Location: 2901 Las Vegas Boulevard South (The Strip)

What makes the Riviera Casino and Hotel Vegas Special? It’s home to the Pinball Hall of Fame. Technically this is the Riviera Pinball Hall of Fame, which is an annex to the Pinball Hall of Fame museum – still very cool for nerds like us.

Entertainment Attraction: This hotel, isn’t exactly ‘elite’ as far as the Strip is concerned. However, the entertainment roster manages to incorporate a topless showgirl revue, a comedy club and a German magician by the name of Jan Rouven. Not too shabby, Riviera – we’ve underestimated you.

Number of Rooms: 2,075

Overview:

The Riviera Casino and Hotel Vegas straddles a fence where on one side their accommodations are respectable, though not that original when compared to some of the bigger names on the Strip. On the other side, their event listings are impressive enough to lure some patrons to this affordable alternative.

The Riviera Casino and Hotel Vegas keeps it simple with classic, deluxe, luxury, and pet-friendly options for their rooms. They also offer Las Vegas suites and Penthouse suites, for which options include the ‘Sinatra’ and ‘Casino’ Penthouse suites. These suites cannot be booked online and a special request needs to be submitted to the hotel general manager via email. Even if this is a practical necessity, it gives the suites some additional panache that makes them all the more appealing.

Dining options include staples such as surf and turf at R Steak and Seafood Restaurant, as well as the R Buffet, which serves up breakfast, lunch and everyone’s favorite meal of the day – brunch. But those choices have got nothing on the Queen Victoria Pub, which has a ‘craft’ beer selection that helps bring their to total to more than a hundred different brews.

After you throw back a couple of beers, you can enjoy one of the aforementioned entertainment options. The Riviera Comedy Club has been touted as one of the best in Vegas, while the topless revue Crazy Girls is celebrating 25 years on the stage. For more family-oriented fare, there is Illusions starring Jan Rouven, which includes acts such as the Bed of Death, the Fire Spiker and Hand Stab. We’re just going to hang out in the back and hope good old Jan doesn’t ask us to be volunteers.

Hotel website: Riviera Casino and Hotel Vegas

*Key to Rates

$ – Up to $100

$$ – $101 to $130

$$$ – $131 to $190

$$$$ – $191 to $250

$$$$$ – More than $250

*All nightly rates based at the Riviera Casino and Hotel Vegas based on first weekend of October and excluding resort fees.