekday
Around $70-$80
DISCOUNT Weekday
Around $50-$60
Weekend
Around $120
DISCOUNT Weekend
Around $80-$90

What Does Discount Mean?


Service Quality: Excellent. The hotel is small so it's a short walk to the elevators and the staff is attentive to your needs. Also, with only 198 rooms, there is never much of a line for check-in.
What You Get Bottles of in the Bathroom: You've hit the jackpot! Shampoo, conditioner, lotion, bath gel and mouthwash. The Barbary Coast wants you to spend a lot of time in the bathroom putting on liquids.
Clientele:The whole gamut. We see lots of young people attracted by the low table limits, and we see lots of older folks who know a good deal when they see one. This place has a lot of loyal repeat customers, too.
How's the pool? There is none. You'll have to sneak into some other hotel's.
Free Shuttle: Two run from here to sister casinos, the Orleans and the Gold Coast. (For complete free shuttle info and schedules buy our guide--it's only $4)


Table Games: Blackjack, craps, roulette, Let It Ride, Pai Gow, Carribean Stud. This is a small casino, so the less popular games only get one table each. It's also a bit smoky and can look a little run down. Not scary run-down, just like it's an older casino.
Machines: Slots from a nickel on up. A decent selection of video poker, with some full-pay (particularly the Deuces Wild). The mix is mostly quarter slots, but you'll find a decent number of nickels (and dollars for you high-rollers).
Bet Minimums: $3 most of the time. It's a nice room to play blackjack for three bucks. Although the casino looks fancy, the limits are entirely affordable, especially considering it's across the street from the Bellagio. For higher limits, you can get a good double-deck game. One warning, however, this place really frowns on card-counting and is notorious for booting counters.
Cocktails? Fantastic service. This place is a four-star pick if you want to get toasted. The lovely cocktail waitresses come often and the drinks come strong.
Who Gets Comps? This place gives triple points for slot club members on Mondays and other special occasions. The tables are loose for the coffee shop if you put in a few hours at $10 a hand. Rooms and the gourmet restaurants come at a higher price. If you play a lot here on the slots, you will get some decent mail offers and they'll comp you well while you're staying there.


Victorian Room: Good food for a coffee shop and one of the few coffee shops worth eating dinner in. If all you want is simple nourishment, there are cheaper, less delicious, places. It's not overpriced because you get quality grub, but it's not dirt cheap. They have a fairly extensive and decent Chinese menu.
Drai's: Oo la la, this is some swanky French-continental dining. Look, we don't have an opinion because we'll never be able to afford to eat here, but some rich people we know rave about it. From midnight to 6 a.m., Drai's becomes an after-hours club with a deejay spinning house records.
Michael's: It's more fancy, super-duper expensive food where some guy is assigned just to filling up your water glass. This is supposed to be fantastic, but we'll never know unless you book about 1000 hotel room nights through our site and make us rich.


Cheapo Car Rentals Cheapo Packages
Casino Boy offers the best rates for every rental agency. Before you rent a car, check our guide to see if you'll even need one.
Casino Boy offers the total package: flights and hotels in one lovable discount bundle. See if you can save some dough.

Lounge: Cheesy lounge acts perform nightly. They aren't cheesy enough to be entertaining, but they are cheesy enough to annoy you while you gamble.




out of Five

Learn More

Number of TVs About 20. Just two measly big screens, one for sports and one for racing.
Number of seats 72. None of the seats are reserved, but all are meant for race fans. Sports bettors, go sit in the street! The nicest thing Matt could say about the comfort of the chairs was, "Eh." On the plus side, the seats have individual TVs. Again, just for horses.
How many betting windows? About 10, with electronic signboards for sports, but white slate for horses. What cramps those bookies must get in their hands.
Free Drinks? Sorry, pal. Drinks are on you at the nearby bar. (pretend you're playing video poker and they'll load you up free).
Snack Bar? A tiny hot dog stand serves to feed the hungry masses.
Minium wager $5 for sports, $2 for racing


Where? Central Strip
Who owns it? Michael Gaughan
Ostensible Theme I have to admit that the name of this joint gave me pause, until I looked it up. Westerners originally referred to Northern Africa and the pirates that came from there as Barbary. Eventually, "Barbary Coast" came to mean any district known for lawless living. And, in its day, San Francisco certainly had its share of lawless living. So there you have it, a San Francisco-themed casino named Barbary Coast.
Clientele For such an infamous name, this Barbary Coast doesn't seem rowdy in the least, even if it is pretty busy. Maybe the Victorian aura intimidates the rabble.
Employee costumes Pardners, my observations were tainted by a rodeo convention in town; the employees got to wear casual and Western wear in the casino, instead of their normal uniforms. So, I'll have to double-check on my next visit.
Carpet and Other Decor According to the Barbary Coast, the road to perdition is a wide promenade with park benches, trees and streetlights made to look like gas lanterns. At one entrance, John Wayne and Ann Dvorak cavort n a poster for a movie called "Flame of the Barbary Coast."

San Francisco, especially at the turn of the last century, is an oft-used locale for Las Vegas casinos. The casino which, given the theme, could be a minimalist's nightmare, is kept from being overdone with dark walls and beige striped wallpaper. Blue carpet with gold foliage adds some color and frills, as do the antique-style chandeliers and wall sconces.

Paintings always seem so lost among the aisles of flashing and pinging video poker and slot machines. Still, the paintings of stagecoaches and the like and stained glass touches add a little warmth to the atmosphere.

A frosted glass portrait of a senorita with an off-the-shoulder ruffle and upswept hair sits at the entrance to the restroom. Inside, there's a large sink and grooming area, complete with hairspray and lotion (yay!). The stalls have a faux marble look to them, and the floors are mere tile, but there are big honking mirrors in which to admire your pretty face.
Food Drai's and Michael's contribute to the high-class atmosphere with their cuisine and atmosphere. The mere name of the Victorian Room reminds you to mind your manners.
Games Two words that did not appear together in Victorian times were "fun" and "club." The Barbary Coast flouts all conventions with the Barbary Coast Fun Club.
Entertainment Karaoke? A nightclub? I'm sure all the society matrons wearing bustles would be just shocked.
Other Services You can send a telegraph, just like in the olden days, at the Western Union office.
Did it work? The Barbary Coast isn't campy or flashy at all, but comes across as a respectable, pleasant establishment. They do more with less here.
Suggestions If this place ever gets too grungy; it will become indistinguishable from every other Gilded Age-inspired casino in town.



Travelscape


Cheapo Vegas Home

 Check out the Las Vegas on 25¢ a Day Travel Guide
Free Eats Cheap Eats Free to See Free Crap
Sleep Cheap Gamble Cheap Las Vegas Books


Questions and Comments on design, on content, on theme reviews.


 

Cheapovegas.com is brought to you by Big Empire Industries, a Division of Randy Shandis Enterprises
The Big Empire
©1999-2000