First off I would like to say that if we hadn't experienced numerous little niggles at the Elara this would have been at least a 4 rating - the location is great for what we wanted - access to shops, restaraunts and bars but still only a few mins to the strip.

We were in Vegas for my husbands 30th birthday, only a year after we married in Vegas (previously stayed at The Cosmopolitan) so 4 of our friends (2 couples) were also booked into the Elara. We had booked a one bedroom suite with a view, and both our friends booked studio suites so off the bat we had paid more - on arrival both our friends were automatically upgraded to the same suite as us, opposite each other as we had all asked to be situated on the same floor - however despite us asking for both an upgrade also and to be on the same floor we were denied both and were 3 floors above our friends and miles down the corridor. Also despite us paying for a better view, one of our friends also ended up with a much better view than us also.
This only went to show us that we shouldn't have booked the more expensive room, we should have just turned up and expected an upgrade as it left us feeling slightly cheated and unfairly treated that despite paying more we ended up with less.

The frustrating habit of american hotels requiring this 'incidentals' fee on a credit card is also SO annoying. Not everyone has a credit card with $1000 available on it and this drives me up the wall as another thing to have to worry about. One of our friends used a debit card and was notified with 3 days left that his card was no longer going through - this was because they'd emptied his account by that point!

On arrival at our suite the following issues occurred on the first day that I had to complain to front desk about:
- No toilet paper, not in the toilet nor in the bathroom cupboard.
- Shower wouldn't drain.
- Bathroom plug mechanism fell off on first use.
- Toilet door handle came off in my husbands hand the first time he went into the toilet cubicle.
- Used soap with previous guests hairs all over still on the side of the shower - asked for it to be removed twice and it was still there the day we checked out.
- Safe door was malfunctioning so security had to come fix it - I raised this on route to get breakfast on our first morning as we couldn't leave without the safe working, the lady at the front desk told me security would come and fix it but neglected to mention I would have to be there as the person who raised the issue, so my husband was left unable to get it sorted while security waited in our room until I returned.

I also noticed that we weren't provided with any pots/pans or a sharp knife - in a 'furnished' suite. One of the reasons we chose the Elara was because of the kitchen, so to not have any implemnets to use was irritating. I couldn't be bothered to complain about yet another thing so simply borrowed these items off my friends who both had them in their two rooms - again, hassle we shouldn't have had to endure in a 'furnished' suite.

Over the course of the stay we also paid for the 24hour WiFi twice, and both times it wouldn't work in the morning - fortunately this was refunded, however it meant we couldn't attend to what we needed to that was internet based - I would rather have had it work then go through the hassle of buying it only for it not to work and to have to go down and request a refund., especially as the first time I was told that by buying it at 9pm it would have run out by 9am which is why it wouldn't work - I had to point out that that is 12 hours, not 24 so actually should continue to work until 9pm that day.

Lastly, on our final night I went to the front desk to request a slightly later check out as our flight wasn't until 8pm, I was told that that wasn't possible at all - however yet again our friends all received better treatment and both were able to check out at the later time of 12pm. When I queried this again the following morning I was again told it wasn't possible for us to check out later and that the reason our friends had been allowed was that it was decided on a case by case basis - it seems the entire stay it was decided we should have worse treatment than our friends!

It frustrates me that the customer service and the upkeep of the hotel is shoddy in parts, and it seems we aren't alone with feeling that the Elara could easily be made better by just improving the way they treat guests and how they clean. Our friends didn't have as much hassle as us but they didn't go without completely either!

It is such a shame as the overall hotel is great, the location, the views, the amenities in the room such as the blinds and the large tub are all cool and we didn't struggle with noisy neighbours, rubbish left in the halls, we weren't annoyed by security etc. In fact iIt all seems great in theory but the realitiy leaves you feeling a bit flat.

I also emailed the manager directly after seeing the other reviews where he has requested that people contact him directly, that was over a week ago and I haven't heard. So it seems they are keeping up with the poor customer service record even via email.

Only been to Vegas twice. First time we sayed at the Vdara...Wow 5 star and deserving of it. This time we stayed at Elara. It was ok. Thats it. For what it claims it is, we were dissappointed. If you're not expecting too much, you'll be very happy.
--Cool looking very nice lobby.
--Easy check in, only 2 parties before us at around midnight.
--Security, iffy. There is a guard at the entrance to the elevators looking to check you have a key. Problem with this is...they don't know if its a valid current key card, and are all the other people entering at the same time as you hotel guest or just anyone sneeking by? There were a couple of girls at check in complaining about the lack of security when we checked in.
--Rooms at first glance seemed nice. Very much hollywood (looks like Hilton never bothered to change anything when they took over from Planet Hollywood) However...
--Very dark rooms
--Black toilets....not a good idea
--Really bad water pressure in the toilet
--Black painted trims on everything, means every bit of dirt and dust shows up. This is fine if housekeeping does a good and thourgh job....but they don't.
--Bathroom door had something spilt on it when we arrived and 4 nights later it was still there.
--Shower rail hanging from tiles, (might sound petty but its a pain in the butt as it means the shower curtain doesn't close properly) The reason its hanging from the tiles is because the door hits it everytime its opened.
--Sharp door and draw handles...I'm still nursing a cut I got on the elbow.
--Another one that sound trivial...but, the toilet roll holder doesn't fit properly.. This is another pain in the butt (pardon the pun) when everytime you use it you only get one square!
--Morning #1 no coffee left by housekeeping Morning #2 no shampoo left Morning # 3 no facecloths left.
--Room safe is in wardrobe and stood up...this means the only useable space is about 2 1/2 inches wide
--Pool was nice but only 3ft deep
--Beds comfortable
--Alarm clock did not work
-- Black out blinds don't come all the way down to the window bottom
-- Could hear the people talking in next room
--Easy in room check out
--Had to do our own dishes
--Nice microwave, decent fridge, good to have real mugs and glasses
--No free internet anywhere!! Personally in this day and age it really gets my goat that you have to pay for internet. At least in most hotels you can use the lobby computer to do simple things like check in on you flight. Not here.
--Great location!!
--Nice to be free from a casino and smoking.
--in a hotel that size, there really should be more than just 2 ice machines.

My husband, 18 yr old daughter and I stayed here early May. I have to say we loved it.
As we had a car, it was a little hard to find the entrance, but after getting help from the concierge at PH it was easy.
Valet parking was free and friendly. Check in was fine.
Our room was well, amazing! Very Vegas, I thought I had stepped onto a scene from the Hangover movie.
We had a 1 bedroom suite, king size bed, jacuzzi right next to the bed, electronic blinds, huge bathroom with washer/dryer, kitchen, dinning/lounge area.
Electronic blind in lounge is set up as a projector screen if you like to use it.
Our daughter slept on the sofa bed in the lounge. Our 1 problem was with this. Although we had clearly stated 3 people would be in the room when we booked, there was no bedding for the sofa bed. We called housekeeping 3 times to have the bed made and then were delivered 2 sheets and 1 blanket. No pillow. We made yet another call for a pillow and another blanket and 2 visits from housekeeping later we finally received them. We then had to make the bed ourselves.
I agree with others, the pillows were small and not very comfortable.
Apart from that, our stay of 5 nights was great.
Yes, as others have mentioned, it did get noisier towards the weekend with the party animals moving in. Hey, it's Vegas!
We try to avoid anywhere in Vegas on weekends for that reason. So if you want peace, stay during the week.
Pool was refreshing, pool service was good.

Location of hotel is excellent, basically middle of strip. Brand new Walgreens downstairs for convenience. Miracle mile shops off lobby.
I loved the decor of the hotel, still as it was when owned by PH.
I hope Hilton don't turn it into another boring Hilton property.
For a cheap, tasty meal try Earls sandwich by casino entrance. Great sangers at reasonable prices. Also do salads, fruit etc if you are sick of all the fried food!

Let me start by saying I'd give it 2.5 stars if I could.

My wife and I stayed at the Elara in Las Vegas Friday May 18th - Tuesday the 22nd. To give you an idea of where we usually stay in Vegas so you can calibrate this review, the last 5 times we have gone we stayed at Bellagio, Vdara, THE Hotel, Venetian and Palms. We booked late so our choices were limited because of a large real estate convention (ICSC) and the Billboard Music Awards. All of the big name hotels were either way to pricey that weekend or sold out. We chose the Elara because of the location and the fact that it was $150/night.

Positives:
1) $150 average nightly rate including Friday and Saturday night is hard to beat unless you are at some of the old, tired hotels up and down the strip.

2) Check-in was smooth and easy. It was 10pm Friday night and our guy Tek was great. We got a room on the 52nd floor with a great view looking south and west.

3) The pool is both a positive and a negative. Good size. Easy to get to. Decent food.

4) Location. The hotel is right behind Planet Hollywood, which is on the strip. You are across from City Center and Bellaggio with easy access to both.

5) Non smoking and no casino. It was nice to not have the noise and smoke in the lobby, but it was easy to get to that scene next door if you wanted it.

6) Very polite service at the pool and the doormen. Although the food order at the pool took 1 hour to show up. It was a house salad with chicken.

7) Electronic blackout blinds were great. Darkest room I can remember.

Now for the negatives. Some might seem insignificant but as I always say, they add up. You be the judge.

1) The pool on Saturday and Sunday turned into an overcrowded club scene with the most ridiculously loud DJ music you can imagine. I went to Tao and Lavo later that night and neither were as loud as the pool. If you enjoy obnoxious twenty somethings, this is your place. My wife bought earlplugs so we could try to stay. Didn't work. Good news is Monday and Tuesday were calm with nice music playing in the background at a manageable level.

2) The bed was very average and the pillows were comical. Honestly the worst pillows I've had at a hotel in years. Tiny and thin.

3) The dopey waterfall shower head in the bathroom hangs down way to low. I'm 6'4" and it was hitting my chin. Its silly and really not practical unless you are shorter.

4) No Ipod docking station for listening to music.

5) The safe is on the floor in the closet facing sideways with no light. Its brutal to access and in a horribly thought out location.

6) The $150 rate attracts a certain younger crowd looking to party. The lobby (much like the pool on Sat and Sun) was often filled with groups of loud post college kids drinking and making unwarranted comments. I know its Vegas but I'm saying this having stayed at Vdara, Bellagio, Paris, Venetian, Palms, Wynn, Mandalay Bay etc..... This paricular hotel attracts a more obnoxious clientele....even for Vegas.

Bottom line is that I will very likely not stay here again unless I'm in a real pinch or staying for several days and the other options are much, much more expensive.