Nightmare in Vegas? For some people, the whole idea of a Las Vegas vacation would be a frightening experience. They don't call it Sin City for nothing. However, since we've been retired, we make a one-hour to Vegas four or five times a year. When we first visited, and with a modest budget, we found the most convenient and inexpensive hotel was Circus Circus.

It has been around for about 30 years, always had the the threadbare look of what P.T. Barnum would build to comply with his famed opinion, "A sucker is born every minute." In the huge lobby, at that time, there were frequent trapese acts going on above, flashing casino games belwo, a carnival midway and a fairly decent buffet. I believe the room rates were $25 and buffets included a nice breakfast for $4, and lunch and dinner at $6. On our first visits in the early 1990s, the hotel was adequate, clean enough and located right on the famed Las Vegas Strip, short walks to four or five other hotels.

Then throughout the 1990s, the big constructions started on up the Strip toward the airport, and within several years, there were luxurious mega-hotels springing up everywhere. MGM Grand, New York New York, the Bellagio, the Mirage, Paris, Venetian, Wynn and it is still going on. With more ambition in the later 1990s, we drifted away from Circus Circus on our Vegas trips, and patronized the newer ones. The prices were higher, but so was the quality of the rooms, food, entertainment and the glitzier casinos. Then, out of the blue, last year we received an offer for a free three-night vacation to Circus Circus.

When we checked in, we could see immediately that the old hotel had had not aged well, and should have turned around then and gone somewhere else, even if we had to pay $150 a night or more. What got us when we entered wasn't just the broken-down look of the place, but the stale odor hit us before we had taken two steps into the lobby. Pressing on, believing the smell could have been caused by an accident with the air conditioning, and checked into our room. Although we were getting three free nights, we noticed the sign on the door listing the price at $99, a four-time increase since we had stayed there five or six years earlier.

While we didn't expect luxury, after checking in, we rolled our bags across a filthy, smelly, depressingly dark casino to the elevators. When we got to our room, it was just as dark, which may have been a blessing. When we turned on the lights, we could see the carpets

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