Room Quality: Good. The rooms are average-sized, clean and fully functional. Mostly, the decor is creams and browns, with comfortable beds and deep tubs. The front--and smallest--tower is the Regency Tower (not to be confused with the Stratosphere Tower), it is short and has slightly larger, older rooms than the main towers. In the towers the bathrooms are small, with the sink outside in the bedroom. if you want to go upscale, get a "Select" room on the upper floors. They have bathrobes and turndown service. You know, because it's so hard turning down the comforter yourself.

Service Quality: Fair. It's a moderate hotel, and they have room service. Check-in can be a long and trying wait, and in fact it often is.

What You Get Bottles of in the Bathroom: You get shampoo, conditioner, lotion and bath gel. They used to have bottles of mouthwash, but apparently they decided their clientele smells fresh enough without their help.

Clientele: A lot of middle Americans, especially people from the midwest. It's a middle-class crowd that is pretty serious about value.

How's the Pool? The pool deck is on the eighth floor, on top of the casino. It's about average for the Strip and below the best further south. What you get is an irregular-shaped large pool on a huge concrete deck. There are a few palm trees and some fake rocks, but it's mostly just you, water, loungers and kids up on the casino roof. There is a small pool on the 25th floor. It is for adults only, and is called a topless-optional pool. It has a pretty cool view.

Table Games: Blackjack, craps, roulette, Let It Ride, Pai Gow, and a few other tables. They deal pretty good games, but you have to watch out for mutations of them, such as Crapless Craps and Double Exposure Blackjack. These variations are skillfully designed to look good to the player, while actually being worse. They offer daily craps lessons, so you can learn to play with confidence here.

Bet Minimums: Mostly $5 at blackjack and other card games ($10 at Pai Gow). Craps has 10x odds. We advise you skip the crapless game since it has a bigger house advantage. Roulette is $1 chips with $5 minimum, and they have single and double-zero wheels.

Machines: Slots from a penny on up. They have a few very generous video poker machines scattered about the premises and a good range of full-pay VP at the quarter level. Supposedly, the Strat slots have higher paybacks than the other Strip casinos, so if you're a hardcore slot jockey, it might be a good place to log your hours.

Cocktails? Fair. It's a weird-shaped casino because it feels really long, so it's easy to get irregular cocktail service. We have noticed it takes a while from the time you order a drink until it is actually brought to you.

Who Gets Comps? Generous for free room offers. $10 and up for a few hours at the tables will get you a buffet, and it will also put you on their mailing list. However, all comps come through the club, not from pit bosses, and that's bad news. The slot club is fair for cashback, but it is excellent for comping tower passes, meals and rooms. Make sure to get the card and use it.

Buffet: Not great. If you have a car, we recommend taking the short drive over to Main Street Station. The Buffet serves brunch every day, but don't expect anything special. It's just a way for them to avoid having to do separate menus for breakfast and lunch, meaning both of those meals have limited selections.

Fellini's Ristorante Italiano: You know what would be cool? If this restaurant had a Federico Fellini theme. They could have a giant statue of the Virgin Mary floating overhead, and a bunch of crazy Italian clowns dancing around, and your waiter would repeat the same words over and over. But it doesn't. Instead, this dinner-only Italian joint serves traditional Italian food by way of the midwest (think Olive Garden), meaning nothing unusual or daring. It has slightly weak service, and a remarkably boring menu. The entree price range is fair, and most pasta dishes are on the inexppensive end.

Roxy's Diner: Yet another 50s-themed diner with okay burgers and very good shakes. There is nothing particular to recommend this place unless you are up by the Strat and hankering for a retro experience or the potentially annoying singing waiters and waitresses.

Top of the World: This is one of the most expensive restaurants in Las Vegas. It is at the top of the Stratosphere Tower, so the views are spectacular. It can be very romantic, and if you really want to impress someone, book a reservation for sunset and watch the valley twinkle in the twilight. Dinner is steaks, lamb, duck and other staples but done quite interestingly with Middle-east and Asian spices. If you want a good deal, though, check out the lunch menu, which starts in the mid-teens for relatively basic sandwiches and salads and includes a free ride up the tower. The view's nicer at night, because during the day you see all the smog hanging over the valley, but we can't afford to be picky.

American Superstars: Give them credit for not having the "Spice Girls" in this impersonator show. They left a while back, but Britney is still here, along with Charlie Daniels and Elvis. And, parents, even though there is a Michael Jackson in the show, it's still okay to bring the teenagers.

Bite: A "delicious" topless show based on sexy vampires? Show us the exit. However, for many, a tale of vampires featuring nudity is the greatest thing since a classmate tied them to a tree in grade school. If goth nudity is your thing, this is the only show in town.

Midway: They used to have a midway that was a little like a county fair (or was it supposed to be a really really lame World's Fair?) Anyway, it's gone now, and in its place are a bunch of arcade games. Like, wow.

Stratosphere Tower: Of course, this is the main attraction. It's a 1,149-foot tall tower, with an observation deck 800+ feet up. They also have a Big Shot ride, which shoots you up into the air over the Tower, Insanity, which spins you out over the edge, the X-Scream which is a ride that dumps you over the side, and Sky Jump, an 855-foot drop from the top of the Tower that simulates a bungee jump, but is controlled, and actually lands you. The Sky Jump also costs $100.

Number of TVs: About thirty TVs with one of them big.

Number of Seats: Forty average chairs for sports with ten more behind a long desk. Eighteen chairs for racing fans are at desks with TVs. These chairs are adjustable and nicer. They'll make you feel like you're at the office, if your office has booze and lots of TVs. Ours did, until the boss found out and fired us.

How Many Betting Windows? Six, with slate boards for marking odds and scores.

Free Drinks? Not that we could see, but there's a well-stocked bar right behind the sports book.

Snack Bar? No snack bar. Sorry. Please don't starve to death.

Minimum Wager: $5 for sports, $2 for racing

Other Notes: This is a small sports book but it is moderately comfortable, and suitably dark so you can immerse yourself in the action.

Number of Tables: Eight tables reside in the poker room, which is now actually a room.

Comfort of Chairs: Totally average chairs and tables.

Closed Room or Open to Casino? It's a room now, but still not particularly glamorous. At least they got everything out of the hall.

Game Spreads and Limits: It's all Hold Em, capitalizing on the mooks who see the game on TV. In fact, they spread both structured games starting at a whopping $2-$4, and a $1-$2 no-limit game.

Beginner Games or Classes? They say they have lessons 24/7 from their friendly dealers. So, show up at three a.m. and demand they teach you.

How Crowded is the Room? Not crowded. There is rarely a wait, except maybe on a busy weekend. Maybe get there a little early for one of the tournaments.

Comps? You get one buck an hour, so get a card so they can add your comps to it.

How Good Are the Players? Fair to worse. This is a pretty good room for a strong tournament player to win in. The cash games are amateurish; loose enough to be dangerous in the short term and profitable in the long term.

What Else Do I Need to Know? A few well-structured daily tournaments are offered. Contact the room for details. Overall, this room is slightly below average.