Stratosphere
     

Stratosphere
2000 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas
NV 89104
(+1) 702 380 7777
www.stratlv.com

  
     
Location The Stratosphere is the Northernly most casino on the Strip, it is so far North that it is actually within the city limits of Las Vegas where as every other casino on the Strip is in Clarke County, this was deliberate as tax rates are slightly lower. The area around the Stratosphere used to be known as naked city as this was where all of the strippers used to live. The area around the Stratosphere is still unpleasant and I would not walk around outside this casino at night.  
     
Theme When Bob Stupak originally built the Stratosphere it was supposed to have had a World fair theme I am not sure if this still supposed to be the case but I don'think it has anything more than a few flags to suggest this.  
     
Attractions The tallest tower West of the Mississippi, is along with the Luxor the most distinctive mark on the impressive Las Vegas Skyline. You can go to the top for a small fee which is only worth doing at night. At the top are what are probably the two most thrilling amusement park rides in the World, the big shot which is a pole with seats round it that shoots you higher into the air and then free falls you back to the top of the tower and the high roller which is a roller coaster that goes round the outside of the top portion of the tower.  
     
Shopping The selection of shops here is not bad at all probably to try to keep clients on the premises as there are no other shops in a safe area very near by. They include a magic shop, sports shop, clothing and jewellery shops.  
     
Dining The buffet (Brunch $11.95, D$14.25 and a seafood and steak dinner Friday and Sunday $18.25 and Sunday Brunch $14.25) is not very good the queues are usually short and I guess you can be lucky but when I eat here it was terrible. You can usually manage to get the buffet for free if you purchase a ticket to see a show. The top of the world restaurant is Stratosphere's gourmet offering, located as the name suggests at the top of the tower this is not cheap the food is good but you are paying a premium for the best view in Vegas. Luckys café is open 24hrs and is ok but the coffee is not all that there is an Italian and mock 50's diner where the staff jump on the tables and sing every so often to take you attention away from the food no doubt.  
     
Gaming It has 80,000 sq ft of gaming space it feels much larger partially due to the high roof, there are about 50 tables with low limits starting at $3 and $5 for single decked Blackjack which is very good. When Bob Stupak owed this he had all sorts of odd games and gimmicks to try to entice more gamblers in such as crapless carps, blackjack where you saw the dealers cards and even a chicken to play against at tic tak toe but all of these are gone. There re just under 3000 slots with loads of nickel machines Stratosphere has always aimed at tour groups who are usually low rollers and they still get the majority of their trade from these tours. The place feels cheap and a little seedy throughout its history it has always had financial difficulties and I hear that this may be the case again now it will be interesting to see what happens in the future..  
     
Drinks Service The service very hit and miss depending I think on where you sit we got about 3 drinks in 1.5 hours which is not terrible but neither is it particulally good, it seemed that that orders were taken quickly and then it was about a 20 minute wait not good particularly as I was drinking coffee and by time it arrived it was only just warm.  
     
Best Thing The website ! Joking aside it has to be the night time view and the thrill rides at the top of the tower.  
     
Worst Thing Location, this has always been the trouble with the Stratosphere placed a car journey away from everything except the seedy unpleasant side of Vegas and that is only a very short walk away.  
     
Overall

Some would say the best value on the Strip and it has to be ! The location is so poor people are not going to come here unless they have no choice. The Stratosphere makes its money from tour groups as a result it is a low rollers casino that knows its place aside from the tower I can see no reason to visit this establishment. I don't partiually like this place this is in part at least due to the fact that they have an offer where by if you join the slot club they will refund you 125% of your first hours losses. Well I took this offer up gambled like a madman for an hour and when I went up to claim they told me this only applied to US and Canadian citizens.

  
     
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