One of the biggest decisions to make about a Vegas vacation is where to stay. You've got more options than probably any other city, and just like buying a house or deciding where to rent (ok, a bit of a stretch, but the same deal) it's all about location, price, comfort, and overall benefits, including luxuries and special extras.\n\nFortunately for us, the Platinum ($170 for Saturday night) panned out as an excellent choice in delivering on all elements of what we were looking for in a Vegas hotel. Granted, it's one block off (a long, extended Vegas block) off the strip and doesn't contain a casino, but we were ok with that. After marching up and down the strip for hours it's nice to retreat back to a place that's quiet and comfortable. \n\nOur room (which was a standard suite) was close to 900 square feet, equipped with a full kitchen overlooking a large living room area with flat screen, and outdoor patio. The bedroom was spacious with a queen bed and connected to the bath with a deep Jacuzzi tub and stand-in stone shower. This place is maybe a year old so everything is close to brand new. We were on the pool level (Floor 5) so you could see the indoor/outdoor pool from our window and balcony. \n\nThe rooftop pool is swanky and upscale like a high-end LA hotel pool, minus the crowds and fake blondes. It's not your typical giant Vegas swimming hole, although it's got both and outdoor and indoor area. There's also bar and round papason chairs with pillows, as well as comfy couches with fire pits for evening lounging. You're not going to get the MTV beach party/Hard Rock Hotel pool experience, but rather a time to chillax...perfect for a Sunday recovery day. \n\nOrdered room service one morning, which was surprisingly good for hotel food. We ordered the mixed green salad ($13), with the choice of about 10 ingredients, which was an interesting combination of salmon, red onions, caramelized pears, blue cheese, and avocado. The best choice was the chicken, brie and asparagus sandwich ($15), served on warm brioche bread and fruit salad. We felt pretty sophisticated eating our meal on the granite bar, sporting the soft hotel robes. Ah, Vegas.\n\nThe only slight downfall of our Platinum experience was that we weren't able to check into our rooms until 4pm the day we arrived, so we had to change in the bathrooms and leave our stuff with the bellhop. To make up for the late check-in, they let us check out the next day at 1pm (instead of regular time at 11am) which helped. Later I received an email for a $100 voucher to use towards spa services or food/beverages at the hotel during my next stay, as another excellent incentive for a return visit here. \n\nAn interesting sidebar to our stay was upon check-out, there was a woman complaining to the restaurant manager about a meal she has last night. As I was talking to the front desk person I overhead some conversation about her meat being undercooked or something, but wasn't fully paying attention to all the details...until she pulled out a box and say, \"Look! Look at this! Do you see this?\" Unfortunately she had her back to us, so we couldn't see what was in the box. For the remainder of the trip we talked about how lovely our stay was at the Platinum, and most importantly, wondered what the hell was in that box.
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