From: TedChee@aol.com
Thanks for the colorful series of trip reports.
Thanks, Ted!
In going for emphasis, I think you went too harsh on the room assessments at
LVH & ST. Both have a mix of rooms, which range from plain & spartan to
luxury. I actually prefer the LVH rooms that I get over the Rio suites even
though they're somewhat smaller in size.
It has been 30+ years since I stayed at a Howard Johnson's, but the usual LVH
room we get fits my recollection of that motel chain. Clean... drab, though.
Not designed to keep you in bed any longer than you need to be.
Bathroom facilities, especially showers, are important to me, and not one
Vegas casino we've ever stayed at offers the "European-style" separate handset
besides a fixed showerhead. (On the continent, a single showerhead would be
considered spartan, maybe even barbarian. Once you get used to it, it's hard
to go back.)
Also this year I'm attuned to the nonsmoking aspects since, thanks to Gov.
McGreevey here in NJ, I finally relinquished a bad habit. Nevada's cigarette
prices are half what they are in NJ, so the casinos are still blue with smoke.
I thought I could stand it ... but now when I'm in a smoke-heavy environment,
the secondhand inhaled stuff is like a waxy crud that builds up in my sinuses
overnight.
Does Sams Town really have luxury rooms? The notion fascinates me. Not enough
to ever try to stay in one, though! 
As for ST, it's been several years since I've stayed there but I have a
different and fonder memory of ST rooms especially during one Christmas
overlooking the inner courtyard.
Xmas -- a real cultural divide, Ted. I guess if you're coming from CA, the ST
courtyard's nice, and it's true, they do have a pleasant mix of lights.
But we have over eighty 100-bulb strings -- no, we didn't put any up this
year, cuz we were going to Vegas! -- and the people in our neighborhood are
passionate about overdoing it. We're talking inflatable rooftop Santas,
spotlights, everything else blinking and moving and flapping -- some loop Xmas
carol soundtracks outside their houses (to better honor the Baby J, I guess).
The average lit household in my neighborhood is sucking more wattage than the
entire ST courtyard. When we do string the lights up, our "house specialty"
(we front on two different streets) is all-blue and all-green lights for a
cool effect. But I digress.
Maybe I'm a Motel 6 junkie but I thought the rooms to be quite comfortable &
more than adequate. Don't really know why I've never gone back but they never
gave me a reason not to.
But did they give you a reason to go back? Then -- that's what we got, too.
They give a comp that MIGHT be "adequate", compared to the Strip, but they're
not chasing you (as an out-of-towner) -- and at the same time you learn that
better deals are going strictly to the locals, like the 6X cashback and other
mailer promotions.
If the person playing next to you is getting a free portable Mp3 player on
points for less than half your cash-in -- and you're barely getting a buffet
comp -- you're not inclined to stick around to analyze other aspects of the
arrangement. And if we ever moved to Vegas (like after my lobotomy), then I
think this is the way that we, as locals, would like it.
/JJG