The date is 11/11. This is the date Stations opens it's 11th resorrt. It opens tonight at 11:11pm. There's an 11 minute fireworks show before it opens, starting at 11. And there are at least 11 other fun facts with 11 in them.

Aliante Station is the latest Stations creation, on the far north side of town. It is supposed to have decor touches not unlike Red Rock Station and Green Valley Ranch Station, all in a much smaller footprint. It will have a TGIFridays, an Original Pancake House, a lounge, a small showroom, a 16 screen movie theater, and an IMAX.

This will be a pleasant change for our neighbors to the north who are looking for a little variety in their local resorts.

As a "neighbor to the north", we checked out Aliante Station on Friday morning. We decided on this time, because new places are notoriously busy most of the day, except early morning. We got there around 7:00am, and planned to check out the breakfast buffet. It was closed, but the sign said they were open for lunch and dinner. I would guess that this is to get everyone used to their stations and what they would be doing. We went to the Original Pancake House where we had a pleasant, but not memorable, breakfast. After breakfast we wandered around to "see what we could see". My impression is that this is not as upscale as the Red Rock Station. I don't remember any memorable architecture inside. There was a neat chandelier made out of empty tequila bottles in Camachos. The thing most memorable about this Station is that it is easy to get around in, and not as difficult for we directionally challenged people as the Red Rock is. I am comparing to the Red Rock because that was most of the pre-opening comparison I was hearing, and I figured that most of you have been to the Red Rock. I would compare this more to the true locals Stations like Palace Station. I think I like the Santa Fe and Texas better.......except for the food court. Aliante has a Johnny Rockets,(no Fatburger), and the only other one in town, to my knowledge, is down on Paradise. They also had a Panda Express, which is pretty much a staple, a Dunkin Doughnuts, Villa Pizza, Capriottis, and Rubios. In the casino was a TGIF, a Feast Buffet, Original Pancake House, MRKT, a seafood and steak place, and Pips, which looked to be Italian. As it was early morning, none of those places except OPH was open. I think it's too bad they didn't put a Cafe (coffee shop) in this venue. There were quite a few local workers in for breakfast. You could tell they were local workers instead of guests because they had jackets on...........and it was windy and chilly outside.
They did have TONS of penny machines (I think I read somewhere about 1200+) out of the 2000+ machines that they have. I have heard, but didn't check out, that they will have $5 blackjack 24/7. We didn't see any full pay video poker machines of any game.............didn't find any Optimum Play if they even have any. I also heard that during the day, Aliante might drop it's lowest denomination slot to $10 in the high roller room when it wasn't busy. Thatl's above my limit, so you guys will have to check that out on your own. They did have my favorite of the moment Hot Shots machines, so we will probably go back. Red Rock has these machines, but we haven't seen any at the other Stations we've been to recently. They are all over the Strip, but not up here for some reason.
All in all, I think that the locals will go to this place as it offers more options than the Cannery, Jerry's Nugget, or any of the other North Las Vegas casinos............although the Cannery seems to be it's main competition. We have friends in Aliante, in Sun City there, that live about half a block from the new casino/hotel, and they are thrilled, and said their neighbors are too...........a place they can walk to! I don't know how many tourists this casino will attract. We did spy the hotel registration area and it looked quite nice. I don't know about pools. There is supposed to be a Spa in the works, and there is a movie theater and an IMAX. There is a golf course in the community of Aliante which is public, or semi public, but the community is still growing and there is not much else out there yet............will be.....but not yet.

Wow, no coffee shop? That is not only out of character for Stations, it's out of character for resorts in general.

It seems odd to me about no breakfast buffet. That should be the easiest show to put on.

I really like OPH for breakfast. Was this different from any other OPH experience you had? I like their coffee too. Some people think Dunkin Doughnuts has the best coffee in town. So if you are a coffee drinker, you oughta find something you like there.

Surely this place will mature as Aliante matures. A build up with the residences around there, a little competition, and a little improvement in the economy should get it set in the right direction.

Thanks for taking one for the team.

The only other Original Pancake Houses I have been to have been the one at Green Valley Ranch and one on Cheyenne. They seem to be the same. Very friendly staff, good service, and okay food. The pleasant waitstaff makes the food taste better than it is. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but Toby had about three cups, so I guess it's good. As I recall, Green Valley Ranch also did not have a coffee shop when it opened, but only an Original Pancake House for casual "dining". Now they do have a Grand Cafe. I do think there will be a breakfast buffet once they truly have it all together.

Thanks for the update, Tater! I'm looking forward to checking this place out. Where is it located and what is the easiest way to get there?

Thanks for the review Tater!
No coffee shop sounds odd to me.
We're going to check the place out on our upcoming trip. This one really didn't interest me much, I don't know why I was thinking small casino??? Would you happen to have an address for my GPS???

Thanks again
Lee

Aliante Casino + Hotel | 7300 Aliante Parkway | North Las Vegas, NV 89084

It's at the intersection of 215 and Aliante Parkway, about half way between 95 and I-15. You could head north on I-15 and turn west on 215. Head west on 215 to Aliante Parkway. You can't miss it from 215.

You under estimate what I can miss!
LOL

It's not geographically friendly as a tourist destination since it's not on the way to anything. I don't know how would go if it were my destination. I'll probably end up there by accident one day.

Some things to consider...
I-15 has half it's lanes shut down the first few miles out of downtown.
Rancho would be a slow and "scenic" route. (by scenic I mean places like Wildfire, Fiesta, NLV airport, the zoo, NLV, 7-11s you don't dare stop at, etc.)
95 is not so scenic but has probably opened up a lot more since you last drove it.
215 would be much longer, easier traffic, and a view of developments.

It would NOT be easy to get to Aliante from Rancho unless you are very familiar with the area. It is not real easy to get to 215 from 95, as there are a lot of turns around local shopping centers. The best way, if you come up 95 is to get off at Ann Road, and take one of two directions. Longer but easier: Ann Road WEST, toward the mountains, to 215 and then EAST or right on 215, orrrrrrr Ann Road EAST or right, from 95 to Jones (there's a light). Turn left on Jones to 215....and turn EAST or right on 215.
By the way, if you are ever taking the scenic route up Rancho, do not, for a minute, think it would be fun to go to the zoo! It's a blight on the town, IMO.............awful! When I was last there they were feeding one of the animals that had died to one that hadn't! Ick!

Thanks Tater, I guess there are a few here who wouldn't get the joke about the zoo. The zoo is real, but it is a joke. Every summer it makes the news because the water dries up and the aquatic displays die off. Also, the land based creatures get dehydrated and look pitiful. The most amazing thing is how this zoo is allowed to remain open. I don't think they are getting city funding and the zoo owners blame that on the poor conditions.

There are a lot of places on Rancho that I wouldn't stop for, hence the scenic route.

I didn't even know Las Vegas HAD a zoo!!!

You wouldn't believe it if you saw it. I've never been inside and I'm kinda surprised Tater went. Talk about taking one for the team.

To keep on topic<g>, Tater said Aliante Station was small. The zoo is small. The land it's on is about 200 feet across and not much deeper than that. If you could pick it up and place it somewhere else, it would fit within the intersection of Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd.

So the zoo is small, poorly maintained, and in a bad part of town. Unless you're on a spy mission from PETA, don't waste your time.

Good news for ya, Tater - there will be a Johnny Rockets in the Silverton expansion, due to open "by Thanksgiving." LOL, there will also be a Starbucks in case you know any Starbucks snobs.

Hooray for the Silverton!!! A Starbucks Snob?? That would be Toby Tater...............who now seems to like MacDonald's coffee pretty well............
I'm still glad to have JR in the Aliante Station..........that's a lot less traffic from here than the Silverton. Thanks for the heads up.

hey i'm a starbucks snob and stockholder-thanks for the support taters!keep up the good work.also need help with microsoft.

Don't get too excited about those dividends, DAG .... only one Tater indulges in Starbucks. I happy to say he also shares when I'm in the neighborhood.

My take on Aliante Station was a bit different.
First I'd like to thank Tater for the addy, it worked like a charm!

I thought it was very nice and I'd put it up with Green Valley Ranch. The one distraction the pit wasn't crescent shaped, or under a dome, just out there on the floor exposed. Took away a little splash of the casino. I liked the look of all those new penny machines, but most where names I never heard or saw before. Quite frankly, they all looked the same after awhile.
How big is too big for a video poker screen? I think some of those slant tops are pushing the envelope on that question! Didn't care for the giant buttons either, sort of like fisher-price video poker. Lots of gimmick VP just like all stations.
Valet was very polite & friendly.
Drink service quick and we seen quite a bit of training going on still.
I would spend a night here if they send me an offer, but just a night. I have no desire to be here or Red rock or Green Valley for any too long.
BTW, the place was kinda empty on our visit.

Somewhere I read that they wanted to make this casino especially friendly to the retirement crowd. I'm sure there is a more politically correct way to put it. The big screens and big buttons could be a part of it. Lots of penny machines could be a part of it. The casino layout was planned for ease of navigation with an electric scooter. There were some other things that they did to make it easier for us old folks to enjoy our stay. I don't know if it's true, but I did read about it long ago.

Stations took a pretty bad publicity hit when they contracted those rez agent jobs overseas. They depend on locals. A lot of locals "claimed" they would not go back to a Stations casino.

BTW, Eastside Cannery has some VP with wider screens and buttons more spread apart. If they were worried about efficiency, they would be smaller, so there is a method to their madness.