Daniel S.
Yelp
When you're on the Las Vegas Strip there is a time for partying and there is a time for relaxing. As for me this past staycation, most of my time was for relaxing. The Blu Pool at Bally's was the perfect spot to unwind by the pool. On a May Friday leading into the brutal hot days of the Las Vegas Summer, my dad (flew in from NY) and I exchanged a good few hours of a vacation day relaxing here. In pursuit of relaxing in the sunshine, I appreciated the laid back atmosphere. On a weekday afternoon the DJ and blasting music were missing in action. As far as my lately omnipresent mellow mood on vacation, that was a good thing. When I am in the mood to relax on vacation, the last thing I need to hear is a DJ blasting very loud music. Instead of a loud party atmosphere what I heard were piped in songs from the late 1990s to today. Additionally, I overheard the passing monorail, chirping birds, and the summertime sounds of life at the swimming pool. It was so tranquil here that I dozed off.
Serving as the main swimming pool of Bally's, Blu Pool is arguably one of the oldest swimming pools on the Las Vegas Strip. If this is the resorts original swimming pool, it dates back to the mid 1970s when Elvis Presley headlined Las Vegas. It would also date back to a time when this very hotel was the original MGM Grand. Back in the 1970s land in Las Vegas was plentiful which encouraged the majority of hotels to build out instead of up. This can explain the long walk from the two hotel towers to the pool. Unlike many of the new Las Vegas resorts a swimming pool deck is missing here. At Bally's, the guest cannot exit the elevator to be transformed by the swimming pool. At Bally's it is a hike to reach the pool that involves a walk into the casino, then downstairs across the mall and past the sports book. The South Tower is significantly further than the Resort Tower which requires an additional hike across the whole casino. The way I see it, the attached Paris Hotel's swimming pool is a closer walk to the South Tower than to Bally's pool.
In similar fashion to Bally's public areas, the swimming pool, seems to have been untouched since Elvis Presley headlined Las Vegas. From my personal experience, it looks the same since I rode the monorail above it in the late 1990s and stayed in Bally's during the early 2000s. The only subtle difference I notice are that the tennis courts appear to be history. The Blu Pool is a standard large swimming pool that lacks the bells and whistles of sand, lazy rivers, waves, fountains, and day clubs. It is also in need of sufficient shade. The only shady spot besides the pay to rent cabanas was under the awning of the Blu Pool bar. This is where my dad and I moved the non luxurious yet comfortable chaizes to. What it lacks in bells & whistles, it makes up for in being the only Las Vegas Strip pool that I know of with a 12 foot deep end. There were a sufficient number of Life Guards watching over the pool. It makes up for the lack of bells & whistles in another way. Near the entrance and not too far from the monorail station is Splashes Convenience Store. At the time of my last visit and perhaps now, they are selling a can of 24 ounce Miller High Life beer for $2.45. The nice thing was that the friendly woman at the pool entrance let me bring it to the pool as long as I had a receipt and it was not glass. In the shadow of the Las Vegas Monorail and Bally's/Paris parking garage I enjoyed getting additionally mellow drinking a 24 ounce Miller's High Life while overlooking the pool. I can guarantee that it was far less money than at the bar and Cafe in back of me.
The Las Vegas Strip is a place where some people want to party and others relax. Or perhaps a mix of both. When I am staying at Bally's and want to relax in the sunshine, the Blu Pool at Bally's is a place to be.
