Rio Hotel & Casino

I booked 2 nights in Rio expecting Hyatt standards, but the experience was unacceptable from start to finish. When we arrived, the room had not been cleaned. There was a bottle of liquid left beside the bed (hopefully just water), and the toilet washer didn’t work. I went to the front desk to ask for another room, but the staff just told me there were no rooms available — with no apology. After I called Hyatt directly, the property management finally reached out, apologized, and offered me 10,000 points. Since this was our marriage trip, I decided to accept their offer and stay, trusting their word that the room had been fixed. But when we came back at night, the bottle was still sitting next to the bed. The sheets looked changed, but then we discovered a bloodstain on them. That was the final straw — disgusting, unsafe, and absolutely unacceptable. We left immediately. This experience completely ruined what should have been a special trip. I will never return to this property, and I’m not sure if this level of service reflects Hyatt as a whole. Read less

Rio is now part of the Destination by Hyatt collection, which is a big deal for Hyatt. It at least gives them "access" to a big resort at Vegas, while not exactly on the strip. I had to attend a conference at the Caesar's Palace, requiring a 4 nights stay but the time of the year meant most of the strip properties were way overpriced. What attracted me to Rio was the rather reasonable room rates, that was actually lower on some days than their $50 resort fees. The rooms were claimed to be newly renovated and on the Hyatt booking page there was no premium for a higher-floor strip-view room. The accessibility to the strip from Rio was not an issue and even a public transport option was available given you were willing to walk for 10 minutes. What sweetened the deal was the 3000 WoH bonus points and another 777 casino hotel bonus points that were stackable each day in my booking. Emailing them before arrival was of no use. As I arrived for a slightly early check-in there was a long line with only a couple of staff working. There was no Hyatt branding anywhere and definitely no separate line for Hyatt loyalists unless I had missed it. Anyway, after a while I was allotted room no 1815, on the renovated Ipanema tower, which itself had 20 floors. Two out of the three wings of Ipanema had strip views -- my room was near the end of one of these with the Masquerade tower almost in front. Rio calls these room "suites", which they were not. Maybe junior suites in some places. My room was a renovated one for sure. As you enter there was a small marble-topped empty rack on the right. The living area of the room was carpeted that had a dark greyish pattern. The large L-shaped sofa had a similarly dark grey colour with a few bright reddish cushions. There were a pair of nestable crescent-shaped wooden coffee tables in front and a rather narrow end table against the wall. The smart TV was right above it which was never connected to the internet. A full-length mirror was next to it. The bed was comfortable, although may not be like a typical Hyatt bed. A night stand with a lamp was on each side. A small wooden high-top round dining table was placed next to the window with two medium-back chairs. There was another wooden cabinet in the room that housed an empty minibar. Forget about a coffee machine here, there was not even a kettle or a bottle of complimentary water. All your beverage needs must be satisfied from the Starbucks near the elevators, however overpriced that may be. The vanity area had a stack of drawers with a built-in locker. The wardrobe was behind a set of movable doors. The toilet and shower area was behind another door and this area had a second smaller vanity. There was no bathtub, instead a standing shower, but the water pressure in the shower was quite poor. All bath fittings had this brass accent which I had seen at other renovated Hyatt properties. The toiletries were in big bottles from Apotheke. The biggest USP of the room, of course, was the views of the strip from its expansive floor-to-ceiling windows. The windows had a red tinge which some might find annoying. Starting from the sunrise to late-night these views would change continually and no two views were the same. You might be spending hours looking out. All three resort pools were visible during the day time as were the new dynamic lights installed on both the towers during night. Another nice aspect of these renovated rooms were the abundance of different types of lighting fixtures: a decorated wall lamp, a floor lamp, two bedside lamps, another one on the cabinet and then the vanity lights. Some of these lights had usb charging points built in for convenience. Beyond the renovated room there is actually nothing more to write about Rio. There was a daily housekeeping but it was a hit or miss. One of the days I had found the bed to be completely unmade. There were lot of food options but none of them really stood out. I twice tried the Canteen Food Hall but I found it to be overpriced and the taste lacking. The philly cheesesteak was just decent. Another day I went to the Luckley Tavern during their happy hour. I got the burger which came without any fries. Had I added the fries, the price would have been close to the regular price of this burger that, of course, came with fries! The service was good but the food quality could have been better. The inclusions in their $50 resort fees were quite laughable in this day and age and nothing was actually of any value. In summary, as long as the prices stayed low Rio could be a great option, but don't expect any service like that from an upscale Hyatt property. But, being at Vegas, I guess you already knew that. Read less