The Virgin Hotel Las Vegas opened up earlier this year just a couple of months before Resorts World Las Vegas’ opening. Virgin acquired the old Hard Rock Hotel and Casino back in 2018 and had been going through renovations since the beginning of 2020. If you are not familiar with the space or location, it is most noticeable for being off the main Las Vegas strip. This means it’s not very walkable if you’re trying to get to the strip where everything is happening. Knowing this, I still wanted to stay here at least once and document my experience for everyone so you can decide if this hotel is right for you!
Fun Personal Note
On a little side note, some of you might be wondering why a lot of my blog posts are focused on Las Vegas. To be honest, with the pandemic, a lot of my travels have been short distances and Las Vegas is one of the closest cities to LA. Also, once you get to know me better, I actually love Las Vegas a lot. All my friends know me as the one that is always in Vegas for some reason or another. I just like the energy of the city and I’m a big fan of hotels so what better place than Las Vegas, right?
I’m telling you all this because I want to you know that all the articles that I post about are topics that I really care about and want to share with you. I don’t want to be that blogger that is just writing to write something. I’ve been going to Las Vegas since I was a kid (don’t judge me lol) so it has a special place in my heart and I hope when you read my articles that you know I have experience in this area and that giving solid information is important to me. That’s all!
Cost of Staying at the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas
For this trip, I was only planning on spending one night so I decided to book my stay on Chase points. It was very affordable at only 8,352 Chase points. This was also on a Wednesday so Vegas hotel prices are significantly less on the weekdays. The great thing about the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas is that there are No Resort Fees! That’s right, those annoying resort fees that can cost you more than the actual hotel room are non-existent here. That in itself makes this hotel a great contender if you are planning for a long Las Vegas vacation.
Screenshot courtesy of Chase.com
Review of the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas
// LOCATION //
As mentioned before, the hotel is located off the strip so pretty far from the hustle-and-bustle. It is on the southeast side of the strip making it very close to McCarren Airport (LAS). It’s so close that I can actually see small prop planes fly past my window. I mean, it’s not near my window, but you can still definitely see planes every half hour or so. You do hear the airplanes a little so if that does bother you, make sure you tell the front desk at check-in. With that being said, you would only hear the noise during the day and only if you were in the room which you usually wouldn’t be.
// ROOM //
There are three towers at the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas: Canyon Tower, Opal Tower, and Ruby Tower. I stayed in the Canyon Tower on the 10th floor and had an amazing room. They did offer me a $45 upgrade to a suite at check-in, but I politely declined and am glad I did. The room was definitely big enough just for one person. The room had the bed area, living area, TV stand with all your amenities, a separate vanity/desk for girls to actually do their make-up, two closets, and the bathroom. To be honest, it’s probably one of my favorite rooms in Las Vegas. It was so big and spacious that I couldn’t get over how much room I had. I wanted to invite people over just to hang out!
Another cool thing I want to mention is that the hotel does not charge extra for pets! That’s right, no absurd fees for being your loveable puppies along. Just make sure you book a pet-designated room. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean you can just bring your pet to any room.
Screenshot courtesy of https://virginhotels.com/pets/
// FOOD //
I will say that I’m pretty impressed with the food selection at the hotel. My top two F&B programs would have to go to Cosmopolitan and Aria. I’m debating whether if Wynn/Encore or Virgin would get the third spot. The fact that I’m putting the two against each other should already say a lot though. We ended up have drinks and a snack at Night + Market (Thai food) and actual dinner at Kassi Beach House (Italian food).
Night + Market
You can find more information about our experience here.
Kassi Beach House
You can find more information about our experience here.
// POOL //
I went to the pool area just for a little bit to relax. I found it really weird that we were only allowed to get one towel though. I’ve never had this problem before at any of the other hotels. Not sure if they were short on towels, but the pool wasn’t even busy. Also, the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas pool is a type of beach/pool which means there’s sand that leads you to the pool. Personally, I’m not a fan of that style especially when the sand is more on the coarse side, but I can see it being really fun for the kids.
// SERVICE //
I didn’t deal with the staff of the hotel that much during my stay. The front desk check-in was seamless so they pretty much have that under control. I also was able to check in early which is always a nice plus. The really memorable service that we got was when we decided to go to Night + Market. We sat at the bar and the manager and bartender were absolutely fantastic. They were the only two working the floor during our visit. So, they were trying to manage all the tables and customers by themselves and did a great job in my opinion.
// COVID //
At the time of this posting, Las Vegas has required everyone to start wearing masks again indoors.
Who Should Stay at the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas?
The type of person who should stay here is probably the type that wants to get away from the strip and be at a more chill type of resort. This person also could be someone that wants to save money on resort or pet fees since the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas doesn’t charge any. If you don’t care about being on the strip, then I would say this is probably the best deal for an off-strip hotel you are going to get!
Also, even though I didn’t get a chance to experience it, I think someone that really enjoys live music might like it here. In the lobby bar, there is apparently a stage or something in the back where people can listen to bands and live music. We heard them practicing/warming up, but didn’t get to actually see the show.
Hilton Status Benefit – Gold
I currently have Hilton Gold Staus courtesy of my Amex Platinum card. Unfortunately, since I booked the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas through points on Chase, I wasn’t able to receive any type of benefits. Trust me, I tried asking at the front desk agent politely informed me that since I didn’t book through Hilton, none of my benefits were applicable. I already knew this going in so I didn’t care that much, but I thought it was interesting because he mentioned that I had to book specifically through Hilton and not through Virgin Hotels.
Conclusion
What I like about the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas is that it acts more like a resort than just a regular hotel. They promote special deals happening throughout the week for their guests so there’s always something to do which is good if you are planning on staying a couple of days. Even though I do love the hotel and its rooms, it’s hard for me to imagine staying off-strip. A lot of my friends like to stay on the strip so not sure if I’ll have the opportunity of staying at the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas again. Overall, I think it will be interesting to see how Virgin does in comparison to Hard Rock.
