PLANET HOLLYWOOD Las Vegas Resort was my home away from home before moving to Las Vegas. The first time I stayed at the casino was during the renovation from Aladdin to the casino we know today. I’ve always enjoyed the vibe of the casino, the rooms were complimentary from my Atlantic City Total Rewards spending and the staff was always nice. After moving to Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood was my crash pad on the Vegas Strip for a while. However, I haven’t visited much in the past couple of years.
My recent summer vacation was the first time I’ve stayed at Planet Hollywood since opening night of Britney Spears “Piece of Me” show. Besides the renovated hotel rooms Planet Hollywood felt like the same casino it’s always been. The restaurants, mall, casino, and atmosphere remain the same. The big change at Planet Hollywood is in the hotel rooms.
Planet Hollywood Ultra Resort Room
The renovated hotel rooms have muted tones and are now gray and white with a splash of a color that was somewhere between pink and red (possibly fuchsia). Thanks to my Diamond tier friend we were upgraded from a basic “Hip” Room to an “Ultra Resort” room for no charge. You may remember this room as the “Resort” rooms before the renovations. The 100 extra square feet makes a difference when you’re living with someone for a week. The upgrade saved about $40 a night. That’s not too shabby.
Diamond Total Rewards status also waived the resort fees for the week. My friend isn’t a big spender and has Diamond status because of the FoundersCard. The lack of resort fees for two weeklong visits to Las Vegas essentially paid for the membership making all of the other perks even better.
I’m not a movie guy so the lack of Hollywood memorabilia in the room wasn’t a big deal. The “Spaceballs” memorabilia above was the only movie I recognized in about 10 different trips to Planet Hollywood.
I prefer a cleaner palette even if the color scheme is boring. I found the colors relaxing and that’s what I need from a hotel room on vacation. The bed is a typical Caesars bed. It was comfortable enough after a few too many drinks but not very comfortable otherwise. Thankfully this was a vacation with many nights with a few too many drinks.
This was a relaxing vacation with a friend that enjoys lounging by the pool for hours. My kind of relaxing happens when I’m in air conditioning. The Ultra Resort Room has a large TV and a small sitting area with a table. There wasn’t a large oversized chair to sink into like some other hotel rooms on the Vegas Strip. While the seating area was fine it wasn’t the kind of relaxing chair that I prefer.
You may be noticing a theme with how I felt about the room.
The TV had large windows on each side. Our room was angled with a south and east view. We chose the extra square footage instead of a view of the Vegas Strip for the upgrade and it sure looked like it.
The view was mostly the top of buildings and the eastern part of Las Vegas. That was totally fine as the extra space was more important. Forgoing the Vegas Strip view is one of the best ways to get a larger room upgrade. The extra space by the window gave me a convenient location for my suitcase since the closet was behind us in the foyer.
The most interesting feature of the room decor might have been the strange looking floor lamp. This piece of “art” went unused on the first night since neither of us knew what it was. It still went unused once we realized it was a lamp. The large Ultra Resort room has plenty of lighting throughout.
If you’ve stayed in a Planet Hollywood hotel room before you should be familiar with their oversized bathrooms. If you love a large soaking tub, this is should be your mid-priced hotel of choice.
There is easily enough space in the very large bathroom for two couples to get ready. This bathroom was well lit but I’ve heard that isn’t the case with all bathrooms at Planet Hollywood. The renovations barely seemed to touch the bathroom.
The cosmetic changes include snakeskin-like wallpaper in the water closet, a new painting above the bathtub and maybe the color of the surface on the sink the bathroom. Having said that, the size of the bathroom is almost the same as an entire room at The Linq. It’s large, probably too large for the room.
Overall…It’s Okay
The newly renovated Ultra Resort room at Planet Hollywood is just like the older Resort room. The renovations are cosmetic and not especially fancy. My expectations are pretty low when it comes to most Caesars Entertainment hotel rooms and this room fit the bill of being adequate. It was neither great nor awful.
In typical Caesars fashion, the housekeeper probably spends 10 minutes “cleaning” the room. Housekeeping missed us one day and didn’t come until three phone calls on another day. A few random objects that were obviously trash were left around the room went untouched all week. Sometimes when you stay at a Caesars hotel you just have to throw trash on the floor for someone to pick it up
In the beginning of this review, I said that PLANET HOLLYWOOD Las Vegas Resort used to be my home away from home in Las Vegas before moving here. The casino is always lively and the staff is above average. Between the casino floor and Miracle Mile Shops, there are plenty of places to eat and drink without leaving the hotel. That’s what I’ve always loved and that’s still what I love about Planet Hollywood.
The renovated Ultra Resort room is good as I remember the Resort room. That’s good but as someone that has stayed here often the renovations didn’t offer anything special or unique. In the future, I’d probably stay elsewhere and visit the casino which is as lively as ever.
Marc grew up on the mean streets of the South Bronx. He's the rare combination of Yankees and Jets fan which explains his often contrarian point of view. He learned about gambling at a young age working down the street from a bookie who took action on anything from the mainstream sports to the last three digits of the purse for certain horse races. Yeah, that's a thing. Today Marc is a freelance writer and social media consultant which allows him to work anywhere there's a wifi signal. This allows him to work from the sportsbook at Red Rock Resort or the food court at The Venetian where you’ll find fast and free wifi. Writing about steak, booze, gambling and Las Vegas is a tough job but somebody has to do it.
Nice review…thanks. I picked Caesars over PH for three nights this December followed by three nights at the Mirage….looks like I made the right choice. I actually stayed at the Aladdin before the conversion, and it was the Casino where I had my first Vegas hand pay. $1800 win on a $3 slot pull. Just to add, I always enjoy and appreciate your articles.
Thanks for the kind words. Have a great time!