Hotel Review: Binions Formally The Horseshoe

Binions is a downtown property that for years was known as Binions Horseshoe. Binions Horseshoe got in financial trouble and was closed for many months in 2004. Harrahs bought the property and reopened it bringing a historical Las Vegas casino back to life. One of the things Binions Horseshoe was famous for was The World Series of Poker which always drew good crowds. Harrahs moved the tournament to a off strip property it owns The Rio and this year only the last two rounds were played downtown and this was only because the mayor asked them because this is Las Vegas 100th Birthday Year. Next year all of the tournament will be played at The Rio . Harrahs sold the Horseshoe and took the name with them and now its just called Binions. When i was there a few weeks ago there was big blank spots on both ends of Binions where Harrahs had taken the huge neon Horseshoes signs off the building. It was kind of sad and there is talk that Harrahs is going to rebrand Ballys on the strip as the Horseshoe, we will see what happens. When i first started going to Las Vegas half of what is now Binions was The Mint. When Binions took over The Mint they knocked holes through the wall to combine the two casinos. So now you have the former Mint side which has higher ceilings then you have the Binions side which has lower ceilings and has lots of wood panelling and looks kind of like a saloon in the old west. At the back you used to be able to get your picture taken for free in front of a million dollars but they have stopped that, maybe they needed the money. The coffee shop here is in the basement at the back of the casino and its panelled in wood and is a pleasant place to eat. The Ranch Steak House is twenty stories above the casino and offers great views and decent food. The pool is small and nothing like the huge landscaped pools on the hotels on the strip but is okay and as most properties downtown don't have pools this is a plus if you are staying there. The hotel usually has good food specials at odd hours so if you want to have steak in the middle of the night for example this is a good bet. The rooms are nothing special but better than i expected. This is a property with a lot of history and i hope the new owners can spend some money to upgrade this property without loseing the charm or history of this property. If you plan to stay downtown this wouldn't be a bad choice.