Once the largest hotel in the world and one of the first mega-resorts in Las Vegas, Bally’s Las Vegas hotel is now something of a throwback on the Strip, which is otherwise dominated by mostly newer, larger, and ever more elegant resorts.
Bally's Las Vegas photo: Moyan Brenn
Of course, this is still one very large resort, one that would be the biggest in almost any other city, with 2,814 rooms. It also has 64,000 feet of casino space – small by today’s standards but still plenty big.
Bally’s, originally opened in 1973 as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, was built in the days when Vegas resorts were designed to look their best at night. When the lights are on and the neon is glowing, this is one impressive hotel.
Located right smack in the middle of the Strip, Bally’s couldn’t have a better location. You are just a pedestrian bridge away from Bellagio and another away from Caesars. The hotel is also directly linked to its sister resort, Paris Las Vegas, with its great dining and Eiffel Tower.
But make no mistake, there is a lot to see and do at Bally’s itself. For starters, there is a decent sized pool area for summer time fun in the sun. It’s not huge by today’s Vegas standards, and isn’t as sprawling as the wonderful pools across the street at the otherwise comparable Flamingo, but if you want to cool down or just get some sun, it will do just fine.
Ballys Hotel Entrance photo Pedro Szekely
There is also quite a bit of shopping at Bally’s, including twenty shops in a corridor running along Flamingo avenue. They aren’t glamorous like the shops at Bellagio or Caesars, but there are still some fun stores to check out, and, again, Bellagio and Caesars are just a short walk away (well, a short walk in Vegas terms, where every block seems to be a mile long).
The most recently renovated rooms at Bally’s are in the North Tower, located nearest to Las Vegas Boulevard, which were redone in 2004. The entire property could use an updating, and you get the feeling that its owner, Caesars, might be weighing the benefits of just tearing it down versus updating it further.
But in the mean time, it’s a fine hotel in a great location and one of the better deals on the Strip. You might not get the newest or most elegantly decorated room, but you will have plenty to see and do both on site and nearby.
