Las Vegas is full of action. There are many hotels & casinos to choose from. Many tourists end up on the Las Vegas Strip. However, “downtown” is where the action used to be. And it’s still a good spot to hang out.
The California Hotel is one of my favorite downtown casinos. It’s easy to spot and it’s been around for decades. One thing you notice is the friendly and smaller gaming floor. Most of the more recent casinos require an atlas to navigate through. The California Hotel is smaller and easy to find what you want. No worries about getting lost here.
It has some nice restaurants and some shops upstairs. Parking is a bit interesting. There’s valet (recommended) and self-parking. If you park it yourself, there is a parking garage. You can also park on the street in metered spots, but I don’t recommend it. Valet is free-just throw them a tip of a buck or two.
As mentioned, the second floor has some shops. These are little specialty stores-even a place to get yummy ice cream. There’s also a corridor to another casino if you want to take a stroll. Upstairs is my favorite place to grab a quick mean. It’s a Hawaiian place and the teriyaki rice bowls are the best in town-yes, really. This place is almost always packed.
You’ll notice a lot of Asian and Hawaiian people here. The California Hotel usually does a lot of promotion in Hawaii and runs flights back and forth. It’s really the “Hawaiian Hotel” of Las Vegas. They pride themselves on having that aloha spirit and it shows. If you’re interested in staying at the California Hotel, they have about 800 rooms and the prices are very reasonable. It’s within walking distance to all the other downtown casinos too-Plaza, Horseshoe, Golden Nugget, etc. And you’ll be able to catch the Fremont Experience shows.
If you want to take in the Las Vegas Strip, no worries. You can hop in a cab (or drive) and be there within about 10 minutes. Let me recommend a cab. Driving on the Las Vegas Strip isn’t fun at all. If you’re a public transportation enthusiast, there are buses. The CAT bus is the general one and now there’s a double-decker bus called the Deuce. It’s great. If you take a cab, get out somewhat near where you want to be and take a stroll. No need paying to sit in traffic and there’s a lot of see on the Strip anyway.
For downtown action, the California Hotel is definitely a fun place to check out. You’ll notice the difference in atmosphere right away.
