Eldorado Resort Casino

The two-tower Eldorado Resort Casino is located in downtown Reno and connected via an enclosed skyway to the Silver Legacy and Circus Circus resorts. The lobby features colorful floral print carpeting and lots of marble. In fact, the look throughout can verge on the gaudy and kitschy (a problem that plagues many of the casinos in Reno), with particularly exuberant details like the over-the-top nautical fountain with sea horses and mermaids in Roxy's Bar. The resort is in good condition but has a slightly dated feel, and the casino floor is a mall-like maze. Several of the restaurants have a dark atmosphere, with no natural lighting. That being said, the hotel's location in the heart of downtown near the Reno Events Center -- and its generally more upmarket appeal -- means that it's often sold out and busy with guests of all stripes.

Eldorado Resort Casino is on North Virginia Street in downtown Reno, within a two-block walk of the Reno Arch, Harrah's, The Nugget, Reno Events Center, National Bowling Stadium, and Amtrak Station. Numerous shops and restaurants are in the immediate area and I-80 is a two-minute drive from the hotel. Reno Aces Ballpark is a seven-minute walk, and the Truckee River, Riverwalk District, and National Automobile Museum are all within a 10-minute walk. It's 15 minutes on foot or three minutes by car to reach the area with Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum and the Nevada Museum of Art, and about an eight-minute drive down Virginia Street to the Atlantis Resort and the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. Expect a quick 12-minute drive to Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

In general, rooms at this hotel are a step up from the outdated offerings in Reno, though some rooms are certainly more modern than others. The 815 rooms are arrayed in a 14-floor Virginia Tower and a 25-floor Skyline Tower, and come in a wide array of sizes and configurations. Standard Rooms start at 250 square feet, a bit smaller than some other resorts in Reno, and have dark wood furniture with clean lines, patterned carpets, and handsome bedside lamps. Some higher category rooms have four-poster beds, armoires, and leather sofas. The color palette is white, beige, dark blue, brown, and burnt orange. However, the suites that we visited looked dated by comparison, with gaudy accents like silver table legs or faded wall art in chunky frames. Some rooms, especially the higher-located and larger rooms with big windows, have good views of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance. Rooms come with safes, coffeemakers, mini-bars, Wi-Fi (for a fee), clock radios with MP3 jacks, and flat-screen TVs with cable channels and pay-per-view movies. Many rooms have some combination of extra features like sitting areas, pullout couches, wet bars, dining areas, or multiple TVs. Certain rooms, like the Large Players Spa Suite that we visited, have hot tubs. Bathrooms are clean, well lighted and spacious, with good counter space. Some bathrooms have jetted tubs and/or walk-in Roman showers with steam options. Smoking rooms are available.

The Eldorado has good array of features, highlighted by an 81,000-square-foot casino featuring baccarat, blackjack, craps, roulette, poker, Pai Gow, keno slots, plus a race and sports book. There is a small outdoor pool and hot tub plus a cabana bar, all of which are open seasonally, though there is no on-site spa like some other hotels in the area. The fitness center offers a range of high-quality cardio and weight equipment, and many of the cardio machines have flat-screen TVs and iPod docks. The nine restaurants offer plenty of options, including an upmarket steak and seafood restaurant with exhibition bakery. Other venues include a grill, buffet restaurant, sushi restaurant, Asian noodle kitchen, 24-hour restaurant, and cafe with in-house coffee roaster -- a nice perk for a Reno casino resort. Twenty-four-hour room service is available, but breakfast is not included in room rates. The several bars include a sports bar, classic cocktail bar, microbrewery with live music, and martini and wine lounge with weekend dancing. The on-site theater shows plays and musicals. The Eldorado also features a Swarovski Crystal store, and two gift shops. Concierge service, a business center, meeting rooms, free valet and self parking, free airport shuttle, and electric vehicle charging stations are all also included. Wi-Fi is not free, and guests should know that the resort charges a nightly resort fee at check-out.