Which Vegas Hotels Do and Don't Have 13th Floors?

On a recent stay at The D, the wife punched the automated floor buttons for the elevator to the rooms. When we went to get on, my mouth dropped open and a weird look came across my face (according to the wife) when the elevator registered the 13th floor. Of course, we didn't get on! After asking a few employees about this, we determined that there had been a new elevator installed a few days earlier, and apparently the installers didn't program the 13th out of the roster. My QOD is "Are there any buildings in Vegas that have a thirteenth floor?”

Quite a few, actually. We polled 40 hotels in Las Vegas and found more than we expected with a 13th floor.

A Caesars Entertainment reservationist told us that all their hotels (except for the stubby little but thoroughly lovable Cromwell) have 13th floors, but if you find yourself booked onto one and want to change, they’ll gladly accommodate your request. MGM Resorts International, the other big dog on the Strip, has a mixed litter. MGM Grand, Excalibur, and Luxor all have 13th floors, as do new Park MGM as well as The Mirage and Circus Circus. Aria, Mandalay Bay, Delano and Vdara don’t.

Others in the “yes” category include Downtown Grand, Eastside Cannery, Golden Nugget, and Hilton Grand Vacation Suites Flamingo. The Orleans and Westgate Las Vegas also said “yes” to the 13th-floor question.

That still leaves you with plenty of options — the majority of Las Vegas, in fact. Prominent bows to superstition came from Wynn Las Vegas/Encore and Venetian/Palazzo, along with Treasure Island, the Tropicana, and Trump International. Downtown’s leading abstentions included Main Street Station and the Fremont. It would be tedious to enumerate all the hotels that eschew a 13th floor, but you can be assured if you don’t see their name here, they don’t have one.

Succumbing to superstition doesn’t always pay off for casino owners. Take the case of the inaptly named Lucky Dragon. The hotel for this north Strip casino (kitty-cornered from SLS Las Vegas) has a hotel too small for a 13th floor, but it banished any appearance of the number 4 from the property. Why? Because the numeral resembles the Chinese character for death. However, the number 8 is considered propitious in Asian cultures and was in plentiful supply. Lots of 8s didn’t spell good fortune for the Lucky Dragon, which closed after a few months and is currently languishing in bankruptcy court.

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Jun-25-2018

Stupidstition

If there are still people out there with triskadekawhatttayacallitphobia, if they come to Vegas, they probably play cards---and there are 13 ranks on a standard deck! Chinese players of baccarat have the number 4 staring at them all the time--every time a 4 is dealt! And of course, the Keno board is full of 4s. The Chinese people are notoriously superstitious, but how many of them are really put off by 4s, in love with 8s, etc. to the extent that they will make irrational, costly decisions to embrace or avoid those numbers?

deke @ lva Jun-25-2018

This in via email

"Regarding the Lucky Dragon, you wrote, "The hotel for this north Strip casino....banished any appearance of the number 4 from the property. Why? Because the numeral resembles the Chinese character for death."

This is inaccurate. The written characters for death and four do not resemble each other. These words sound similar when spoken."

Derick Jun-25-2018

14th Floor

Guess if u get the 14th floor its really the 13th if the 13th floor is deleted. So do u keep a 14th floor room or change?

O2bnVegas Jun-25-2018

calls them as he sees them

Now Kevin mocks the beliefs and customs of another culture.  How nice.

sassiebrat Jun-25-2018

ALL buildings

I cannot believe what I am reading! ALL buildings with more than 12 floors have a 13th floor!

kennethross Jun-25-2018

You're right! So are you!

Hi, Candy! If you have (I wouldn't know of it) an ongoing thing with Kevin and enjoy busting his chops, then I apologize ... but I didn't read any mockery in his post. Rather, he seemed to be saying a few funny things and finishing with complimenting his Chinese gaming compatriots, suggesting that they are too smart to let superstition cause them to ignore probabilities and make irrational, costly decisions.
I believe deke is quite correct about audible 4's.
And sassiebrat is also quite correct; directly above the 12th floor is the 13th floor. 
Now, one may choose to call it the 14th floor, but then again, one might also call it a rose or call it a BLT sandwich.
But it'll still be the 13th floor.
Best of luck to you all!

O2bnVegas Jun-25-2018

no chops busting

kennethross, I don't have any ongoing thing with Kevin or aim to bust his chops.  I usually enjoy a devil's advocate viewpoint, which is what he usually offers.  IMO Kevin's postings are all pretty much mockery of everything Vegas and of us idiots who put our money to bad use in the one-armed bandits, plus everything else he seems to know more about than the true experts.  Sorry Kevin.  Love ya.

Jun-25-2018

Hyper-political correctness

Candy, you misread my post and conjured up a knee-jerk reaction to it. I was not in any way criticizing the Chinese culture--in fact, I expressed skepticism that they would let superstitions about numbers influence their important decisions--which you would have realized if you had read my post more carefully.
In a similar vein, I can't see very many Americans demanding to be moved to another floor from Room 1305 or whatever. But 100 years ago? Hell yeah.
The Chinese do profess belief in the lucky dragon spirits and ghosts of their ancestors and lucky and unlucky numbers and all that tommyrot. But they rarely assign much importance to those superstitions, and when push comes to shove, are in fact the most pragmatic, practical people on Earth.

Jun-25-2018

13th Floor & Fear of 13

I'm glad somebody else already noted that the floor above the 12th floor is the 13th floor, no matter what you call it. It boggles my mind that anybody on the floor labeled "14" doesn't realize they are still actually on the 13th floor. This belief in and fear of the number 13 is so irrational. Just because others believe something doesn't mean there is any truth to it. Why don't you examine your own life's experiences with #13? I did. I assessed that Friday the 13ths were actually LUCKY days for me, not unlucky ones, with only one exception out of many. So I don't fear that number at all. Unless you can show yourself a bad track record in your life relating to #13, neither should you.

deke @ lva Jun-25-2018

Friday the 13th

If you'd like to take Al's suggestion about assessing your relative luck on Friday the 13th, you'll get your chance next month.

Question of the Day - 25 June 2018

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