I read a lot of posts here before planning my trip to Las Vegas and they were very helpful so I wanted to give a little back. This was my first trip to Las Vegas in about 10 years so I didn't really know what it was like now.

The "Freemont Experience" and the Nugget

I booked a room at the Golden Nugger because of reviews on this site and the price ( I'm kind of a value conscience consumer ). It looked like a good value but I never visited downtown and was apprehensive about staying there. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. I was prepared for the atmosphere by reading the posts here so I was not really surprised by the kind of age of the places down there. I never felt unsafe at any time and really enjoyed the gambling and atmoshere at the Nugget, Fremont and 4 Queens. The "Fremont Experiences" is more than just watching the light show , which I admit was kind of disappointing.

The Nugget was a great place to stay in my opinion. Since I had a rental car, transportation was not a problem but I can see it could be without one. I had room 1876 which was an East facing room in the South Tower. The only negative was the AC was loud ( which I shut off at night ) and there was some road noise from cabs which seem to queue up on the street below at night.The buffet was OK but not great. The room came with a $40 meal credit so I ate Breakfast and one Dinner there. I think the buffet at the TI and Bellagio were much better but also much more expensive. For the money, it was a good deal. All in all, I would have no problem returning to the Nugget for my next stay. BTW, don't worry about the contruction. I never would have known it was going on if they didn't have the portholes to see the progress.

Gambling

I really only play blackjack so I can't comment on the other games. I enjoyed playing at the 4 queens as all tables are 3-2 with $5 - $25 dollar and some single deck tables. Freemont was good too, I played there several times. The Nugget though was mostly 6-5 and usually had higher limit games $10 and up. It was hard to find a $10 table on the stip and never saw a 3-2 game ( didn't look real hard though , not saying they are not there just hard to find ). I have a hard time sitting down to play blackjack at the Bellagio with $25 minimum multdeck shoe and 6-5 payoff when I know I could go the 4 Queens and do a lot better. That's just me though.

The Strip

Wow. Lots of walking but some really nice places. Visited TI, Venetian, Bellagio, Wynn and was really impressed. It's something I think you really have to see but, it's very crowded and expensive. It's kind of like the saying, "It's a nice place to visit, but I'm glad I don't live there."

Shows

I really didn't come to Vegas looking for the shows but I was again pleasantly surprised. I saw Mystere and Blue Man Group and was blown away. They are not cheap ($60 - $150 ) but they were great particularly the Blue man group. There are several outlets called Tix4Tonight around town, one at the 4 Queens downtown that sell show tickets at very good prices. The selection may not always be there but you should be able to find something.

Overall

Lots of walking especially on the Strip, not so much downtown.

Good Buffets.

Downtown's got good gambling and values.

Strips got good sightseeing and crowds for those that like that sort of thing.

Nugget is a good value.

See some shows!

I have to go back more often. 10 years is too long.

Hope some of this has been helpful and have fun on your next trip to Vegas.

Our stay at the Golden Nugget was great. We did know that the pool was under reconstruction as were parts of the hotel but it did not mar the experience at all.
The rooms and every part of the casino that we saw were clean and well maintained. Check in and valet parking was a breeze and staff very friendly. We checked in here after returning from the Grand Canyon following a few days staying on the strip in Vegas and the peace and quite was a welcome relief from the frantic (and grubby) constant hustle on the strip.
If you can afford to stay at an upscale hotel on the strip go for it, but if you are after good, reasonable priced accomodation for a family, I don't think you could beat the Golden Nugget.
I stayed here on my first trip to Vegas in 1983 and loved it then too.

My husband and I, brother and 2 girlfriends friends stayed at the Golden Nugget (June 19 -23) after spending a week in Hawaii and we were very pleased with the accommodation, hotel staff, casino floor staff and staff at the buffett......you made us all feel welcomed and the Golden Nugget was our home for the 5 days we were there....and let me tell you we were a long way from home - Perth Australia.
The Golden Nugget was spacious and comfortable and our rooms were clean, comfortable and we had adjoining room which made it easy to all get together and talk over our adventureous days.
We enjoyed the buffet breakfast's and the staff were polite and friendly and our biggest enjoy was sitting on the machines, having a small win and being offered drink at the same time.
We explored Fremont Street, even got ourselves an airbrushed tattoo. We explored downtown along the strip and we were all taken in by the size of the casino's, the fact they were all different and the different theme's that each one gave. Who could ever say the Vegas was boring.
We found the heat to be extremely overwhelming we were getting days from 107-115 and man that was hot. We were upset that the Golden Nugget was under construction with the swimming pool and new surrounds, but I am sure they will be well and truly finished upon our next return, and yes Golden Nugget we will return.
Again thank you to all staff at Golden Nugget for our warm welcome.

I had the same problem with the GNH... No pool and I was not aware of this prior to arrival. The manager behind the desk had no problem telling me too bad. I like gambling but not when it comes to hotels and the GNH is a 10-1 chance that your stay will be a dissapointment. All hotels have some problems and when they do they take care of their guess. The management team could care less about your satisfaction. Someday this will bite them in the butt. I also wrote the owner just to see if I get a response. I will let you know if he gets back to me. For now stay on the strip if you want to get treated like a valuable customer.