Green Valley Ranch Remains Excellent Choice

Green Valley Ranch has always been one of my favorite hotels, making regular appearances on the Vegas4Visitors.com Top 10 lists published every year. The remarkable combination of luxury, value, friendliness and aesthetic accessibility have resulted in an almost irresistible package. It's all been made even more appealing by a major expansion that is now open.

With the new wing, the property is up to 490 rooms, including several gigantic suites that are either stunning or outlandish. A major overhaul and expansion have also happened at the spa and pool areas. More specifics on these in a bit. First, some background.

The Station Casinos chain has carved out a lucrative and very successful market in Las Vegas by building low-cost hotels with tons of entertainment and dining options near residential neighborhoods around the city. Its Boulder Station, Texas Station and Sunset Station are not only fantastic hotels, but they are enormously successful at attracting a lot of the local market through their doors.

Green Valley Ranch follows the formula, but tweaks it by becoming the most upscale of the Station hotels in terms of amenities, design, and price.

It's located along Interstate 215 in Henderson. For those of you who aren't immediately familiar, Interstate 215 is the one that branches off from Interstate 15 just south of the Strip and takes you to the airport. Go about another five miles and Green Valley Ranch is off to your right. It sounds like a trek -- and it is -- but I made it from a restaurant at the hotel to the parking garage at The Rio in under 10 minutes. As long as you have a car, getting there is a breeze.

The hotel is designed with a vaguely Mediterranean feel, with warm earth tones, a lot of exposed stone- and woodwork, luxurious, thick carpeting, big, carved planters and plenty of subtle lighting. The effect is a good one, offering the feel of one of those exclusive spa resorts you find in the Arizona desert without feeling too stuffy or pretentious.

The new wing of the hotel juts out along the pool area, somewhat diminishing the architectural elegance of the place. It certainly offers some really cool views if you get a room on that side of the wing. The other side will give you a nice view of the parking garage, if you're into that sort of thing.

Both wings, although attached, are completely separated from the casino. You can go from the front desk to your room and never come anywhere near a slot machine, adding to the luxury resort feel of the place.

The casino itself is smallish at "only" 50,000 square feet, but it feels much more vast. There are all of the gaming options that you could possibly want, including all of the latest and classic slots and video poker, table games, a beautiful high-limit salon with baccarat, a big sports book and more. Most of the machines are nickels, quarters and dollars, but there are both higher and lower denominations available, including very rare penny slots.

In the center of the casino is the deliriously high-concept "Drop Bar," a small, round den of 1960s-style iniquity, complete with white plastic bar stools, spacey silver lights, and waitresses in sparkly go-go style costumes. Although not much more than a glorified casino bar, it has become quite a hangout for the young and trendy types in the evenings.

Around the edges of the casino you'll find a variety of restaurants of all cuisines and price ranges, plus a food court with a Fat Burger, Stage Deli, Coffee Bean and more. Notable sit-down restaurants include steakhouse Bullshrimp (now a sister eatery with a similar menu to my favorite, Austins), Fado's Irish Pub, and a delectable Asian delight at China Spice.

There's also a version of Stations' very popular Feast Around the World buffet, offering everything the Texas and Sunset Station outlets have and more in a fancy, harvest-theme room (with slightly fancier prices).

Walk down the beautiful hallway past the meeting rooms and you'll go out back to the pool/spa area, which is absolutely one of the nicest in all of Las Vegas. Since the hotel is on a hill at the southern end of the city, you get an amazing view of the valley and the Strip in the distance, but look around at everything it has to offer up close: a gorgeous pool; a sandy beach; "opium beds" with comfy pillows, TVs, and internet connections; vineyards; pool bar with gaming; tennis courts; bocce ball courts; lawns and gardens; and a small outdoor amphitheater. The effect is stunning and peaceful, and one of the few pool areas in Las Vegas where I'd actually want to spend any time.

The new section of the pool area will feature topless sunbathing for discriminating guests.

In the same area is the deceptively large salon and spa, which offers every treatment and pampering known to man. Now four times the size of the old one -- and now one of the biggest in Vegas -- this is a terrific place to get a facial, a massage, a haircut or just lounge by the therapeutic pools. Many treatment rooms are located under translucent panels, which in turn are under decorative pools, giving the illusion that your Zen state is being achieved in an underwater cocoon. I am not a facial or massage kind of guy, and even I thought the rooms were relaxing and cool.

Just off the pool is Whiskey Sky, another trendy nightclub done in '60s mod-chic from celebs Cindy Crawford and Randy Gerber. This is a very popular spot, especially on weekends, with a lot less of the "look at me" attitude you find in similar clubs on the Strip. As of this writing, the club is about to get a major facelift, so double check that it's open before you make specific plans.

As if all this weren't enough, there's also a giant arcade and a 10-screen movie theater, with private viewing booths available for rental.

Adjacent to the Green Valley Ranch facility is a brand-new shopping-and-dining complex called the District. Designed to evoke a street scene, the miniature city features name-brand stores and restaurants on the ground level (Ann Taylor, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, PF Changs, Lucille's Smokehouse Barbecue) with loft-style condos and offices above. It's a fun addition to the area and totally satisfies the shopping jones many Vegas visitors get.

The peaceful public areas and rooms in the two wings offer a resort-style feeling. All rooms have gorgeous wooden furnishings, including a lighted armoire and a substantial desk, a couple of comfy chairs, a full closet, a mini-bar, a huge bathroom with separate shower stall and a water closet, an iron and board, dual phone lines, robes, TV with high-speed wireless Internet access and pay-per-view movies, high-speed DSL Internet access at the desk, and what I officially declare to be the most comfortable beds in all of Las Vegas.

I didn't want to get up. I hated the fact that I had to get up. I cursed the people that were making me get up.

If you have the desire and bank account, you can go crazy in one of the super-luxurious high-roller style suites, all of which are available for rental unlike at some other hotels, which reserve them only for people who drop a lot of dough in the casino.

The top-floor penthouse suite is a rococo dream, all super-luxe fabrics, chandeliers, and a grand piano. The Whiskey suite is done in a '60s mod style with low furnishings, shag carpeting, its own DJ booth, and a giant set of doors to the bedroom that double as a screen for the projection TV. The ground-floor cabana suites have a Polynesian flair, pool tables and private patios with your own small pool and barbecue area. Each of these are larger than the average two bedroom house and rent for at least $3,500 a night.

I hope that will soften the sticker-shock of the regular rooms, which are on the pricey side of things. The cheapest weekend rate I've seen at this hotel so far is $179, with it usually going well above $200 per night and often above $300. On the weekdays, you can get as low as $129 per night, but most of the time you're going to be paying in the $139 to $199 range. That's a lot of money, and while you'll probably be paying that much or more at a similar hotel on the Strip, at least it's on the Strip.

Service used to be an issue for me at Green Valley, but during my last few visits the entire staff has been friendly, efficient and absolutely eager to help out with whatever I needed. After spending entirely too much time in the casino -- and winning a lot, I might add -- I had a cocktail waitress bringing me bottles of water with almost psychically timed precision. It's a little thing, but it makes the experience memorable.

As newer, bigger and more luxurious resorts open around town it's easy to forget about old favorites. Green Valley Ranch should not only be remembered, it should be in the top tier on your list of options when considering where to stay and play in Las Vegas.

Green Valley Ranch
2300 Paseo Verde Parkway
Henderson, NV 89052
(866) STAY-GVR

Highs: Luxurious rooms, great beds, terrifc staff
Lows: Not as close to the Strip as many would like

Location: 5 – A bit of a drive to get to the action.
Price: 6 – Pretty expensive to stay here
Value: 10 – You get a lot for your money
Rooms: 10 - Stunning and comfortable
Casino: 10 – Elegant and fully equipped
Amenities: 10 – Everything you need in your room
Facilities: 10 – You never need to leave
Service: 9 – Excellent all the way around
Fun: 9 – Lots of ways to have fun here
Bonus: 10 - A great hotel

Vegas4Visitors Rating: 89

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