Review: Comp Room at the Rio Las Vegas

Background:

I was planning a trip to visit Lake Powell/Antelope Canyon and Vegas was a good place to stop on the way from LA. Because I have Caesars Diamond Status from my status match from Wyndham Diamond, I was happy to find a comp for the Rio Las Vegas. I also found a $37 all in rate for a renovated room at Harrahs. Decisions, decisions… All resort fees are waived with Caesars Diamond, so a free room, really is free!

I ended up choosing the Rio (oops!) because hey, free room! I don’t regret giving it a try, but next time I’ll fork over $37 to try another hotel haha. The off strip location wasn’t a problem for me as I had a car, but if you’re flying in the Vegas, the location of the Rio might not be too desirable because its not on the Strip.

Arrival:

We parked at the Masquerade Tower parking garage, as our room was located in the Masquerade Tower. The casino was essentially empty during the afternoon on Tuesday.

There’s a separate check in room for Platinum, Diamond and Seven Star members, which was nice and emptier than the main lobby. There’s also a lot of “self-check in” kiosks in the Main lobby which didn’t have a wait.

Daniel at the front desk was nice and helpful, and found us two rooms with 2 Queen Beds each that were adjoining. My dad also has Diamond, so we booked two rooms for our group of 4 that was traveling this time. Apparently though, he gave us super outdated rooms…

The Rio Las Vegas Room:

We had two rooms in the Masquerade Tower, and oh my the online photos on the website looked a little bit better haha. The Rio opened in 1990, and I honestly don’t think they renovated the rooms since then. (Minus the newer flat screen TV)

All the rooms at the Rio are marketed as “suites” and they are very roomy at 550 square feet. Maybe they forgot about the second R: RENOVATE.

The bathroom area has a large vanity area with a sink, then the bathroom has a sink, toilet and tub/shower combo.

The living room had a very old sofa, and a small desk was provided. A mini fridge was provided in the room as well.

The cleanliness was the large issue. The hairdryer was stained, and half the towels were nasty. My bed had a pretty large stain on the top cover.

Also, the towels and bed linens were ridiculously old! They all had fuzz balls and were falling apart. Thank goodness it was only one night!

One funny/odd feature of the room is the see through window from the shower to the bedroom? Odd…

In terms of noise, our floor was a literally a ghost town so it was quiet room to room. Not sure how loud it would be with a full house. But, we could hear the train horn super loudly from outside! And we were 14 floors up! I surprisingly got decent sleep at least.

Fitness Center:

On my long walk from the Masquerade Tower to the Penn and Teller Theater, I passed by a fitness center! It exists! But I didn’t have time to use it.

Penn and Teller:

With Caesars Diamond, we got free show tickets (two per person) at many of the shows at Caesars properties. Our first choice was Wow, the water show/Cirque Du Soleil knockoff, but it was sold out for our dates. We ended up taking Penn and Teller, and got really good seats! It was perfect, as the show is hosted at the Rio as well. That was definitely the highlight of the stay! The magic tricks were great, although I did feel the beginning of the show was a bit slow, which is kinda annoying when the show is only 90 minutes long.

I checked Ticketmaster, and our seats were $85 worth each! I enjoyed the show, but definitely don’t think it’s worth $85. Probably worth in the $40s in my opinion, and I hear if you want to see it they often have coupons on like Groupon and such.

The Verdict:

The ridiculously outdated rooms really makes the Rio Las Vegas Comp Room not worth it! There are far too many hotels in Las Vegas to choose from. I probably won’t be staying here in the future.

Have you stayed at the Rio Las Vegas? Comment your thoughts below!

Happy travels,

Ty

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