Quote: We arrived too early for check-in, but no big deal. The lobby lounge was a comfortable cool place to relax and wait. The clerk said they would let us know when our room was ready. Suddenly the lobby was full of people and luggage. The near-by airport must have brought in a special flight with just residents of Desert Rose Resort. Getting nervous that they would get all the rooms I joined the long line-up. When I finally worked my way up to the counter, the clerk apologized for our two hour wait and told me they had moved us to another room and it was available. Don't know what the other one was like, but the one we got was terrific.
We were located on the top floor of complex 4. Our room faced North with a view through pine trees of Hooters Casino and angled across the block to NYNY and MGM. At night we had the lights from the strip, but not blinding us. During the day we were protected from the evil rays of the sun by buildings on the South, East and West. Our room was always comfortabley cool and we needed that as August in Vegas means 108 F...every day. The condo had a fully equiped kitchen with granite counters, comfortable furniture and good lighting. There is a swimming pool that seems to be always active, a fitness center, and meeting rooms.
One surprise we had was the extensive continental breakfast provided in the lobby for all residents. The crowd in the lobby was enormous at this time of day. As an RCI exchange resident we filled out a menu card and time for delivery. What we wanted was brought to our room. Yipee! The trick was you fill out one card for the whole week and they show up every day with that order. The portions delivered are so generous, we saved the leftover bacon and bought bread, tomatoes and mayo for evening meals. Also portioned out the huge fruit servings and oversized bagels, too. And if that wasn't enough to eat, we were given a discount card to use at a snack shop.
The weak point of this Resort was the elevators. There was one, slow moving elevator for each of the four complexes. The housekeeping staff also used this elevator. They would be lined up like boxcars on a train track to get on board at just the time that the tourists were trying to leave for the day. It was also difficult to weave your way through the waiting carts to get to the parking lot. Parking was free, a great benefit and there was room for our friends cars when they came to visit. We often during the week left our car in the lot and had the clerk at the front desk call a taxi for us. With the 108 F heat we found this was the easiest most comfortable way to get around. We only had one taxi driver who didn't know where the Desert Rose was, but when we said "behind Hooters" he knew right away.
Desert Rose was new to us, but I would definately stay here again.
From journals Vegas in August: What were We Thinking!