Do you love luxury but are on a budget and need a hotel in Las Vegas?
The Rio Hotel & Casino eliminated the vision of overpriced hotels in Sin City. It brought increasing luxury, friendly staff, and a secret to win for their top travelers back to Sin City.
It should be noted that the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is not affiliated with the European-based Rio Resort group. Rio Las Vegas is now a fully integrated part of the Hyatt group.
I am a globalist in the World of Hyatt Loyalty scheme. Last week, I stayed 4 nights in room 809 at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
I paid about $10 a night more to upgrade to one of 1,400 newly remodeled rooms – and it was worth the investment. There was space to stay and space to play.
A couch, a lazy couch to relax and watch the big-screen TV, large California King-size beds with a great selection of pillows, and plenty of electric outlets, computer, and phone charging plugs by the bed, the desk, and the living area of the room made it a great place to relax and work.
The oversized bathroom and a brightly lighted hallway leading into the room made the place look more like a spacious studio apartment.
While there was a long line and only two check-in clerks at the regular front desk, there was no line in the new VIP section of the lobby, but you had to ask to find it.
I received two complimentary water bottles daily as a globalist in the Hyatt reward program.
My complimentary breakfast at the Hash House A Go Go delivered farm-fresh ingredients and delicious twists as a traditional brunch. It had a creative menu offering, tremendously oversized portions, and one-of-a-kind presentations that made breakfast fun. The portions were huge, and even half could quickly satisfy your hunger for the entire day.
For Hyatt Globalist, the $40.00 per night resort fee was waived, and parking remained free, making my entire bill for four nights, including some minor room charges and my upgrade to the newly renovated tower of the building less than $200.00.
Only one of the four pools was heated; the gym had older equipment but offered cardio and weight machines. All of this was included in the room rate.
Even if you wanted to spend more money, such as buying a drink at the pool, it was impossible because you needed to show an ID, which I would never bring to a pool when I travel solo.
Two Starbucks with reasonable prices compared to what one pays at an MGM or Cesars-managed hotel was available next to the elevators without having to explore the casino first.
The large casino floor looked a little dark and depressing to me. It was kind of empty, and the sounds of winners you always hear at busy casinos were not something I noticed. It almost appeared the slot machines were set up to compensate the hotel for the low room rates, but of course, this was just a feeling.
However the Rio Hotel and Resort was a perfect and winning place to stay for me in Vegas on business, but you may want to avoid the Casino 🙂
Exploring the strip was a short walk or taxi ride. I took my rental car to the Bellagio Hotel once, only to be punished with a $18 one-hour parking fee at that MGM-managed property. However, after feeding $500.00 into slot machines at the Rio with not even a small win, I made my money back at the Bellagio with $600, able to cover my parking and a drink at the bar.
The Rio hotel featured numerous restaurants, a food court, a convenience store, and some shops.
The renovation is still ongoing so guests can sense that the Rio hotel is aged but converted into something exciting. It was taken over entirely by Hyatt just on March 1, 2024
Caesars sold Rio to Dreamscape in December 2019. Caesars had a leaseback agreement with Dreamscape to operate the casino and pay $45 million per year. It includes a 117,330 sq ft (10,900 m2) casino and 2,520 suites. It features a Brazilian theme based on Rio Carnival.
In December 2019, Caesars sold the Rio for $516 million to New York-based real estate developer Eric Birnbaum. Under the deal, Caesars would continue to operate the Rio under lease for at least two years, paying $45 million a year in rent.
The Rio partially reopened on December 22, 2020, with hotel operations mainly limited to weekends. Operations resumed four months later. It was the last Caesars property nationwide to reopen. Because of the pandemic, Caesars and Dreamscape extended their lease arrangement, allowing Caesars to continue operating the property for several years. Dreamscape took over operations on October 1, 2023.
In March 2021, Dreamscape announced a partnership with Hyatt to rebrand one of the hotel towers as a Hyatt Regency. The hotel was initially scheduled to open in 2023 with 1,501 rooms.
The remaining rooms were also expected to be affiliated with Hyatt. The resort has 2,520 rooms, including the Palazzo Suites. Aside from the hotel portion, the property will maintain the Rio name and its theme.
A two-phase renovation project cost $350 million to restore Rio’s early popularity.
Renovations began with the Ipanema Tower and will last 18 months before moving to the Masquerade Tower and restaurants.
On the hotel’s exterior, the original red and blue neon lighting was replaced with new LED displays capable of producing various colors.
Chris Kuroda, the lighting director for the band Phish, programmed the LEDs.
While at the hotel, I tried to contact public relations to learn more, but as it has been with Hyatt many times, PR and marketing usually do not return phone calls or requests from the media.
The renovation project added 400 new slot machines. The Hyatt partnership took effect on March 1, 2024
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