Weee, I figured out how to post pictures, so I have edited both Days 1 and 2 with some pics. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera just about every day...so I don't have too many shots.
We woke up at 9:30 am on Father's Day after getting back in our room around 5:30 that morning. It was also check out day. We decided to use Tony's TR comps to pay for Brunch at the Flamingo Buffet. We had the ACG coupon for $5 off two so the total was $30. FINALLY chocolate milk! Breakfast here was good, they have many offerings, toast (which is also hard to find), and the egg station where I ordered two fresh eggs over medium. I say this because many people think you have to get an omelet, but the chef will make any kind of egg you want.
After breakfast we checked out. Total bill was $65 for the Vinnie Favorito show tickets. That's it. Pretty cool as this was my first comped stay EVER.
We needed some down time so after we packed up the car, we headed back to the Flamingo Pools for a couple hours. I tried to nap, but couldn't. At least it was relaxing. We found the last two chairs with some shade and took a dip. The music is loud, but not overly so and they play a nice selection of music. The have blackjack and craps tables poolside, which looked like fun. I believe the minimums were reasonable as well, maybe $10.
After about two hours we were restless and both decided to go. It was only about 1:00. We don't each lunch, and the Paris wouldn't be available for another three hours, so...
Why not a coupon run on the north side of the strip? Ok, so off we go. Our first stop was the Las Vegas Hilton. We parked the car valet and ran in for our new club sign up cards. Little disappointed that the Hilton did not give us any free play for joining. We got some weird pen/calculator combo. I used my matchplays here on BJ. Sat next to a woman who had been playing for hours. I got my first hand and motioned for a hit, she said I should stay because of what the dealer was showing. I said ok, so the dealer let me change to a 'stand' instead of a hit. Well, I ended up losing. She felt so bad for giving me bad advice she gave me $10 in chips from her pile! I refused. She insisted, and used the chips to place my next bet for me. She said she gave me bad advice and made me take the chips. Ok, so maybe that was a turning point. I ended up doing pretty good after that and with my remaining mps left the Hilton +$40. We then walked over to Sahara from Hilton for our $50 for $40 buy in. Tony really hated this place it was eerily quiet and the dealers seemed disinterested in being there. We used our chips here on some BJ w/two mp coupons and roulette. At roulette, we were the only two at the table making mostly outside bets with our non-negotiable $5 chips. When we'd lose the dealer would wave the marker over the number, grab our money and start spinning again. She didn't even place the marker down on the felt when the ball fell! We played through our chips and escaped with a +$5 win happy to get out of there.
Next we walked across the street, kind of, to Circus Circus and Slots-a-Fun. We had two coupons for two ice cold bottles of beer which we promptly used. I got an Amstel Light. We bought two more after that and used our wincard chips for a little more roulette. Tried waiting in line at Circus Circus for their wincard deal, but it was absurd how long the line was with one little asian woman standing there trying to help everyone. We used our two $5 field bet coupons on craps and left. Overall take for Slots/CC was +$10.
It was now time to walk back to Hilton for our car and check in at the Paris. What can I say, the place is fantastic. Now you're talking to someone who before this stayed at the following Vegas strip hotels: Stardust, Excalibur, Flamingo, so you can imagine what a step up the Paris was for us!
Another long check in line awaited us, but at least they had more than two checklings helping people. Again we asked for King, NS room. Didn't even bother with the 'highest floor' request at this hotel because we didn't mind the low floor at Flamingo due to the easy on and off of the elevators. They did offer us a red room for an extra $40 per night, but we declined. Again, this was a three night comp.
We moved up a tad to the 8th floor this time with a King Non-Smoking. Elegant. Loved the stand up shower, marble bathroom, spacious sofa and chair in the room. Little bit of a view of Bellagio even.
Tony snapped the above pic of me in the room before going out one night, funny how not having kids swarming around you for a few days allows you to actually take care of your own appearance for a change.
After getting settled in the room, unpacking, showering and calling our kids and Dads for Father's Day. We decided to head out for dinner. We walked over to Ellis Island because they were one of the few places you can use your coupon on holidays . It's 5:00 when we walk in. Walk up to the BBQ line. Gawd...it's long. Meet a nice couple from Summerlin. As locals they tell us the BBQ is fantastic, we'll love it, on and on. We say thanks, and that we've read many good reviews. Start talking about LVA and I'm showing them my ACG and MRB coupon books. They had never heard of or seen them before. I was surprised being that they were locals and they weren't in-the-know. I happened to have an extra 2-for-1 for the EI BBQ which I happily passed on to them. They were thrilled. I'm sure they'll be buying the coupon books and joining any day now...
So, it ended up being the ungodly hour of 7:00 by the time we were seated for dinner. We did have two separate coupons from the ACG that gave us 8 free drinks, that helped ease the wait time. We joined the players club and used some mp's and came out +$11 before dinner.
We both ordered the ribs.........wonderful. Five Forks for the EI BBQ! Tony ate his full rack. I got through half of mine. We got a to-go box because I knew I would find a deserving bum on the street somewhere on our way home I could feed them to. As anyone in Vegas knows, bums abound. I hate to ever give them money, though some of them are so pitiful. I always feel they will take the money to buy booze and then what good are you really doing? So if I have the opportunity to give someone down on their luck a great meal, well then I feel I'm actually helping them out...just a little.
We didn't need to walk far on our way back to Paris before we saw a very thin, middle aged man, sitting by the elevators across from Bills. I asked him if he was hungry. He looked up, surprise in his eyes that someone was speaking to him. He couldn't talk, only whispered. He said thank you and took the box.
We watched him a bit from a far. At first I didn't think he would even eat. He was awfully thin and drinking a giant can of beer. But eventually he peeked inside the white styrofoam to see what was in there. We were not disappointed. The man began to devour the meal (also inside were my corn on the cob and coleslaw I didn't eat). So EI was really a 3-for-1 that night.
We decided to give our action to the Harrah's properties that night. I lost $75 at Harrah's and Caesar's on rapid roulette, but won $25 at the Paris (rapid roulette). We also won $25 at the Imperial Palace with our mps.
Overall take for the day +$41 and we slept great in the very comfy Paris.
We woke up at 9:30 am on Father's Day after getting back in our room around 5:30 that morning. It was also check out day. We decided to use Tony's TR comps to pay for Brunch at the Flamingo Buffet. We had the ACG coupon for $5 off two so the total was $30. FINALLY chocolate milk! Breakfast here was good, they have many offerings, toast (which is also hard to find), and the egg station where I ordered two fresh eggs over medium. I say this because many people think you have to get an omelet, but the chef will make any kind of egg you want.
After breakfast we checked out. Total bill was $65 for the Vinnie Favorito show tickets. That's it. Pretty cool as this was my first comped stay EVER.
We needed some down time so after we packed up the car, we headed back to the Flamingo Pools for a couple hours. I tried to nap, but couldn't. At least it was relaxing. We found the last two chairs with some shade and took a dip. The music is loud, but not overly so and they play a nice selection of music. The have blackjack and craps tables poolside, which looked like fun. I believe the minimums were reasonable as well, maybe $10.
After about two hours we were restless and both decided to go. It was only about 1:00. We don't each lunch, and the Paris wouldn't be available for another three hours, so...
Why not a coupon run on the north side of the strip? Ok, so off we go. Our first stop was the Las Vegas Hilton. We parked the car valet and ran in for our new club sign up cards. Little disappointed that the Hilton did not give us any free play for joining. We got some weird pen/calculator combo. I used my matchplays here on BJ. Sat next to a woman who had been playing for hours. I got my first hand and motioned for a hit, she said I should stay because of what the dealer was showing. I said ok, so the dealer let me change to a 'stand' instead of a hit. Well, I ended up losing. She felt so bad for giving me bad advice she gave me $10 in chips from her pile! I refused. She insisted, and used the chips to place my next bet for me. She said she gave me bad advice and made me take the chips. Ok, so maybe that was a turning point. I ended up doing pretty good after that and with my remaining mps left the Hilton +$40. We then walked over to Sahara from Hilton for our $50 for $40 buy in. Tony really hated this place it was eerily quiet and the dealers seemed disinterested in being there. We used our chips here on some BJ w/two mp coupons and roulette. At roulette, we were the only two at the table making mostly outside bets with our non-negotiable $5 chips. When we'd lose the dealer would wave the marker over the number, grab our money and start spinning again. She didn't even place the marker down on the felt when the ball fell! We played through our chips and escaped with a +$5 win happy to get out of there.
Next we walked across the street, kind of, to Circus Circus and Slots-a-Fun. We had two coupons for two ice cold bottles of beer which we promptly used. I got an Amstel Light. We bought two more after that and used our wincard chips for a little more roulette. Tried waiting in line at Circus Circus for their wincard deal, but it was absurd how long the line was with one little asian woman standing there trying to help everyone. We used our two $5 field bet coupons on craps and left. Overall take for Slots/CC was +$10.
It was now time to walk back to Hilton for our car and check in at the Paris. What can I say, the place is fantastic. Now you're talking to someone who before this stayed at the following Vegas strip hotels: Stardust, Excalibur, Flamingo, so you can imagine what a step up the Paris was for us!
Another long check in line awaited us, but at least they had more than two checklings helping people. Again we asked for King, NS room. Didn't even bother with the 'highest floor' request at this hotel because we didn't mind the low floor at Flamingo due to the easy on and off of the elevators. They did offer us a red room for an extra $40 per night, but we declined. Again, this was a three night comp.
We moved up a tad to the 8th floor this time with a King Non-Smoking. Elegant. Loved the stand up shower, marble bathroom, spacious sofa and chair in the room. Little bit of a view of Bellagio even.
Tony snapped the above pic of me in the room before going out one night, funny how not having kids swarming around you for a few days allows you to actually take care of your own appearance for a change.
After getting settled in the room, unpacking, showering and calling our kids and Dads for Father's Day. We decided to head out for dinner. We walked over to Ellis Island because they were one of the few places you can use your coupon on holidays . It's 5:00 when we walk in. Walk up to the BBQ line. Gawd...it's long. Meet a nice couple from Summerlin. As locals they tell us the BBQ is fantastic, we'll love it, on and on. We say thanks, and that we've read many good reviews. Start talking about LVA and I'm showing them my ACG and MRB coupon books. They had never heard of or seen them before. I was surprised being that they were locals and they weren't in-the-know. I happened to have an extra 2-for-1 for the EI BBQ which I happily passed on to them. They were thrilled. I'm sure they'll be buying the coupon books and joining any day now...
So, it ended up being the ungodly hour of 7:00 by the time we were seated for dinner. We did have two separate coupons from the ACG that gave us 8 free drinks, that helped ease the wait time. We joined the players club and used some mp's and came out +$11 before dinner.
We both ordered the ribs.........wonderful. Five Forks for the EI BBQ! Tony ate his full rack. I got through half of mine. We got a to-go box because I knew I would find a deserving bum on the street somewhere on our way home I could feed them to. As anyone in Vegas knows, bums abound. I hate to ever give them money, though some of them are so pitiful. I always feel they will take the money to buy booze and then what good are you really doing? So if I have the opportunity to give someone down on their luck a great meal, well then I feel I'm actually helping them out...just a little.
We didn't need to walk far on our way back to Paris before we saw a very thin, middle aged man, sitting by the elevators across from Bills. I asked him if he was hungry. He looked up, surprise in his eyes that someone was speaking to him. He couldn't talk, only whispered. He said thank you and took the box.
We watched him a bit from a far. At first I didn't think he would even eat. He was awfully thin and drinking a giant can of beer. But eventually he peeked inside the white styrofoam to see what was in there. We were not disappointed. The man began to devour the meal (also inside were my corn on the cob and coleslaw I didn't eat). So EI was really a 3-for-1 that night.
We decided to give our action to the Harrah's properties that night. I lost $75 at Harrah's and Caesar's on rapid roulette, but won $25 at the Paris (rapid roulette). We also won $25 at the Imperial Palace with our mps.
Overall take for the day +$41 and we slept great in the very comfy Paris.
