The D Hotel on Fremont Vegas Review
It’s now one of the party-places for young, cheap-booze loving crowds, but also for anybody seeking to be in the very heart of the budget-party atmosphere provided by downtown Vegas (especially on weekends) and who does not mind sleeping through loud chaos or… Not sleeping at all 🙂
In Vegas there’s been shift in focus, for some time now, away from gamblers of all ages towards young, alcohol-driven, party crowds; this has changed what Vegas offers, from food to amenities, and it’s particularly the case for many low to mid range ‘resorts’ such as the D.
The D, remodeled from the almost historical days days when it used to be the Fitzgerald’s, now boasts impressive bars, some of the cheapest alcoholic drinks in town, dancing dealers on high-traffic times, ‘table’ dancers and… A lot of very loud music. If you are young and want to party on a budget on Fremont Street, this hotel is a strong contender… Provided you book low-traffic dates since, if you don’t, the D can become expensive and I’d say probably not value for money (in which case you may want to consider other options).
♦Rooms. Relatively small but not uncomfortably so, decently remodeled in the now typical mid-range tones of dark wood and white linen, with the basic underlying color being a strong red: not the most soothing color scheme but then, as we already mentioned, you probably should not come to the D hotel if you intend to rest at night (especially on super noisy weekend). The overall decor is on a par with most budget resorts recently remodeled in Vegas; there is no real soundproofing between rooms (but this is unfortunately also the case of many low to mid-range Strip resorts); the Internet, though part of the steep resort fee, is rather slow and unreliable; the air conditioning is somewhat loud and old-style (but this is the case with several downtown Vegas resorts – including many of the rooms at Golden Nugget – and indeed a large number of resorts, except for the higher-end ones), though at least it works!
Some of the rooms offer great views of the area but a significant number of them are spoiled by the tinted windows (with ‘grainy’ texture or advertising panels), though this aspect is not entirely unique to the D (I also found it at the otherwise very pleasant Tropicana resort).
The bathroom size is good though – in the standard rooms – it needs further updating; the fixtures & the plumbing could use serious maintenance (though at least we never encountered the strange smell we encountered in the budget rooms at the Golden Nugget).
♦Amenities. They are basic: a small pool, several restaurants, from the popular ‘Andiamo’ (Italian) to McDonald’s; basic Internet and no gym. To me, a ‘resort’ charging a fee as high as 20 dollars should have more and better amenities than these, including a decent gym.
♦What typifies the D and confirms its bastion ‘themes’ are its 3 feature bars: the unmissable, super long casino bar in Las Vegas (from side to side); the D bar (located outside, right on Fremont Street) with extravagant bartenders, specialty frozen drinks and (on busy nights) a couple of go-go dancers; the Vue bar, an upstairs patio with indoor seating, video poker, overlooking Fremont Street. In summary, the D hotel has a bar for all preferences!
♦Location: right on Fremont Street, ideal for those who want to step out of their room and immediately find themselves in the heart of the action, which is not necessarily suitable to all Vegas visitors. It can be unbearably loud on busy nights and, generally, it’s very close to the screams from the Zip Line; however, if you face Fremont Street no hotel room can save you from the loud live band of busy nights noise and, presumably, you don’t care. If you are noise-sensitive you are better off booking a back room at the super affordable Plaza or even a ‘back room’ at Golden Nugget or even the (partially remodeled) super affordable El Cortez (if you don’t mind the very short walking distance to Fremont Street)
There have been people who said that they felt security was as good as it should be and that the elevators are far too slow. It’s not been our experience.
We have a video walkthrough of the D.
In summary: if you book on a cheap night with no interest in real amenities and street-party-hungry, you’ll be happy here; but if you book on an expensive night you will probably think you did not get enough for the money spent. If you want to stay in downtown Vegas, check our affordable yet good downtown hotels page.