Thursday, July 14th Day 5
The late evenings finally took their toll as we decided to sleep in a bit this morning, so we did not make use of the fitness center.
Six members of our group meandered our way back over to Café Cortez for breakfast. I had booked a room offer I received from them for three free nights, $40 free slot play and $50 food credit. Since I knew I’d be that way a lot this trip, I decided to use it. The food was excellent again, and I charged $50 of the bill to my room and paid the few dollars and tip in cash. I kept ribbing my wife who had the Jackie Burger and Chocolate shake for breakfast…although truth be told, it looked mighty good when they brought out the food.
After breakfast 4 of the group had entered a slot tournament at Bally’s and needed to get over to the hotel to register for that. I dropped them off and asked them to call me with their tournament times as they would play twice. If they would be a long time, my plan would be to venture back downtown. If they would only be a few hours, then I would stall for time and hang somewhere close. They let me know that their tournament times were at 10:40am and 12:30pm so I decided to kill a few hours down at Terribles. I killed time playing some slots and ran up my $100 investment to $300. I then sat at a blackjack table until my family called. I ended up down at the table but up $3 on the day so far…lol. Hey, a win’s a win. Back to Bally’s to pick up the family and head back downtown where everyone was on their own until 6:45pm where we were to meet at the entrance to the Flame.
My family usually chooses one night to have a meal at the Flame each trip and since most everyone was leaving on Friday, we decided to choose Thursday night as a nice send-off for everyone. Since we had been there before, I had corresponded with the restaurant manager Michelle about reservations, and she set our party of 14 up for 7pm. She also asked if we would like a cake or something else special. Since 6 of the group was celebrating a birthday within 10 days of this dinner, I thought it would be a good idea. She asked what I would like and I told her and she asked if I wanted a special theme…the only theme we all share is Vegas so I told her a gambling theme would be great. She gave me a ballpark on what the cake would cost and I told her I would see her on the 14th.
As my group assembled outside the restaurant, I went in to greet Michele. I gave her a Thank you card with a small token of my appreciation. Michelle immediately apologized and said that there was something wrong with the cake. I asked what that was, and she said you requested vanilla buttercream icing, and they put chocolate buttercream icing. I told her that was not a deal breaker and not to worry, but Michelle said there would be no charge as it was their mistake.
Finally my group arrived and we were shown to a table and immediately greeted by our favorite servers Mark G. and Elena. As is our custom, we would be using several LVA and ACG coupons for dinner this evening. This was in addition to some two free bottled wine coupons that my dad and I received when we checked in. I went to shake Mark’s hand and presented him with a generous gratuity up front. I asked that he bring me the bill and reminded him that we would be presenting several coupons but everything would go through me. The meal was outstanding as usual. Many Caeser salads and French onion soups were ordered as they are family favorites. Most everyone chose one of the delicious steaks on the menu. Food and service were excellent! After dinner I gave Mark the cue to bring out the cake. On the top was inscribed Happy Birthday, and there were several gaming symbols on the cake. A pair of dice, two cards representing blackjack and and El Cortez logo. Everyone thought it was very cool. We had the 6 birthday folks blow out the candles. They have move the piano player from the bar next door into the dining room while they remodel, and he broke into “Happy Birthday”. The cake was delicious!
Now for the best part….there were 14 of us and each person had a coupon. I gave everything to Mark and he brought me back the revised bill. The original total was $555. After the Flame coupons from LVA and ACG, and the two free bottles of wine, the total came out to $155. Mark explained that they usually add on the gratuity for parties of 8 or more, but since I had already tipped him more than that would have been, they kept it off the bill. I had arranged to split the bill with my uncle who was with us, and we each tossed in a hundred buck and told Mark to keep the change as well. An excellent experience all the way around.
After dinner, 4 of the adventurous souls in our group wanted to do the Fremont Street Zip Line. So we walked over that way to watch them. They each said the $20 bucks was worth it for the experience, and they each purchased pictures to commemorate their fun times on the zip line.
After the zip line, everyone went their own way and we made arrangements to meet for breakfast at 9am as most of the group would be headed home.
Up next….Day 6…Going home and final thoughts
The late evenings finally took their toll as we decided to sleep in a bit this morning, so we did not make use of the fitness center.
Six members of our group meandered our way back over to Café Cortez for breakfast. I had booked a room offer I received from them for three free nights, $40 free slot play and $50 food credit. Since I knew I’d be that way a lot this trip, I decided to use it. The food was excellent again, and I charged $50 of the bill to my room and paid the few dollars and tip in cash. I kept ribbing my wife who had the Jackie Burger and Chocolate shake for breakfast…although truth be told, it looked mighty good when they brought out the food.
After breakfast 4 of the group had entered a slot tournament at Bally’s and needed to get over to the hotel to register for that. I dropped them off and asked them to call me with their tournament times as they would play twice. If they would be a long time, my plan would be to venture back downtown. If they would only be a few hours, then I would stall for time and hang somewhere close. They let me know that their tournament times were at 10:40am and 12:30pm so I decided to kill a few hours down at Terribles. I killed time playing some slots and ran up my $100 investment to $300. I then sat at a blackjack table until my family called. I ended up down at the table but up $3 on the day so far…lol. Hey, a win’s a win. Back to Bally’s to pick up the family and head back downtown where everyone was on their own until 6:45pm where we were to meet at the entrance to the Flame.
My family usually chooses one night to have a meal at the Flame each trip and since most everyone was leaving on Friday, we decided to choose Thursday night as a nice send-off for everyone. Since we had been there before, I had corresponded with the restaurant manager Michelle about reservations, and she set our party of 14 up for 7pm. She also asked if we would like a cake or something else special. Since 6 of the group was celebrating a birthday within 10 days of this dinner, I thought it would be a good idea. She asked what I would like and I told her and she asked if I wanted a special theme…the only theme we all share is Vegas so I told her a gambling theme would be great. She gave me a ballpark on what the cake would cost and I told her I would see her on the 14th.
As my group assembled outside the restaurant, I went in to greet Michele. I gave her a Thank you card with a small token of my appreciation. Michelle immediately apologized and said that there was something wrong with the cake. I asked what that was, and she said you requested vanilla buttercream icing, and they put chocolate buttercream icing. I told her that was not a deal breaker and not to worry, but Michelle said there would be no charge as it was their mistake.
Finally my group arrived and we were shown to a table and immediately greeted by our favorite servers Mark G. and Elena. As is our custom, we would be using several LVA and ACG coupons for dinner this evening. This was in addition to some two free bottled wine coupons that my dad and I received when we checked in. I went to shake Mark’s hand and presented him with a generous gratuity up front. I asked that he bring me the bill and reminded him that we would be presenting several coupons but everything would go through me. The meal was outstanding as usual. Many Caeser salads and French onion soups were ordered as they are family favorites. Most everyone chose one of the delicious steaks on the menu. Food and service were excellent! After dinner I gave Mark the cue to bring out the cake. On the top was inscribed Happy Birthday, and there were several gaming symbols on the cake. A pair of dice, two cards representing blackjack and and El Cortez logo. Everyone thought it was very cool. We had the 6 birthday folks blow out the candles. They have move the piano player from the bar next door into the dining room while they remodel, and he broke into “Happy Birthday”. The cake was delicious!
Now for the best part….there were 14 of us and each person had a coupon. I gave everything to Mark and he brought me back the revised bill. The original total was $555. After the Flame coupons from LVA and ACG, and the two free bottles of wine, the total came out to $155. Mark explained that they usually add on the gratuity for parties of 8 or more, but since I had already tipped him more than that would have been, they kept it off the bill. I had arranged to split the bill with my uncle who was with us, and we each tossed in a hundred buck and told Mark to keep the change as well. An excellent experience all the way around.
After dinner, 4 of the adventurous souls in our group wanted to do the Fremont Street Zip Line. So we walked over that way to watch them. They each said the $20 bucks was worth it for the experience, and they each purchased pictures to commemorate their fun times on the zip line.
After the zip line, everyone went their own way and we made arrangements to meet for breakfast at 9am as most of the group would be headed home.
Up next….Day 6…Going home and final thoughts
