Trip Report for April 21st-25th
My first trip of 2013 and only my second visit during the month of April. The weather was pretty nice while I was in town.
Transportation: Southwest Airlines from Kansas City. Once again my flight got in early to start off the trip right.
Car Rental: Thrifty. I had originally booked with Alamo, but Thrifty's rates dropped significantly in the week before I left so I switched. I had a Ford Focus with 34,000 miles on it. This car was loaded with all kinds of crap that would take a NASA engineer a month to figure out. I quit trying to learn how to change the radio stations, since there was no “Tune”, “Seek” or “Scan” on the damn thing so I gave up. My total charge for four days was $63.57 which was a bargain. It had touchy brakes and made a sharp clicking noise when I turned the wheel that sounded just like a pebble hitting the windshield. Typical American piece of crap.
There was no one in line when I got to the counter and they tried to hard sell me on all the insurance. When the clerk handed me the paper work, there was a big white sticker with red letters saying that I would have to present a fuel receipt upon the return of the car and it had to be within 10 miles of the car rental center. When I returned the vehicle, a man got in, looked at the gas gauge and said that was all that was needed. I asked him why put on the sticker if they weren't going to even look at the receipt? He said all they did was look at the gas gauge. I said “I want you to look at this because when I rented the car I was told I had to show the receipt, so look at it.” He just handed me the receipt and walked away. Why put on a big sticker if you're not going to enforce it?
Hotel: Rio. I got four nights comped from spending about $50.00 playing slots for friends at Caesar's last year. I was amazed I got this offer. I had other offers from places I normally play, but I stayed at the Rio so I wouldn't have to change hotels. I didn't spend a dime on food or gambling at the Rio because it's a complete ripoff. My room was in the Ipanema Tower. The furniture looked like it had been there since the hotel was built. In fact, there needs to be a lot of updating done there . When I got to the hotel checkin at 10am, the front desk clerk told me I couldn't check in at that time but I could check in around noon because I was on a comp. Of course when I got back the line was over an hour long. I wasn't happy, so I went to the concierge and told him I didn't feel well and would appreciate it if I could move to the front of the line. I didn't think he would buy this nonsense at all but amazingly, he said “OK just this once” and I was escorted over to a clerk to be checked in and I was on my way to my room. Maybe I should move to Hollywood and take up acting. The elevators at the Ipanema Tower give a new definition to the word slow. This drove me nuts during the week.
Gambling: I had another horrible trip playing video poker. I played at Aliante, Red Rock, Boulder Station, Palace Station and Sam's Town. I play quarters and I consistently lost over $100.00 an hour. This forced me to scale back my play drastically and it didn't change all week. I played 10/7DB and didn't hit a single 4OAK all week. I played deuces wild and never hit deuces. I played 9/6 Jacks and it was also a money vacuum. Video poker sucks when you lose like this. I've also played about 175,000 hands now without a Royal.
Dining:
In N Out Burger (twice): This place is great and always crowded no matter the time of day. Grade A.
Wicked Spoon Buffet: I've wanted to try this one since the Cosmopolitan opened. I went over on Sunday and was the first one in line for the 5:00pm dinner which was $41.06 after taxes. I was disappointed. This buffet is extremely overhyped and overpriced. I was expecting a huge spread but it is small. I had the fried chicken in the little wire baskets and wasn't in the least bit impressed.I had to take multiple portions of everything because of the miniscule amount of food that's in each serving dish. The prime rib was at least medium-rare but had absolutely no seasoning whatsoever. The tiny desserts were also a disappointment. My chocolate cake was completely dry and when I cut into it, the cake disintegrated into crumbs. I went back and tried another thimble-sized piece and it was the same. In fact, all the desserts I tried were dry. I paid over 40 bucks for this? Grade C- for food and F for value.
Pink's hotdogs: I've eaten at Pink's before on the Strip and they now have a location next to the sports book at Red Rock ( which probably means Red Rock won't have the hot dog specials during football season). I really like the quality and taste of these. Grade A.
Red Rock breakfast buffet: This was comped. I like Station Casinos buffets and they taste better when they're free. My favorite is eggs and chorizo. Grade B.
Palace Station breakfast buffet. Also comped. I used points on Station's half-price dining on Wednesday for those over 50. Basic food that I like. Grade B.
Sam's Town Breakfast buffet. Another comped meal. Grade B-.
Gold Coast Buffet. Another comp. I had the Prime Rib dinner buffet. It's $9.99 if you pay for it. Amazingly, the prime rib here is better than Wicked Spoon. The beef was wonderfully seasoned. My only complaint is is that it's either medium or well done. What about rare or medium-rare? Does anyone in this damn town cook rare beef? Boyd casinos are pretty good overall though at serving decent prime rib. Grade B-.
Gold Coast lunch buffet. Comped. Same as dinner without the prime rib. The brisket was good but a little dry. I was there just before the lunch closing time so everything was being yanked out. Grade C+.
Random Thoughts:
The weather was hot my first two days (over 90) and pleasant the last two (75-80).
It snowed in KC on Tuesday, so I was glad I was in Las Vegas.
The LVH has the slowest slot club staff on the face of the earth.
The common areas of LVH need remodeling badly.
Mandalay Resorts = clean and well-maintained
CET Resorts = dirty and in need of refurbishment.
When is that construction going to end on Valley View?
Really Harrah's, $7.50 for a Coors Light?
Renting a car from Thrifty is confusing.
Losing at video poker sucks.
I need a Royal badly.
Aliante Casino was dead, so maybe I'll get an offer from them.
Red Rock is still my favorite though.
Why is Palace Station the only Station property not to have FPDW in quarters?
Wicked Spoon is not worth the money.
Prime Rib is better at Gold Coast and yet it isn't great there either.
Southwest is a great airline.
The Strip continues to be one gigantic ripoff.
I didn't go downtown on this visit. Can't remember the last time I didn't.
The roads on and around the Strip need resurfacing.
Las Vegas continues to be busy every time I'm in town.
Eff you to the truck driver who cut me off on I-15 Sunday.
I love Pink's Hotdogs and In N Out Burger
I didn't watch any newscasts at all during the week.
Watched the Royals sweep the Red Sox in a doubleheader. KC is good and has talent this year.
Why in the hell do groups of people walk side by side at a snail's pace impeding the progress of those behind them?
Eff you to the two belligerent drunks on the Harrah's – Rio shuttle Sunday.
That shuttle needs to be run more frequently or with bigger busses.
The progress of the two competing observation wheels looks to be neck and neck.
Strip video poker is awful.
Rio's air conditioning works great. I like cold rooms.
Next Trip: First week of October.
Hope you enjoyed the report.
My first trip of 2013 and only my second visit during the month of April. The weather was pretty nice while I was in town.
Transportation: Southwest Airlines from Kansas City. Once again my flight got in early to start off the trip right.
Car Rental: Thrifty. I had originally booked with Alamo, but Thrifty's rates dropped significantly in the week before I left so I switched. I had a Ford Focus with 34,000 miles on it. This car was loaded with all kinds of crap that would take a NASA engineer a month to figure out. I quit trying to learn how to change the radio stations, since there was no “Tune”, “Seek” or “Scan” on the damn thing so I gave up. My total charge for four days was $63.57 which was a bargain. It had touchy brakes and made a sharp clicking noise when I turned the wheel that sounded just like a pebble hitting the windshield. Typical American piece of crap.
There was no one in line when I got to the counter and they tried to hard sell me on all the insurance. When the clerk handed me the paper work, there was a big white sticker with red letters saying that I would have to present a fuel receipt upon the return of the car and it had to be within 10 miles of the car rental center. When I returned the vehicle, a man got in, looked at the gas gauge and said that was all that was needed. I asked him why put on the sticker if they weren't going to even look at the receipt? He said all they did was look at the gas gauge. I said “I want you to look at this because when I rented the car I was told I had to show the receipt, so look at it.” He just handed me the receipt and walked away. Why put on a big sticker if you're not going to enforce it?
Hotel: Rio. I got four nights comped from spending about $50.00 playing slots for friends at Caesar's last year. I was amazed I got this offer. I had other offers from places I normally play, but I stayed at the Rio so I wouldn't have to change hotels. I didn't spend a dime on food or gambling at the Rio because it's a complete ripoff. My room was in the Ipanema Tower. The furniture looked like it had been there since the hotel was built. In fact, there needs to be a lot of updating done there . When I got to the hotel checkin at 10am, the front desk clerk told me I couldn't check in at that time but I could check in around noon because I was on a comp. Of course when I got back the line was over an hour long. I wasn't happy, so I went to the concierge and told him I didn't feel well and would appreciate it if I could move to the front of the line. I didn't think he would buy this nonsense at all but amazingly, he said “OK just this once” and I was escorted over to a clerk to be checked in and I was on my way to my room. Maybe I should move to Hollywood and take up acting. The elevators at the Ipanema Tower give a new definition to the word slow. This drove me nuts during the week.
Gambling: I had another horrible trip playing video poker. I played at Aliante, Red Rock, Boulder Station, Palace Station and Sam's Town. I play quarters and I consistently lost over $100.00 an hour. This forced me to scale back my play drastically and it didn't change all week. I played 10/7DB and didn't hit a single 4OAK all week. I played deuces wild and never hit deuces. I played 9/6 Jacks and it was also a money vacuum. Video poker sucks when you lose like this. I've also played about 175,000 hands now without a Royal.
Dining:
In N Out Burger (twice): This place is great and always crowded no matter the time of day. Grade A.
Wicked Spoon Buffet: I've wanted to try this one since the Cosmopolitan opened. I went over on Sunday and was the first one in line for the 5:00pm dinner which was $41.06 after taxes. I was disappointed. This buffet is extremely overhyped and overpriced. I was expecting a huge spread but it is small. I had the fried chicken in the little wire baskets and wasn't in the least bit impressed.I had to take multiple portions of everything because of the miniscule amount of food that's in each serving dish. The prime rib was at least medium-rare but had absolutely no seasoning whatsoever. The tiny desserts were also a disappointment. My chocolate cake was completely dry and when I cut into it, the cake disintegrated into crumbs. I went back and tried another thimble-sized piece and it was the same. In fact, all the desserts I tried were dry. I paid over 40 bucks for this? Grade C- for food and F for value.
Pink's hotdogs: I've eaten at Pink's before on the Strip and they now have a location next to the sports book at Red Rock ( which probably means Red Rock won't have the hot dog specials during football season). I really like the quality and taste of these. Grade A.
Red Rock breakfast buffet: This was comped. I like Station Casinos buffets and they taste better when they're free. My favorite is eggs and chorizo. Grade B.
Palace Station breakfast buffet. Also comped. I used points on Station's half-price dining on Wednesday for those over 50. Basic food that I like. Grade B.
Sam's Town Breakfast buffet. Another comped meal. Grade B-.
Gold Coast Buffet. Another comp. I had the Prime Rib dinner buffet. It's $9.99 if you pay for it. Amazingly, the prime rib here is better than Wicked Spoon. The beef was wonderfully seasoned. My only complaint is is that it's either medium or well done. What about rare or medium-rare? Does anyone in this damn town cook rare beef? Boyd casinos are pretty good overall though at serving decent prime rib. Grade B-.
Gold Coast lunch buffet. Comped. Same as dinner without the prime rib. The brisket was good but a little dry. I was there just before the lunch closing time so everything was being yanked out. Grade C+.
Random Thoughts:
The weather was hot my first two days (over 90) and pleasant the last two (75-80).
It snowed in KC on Tuesday, so I was glad I was in Las Vegas.
The LVH has the slowest slot club staff on the face of the earth.
The common areas of LVH need remodeling badly.
Mandalay Resorts = clean and well-maintained
CET Resorts = dirty and in need of refurbishment.
When is that construction going to end on Valley View?
Really Harrah's, $7.50 for a Coors Light?
Renting a car from Thrifty is confusing.
Losing at video poker sucks.
I need a Royal badly.
Aliante Casino was dead, so maybe I'll get an offer from them.
Red Rock is still my favorite though.
Why is Palace Station the only Station property not to have FPDW in quarters?
Wicked Spoon is not worth the money.
Prime Rib is better at Gold Coast and yet it isn't great there either.
Southwest is a great airline.
The Strip continues to be one gigantic ripoff.
I didn't go downtown on this visit. Can't remember the last time I didn't.
The roads on and around the Strip need resurfacing.
Las Vegas continues to be busy every time I'm in town.
Eff you to the truck driver who cut me off on I-15 Sunday.
I love Pink's Hotdogs and In N Out Burger
I didn't watch any newscasts at all during the week.
Watched the Royals sweep the Red Sox in a doubleheader. KC is good and has talent this year.
Why in the hell do groups of people walk side by side at a snail's pace impeding the progress of those behind them?
Eff you to the two belligerent drunks on the Harrah's – Rio shuttle Sunday.
That shuttle needs to be run more frequently or with bigger busses.
The progress of the two competing observation wheels looks to be neck and neck.
Strip video poker is awful.
Rio's air conditioning works great. I like cold rooms.
Next Trip: First week of October.
Hope you enjoyed the report.
