South Point Hotel and Casino - My Experience and Opinion

My Opinion: The South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas didn't win any awards when we stayed there the first time. My opinion only slightly changed the when we stayed there the second time, two weeks later. This is how our two stays went. When Mayra got pregnant and we had the baby, our lives went on hold. It wasn't until recently we felt the baby was old enough for us to take a long road trip comfortably. Our first vacation as a family was planned so we could introduce the baby to the rest of my family in Montana. Normally we would fly, but driving seemed the logical choice since we had no idea how the baby would react to flying. My parents were taking a vacation in Montana at the same time and we figured we could follow them in their motor home. The drive to Montana is around eighteen hours so we planned to split it up a bit. We were not set to leave until Sunday but actually started the vacation a day early when we got the call that my parents had already left town and were waiting for us in Vegas. Since we started a day early and had no hotel, we stayed with my parents the first night in their motor home. The next day was spent shopping and seeing the sights. After a full day, the baby was tired and needed a nap. She was getting cranky and was not going to put up with a hotel check-in. Instead I dropped Mayra off at the RV park so she could feed the baby. I then drove to the South Point Hotel and Casino.


I had reserved my stay at the South Point well in advance using our credit card points from American Express. I had chosen the South Point for two reasons. First, my parents were staying at the Oasis Rv park just down the road. Second, the hotel prices were pretty cheap in comparison to others on the strip. When I arrived, I parked in self-parking and checked in. Once done I promptly returned to the RV park to pick up Mayra and a well-fed, happy baby. We left my parents and went to our hotel. We drove up to valet the car; I unloaded my bags and waited while two cars with higher end brand names drove up. Our new Ford Fusion was no Mercedes or BMW, or even the H1 Hummer we just sold, but it was brand-new and a pretty nice car. But I guess it didn't evoke a big tip feeling with the valet. The valet basically looked past me to the big tip cars (even though he new I had arrived first) and helped those who he perceived had big money first. Wow did I just get skipped because this guy thought he'd get a bigger tip from the occupants of the supposed nicer cars? He perceived right! After I was made to wait for the more affluent guests, I decided dude deserved a little less tip. Crap I thought, the vacation was just beginning and I'm not liking this place already.

Anyway Mayra wanted to go in because the baby was still tired and we had no idea how long this would take. She left me and made her way to our room while I waited for a valet and eventually a bellman to assist with my bags. Finally the over efficient valet decided it was my turn and gave me my stub and told me to wait by my bags, “Someone would be by in a minute”. Approximately fifteen minutes passed and someone finally showed up. After he took my bags, I made my way through the casino, through numerous clouds of cigarette smoke, down the long, long hall to the elevators, and finally to the room. The room surprised me, I must admit, it was clean and decorated nicely. Something I did not expect for the low price, the room was less than $50. I called for our bags, which arrived around ten to fifteen minutes later. Food was on our mind so we got ready to go meet my parents for dinner. The baby had other plans and she fell asleep.

I looked at the room service menu and decided I would rather not finance this particular meal. Instead I opted to go downstairs and order takeout from their café, wrong. I was told no hotel restaurant offers take out. Really? I thought. Even the stratosphere lets you takeout. I was told that if I wanted food to go, I'd have to sit, then order and when my food came, explain to the waitress that I would like a to-go box, really? Was this rule some how tied to the fact that they want you to eat from their over priced room service menu? No other place offers food I can take back I asked in frustration. Only the Deli the waitress reluctantly stated. Great I thought, it wasn't what I wanted, but food was food at this point. I found the deli, which was located across the casino floor. It had a varied menu. Pizza, sandwiches, wings and more (The wings which we had on our second stay were fantastic) and the food was pretty good, but once again over priced. At this point I was not too happy with South Point. Lack of food and bad service tends to get me that way, regardless of the price I'm paying.


Two weeks later we had to stay at the South Point again, but this time I decided to book an extra night since we would be arriving earlier than our reservation date. I didn't really want to stay there, but since we had a non-refundable pre-paid reservation for the next day it made no sense to book somewhere else. We had planned on staying the night in Salt Lake but somehow the baby slept most of the drive to Salt Lake and we figured we could make it the rest of the way to Vegas. As I approached the South Point, I was dreading the bell and valet service that had plagued our last visit. I was hoping the service had changed, it didn't.


This time I arrived exhausted on a Wednesday night at around 11:00 PM. Once again not a busy day as Vegas goes. This time I arrive, get out and unload my bags, no valet. Then a few other cars arrive and again I have to wait while a miraculously appearing valet helps them first. I ask for a bellman and the valet tells us to just stand by the car. We wait a bit and cars keep arriving and no help. Finally Mayra tells me she'll wait while I go check in. So I leave her, go into the hotel, wait in line and check in. I'm kind of surprised to still see Mayra standing by the car with the bags after I'm done checking in. I asked her if anyone came by and she said no. Wow! this time they had beat their old record of a fifteen-minute wait time. Not again I thought, so I go into the bell desk and explain that we've been waiting awhile. The guy acts shocked that we've been waiting at all and even more shocked that I would complain. His instructions were simple, “Go wait by your car”, now where have I heard that before? We wait a bit longer and no bellman, I guess the valet felt sorry for us because he decided he'd have to help us. So now I'm pissed, I've been driving all day and I just want to go to the room and crash. But that ain't happening until we shower and get the baby changed. We need our bags for that though, so I call and ask for our bags to be brought up. I get the response that they are overly busy and our bags could take fifty to fifty-five minutes to arrive, crap! Here we are, exhausted and we have to wait an hour. I figured being a dick wouldn't help my situation so I was overly nice. I just thanked the man on the phone and resigned myself to my fate. In the end it did not take the full fifty minutes. Instead they actually surprised me and had the bags to our room in about ten minutes or so. By this time I had built up a late night hunger. I knew we couldn't eat in a restaurant because the baby was fast asleep; I headed for the infamous deli. I brought back some of the best hot wings I've had, they were fantastic and highly recommended, but only as a cheat meal!

I must say that the stay was not horrible this time, the rooms were clean and that's always a plus. The front staff, the maids and all others were professional and courteous. We had a lot of fun at the pool where Montana got to swim for the first time. I was not able to workout because there was no way I was paying an inflated price to use their gym. Instead I tried my best to do a little cardio in the pool. The equestrian center was cool, they had barrel racing and it was free to sit and watch. The hotel also has a full bowling alley and theater, which we couldn't use because of the baby, but we did have fun walking around. Like I said the overall stay wasn't that bad. If they were to fix the obvious problems with the valet and bell service, tone down the prices on room service or allow takeout I would recommend this hotel for a stay but until then I'd steer clear.

On a side note, the buffet was above average and the service was great. We each received a free buffet lunch with our stay, which was a real treat.


So would I stay there again? I really don't know. I think I would rather spend more on a hotel with great service than one where I have to wait. But if I do spend another night there, and we do plan on visiting Vegas soon, I promise to write about our experience. The good bad and the ugly.

See you in the hills!

Lance

*Photo Courtesy sofamonkeyz