Val Penny's Hotel and Restaurant Reviews The Traveller's Guide to Hotels and Restaurants around the World

My husband took the opportunity to ride the monorail in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA when we visited recently. It links many of the famous hotels on The Strip. At one end of the line is the MGM Grand while the SLS is at the other. We were curious as to what SLS stands for, but a local tour guide told us that it does not stand for anything. The name of this chic, new hotel is just SLS. This  property is at the north end of The Strip, farther from most other hotels and casinos. 

Hotel definitely seems to cater to a younger crowd as loud music played by the main pool but few people were really swimming. We also noticed that the second pool was quite small for the size of the hotel and pools closed rather early each night. Still, the SLS is a hotel that really tries to represent the essence of the sexy, modern Las Vegas.

The rooms are not all that large and do not have a great deal of storage. However, they do come with nice showers and unusual amenities, including mirrored ceilings! So, the ambiance of the hotel was lively and exciting at night. The SLS would definitely suite those who seek an exciting yet relaxing time in Las Vegas. There are lots of things to do in and around the SLS. There are several restaurants and many shops. Unfortunately, a few of the restaurants were oriental and the food was not to my taste. Also, the prices in the hotel shops were somewhat more than I would have been willing to pay.

However, SLS is at the end of The Strip nearest to The Down Town area of the city. There are a wide variety of shops there, including the “Pawn Stars” shop that features on TV. We did not go into that because there was a long queue outside as they were filming the afternoon we were there. I did not want to stand in the heat to get into the shop.

We did enjoy the beer garden, although it was a bit close to the main road. It offered unusual cocktails and the adjacent Umami Burger is an outpost for gourmet comfort eats. There was also sports betting as a change to the usual casino betting. I tried the pomegranate margarita with the black pepper rim. Delicious, provided you like pomegranate and pepper. I do! 

The staff were rather a mixed bag. Some of them were terrific and offered great service but some of the others seemed to feel that it was beneath them to look after their guests. That was a bit tiresome. SLS is a stylish hotel and would suite many people but it was not exactly what we were looking for this time.

Valerie Penny