VegasChatter

Our review of the D rooms very easily could've been "great mid to upper tier rooms with high end touches that place it amongst downtown's best." Perfect for downtown. And, for many readers it might be. However, as you can see from the room rate comparison below, a standard room at the D can cost the same as a Carson Tower room at the Golden Nugget. Yes, Carson is the Nugget's lowest tier of rooms, but the D does come in much cheaper for the remainder of March.

The night of our recent stay, Carson Tower rooms were actually ten dollars cheaper than the D's standard room. Meaning we chose to pay more to stay at the D over the Golden Nugget and naturally compared the two during our specific stay. Seems reasonable that similarly priced hotels just steps from each other should be compared to each other, no? Granted, our D room was $69 so how much lower can the price really drop? About $48 bucks according to that chart so we're sticking with our comparison.

Check-in was a smooth process. So smooth, in fact, we didn't realize until we arrived in the room that we were never asked if we preferred King or Queen beds and smoking or non-smoking. King vs. Queen we could live with since, technically, we booked a 300 square foot double queen room. As a non-smoker, though, not pointing out a preference was a major oversight on our part. Since the room didn't reek of smoke, we skipped calling down to request a change. It was only one night, after all. A decision we'd later regret when we found ourselves feeling as if someone had dumped an ashtray down our throat while we were sleeping.

Either smoke triggers growth hormones or the queen beds felt rather small. They were designed by Serta exclusively for the D so, perhaps, they aren't standard queen size? Smallish as the beds may or may not be they were quite cozy. The four pillows were the right size and firmness for the perfect pillow fort.

The red-and-black D wall photos and red accent wall were touches we Dug, but not enough to boost the room into the luxury category. There's a desk in the room, but rendered useless for anything other than sitting since the workspace is covered with magazines, Fiji water, a Keurig, k-cups and, in our case, an ashtray. For those tracking in-room beverage trends, Starbucks K-cups are $2.50, Fiji water $4.50 at the D. The extremely clean bathroom contained a single sink, but was big enough to get the job done (especially when compared to Plaza's) and stocked with basics from Bath & Body Works. Not so clean were the bedsheets that we found chocolate stains on. Or at least we hope they were chocolate stains. Good thing we had two queen beds, after all.

So what's the verdict? For this stay, D is, unfortunately, for Disappointed. Our standard room is a winner over Gold Spike. Easy. Compare it to the Plaza? Almost a toss-up in a back-and-forth battle of details, but we'd give the nod to the D based on the rest of the casino. On nights that D's rates are considerably lower we'd consider booking a room here over Golden Nugget if saving money were the chief criteria. But, we'd look to book a king room or, better yet, score a much better looking D Suite. And, definitely request non-smoking. And, check to make sure the pillow mint didn't melt.

Just don't book a D standard room thinking it's a Rush Tower Nugget room as there's no comparison downtown (cc: JimL). For nights like ours where rooms at both are at similar price points, we'd book the Nugget in a heartbeat. Then beeline to the D or Golden Gate to gamble. At least until Downtown Grand opens. Then all bets are off. Or on, but in a different location. Maybe.