Located on the Northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, The Riviera is instantly recognizable by it's huge glittering billboard tower. It advertises itself as having some of the loosest slots in Vegas. Uh, yeah, and I have some nice lakefront property in Pahrump I'd like to sell you!  
 
Surrounded by tacky joints such as Westward Ho and Circus Circus, it's possible, in the dark, to see the Riviera in her finest lights. Walk inside and to your immediate left is the a pitch man with microphone, extolling the riches to be had at the $40 for 20 booth. Okay, we tried that, and I have a very strange plastic tote bag, cheapo sun visor and tee shirt, all free advertising for the hotel casino.  
 
We stayed in the San Remo (Pool) Tower, one of the two older towers, facing a decent-sized pool. A narrow room with fading carpet and two double beds seemed over-priced at $89 a night. It was, when you consider how much it reminded me of a Motel 6, that might charge half as much!  
The little containers of generic lotion, shampoo and soap went right into my travel bag, the need to salvage something from the convention package gone wrong.  
 
A 2 for 1 coupon for the World's Fare Buffet was the sole reason for trying this. Remember your school cafeteria? If you liked said cafeteria, you will enjoy this one, replete with steamed and overcooked fried fish, meatloaf, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, canned-tasting veggies and all the brown-edged iceberg lettuce you care to sink your teeth into. Plenty of jello and stale tasting cake in case you're still hungry. Quantity versus quality does not a deal make!  
 
Katy's Coffee Shop was surprisingly good. That's after waiting in a luncheon line, (we had 1 hour to eat during the Nursing convention). Once the brassy hostess heard we wanted the non-smoking section, you would think we had insulted her personally. Patting her lacquered bouffant into place she indicated that she was not going to open a new section just for us, and we would have to step aside and wait. After another 15 to 20 minutes of watching our newly arrived friends streaming in, we were seated. The Chinese food is very tasty and fresh, and the late night breakfast and Chinese specials were a deal at $2.99. (Yes, I did leave a tip, as the waitress was blameless, but I got in the habit of carrying around comment cards to complete!)  
 
The casino itself is very smokey, and seems to pride itself on hidden bathrooms. (Hint: there's one to the right of the hotel registration desk, and down a short hallway.) Low rollers will love Nickel Town, I know I did, with the $.99 margaritas and the chicken finger/hot dog/hamburger specials. A lot of room is devoted to slots of all sorts, and trust me, this casino isn't giving anything away, folks.  
 
The production show, Splash, combines motorcycles, reed thin show girls, an annoying comedian, and some Ester Williams synchronized swimming. It's dated, so I would only try it with one of the 2 for 1 coupons from the freebie mags, such as What's On. Most guys will gravitate to the cheesy girlie show, Crazy Girls. As I was waiting for another show, I studied the long lines of glazed-eyed zombies exiting the show. Did I mention I was there for a Psychiatric Nursing convention?  
 
Besides Nickel Town, the only reason I might visit the Riviera, would be the excellent female impersonation show, An Evening At La Cage. I still have fond memories of Frank Marino, (no, not that Frank Marino, he's in Canada), as Joan Rivers. This is one super talented guy, and there are some great numbers with Judy, Cher, Madonna and the rest of the girls, really putting their hearts into it.  
 
If you have kids, try Circus Circus, right across the street, and with room deals that make sense for this part of the Strip. Sandwiches and beer deals at Westward Ho can be recommended, and you will probably find a nice center strip hotel, (try Treasure Island), for the same price you'd wind up paying here.  
 
