Room Quality: There are four towers, all built during different expansions. The nicest and newest rooms are in the Monaco and Mediterranean South towers. They are larger and many have refrigerators (Monaco also has floor safes for an extra fee). They have granite, flat-panel TVs and ipod docks along with better furnishings. They also cost a bit more, unless you can sweet-talk the front desk clerk. Older, but decent rooms can be found in the Monte Carlo tower. They still have flat panel TVs and fridges. The cheapest rooms are the oldest, and they are in the Mediterranean North and San Remo towers. The Mediterranean rooms are right over the casino, if you like a short walk. The San Remo rooms overlook the pool. They are from a time when overlooking the pool was best, because there wasn't much to see on the Strip.

Service Quality: Fair. This is an older hotel. If you can take care of yourself and only need a decent room for sleeping, it's okay. If you want someone to clip your toenails for you, go to the Bellagio. Be warned, this place will nickel and dime you on phone calls and other unexpected costs.

What You Get Bottles of in the Bathroom: Shampoo, lotion and a shower cap. They used to give away a little sewing kit, but no more. Times are tough.

Clientele: Middle-aged to senior citizens of middle-class stature. This used to be one of the nicest places on the Strip, but it's been overtaken by everything built since the late 1980s and has gone down-market in response. It's a fine hotel, just not glitzy enough for some people.

How's the Pool? Okay. The pool doesn't have any theme except for a giant tile "R" built into its floor. It's a good place to sun or swim, but not to find hardbodies or be seen.

Table Games: Lots of blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat and some of the kooky games. It's standard for the North Strip, meaning slightly lower limits than the Center or South Strip.

Bet Minimums: $5 wagers during the week and slow times. It can go up on the weekends. Look for double odds on craps, and then shake your head with disdain at such a lousy policy and move on to another place that at least offers 3x4x5x. Don't get duped into playing 6:5 single deck blackjack. Roulette is a $10 minimum with $1 chips

Machines: Nickels on up. Avoid the casino's $40 in slot play for $20 gimmick. They use special machines that rarely pay back and you're likely to end up with a crummy prize like a shirt or show tickets instead of cash. If you look really hard around the perimeter poker room, you may find some full-pay Game Maker VP machines.

Cocktails? Good cocktail service with experienced (meaning veteran) cocktail waitresses there to serve drinks and not to be ogled.

Who Gets Comps? The slot club is fair, but if you have a slot club card you can usually get a better rate on rooms by calling them directly. $10 and higher at the tables will get you some food. $50 and higher is likely to get you a room if you ask nicely.

Kady's: Their coffee shop is pretty standard. If you get the pancakes, they serve you more than enough. Otherwise, ham and eggs tastes like ham and eggs. Prices here are a bit lower than the fancier places south on the Strip.

Kristofer's: A typical Las Vegas steakhouse with real old-school cred. The steaks and chops here are prepared and presented the same way they were a long time ago. And the room is cool looking in a retro way. Some of the seats are on an outdoor patio overlooking the pool, which can be nice in Spring and Fall. In the morning, Krisofer's Express serves up breakfast.

Ristorante Italiano: Want generic Italian food in a mediocre room? Try Ristorante Italiano, whose name translated into English means "Italian Restaurant." In general, the Riviera has okay restaurants that try not to be too spicy or exotic, so as not to upset the retirees' stomaches. Dinners only. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

World's Fare Buffet: Fair (fare) is the operative word for this buffet. Actually, it has improved and maybe is as good as the North Strip offers. If you have free passes, or a good coupon, you might try it. Still, it doesn't match up to the best the city offers. It's only open weekends and isn't always open for dinner, so check before going.

Le Bistro: This lounge/showroom in the middle of the casino has tons of entertainment that is slightly better than what you'd get in other lounges, but not good enough to headline a big room. Depending on the night, you may see "America's Tribute to Neil Diamond," Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra imitators, or a faux Dean Martin.

Crazy Girls: Classic Vegas Cheez. Topless Girls with enormous fake boobs dance, and an insult-comic host tells tasteless and offensive jokes. Tickets are way overpriced at $40. The show is neither funny nor tittilating, and for the price, not even good for you ironic hipsters out there.

Ice: Russian ice skaters grace the stage with an extravaganza ice show that is part European circus and part figure skating. This is somehow the perfect show for the Riviera, since ice skating is waning in popularity too.

Riviera Comedy Club: Mediocre to terrible stand-up comedy here. The quality level is much lower here than at the Improv at Harrah's, and prices are about on par, so we're not sure why you'd want to go see some lousy ventriloquist here instead of a decent up-and-coming comedian there.

Number of TVs: About 40, all of which are flat and not very big.

Number of Seats: About 25 for sports and 16 desks for racing. The racing seats have individual TVs on little desks. The sports look like they were upholstered in the 70s, but they are decent-sized and comfortable.

How Many Betting Windows? About six. The signboards are now electronic, which may confuse some of the old-timers here. The operation is run by the fine folks at Leroy's.

Free Drinks? They got 'em because you want 'em.

Snack Bar? They call it a sports bar and grill, but the grill is a bit of a stretch. Typical sports book grub like hot dogs and pizza are available.

Minimum Wager: $5 for sports, $2 for racing.

Other Notes: This room is decent sized and a definite improvement over the old one. In keeping with its theme of aging clientele, it is quiet and not very busy or crowded. The bar behind the sports book has good beer on tap.

Number of Tables: Eight of them. The Riv wants to get in on the poker craze, but they don't want it bad.

Comfort of Chairs: They're nothing special. Not like us. Our moms always say we're very special.

Closed Room or Open to Casino? We get the feeling they don't figure the room will be around forever. All they did was fence off a small space at one end of the casino and tossed in a few tables.

Game Spreads and Limits: The standard $2-$4 Hold 'Em. If you get bored with that game, why not try this exotic No Limit game that is so rare in town?

How Crowded is the Room? This room does not fill up very often. Expect no wait if you're willing to bounce around in limits, or up to a half hour if your heart set on a particular game.

Comps? Food comps served up for four hours or more of play. We saw cocktail plenty of cocktail waitresses doing what they do best, which means you'll have no trouble muddying up your head with booze.

How Good Are the Players? They're not terrible, but they're not good enough to fleece the suckers at the Bellagio and nicer rooms, so you have a shot of winning if you know what you're doing.

What Else Do I Need to Know? They have some daily tournaments, but nothing all that special. The room is non-smoking, but because it's not technically a "room," and because it's inside of a casino, it's still going to stink like cigarettes. Try to get good hands while you play here, because they offer a high hand bonus.