---

Conference Hotel: Atlantis Casino Resort

Compared to other cities, Reno hotels are a bargain and excellent for the price.
(I've stayed in Super 8's that cost more than twice than the hotels below.)

	Atlantis hotel and its new Sky Terrace bridge (the purple-blue glass structure at left center) over South Virginia Street
	Atlantis’ Sky Terrace is an indoor bridge with restaurants that leads to PTBA’s outdoor trade show with real dirt in which to demonstrate equipment and techniques. They don't mind when we dirtdiggers pass through.
	Atlantis’ Toucan Charlie's Buffet is amazing. Luxury Tower rooms are spacious, well-appointed, and offer either city or mountain views.
	Concerned about gambling and the casino atmosphere? Slot machines and gambling are only on designated areas of the first floor (the conference area is on the second floor). Like all casinos, the building is designed so that you have to walk through the casino to get to restaurants and exits, but the compact casino floorplan reduces travel distances. Upstairs it's peaceful and quiet like any other hotel. The modern ventilation system also keeps the air clean even in smoking areas—one of the main reasons why we have this conference at Atlantis. Atlantis is more upscale than many of Reno's casinos, and it attracts a more upscale clientele that doesn't smoke as much. While many attendees never gamble, some claim that they win more at Atlantis' slots than elsewhere in Reno. And if you want to see a far larger and more amazing casino, visit the Peppermill 3000' north of Atlantis. One needs GPS just to get through Peppermill's vast casino floor.

Atlantis Casino Resort
Most of the conference will be at the Atlantis Casino Resort. Atlantis features seven restaurants, including the must-see-to-believe Toucan Charlie's Buffet & Grille; pool and spa; free parking; free airport shuttle; and proximity to many other restaurants and shopping in and around nearby Meadowood Mall. Overall, it's a modern, fully accessible hotel which is nicer than most—and much nicer than the room rates would have you expect.

Smoking is banned on the conference level (2nd floor), and the state-of-the-art ventilation system keeps the air clean in the conference area and throughout the building. We had the conference here for the past two years and no one seemed bothered by cigarette smoke or the facilities in general. In lodging rooms, entire floors are non-smoking.

Atlantis prides itself on its food, both in its seven restaurants and in catering. We agree that they have some of the best food in Reno.

Rooms in four price ranges
Atlantis offers over 1,000 rooms in four price ranges. In order of popularity among conference attendees:

	(Luxury) Tower $$$ The Luxury Tower (where most conference attendees stay) is mid-priced with spacious rooms in the same building as the conference area. The majority of the rooms are in this section. Rooms have coffee makers, hair dryers, dataport phones, and nicely appointed bathrooms with lots of counter space and marble tile. Elevators stop at the conference level for max convenience. At check-in, you can choose between city views or mountain views. Check Atlantis' online reservation system for their online price.
	Motor Lodge $$ The recently remodeled Motor Lodge offers nice, spacious rooms in a two-story motor court. Rooms cost considerably less than the Luxury Tower and are in a separate two-story building about 100' from (but not connected to) the main building. Given the height and length of Atlantis' tower, it may often be a quicker walk to your motorlodge room than to a tower room. Check Atlantis' online reservation system for their online price.
	(Royal) Dolphin Tower $$$$ Very nice, newly remodeled rooms, fairly pricey for Atlantis but relatively inexpensive compared to business-oriented cities. Check Atlantis' online reservation system for their online price.
	Concierge Tower $$$$$ For indulgence and big budgets, the Concierge Tower (the top of the highest tower) is high-priced with butler service and other amenities. (We've never heard of anyone staying in these rooms.) Check Atlantis' online reservation system for their online price.

Hotel reservations: convenience vs. price
Optimizing convenience: For maximum convenience, reserve a room by calling the hotel directly at (800) 723-6500 24 hours a day. You'll pay more than through an online source, but they'll have a room for you and it will only take a minute to make your reservation.

Optimizing price: The best deals now seem to be "flight + hotel" packages. Expedia.com and Travelocity.com have packages, while Orbitz.com may. Atlantis also makes a limited number of rooms available online at lower rates than you'll obtain by calling the hotel directly. You can also try www.hotels.com. However, even if online sources show no rooms available, Atlantis has over 1,000 rooms so look further or call the hotel directly.

Free airport shuttles
Free airport shuttles depart from the airport to Atlantis 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after each hour between 4:30 AM and 12:30 AM each day. Shuttles depart from Atlantis to the airport on the hour and on the half hour. The airport is only 4 miles away—look for Atlantis' tall towers while your plane approaches the runway.

Atlantis location, contact info, website
Atlantis Casino Resort
3800 South Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502
(800) 723-6500
www.atlantiscasino.com

	Peppermill Hotel Casino
	Peppermill's year-round outdoor pool and rocky waterfall

Peppermill has a large outdoor pool (open in February) and large outdoor hot tub with a rocky backdrop with waterfalls, a large Island Buffet that takes turns with Atlantis' buffet for "Best Reno Buffet", its own seven restuarants, free parking, and free airport shuttle.

Peppermill has 1070 large and comfortable guest rooms. Most rooms are in the main three-winged tower, but some "Deluxe" rooms are in an older motor court in a separate building for about $10 less than tower rooms. For the least expensive Peppermill rooms, ask for a "Deluxe" room.

Rates reserved through Peppermill's website may be less expensive. Peppermill also runs promotions with websites such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and Orbitz.com when room reservations are purchased with airfare, but these promotion rates may be the same as you would get from their own website.
Peppermill general website
Peppermill rates and online reservations

Peppermill also runs free airport shuttles every half-hour or so—call 800-282-2444 for the schedule. Reno's municipal bus also runs along South Virginia Street and stops in front of both Peppermill and Atlantis.

Peppermill Hotel Casino
2707 South Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502
(800) 282-2444 for reservations
www.peppermillreno.com

Try Atlantis first! On weekdays, Atlantis costs only a few dollars more than the budget hotels and it's worth it to stay in the conference hotels. On weekends, however, all room prices at all hotels increase, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, and the budget hotels may then be worth the extra commuting bother.

Budget hotels require commuting: Atlantis is about 3 miles south of downtown Reno. The following budget hotels, however, are downtown. You can use Citifare, Reno's municipal bus, to commute. Local map

The Sands Regency has 800 rooms, 300 of which are non-smoking on non-smoking floors of the 19-story building. Recently remodeled, it's a good deal for the price, but the place is slowly going downhill.

The 2002 PTBA conference was held at the Sands. But if you dislike cigarette smoke, don't stay at the Sands—the ventilation system is old, most public areas are smoky, and even some smoke-free rooms are smoky.

Free airport shuttles, but the same shuttle stops at several hotels.

Reno/Tahoe International Airport
One of the reasons we hold this conference in Reno is because it's so easy to get in and out of the modern, efficient airport and to/from hotels from the airport. Airport home page and online flight info. Get off the plane, take a short walk down a short concourse, and in two turns and a short flight of steps you're at Baggage Claim. After you've claimed your luggage, walk out the doors at the far end of the baggage claim area (opposite from where you entered) and wait for your free hotel shuttle. It's that easy, and I've done it many times now.

Free airport-hotel shuttles
From curbside at baggage claim, free shuttles from major hotels, including 3 of the 4 hotels above, make continuous loops back and forth from their hotels. Atlantis has shuttles that make a round trip every 30 minutes (see schedule above). The Sands Regency and Circus Circus also run every 30 minutes. Fitzgeralds does not run shuttles. The conceirge desk knows the schedules of all shuttles, but it's best to get the latest schedule directly from the hotel ahead of time.

Check flight availability and fares online
The following reliable and trusted web-based services enable you to browse airline schedules and prices online, as well as buy airline tickets online. The three-letter airport code for Reno-Tahoe International is "RNO":

www.orbitz.com
www.expedia.com
www.travelocity.com

A single bus ride on Route 1 connects downtown and the conference hotels in a single straight-line trip of 3 miles from Atlantis. Fares are $1.25 one-way. Citifare Route 1 is shown in purple on the map at right.

A bus stop is located in front of both Atlantis. Downtown, use the CitiCenter bus plaza which is central to everything. See downtown map below.

Buses run every 12, 15, or 30 minutes on Monday through Saturday and every 15 or 30 minutes on Sundays. Detailed Citifare bus schedules (look up schedule for Route 1).

Map is not to scale
Please note that (1) the map is not to scale, (2) Atlantis is much closer to Meadowood Mall than to downtown, and (3) distance from Atlantis to downtown is about 3 miles.

Downtown alternate hotels
Yellow circles 44, 45, and 46 downtown (upper left) are the Truckee River Lodge, Circus Circus and the Sands Regency, respectively.

What the yellow circles mean
For the key of business names for all the yellow circles, see PTBA's Reno & Lake Tahoe Attractions page.

PDF Map Download
This map, along with the downtown map below, is also available as a PDF file. Printing from the PDF file will give you much higher quality. Download PDF file with both Reno maps (~176 K).