Jockey Club Las Vegas

You don't often hear people talk about the Jockey Club Las Vegas (a Tricom Management Inc. property.) It's kind of hidden in between Bellagio and CityCenter, across the street from Planet Hollywood. It's difficult to even get a photo of the place, as you can see (above.) Jockey Club is set back about 100 yards from the Las Vegas Blvd. sidewalk and is turned sideways; so it's easy to overlook even if you're looking for it.

In March 2006, I was considering staying at the Stardust for $75 per night or Luxor for $90 per night. Before deciding, I checked the Las Vegas Tourist Bureau web site on the off chance that they were offering some fantastic deal like they were when I booked a room at Rio Suites in December 2000 for $25 per night. Had I known that the Stardust was going to be demolished in March 2007 I may have stayed there instead... but the tourist bureau site was offering one bedroom condos at Jockey Club at only $65 per night; which is an amazing deal considering that an equivalent size room in the Bellagio next door would probably cost over $500 per night. I also searched for Jockey Club's web site for more information, but they didn't have a web site. (They have one now.) So I took a chance and booked Jockey Club for two nights, suspecting some kind of hidden catch.

Yes, there was a catch. I hadn't been paying attention to strip construction. The huge Project CityCenter was being built right next door... and the construction crews were using Jockey Club's parking lot for storage of materials. AND, Jockey Club were doing some renovations themselves. Seeing the mess in the parking lot, and (I had a rental car for this trip) being told that I could not self park but HAD TO use valets every time I wanted to park or leave... I very nearly said "to heck with this" and went somewhere else. Very nearly. I decided to give Jockey Club a chance and at least look at the room before bailing out.

Well, yeah, the room was awesome (see the three photos above). The bedroom with walk in closet was about the same size as a standard hotel room all by itself. In addition to that though, there was a nice sized living room, small dining area, and fully equipped kitchen with refrigerator, stove, oven, utensils, dishes, everything you might need. Plus a giant air conditioning unit hidden in a closet which worked extremely well. I was lucky to get a room high up (ninth floor) and on the opposite side of the building away from the CityCenter construction, so, I was pleased.

I'm sure the $65 price was because of the construction. Hotels do this fairly regularly, I've learned. When a big noisy construction project is going on next door, the rates go way down. Jockey Club doesn't have a casino or restaurant but was extremely nice, in a great location, and a great deal. You can buy a condo there, or rent one like a hotel room.