The location, a bit sketchy. The casino, smells like old lady perfume. We stayed in the newish Cabana Suites and loved them. Very cool rooms at an unbeatable price. If you are staying downtown give the Tez a try.

The El Cortez is a great, small casino which has low limit table games. The video poker selection is good and the slot choices are limited by its size. The people I met there, customers and workers, were some of the friendliest in Las Vegas. It is not the newest or cleanest casino, but it is worth a visit when you are down on Fremont Street.

We always park in the El Cortez's parking garage when visiting the Fremont Experience casinos. We use the ACG coupon and then walk to the other casinos making sure we take advantage of their ACG coupons too.

If you want to know what vegas was like in the 1970s, 60s or even before, walk a little bit outside the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience to the El Cortez. A cheap crowd, but the place is always busy enough to make you feel like you aren't playing alone, but never really crowded. The waitresses seem to be pleased when you give them a dollar for bringing you a drink to the slots. The coffee shop has some history, and if you don't expect much, you won't be disappointed. They will never be able to get rid of the cigarette smoke, and I'm not sure that we want them to. Don't look for the latest progressive slot machines, or any fancy table games. You come here for slots, blackjack, craps and roulette. If you want anything else, go somewhere else. The place doesn't change, and that is just fine

The first thing you notice when entering this casino is the smell. The odor is not at all offensive but it is quite strong. I really don't know what it is.

The casino is classic old-style Vegas. There are old and interesting photos on the walls. Good single-deck blackjack games are available.

Customer service is lacking, however. Once, I went to the cashier's cage to ask to borrow a pen. The employee told me there weren't any but there were several in plain view. I was not happy with this rude treatment, so I sent an email about it to the management. The email was ignored and I never received a response, much less an apology.