Tropicana Las Vegas - A DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel

The Tropicana Las Vegas is one of the storied Las Vegas Blvd. casinos which dates to the pre-mega casino resort era. I recall visiting the LV Tropicana in the 1980s and its Atlantic City property about the same time. The hotel casino is showing its age, both in the public spaces and in the rooms which detracts when comparing to other Strip properties. The Tropicana is actually owned by Penn Gaming, which is the operator of the Hollywood Casino properties around the country, and this ownership opens up their gaming rewards program and its generous sign-up benefits. I enjoyed using those comps while playing the poker machines on the floor for the 3 days when I stayed in mid-February during the time of the Nevada Caucus excitement. The Tropicana is also a licensee of the Hilton Doubletree branding. That is a smart move because as a Hilton Honors Gold member, there are many advantages to staying at Hilton properties in Las Vegas. The Tropicana does give elite Honors members a separate check-in area and a daily food credit. You can also redeem points for free nights and thus avoid the annoying "resort fee." I stayed on a lower floor in a club room in one of the towers, and it was pleasantly quiet, and window treatments allowed the room to be dark despite facing east. In general, I was satisfied with my stay, the gaming, the amenities, and the food service, but not enough to rate the property as Above Average" when benchmarked with the off-strip Airport Doubletree (where I stayed in Feb. 2019, and just 2 miles away), and other more spectacular properties on the Strip. I will review the hotel/casino restaurants separately.

This was our first time in Vegas. The hotel was in a good location along the strip towards the end. Upon check-in, we noticed the huge front desk, but it appeared to be understaffed. We waited in a long check-in line with others guests, while only one employee was assigned this Herculean task. Off to the left of the check-in desk is their gift shop. Besides all the usual touristy trinkets, they also sell some food and drink items, as well as beer. If you need something stronger to wake you up, they have a Starbucks on the hotel grounds. Theirs two towers that help make up the hotel. Paradise Tower is the tower located near the casino. Club Tower is the tower located near the conference center. This tower has some bungalows that offer more privacy on the balconies, as well as some other amenity perks. Our room was ok, but basic. The outlets near the bed weren’t working. This made it hard to charge our phones at night and have them nearby. The shower was a pleasant surprise. The water pressure was fantastic. The chairs on the balcony are the same cheap plastic chairs you’ll see near the pool. All in all, the room was fairly average. They have a few outdoor pools and some hot tubs, but they were closed for the season. The casino was nice. We casually strolled through checking out gamblers trying their luck at roulette and the slots. I took $20 and once it was gone, so was I. This hotel has several restaurants and bars. We only took advantage of one restaurant and a bar. Theirs also a breakfast buffet with a hefty surcharge. I don’t remember the exact dollar amount but I believe it was in the $30 range. In between the rooms and the casino is a smaller food court that sells pizza, sandwiches, desserts etc. We passed on the spa. We just didn’t have enough time. Their fitness center was something else we also passed on since we did so much walking on the strip each day. If you don’t feel like leaving the hotel for some nightly entertainment, they offer their own entertainment (musical concerts, stand-up comedy etc).