I have read that the hotel is going to be taken over by Planet Hollywood. Is this true? Does anyone know when? I have reservations for next year and was wondering does this affect them at all? Are they planning on making any changes? I have been to the mall and the casino but have never stayed there before and I was wondering is it worth it to up grade to a resort room from a standard room? It is an extra $400. My husband and I usually do spend quite a bit of time in the room so please dont tell it is not worth because you dont spend alot of time in the room .I would just like an honest opinion. We have stayed at alot of the other hotels in Las Vegas and always try to stay some place new.

One more thing when will the new monorail system be running? Will it make stops along the way or is it straight through? Thanks.

I stayed with husband and 21-y.o. daughter a year and half ago. There was talk then of it being taken over and that worried me. But all went smoothly. I would upgrade if I spent a lot of time in room. We stayed in a standard room, and though quite nice, I wouldn't want to hang out there,'cause it was a dark decor.(as opposed to bright and cheery) A good place to nap! However, I never saw the resort rooms so can't describe. We did not use the pool or workout facilities, so can't tell you about them. Don't have up date on the monorail. Sorry.

Jiffer,

Last April, we had reservations at the Aladdin for a Resort Vista (?) and they upgraded us to a Strip Suite without asking. It was SUPER!! Highly recommend an upgrade over a regular room.

The Aladdin is an excellent facitlity that doesn't get a lot of comment on this board. It has everything you would want, and is in a super location.

Curious

--the major changes associated with the theme conversion aren't expected before fall of 2004, and could be much later.
--$400 is far too much for an upgrade to resort room.
--Aladdin is a good value because they've settled into the mid-range hotel competition. Financial hardship has kept this hotel from blossoming. Service is mediocre, casino is not special in any way by current standards, the mall was originally home to many very high end retailers and most have left due to low traffic so now it's rather run of the mill.
Everything's become mediocre at Aladdin.
The Spice Market buffet is one of the better LV buffets if you like mass food production.
For the right price, its location and the fact that it's still relatively new make Aladdin a good choice in its range.

The monorail is scheduled to start running March 1st. It does make stops, but I forget if Aladdin is one of them.

We've stayed at the Aladdin twice and got upgraded for free to a resort room.
Hubby left the reservationist a nice tip for the free upgrade. Just ask. You never know. I would not pay an extra $400 dollars for a resort room. Also ask for a room facing the fountains at Bellagio. The room is very nice. Love the huge bathrooms. I think you'll be pleased with the Aladdin. I love this hotel.

Have fun!!!

Janny, we have reservations at the Aladdin for 2 days in Jan. We will be coming from the Venetian after 2 days because the Venetian rates start to skyrocket because of Superbowl weekend. Do you think the Aladdin can compare favorably to the Venetian? My sister and her fiance wanted to stay at the Venetian. It did not matter to much to me either way. Judy

Aladdin and Venetian don't have much in common except that they're both newer hotels. Venetian tries to capture the high end LV tourist and Aladdin competes in the mid-priced range. Venetian has an expensive and elaborate theme with uniquely designed canals both inside and outside the hotel reminiscent of Venice, there's expensive marble and gold leaf throughout the public areas, the bathrooms and rooms are much nicer than those at Aladdin in terms of quality of materials and design.
The onsite restaurants are much better overall than at Aladdin.

Aladdin was built on a more economical budget. The theme isn't memorable, the rooms are bigger than average for LV but the quality of the materials is very average. The casino is nothing unusual. Aladdin's just kind of like a Hyundai sedan IMO. Functional, when new it can still look nice and do everything you need it to do.
Will Aladdin be around in 20 years? I doubt it. I'll bet after a couple more owners (it was bankrupt after its first year in business) it gets leveled for a newer luxury hotel. The location is tops and someone will eventually build something else there.

Thanks traveleis, I kind of figured that would be the case. I think I may change to TI at the Mirage...just waiting for the prices to level off...seem to be a big discrepancy between Mon & Tues nights and Wed & Thurs night rates 159$ at the Venetian for Mon & Tues, and it soars to 239$ a night for wed & thurs.....have to do some quick juggling here....

I've stayed at the Aladdin once and had a ball!!! Nice rooms with huge marble bathrooms. Beautiful hotel.

To Judyrem:
I wasn't suggesting that you NOT stay at Aladdin, only detailing my opinion of the differences between Aladdin and Venetian.
You asked if Aladdin would compare favorably.
Unfortunately the only hotels that will compare favorably with Venetian will be priced like Venetian (Bellagio, Four Seasons, etc).
If you ask if Mirage or TI will compare favorably with Venetian I'll say that they'll be a step down from Venetian also. In fact, of the three (TI, M, Aladdin) I think you get the most for your dollar at Aladdin. But it won't be mistaken for Venetian.

We stayed at the Aladdin Thanksgiving time for 6 nights. The shopping mall is excellent. The rooms were very nice and the bathroom was nice other than poor lighting and I mean extremely poor. I didn't care for the casino much maybe because we lost there mostly. I was told they were going to start working on the change to Planet Hollywood starting in February and that they would remain open during this. This seems to me a concern if you are staying there. The buffet was good not as great as I heard. We ate at the Commanders also good but not great. It is a shame they are going to change the decor because the arabian theme is very nice. Hope this helps.