The D – A Renovated Downtown Las Vegas Casino
The D Las Vegas is a hotel in Downtown Las Vegas which is located right on the Fremont Street Experience. Formerly known as Fitzgerald’s, the casino underwent a massive renovation a couple of years ago which entailed the rebranding and a shift to cater towards a younger demographic.
I had the opportunity to stay there in early July. To pay for the stay, I used the Hotel Tonight app which offered the room for $14 per night plus $2 in taxes. Additionally, the hotel charged a $22 resort fee which was payable at check-out. (Ridiculous I know!)
Location
As I mentioned above, The D is located on the eastern end of the Fremont Street Experience next door to the Four Queens Hotel. The hotel’s location can be a problem if you are placed on a lower floor in the tower closest to the Experience. I recommend asking for a higher floor in the rear tower to avoid the noise.
Other than noise issues, this is a great location. Being on the eastern section of the Fremont Street Experience means you are equally as close to the hip Fremont East District as you are to the rest of the Downtown Las Vegas hotels. In general this area is very safe at night, however always use caution when walking in dark uncrowded areas.
Arrival & Check-In
Since we live here in Las Vegas, my family and I arrived in our car. The parking garage at this hotel is ridiculously small and very tall which means tight corner after tight corner. To give you an idea of how long it took to park, self parking starts on the 7th floor, which means you have to navigate six stories before the parking even begins. I think we finally parked on the 12th or 13th level. It took about 20 minutes. Valet is probably a better option.
Once we parked, it was a quick elevator ride down to the cramped check-in desk located towards the back of the casino. We saw a few other people mistakenly wait in the casino rewards club line instead of the registration. I’m not sure why, as things seemed to be clearly marked. Even though there wasn’t much of a line, it took about 20 minutes to check-in and receive our keys. Not a bad experience, but certainly not a great one.
Room
Despite the new name and branding, this hotel was built in 1980. While the new owners did a thorough job of renovating the casino area of the hotel, the rooms looked to be merely touched up. While our room did have a flat screen television, it still had an outdated air conditioner and popcorn on the ceilings.
I do like the reds used throughout the room and the decor does feel modern and clean. With that said, it basically felt as if they slapped some paint on the room and put in a painting and a flat screen television. The room was comfortable though, just not high-end in any way.
The outdated feeling continued in the bathroom which was clean, but cramped. Additionally our room had a decent view of Downtown Las Vegas, however the building is wrapped with an advertisement which meant that our view was obstructed by the material.
Facilities
This is a casino in Downtown Las Vegas and my guess is that most people don’t visit for the facilities. The hotel does have a pool though, but as you may have guessed it is rather small and not attractive.
As you can see from the location photo above, the pool sits right on the corner of two major streets, which means you basically feel like you are swimming outside with the cars. Additionally, you have to exit the hotel and walk through the valet area to reach the pool entrance. My advice is to book another hotel if swimming is important to you.
Casino & Entertainment
The Casino was the major focus of the renovations from a couple of years ago and it shows. Geared towards 20 somethings, the casino is hip, modern and full of energy. Bikini clad dealers line the casino floor and loud music is constantly blasting through the speakers. The atmosphere is really hopping if that is what you are looking for.
While I don’t gamble, the casino is full of newer machines on the first level. The second story is dedicated towards classic casino games. We observed these older games were popular among many people and it seemed to be a draw for the casino.
In addition to a number of bars, the D Las Vegas has a very small showroom on the second floor. Currently a number of shows are playing in the room including a male revue, magic show & variety show. While I didn’t see any of the shows during my recent stay, I have been in the showroom a number of times before.
The D’s showroom is very basic and intimate (around 100 seats), but I have always had a good time and the prices are generally reasonable. The variety show is headlined by Frankie Scinta who I have seen elsewhere before and who is very good.
Food
The D Las Vegas is famous for having the only McDonald’s on the Fremont Street Experience! If that isn’t to your tastes, they have imported Detroit’s famous American Coney Island fast food brand. As far as sit down restaurants go, they also have a coffee shop and a very highly rated steakhouse. There are so many inexpensive places to eat Downtown that you will have your pick whether you eat a The D or not.
Value
While $38 may not seem bad, I would rather The D charge a more reasonable resort fee. Remember that the only resort style amenity is a pool and while they do include internet, the combination of those two things is not worth $22. Many other hotels downtown charge resort fees, but they are usually about half of what The D charges.
On the night of our stay, we could have stayed at The Four Queens next door or the renovated El Cortez for about $10 less. Even so, for $38 we did get a comfortable room, even if it did seem outdated. In The D’s defense, most of the rooms in Downtown Las Vegas were built some time ago and suffer from many of the same issues.
Conclusion
I love Downtown Las Vegas. With the emergence of Fremont East and renovations of a number of the casinos on the Fremont Street Experience, it provides a great atmosphere and value. While you will often pay $15 for a drink on the strip, price downtown are much more reasonable and the people less pretentious.
The D Las Vegas has a great location and a really nice casino. Don’t come to the hotel expecting anything like a nice swimming pool (The Golden Nugget has the only decent one downtown) or fancy rooms and you will leave happy. If your expectations are set correctly, then you will have a great time. Remember that you get what you pay for and just think how “nice” a $38 room would be in Los Angeles or New York!
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refuse any hotel with resort fees…including the ones on Freemont street that just added huge resort fees or add on “fremont street experience” fees…there are still a few that don’t try and screw with the prices and stay up top of the cheap price list in the booking engines (until you get nailed with the extra fees) If you must pay a fee and stay downtown…golden nugget is the only hotel that spent a lot of money renovating their rooms…they are still small, but totally redone.
We always stay at the El Cortez; although at the end of the street, it has everything you need. The D looks nice, but it’s not worth the extra money.
By the way, anyone in that area can walk about three blocks to the Las Vegas Municipal Pool when it’s open; only costs a $1.50 or so. No suntanned women to watch I supposed, but still a bargain to cool off……
The Municipal Pool is nice. While the El Cortez used to be a dump, it is much nicer now that they renovated it. I consistently see it for $18 on Hotel Tonight, so I will probably stay there eventually! Thanks JRG!