This is my first trip report so bear with me if I ramble a bit.
HOTEL
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We arrive early on 9-11 from St Louis on Southwest air. Easy flight, on time. Our room is a comped suite for 3 of the 4 days. We have stayed at Luxor many times in the past, 1999 thru 2005, so this was a trip back to a previous favorite. Well never again. We were given a room on the 7th floor. Inside the Air Conditioner was not working nor were the 2 TVs. Plus the previous tenant apparently was ill in the room and it smelled awful. We complained and were treated very well by the staff as they moved us up to the 29th floor promptly. They also comped the fourth night. But really this hotel needs a major renovation as it is in desperate shape. We were in the pyramid so maybe the towers are somewhat better I don`t know. There were 3 of us, my Mom, my Wife and of course me. We survived OK but each day the trip to the 29th floor seemed to last forever the inclinators are getting old and each day had at least one not working. Well lets get to the good stuff.
GAMBLING
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had a great start to the trip. When we first arrived, my wife headed to the bathroom and I sat down at a Super Times Pay quarter vp, on my fourth hand I held a K of spades and drew a royal. A thousand dollars to start the trip how cool is that? I seem to occasionally have gambling days where everything I touch wins. This was one of those days. I played Alice and hit a bonus of $185 after only $20 in. I hit Lord of the Rings for a $153 bonus. We wandered over th Mandalay Bay where I hit STP quarters for a dealt straight flush. I then had a 5 times multiplier on DDB and made 4 queens. I cashed out $435 over and above the $100 I put in.
The wife was doing OK for her as she was ahead for the day and Mom was donating to the penny slots. I finished the day +1600 which is excellent as my budget for each day is $500. I always try to stay on budget even if I`m winning but it is hard when you win alot right off the bat. I was determined to be true to my loss limits each day though.
Monday we decided to walk the strip for a little exercise and gambling. Our goal was to walk to the Cosmopolitan and check out the new casino. We bounced from NY,NY to the Monte Carlo. I have never had much luck at Monte Carlo so its not a favorite but we needed a lunch break and a rest. After a quick bite at The cafe I sat down to a STP quarter for a quick $100 session. I was dealt the J-Q-K-A-3 hearts I tossed the 3 and made a royal on the bottom hand. My second $1000 royal of the trip. I`m not comfortable carrying this much cash around so we walked back to Luxor and stored some in the safe. It began to rain so we cabbed to the Orleans to meet friends and eat dinner. The wife did very well there as she cashed a $200 ticket on a monopoly- around the world game and my Mom hit a small jackpot on a Buffalo penny slot. I finished this day up + 800.
Tuesday was the polar opposite of Sunday for me. I couldn`t win on any machine I tried. Even the video poker gods were punishing me for thinking it was so easy. We headed to Mandalay Bay in the morning and I quickly lost $300 on a variety of video poker and slots. We walked to MGM for a change of scenery.
To show how bad my luck was I was playing Alice in Wonderland- Enchanted Mirrors version. If you have never played during the game mirrors drop down in paylines and reveal different symbols for possible winning combos. Often when they do you are given a choice of 3 mirrors to enhance your win. The choices are usually a multiplier, a set win amount, and one is always all wilds for each line mirror. I had the dream setup with all mirrors all I had to do was choose the right one of the 3 to have all lines wild. Did I pick the right one? Not today I picked a 3 times multiplier for a win of $3. If I had chosen the right one it would have paid $500 Oh well I finished the day down $500 as I did stick to the budget but I was in the room resting by early evening.
Wednesday was our last full day of gambling. We decided to cab to the Cosmo. They have a promo going that if you sign up for their slot club you can have $10 free play or a chance to spin a wheel for different amounts. I did wonder why the wheel was not located where we could see the amounts but I wanted to spin the wheel and the wife took the free $10. My Mom only received $5 because she doesn`t have an email address. We were directed to the spin spot at the back of the casino. I know why you can`t see the wheel now as almost all of the spots are $5 free plays, there is 1 $500, 1 $100 and 2 free buffets. I got lucky and hit the free buffets. They have all the new slots but they did seem very tight. Since the play here isn`t going to help us with our rating at MGM-Mirage we left quickly after the meal.
Back to the Luxor as the weather was threatening again. I went back to the STP machine that I hit on Sunday and was rewarded with my 3rd royal of the trip. I have never had so many royals in such a short time. I doubt that I played a trip total of 1500 hands so I really was lucky. I finished this day +700.
Gambling for the trip I finished +2600 the wife finished -350 and Mom wouldn`t tell me so I guess it wasn`t good.
FOOD
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We generally have one big ticket meal each trip and the rest will be various locations. The big meal this trip was Emeril`s Delmonico steakhouse. It was simply fantastic. I had the Bone-in NY Strip and it was the best steak I have ever had. I highly recommend it for steak lovers. The wife had the Marinated Chicken Breast and she was very happy with it. Mom had the filet mignon and it was delicious. It is pricey but well worth it. The tab was just under $200 with tip. The service was exceptional and very entertaining.
We ate one day at the overpriced Rainforest Cafe. Average food, good service. Its really meant for kids but I don`t know why anyone would pay these prices for hamburgers. For $90 I had a hamburger as did Mom and the wife had a shrimp salad.
We ate at The Orleans and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the relative low cost. The Courtyard Cafe was very tasty and the portions were large.
We had a couple of meals at the Raffles Cafe at Mandalay Bay. The food was very good but it is a little pricey for cafe food. All in all though it is a far sight better than the Pyramid cafe at Luxor which was a huge disappointment.
A neat little spot for a quick bite is the sportsbook cafe at Mandalay Bay. I had a great hot dog and the girls had a giant plate of nachos there plus it was quick and reasonably priced.
One nice meal we had was at the Burger Bar between Luxor and Mandalay Bay. I tried the American Kobe beef burger and it was delicious. Not cheap but worth trying if you like burgers and have never had the Kobe beef variety. The wife had the buffalo burger and she liked it although she said the texture was different from other beef types. So it may not be for everybody.
SUMMARY
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall a great trip financially. We will not stay at the Luxor until some room renovations are done. Food remains expensive so you really have to search out good deals. Next time we go I`m going to do more homework on the eating portion of our trip as it seems to be becoming a bigger drain on the budget each time we go. As always I can`t wait til next years visit Thanks for reading.
HOTEL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We arrive early on 9-11 from St Louis on Southwest air. Easy flight, on time. Our room is a comped suite for 3 of the 4 days. We have stayed at Luxor many times in the past, 1999 thru 2005, so this was a trip back to a previous favorite. Well never again. We were given a room on the 7th floor. Inside the Air Conditioner was not working nor were the 2 TVs. Plus the previous tenant apparently was ill in the room and it smelled awful. We complained and were treated very well by the staff as they moved us up to the 29th floor promptly. They also comped the fourth night. But really this hotel needs a major renovation as it is in desperate shape. We were in the pyramid so maybe the towers are somewhat better I don`t know. There were 3 of us, my Mom, my Wife and of course me. We survived OK but each day the trip to the 29th floor seemed to last forever the inclinators are getting old and each day had at least one not working. Well lets get to the good stuff.
GAMBLING
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had a great start to the trip. When we first arrived, my wife headed to the bathroom and I sat down at a Super Times Pay quarter vp, on my fourth hand I held a K of spades and drew a royal. A thousand dollars to start the trip how cool is that? I seem to occasionally have gambling days where everything I touch wins. This was one of those days. I played Alice and hit a bonus of $185 after only $20 in. I hit Lord of the Rings for a $153 bonus. We wandered over th Mandalay Bay where I hit STP quarters for a dealt straight flush. I then had a 5 times multiplier on DDB and made 4 queens. I cashed out $435 over and above the $100 I put in.
The wife was doing OK for her as she was ahead for the day and Mom was donating to the penny slots. I finished the day +1600 which is excellent as my budget for each day is $500. I always try to stay on budget even if I`m winning but it is hard when you win alot right off the bat. I was determined to be true to my loss limits each day though.
Monday we decided to walk the strip for a little exercise and gambling. Our goal was to walk to the Cosmopolitan and check out the new casino. We bounced from NY,NY to the Monte Carlo. I have never had much luck at Monte Carlo so its not a favorite but we needed a lunch break and a rest. After a quick bite at The cafe I sat down to a STP quarter for a quick $100 session. I was dealt the J-Q-K-A-3 hearts I tossed the 3 and made a royal on the bottom hand. My second $1000 royal of the trip. I`m not comfortable carrying this much cash around so we walked back to Luxor and stored some in the safe. It began to rain so we cabbed to the Orleans to meet friends and eat dinner. The wife did very well there as she cashed a $200 ticket on a monopoly- around the world game and my Mom hit a small jackpot on a Buffalo penny slot. I finished this day up + 800.
Tuesday was the polar opposite of Sunday for me. I couldn`t win on any machine I tried. Even the video poker gods were punishing me for thinking it was so easy. We headed to Mandalay Bay in the morning and I quickly lost $300 on a variety of video poker and slots. We walked to MGM for a change of scenery.
To show how bad my luck was I was playing Alice in Wonderland- Enchanted Mirrors version. If you have never played during the game mirrors drop down in paylines and reveal different symbols for possible winning combos. Often when they do you are given a choice of 3 mirrors to enhance your win. The choices are usually a multiplier, a set win amount, and one is always all wilds for each line mirror. I had the dream setup with all mirrors all I had to do was choose the right one of the 3 to have all lines wild. Did I pick the right one? Not today I picked a 3 times multiplier for a win of $3. If I had chosen the right one it would have paid $500 Oh well I finished the day down $500 as I did stick to the budget but I was in the room resting by early evening.
Wednesday was our last full day of gambling. We decided to cab to the Cosmo. They have a promo going that if you sign up for their slot club you can have $10 free play or a chance to spin a wheel for different amounts. I did wonder why the wheel was not located where we could see the amounts but I wanted to spin the wheel and the wife took the free $10. My Mom only received $5 because she doesn`t have an email address. We were directed to the spin spot at the back of the casino. I know why you can`t see the wheel now as almost all of the spots are $5 free plays, there is 1 $500, 1 $100 and 2 free buffets. I got lucky and hit the free buffets. They have all the new slots but they did seem very tight. Since the play here isn`t going to help us with our rating at MGM-Mirage we left quickly after the meal.
Back to the Luxor as the weather was threatening again. I went back to the STP machine that I hit on Sunday and was rewarded with my 3rd royal of the trip. I have never had so many royals in such a short time. I doubt that I played a trip total of 1500 hands so I really was lucky. I finished this day +700.
Gambling for the trip I finished +2600 the wife finished -350 and Mom wouldn`t tell me so I guess it wasn`t good.
FOOD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We generally have one big ticket meal each trip and the rest will be various locations. The big meal this trip was Emeril`s Delmonico steakhouse. It was simply fantastic. I had the Bone-in NY Strip and it was the best steak I have ever had. I highly recommend it for steak lovers. The wife had the Marinated Chicken Breast and she was very happy with it. Mom had the filet mignon and it was delicious. It is pricey but well worth it. The tab was just under $200 with tip. The service was exceptional and very entertaining.
We ate one day at the overpriced Rainforest Cafe. Average food, good service. Its really meant for kids but I don`t know why anyone would pay these prices for hamburgers. For $90 I had a hamburger as did Mom and the wife had a shrimp salad.
We ate at The Orleans and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the relative low cost. The Courtyard Cafe was very tasty and the portions were large.
We had a couple of meals at the Raffles Cafe at Mandalay Bay. The food was very good but it is a little pricey for cafe food. All in all though it is a far sight better than the Pyramid cafe at Luxor which was a huge disappointment.
A neat little spot for a quick bite is the sportsbook cafe at Mandalay Bay. I had a great hot dog and the girls had a giant plate of nachos there plus it was quick and reasonably priced.
One nice meal we had was at the Burger Bar between Luxor and Mandalay Bay. I tried the American Kobe beef burger and it was delicious. Not cheap but worth trying if you like burgers and have never had the Kobe beef variety. The wife had the buffalo burger and she liked it although she said the texture was different from other beef types. So it may not be for everybody.
SUMMARY
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall a great trip financially. We will not stay at the Luxor until some room renovations are done. Food remains expensive so you really have to search out good deals. Next time we go I`m going to do more homework on the eating portion of our trip as it seems to be becoming a bigger drain on the budget each time we go. As always I can`t wait til next years visit Thanks for reading.
