Circus Circus Hotel & Casino North Vegas Strip Review

Circus Circus has a a bad rep but it’s somewhat undeserved.  It’s a modest resort but it does provide arguably the most affordable rooms on the Strip, albeit in the North area. Moreover, this Vegas hotel & Casino does provide a lot of entertainment for children and young teenagers, which could put some people off yet entice many families. Let’s go into detail:

Circus Circus pros: the rooms are clean and spacious; the Manor offers the cheapest and most basic rooms (though I would not recommend them unless you are used to modest motel-style accommodation; if you want more luxury, the West Tower provides very nicely decorated rooms and bathrooms for only a few dollars more (and then you can choose even more ‘luxurious’ rooms, of course, in the Sky Tower, for example). Security is excellent, better than at many other Vegas resorts I have been in. It’s really cheap and, if you want something to eat without being fussy, their buffet is cheap and decent enough. You can (if you are fit) walk to mid Strip without much of a problem or you can hop on a bus going mid Strip (there are many stopping every few minutes, 24 hours a day). Their adventure dome is actually real fun even for adults, and I enjoyed going to some of their rides. Their exercise room is open until 8pm (no longer 24 hours, unfortunately) and all you need is a room key. Their ‘main’ pool (KOA RVC park) has been remodeled as well, to a certain extent, and a section of it is deep enough to allow adults to enjoy some lapses or water exercises; their other 2 pools at the Skyrise tower (all with jacuzzis as well) are arguably more ‘upscale’ and more suitable for adults.

Circus Circus cons: the outside of the hotel is basic; no beautiful waterfalls or stunning trees: just cement. The ground floor pool (the one closest to the motel) is reached through an outside passage, which can be quite inconvenient if you want to walk around with your bikini, robe or a wrapped around a towel. In terms of location, it’s not mid Strip and not close to, say, Mirage,Treasure Island or Venetian, which are where the fun really starts on the Strip. There are plenty of families inside Circus Circus; if you don’t like to be surrounded by children, then maybe this place is not for you, although there are also plenty of adults trying to keep to a very low budget. In fact, last time we were at Circus Circus we found it more pleasant (noise-wise) than Mandalay Bay, for example! We have videos of Circus Circus rooms: see below.

On the other end of the Strip, Excalibur provides excellent value for money, though their rates are a bit higher than Circus Circus.  We have a page titled our Excalibur Trip Story (very detailed and up-to-date!), which we hope you will find useful.  If you are not a family and want to explore other budget options which are however good, you can read our ‘cheap Vegas hotels‘ section, it has a list of budget yet good Vegas hotels & tips on where to find the best deals all year round. To help you choose further, I recommend you read through our ‘Best of Vegas‘ section, with all the subsections focusing on the features you may want the most when you choose a Vegas hotel.