Review: Patio Room in the Central Tower at Harrah's Laughlin

For a number of years, I aspired to stay in one of the patio rooms at Harrah's Laughlin as I thought they just looked so cool and it would be a great way to have a private outdoor space to enjoy Laughlin's picturesque scenery. This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to be able to get one of these rooms comped for three nights... so of course I jumped right on it.

Quite candidly, I ultimately found this room type to be disappointing... and mostly for reasons that wouldn't have been obvious to me on the surface. I'm glad I got to experience it, however I cannot say I will book one of these rooms again... and I thought I'd share this review for folks who might have been similarly intrigued by these patio rooms, so that they can have some insight/information to aid in their decision-making process.

I've attached some photos and videos to this post, and have structured my feedback in the pro/con format for easy reading. Please let me know if you have any additional questions, and I'll be happy to answer!

Pros

- Located on the first floor, so no dealing with elevators... just walk straight to your room from the casino. This is definitely a huge plus!

- Lots of natural light from sunrise (facing east) through the full-length sliding glass doors

- The patio itself is actually somewhat enjoyable. Nowhere near what I thought it would be for reasons you'll see below. But I most certainly derived some amount of enjoyment from this room's furnished patio area.

- Excellent sunrise view in the morning as you'll see in the photos. However bear in mind that you'll have to either sleep with the curtains open (people walking by can see you while you sleep), or keep the curtains closed and open them after waking up (not ideal for someone like me who isn't a morning person!)

- Room includes a refrigerator, which definitely comes in handy.

Cons

- The Big One: Must Choose Between Privacy or Darkness. I hadn't considered this at all. But with this room being on the ground floor and right next to a walking path (between the all-ages pool and the Central Tower), you need to choose between either leaving the curtains open (allowing any passerby to see directly into your room) or closing the curtains (and having no light during the day). Limited in-room lighting doesn't make the latter option too great either, unfortunately. In the photos you'll see the point of view from the outside both during the day and at night... and you can clearly see right into the room. And no, there aren't any sheers. Just blackout curtains and that's it. I might feel a bit differently if they added sheers... but with the way Caesars runs its properties these days, I'm not holding my breath at all.

- The Other Big One: Not Much of a View . It would be easy to assume that because you're facing the river, you'll have a stellar view of the river and mountains from your patio room. That is unfortunately absolutely incorrect. Your vantage point, particularly from the seated or laying down position, will look a little something like one of the photos I posted (where you see my jeans and shoes). That isn't to say there's NO view. Indeed you can still see some things including the palm trees. But the stunning "Laughlin Views" that we're all so fond of can't really be enjoyed from this room type. The view is a BIT better standing up. But unless you're hosting a small cocktail/mingling party on this patio (which I think would actually be very fun!), I can't imagine enjoying this patio standing up.

- No Shade: In January, this isn't a huge deal. But in the summer when the "Don't worry, it's a dry heat" temperatures come about, you'll burn to a crisp out here with no shade. This is a massive oversight on the property's part in my opinion, for there to be no shade options whatsoever. I can see why a canopy might be unrealistic. But even a standalone umbrella or two? Too bad they hadn't thought to include this.

- No Room Safe: Yes, I know that Laughlin rooms don't usually have safes, with the main exception being the south tower and suites at Harrah's Laughlin. I just think that considering this is a "Premium" room, it's reasonable to expect that a safe would be provided.

Normally I stay in South Tower rooms here, which I think will be my choice going forward. I'd definitely pick them over the patio room now that I've experienced it. The novelty comes with some tradeoffs... which might work great for some folks, I just didn't dig it myself.

Thanks for reading!

This review is from the Laughlin Buzz FB Group