Visitreno

[joeschmeaux]

What are the best rooms to request at the Sands?

I am lucky to have work to Reno in January. In the past I've mostly stayed at the Peppermill, but this time my employer is putting me at the Sands. Needless to say I'm a bit apprehensive due to the bad reviews the place gets online and to my colleagues sketchy experiences (one of whom returned to his room to find his luggage had been rifled through by someone who presumably had a key card as there were no signs of breaking and entering -- nothing was missing but it was freaky never the less).

The last time my employer put me at the Sands was from 9/4-12/2001 (I watched the buildings fall on TV in the sportsbook -- I've never seen any casino so empty as the Sands on 9/11). The Sands was under different management at the time and it was perhaps a step above the Motel 6 but no more. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean and not too bad. Now, under Terrible's management, recent tripadvisor reviews indicate it seems to be going downhill and it's been trashed on this board more than once.

I generally discount any good review on tripadvisor whose author has only posted the one review, as it's often an obvious fake review posted by the hotel management. However there are some good reviews of the Sands by authors who have posted many reviews, leading me to believe that not all Sands rooms are bad. If I can figure out which room type to request, perhaps my stay at the Sands won't be too Terrible.

Most important to me in a hotel room are security, cleanliness, a good bed, a good shower, good HVAC, good blackout curtains, not smokey, and reasonably quiet. It's not important to me how many TV stations there are, I don't think the Sands has internet in the rooms (though when booking and paying for hotel rooms myself I factor internet into the equation) and I bring my own pillow because cheap hotel pillows suck. I don't expect anything fancy but I'd like to avoid getting something disgusting as I understand is quite possible at the Sands.

Any advice?
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Everyone knows it's unlucky to be superstitious!

[lvbear584]

I doubt if the front desk clerks would have any way of knowing which individual rooms are half-decent, if any, and which are particularly filthy and nasty. I think you'll have to hold your nose and hope for the best. If the room you are assigned is uninhabitable, ask for another right away; maybe you'll get lucky.

I personally would stay elsewhere, even if it meant PAYING for a room.

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Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: www.TheBearGrowls.com

[llkraus]

I've stayed at the Sands twice in the past two or three years and find it satisfactory. I don't believe that you will confuse it easily with the Pep, but if your needs are relatively simple, the Sands will work. The rooms are large, though not furnished modernly. The carpet can be a bit bare in places, depending on which room you are in. There is ample hot water in the bath and the beds are comfortable. As I don't generally spend a lot of time in the room, it met my needs quite well, especially considering the price.

As a point of comparison, I stayed one night at the Summit at the Grand Sierra in November. The room at the Sands was bigger. The furnishing at the Summit were newer (although the arms on the chairs were worn through to the frame), and the bed was very comfortable. However, given the price differential (the Summit was almost $80 per night more), I would probably chose the Sands if I were to go back again soon.

I hope this helps.

llk
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Larry L. Kraus
Tyler, TX

[CaSwede]

I have always been satisfied with my Sands stays. I am not a real picky kind of guy, so my needs are rather simple. I always stay in a standard room, and have been surprised at their size. They have a lot of non smoking rooms (you mentioned that). I enjoyed my higher level room with a good view of Reno, and as I remember they give you a coupon book with some deals in there. The other downtown casinos are only a block or so away.

[BC Dave]

I've long since lost track of the number of times I've stayed at the Sands. It, at least, was a favorite of mine. The rooms I've had have always been clean and in the eighties and nineties I spent many long hours in their casino. I have seen their rooms go as cheap as $8 to $10 a night.

That said, I haven't stayed there for a few years. Perhaps things aren't quite what they were.

Does anyone know why they still bill themselves as a Terrible's hotel /casino? I thought Terrible's had gone back to their gas station gambling pit stop operations.

[joeschmeaux]

Thanks for the replies.

Bear -- I will try to reserve a cancelable backup hotel just in case the Sands is too Terrible. But I'd like not to have to use it, as free beats paying for a room for a week.

Larry -- Which tower did you stay in?

Swede -- I stayed in the tower that had windows that open, but my non-smoking room was still smoky. If you were in a non-smoking room, did it smell like cigarettes?

Dave -- I was OK with the Sands in 2001, but since Terrible's took over, the reviews have been awful. "Sleeping on the floor at the Legacy would have been better!... old, tired, and downright grungy... You get what you pay for, pet friendly beware... Good Value and Lots of Fun... Things have gone downhill @ Sands," are the titles of the first five reviews on tripadvisor -- the person who wrote the 'good value' review stayed in a suite! The others all spoke of disgustingly dirty rooms and terrible customer serivce. I've toyed with the idea of paying for an upgrade to a suite (which is more likely to be clean and according to the Sands' website, has a jetted tub), though I don't know how much that would cost.


I'm grateful to have a week of work in Reno -- especially in these times. I don't want to complain to my employer about the hotel room, because they can easily hire someone else next time. I'm OK with the Sands if I can find a clean, secure room, which doesn't smell like an ashtray. If worse comes to worse, I can probably piece together a reasonably cheap week of rooms with offers from various casinos that are hurting for guests. However I 'd like not to have to move around, so if I can just nail down the right room to request at the Sands, perhaps it will be all good.

Thanks again.
_________________
Everyone knows it's unlucky to be superstitious!

[JD]

If I were GIVEN a room at the Sands for a week...I'd take it.

But two things would concern me more than the room itself.

1. I try to find where the security cams are in the parking garage (instead of the open lot at street level) have a clear view of your car. Most likely near the elevator is best.

2. Walking to/from Virginia Street late at night.

By the way, I think the Sands now has the only 10x odds craps game in town. But I defer to LV Bear as he's more up to date on such issues.

[Qcumber1860]

I have stayed at the Sands proabaly 10-12 times...both before and since The new ownershi..ir is fine..CLEAN rooms......actually large rooms..(never had a cleanliness problem there) yeah not much of a choice for restraunts..but you are close to VIrginia street and teh big 3!!!!....its a good value for the money.. I dont play blackjack but always hear that they have theirown rule for teh game of some sort which peole dont like..chekc it out f you play 21.. and GOOD LUCK!!!!! enjoy your stay

[llkraus]

I don't remember the names of the towers, but I have stayed in two of them. I didn't notice much difference. One of them was accessed by the elevator that's just down the hall from the reception table (with a view to the South of Reno); the other was accessed by the elevator across from the bar (with a view to the West of Reno).

One thing I forgot to mention that you originally asked about was that I was able to get wireless Internet access in both rooms. It was a per day charge (around $10, I think), but it was available.

Hope this helps,

llk
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Larry L. Kraus
Tyler, TX

[stan_allen]

I can only chime in to empathize with the needs of the business traveler, which has been the (ostensible) capacity of my trips to Reno over the past decade.

The few times I stayed at the Sands were well before the "Terrible's" presence, but even then, it was clear that various, shall we say, "issues" existed. One would never have wanted to leave much of anything in a car at the Sands parking lot, nor would one want to leave anything of value in one of their hotel rooms.

The seedier crowd is just part of the landscape, but since one is typically there to gamble, it generally doesn't matter much.

But again, when you're there for work, it's nice to have a room that isn't hellish. If you're not too picky, you'll probably do okay, but LVBear is of course correct that you should hold your nose and hope for the best - kind of like voting.

[john]

[BC Dave]

Sands is VisitReno's casino of the year? OK maybe not. Anyway....Happy New Year gang!