I hope this goes ok as it will be my first report. I have read many over the years and as there are not many to read I thought I should try one.
This trip is my wife and I's Xmas gift to each other. We are mid 40's with no children so why not go away and be different for Xmas. Well we definately were not the only ones to think that Xmas in Vegas would be a good idea. We have been going since 1991 and have made over 90 trips to Vegas. Have never been over New Years but have hit most other major events and dates over the years and have never seen such crowds. I think Vegas is making a strong comeback now.
We left Akron/Canton via Southwest on Friday 12/21. Flight connected in Denver and arrived in Vegas on-time and with no issues. Through the airport to pick up luggage and a taxi ride to the Flamingo, with a driver from my wife's hometown and we were in our room at the Flamingo in under less than an hour from touchdown at Mcarren. Not sure what type of room this was but was the one with the faux wood floors and had a view of the pool area.
After doing the Race for Rewards this summer we had $1500 in total rewards money to blow as we wished.
After getting settled in our room we headed out to wander around the strip for a while. We ended up at Harrahs for the Big Elvis show. We have attended this show many times in the past and always take a large group to this show very a very wild time every January. When Pete sees us show up in January he usually tells the crowd that they are in for a very special treat this afternoon as the Ohioans are in the house. Well I have a few observations about the change of venue for this show. The room itself is much nicer, bright and open with much more room. My biggest complaint is the drink prices. At the Barbary Coast they had draught beer specials which is what we usually drink when with all of our friends. Now there is no longer draught available at the Big E Show and bottled domestics cost $7.19. Ouch. I actually had a $6.50 Crown and Coke while the misses had a $4.75 red wine. With the price of beer this show will not be as succesful as in the past. On a good note there are a few machines in the bar and you can get your drinks comped. Well on to the show. Pete called off for the day and said he was not coming back until after Xmas. No problem as we still had the great Chuck Rawlings to entertain us. Chuck was great as always and entertained all eight of the people in the lounge this afternoon.
Well we stayed for the whole show which lasted until around 6 o'clock. Time for some food. Lets go to Caesars for the new buffet. Not!!!! The line was a three football fields long. Into the Forum shops to Cheesecake Factory we go. After eating way to much for dinner we strolled around the mall then into the casino. Played a little here and there with not much excitement. We then headed back to Flamingo to enjoy a few Margaritas at Margaritaville (parrotheads we are). Played in the margaritaville casino and called it a night.
Saturday
Up early and off to find breakfast. Mon-Ami Gabbi was the choice. Very good but expensive breakfast, with a slightly chilli feel sitting outside people watching. Well it is finally time to go play some decent video poker. After checking VP-Free 2 I found that one of the few playable games for quarter players on the strip was a 9-6 JOB at the New York New York. After a nice walk with a stop in the Cosmo for a few drinks we finally made it to our destination. Went and got a players card printed out then found the machines we were looking for. Great a 9-6 game on the strip. We can play here all week and get noticed again by the m-life people. Sit down put my hundred in the machine and go to put players card in. No go. They do not accept players cards on these machines. What no comps?? That stinks. Well now what. Let's stay and play since we are here. Six and a half hours later I am getting hungry so we cash out our $85. Well that was pretty damn good. All that time and only lost fifteen bucks. The cocktail waitresses got more than that. Dinner time involves a walk back to the Flamingo and a very nice meal at the steakhouse. Again way overpriced but at least we are using our points we earned in the race. Two salads, one baked potato, two new york strips and a bottle of wine $175 ouch. Food was great but not outstanding and the room had a really nice feel but maybe could have used a different selection of music. After dinner bounced around the Flamingo playing some craps and short pay video poker for a $300 loss for the night. Bed Time.
Saturday
Up early and decided on breakfast at the Flamingo's Tropical Breeze Cafe. Again decent food but at a pricepoint well above what I felt fair. Service was fantastic and really enjoyed the old school keno runner.
Spent the morning gambling between Flamingo, Bally's, Paris and Barbary Coast. Nothing exciting just slowly well maybe quicky burnt through a handful of $20 bills. Over to Bellagio for some afternoon drinks while listening to the piano music. Stayed way to long but really enjoyed the people watching while listening to the music. Oh yea. Bellagio has $6.25 beers. Take that Harrahs. Well now totally relaxed and well lubed it is time for dinner. Off to Margaritaville we parrotheads go. Enjoyed ourselves here for a few hours between drinks, appetizer, and dinner. Did a little shopping in the Margaritaville store then played some horrible pay table 6-5 JOB for nickles in the Margaritaville casino. Quick stop at the craps table and off to bed.
Sunday
Breakfast again at Tropical Breeze. Decided to walk down up the strip and stopped in Casino Royal then onto Venetian, Palazzo, across the bridge to the Wynn then into Encore. Stopped here and put a twenty into a Monoply penny machine and sat down for the next two hours on this twenty. Drank more than enough Bloody Mary's and cashed out with 14 bucks left. This is the way Vegas should always be!!!!
Left Encore continued North to the Riviera for some real old school charm. I am one to always to complain about tearing down all the old classic casinos and building new ones. What was wrong with Vegas of yesteryear? Good gambling, cheap food, free or cheap drinks, reasonable priced shows and the Mob.
Well go from the Encore then into the Riviera and maybe you will start to change your mind a little bit. What an eyeopener this was for me. The Riviera had a very depressing vibe to it, some what similar to that of the Westward Ho, and Stardust had before their date with the wrecking ball. Well now I have very mixed emotions, do I want to spend all day in a place like this or somewhere like the Encore. Not Sure?
Left the depressing confines of the Riv and took a taxi to the Golden Nugget. Spent the rest of the morning at Claudes Bar playin 7-5 Bonus Poker until the afternoon. Then moved over to the bar at The Grotto for some pizza. Hit the high limit slot room for our favorite slot machine in Vegas. Dropped a $100 bill into a $25 single coin Double Diamond machine. First pull was three mixed bars for $125. Cashed out the $200 and headed to Main Street Station. We always win on that machine at the Nugget. Usually for the mixed bars within a pull or two but have also collected a few W2G's from that machine over the years with never less than a $100 bill. We have learned to hit the machine one time a trip and then leave it alone. In the past we have gotten gready and it kicked our asses more than once. Well back at Main Street Station we played our favorite video poker machines downtown. The 9-6 coin droppers always take us back to our early days of visiting Vegas. Played here for a few hours drinking a Black Cherry Stout from the on-site brewery. Eventually lost $80 of our $100 buy in and headed off to check out the rest of downtown. Picture with a millon dollars. Always Fun. Walked through the depressing Vegas Club. Hard to believe we used to stay here often when they had the full-pay Dueces Wild coin droppers for dollars. Used to love playing those machines years ago. We still remember the day they took them out. We were playing them all day the day before and the coins were jamming every ten minutes. Had a slot tech with us almost all day. We hit a royal that day along with three sets of dueces. Quite a day of gambling for us.
Staying at the Lady Luck that trip we walked back over the next morning to find that they removed the last two right after we left. I am sure we are not the only ones to miss those machines. Back to the present time we walked over to the Four Queens played a Five through the silver Strikes machine and did win one. Left there with no luck on the free pull machine. Has anyone ever won anything on this? Walked into the D went upstairs to see what has changed. Played some dollard 8-5 bonus poker with no luck at all. Liked the newly remodled D quite a bit. We made our way back to Claudes Bar at the Golden Nugget had a couple drinks then went to get our cab back to the strip. Cab picks us up and I tell him that we want to go to Caesars and to go up Las Vegas Blvd. He pulls out of the Valet area makes a right turn to head south then proceeds to turn right onto Carson Street heading away from Las Vegas Blvd. My wifelooks at me and I just shrug and am also wondering where he is going. Next a right hand turn up past the Nugget's parking garage and then the left at the Rush tower entrance. STOP!!! My wife yells to him. Where in the h#!! are you taking us. Cab Driver Uhm well UHM you said Uhm well well. I tell him he is trying to longhaul us and he is not going to get away with it. Tell him to turn around and pull into the Rush Tour Valet. We pull in and I tell the valet guy to call the Taxi Cab Autority as this guy is long hauling us. This guy is now going on and on about how he thought we said to take the I-15 and that was the fastest way. No sir I said Las Vegas Blvd. to Caesars and you said strip very crowded to which I replied thats fine thats the way we want to go. After 10 minutes and this guy still going on and on I tell him we are leaving and that I will be calling in a formal complaint. Off he drives and off we go. Do not want to catch another cab there as they were all watching and did not want to risk getting in a cab with one of his friends. Walk to the D catch a cab and right up the strip we go. No Problems. Play a few machines in Caesars then back to the Flamingo for the night.
Wow this is getting long.
Faster finish
Monday
Breakfast at Tropical Breeze.Spend the day on the strip. Nothing exciting. Finish the night off with a trip to Tiffany's at the Bellagio to get the misses a Christmas present. Diner again at the Steakhouse in Flamingo.
Christmas Day/ Our Last Day?
Breakfast at Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian. Hang out in the Venetian for most of the day. About an hour before sunset we go to Paris to Mon-Ami Gabi for our Christmas Dinner. Very enjoyable evening enjoying a couple bottles of wine and watching all the lights come on on the Strip.
We have been hearing about this huge snow storm coming through the midwest and through are area starting in the morning. Been receiving texts from the airline about possible delays or cancellations. Go back to our room to get ready and packed up for the trip home tomorrow.
Wednesday
I wake up and decide we have three options:
Leave on our flight and make it all the way home.
Leave on our flight, arrive in Chicago then have flight get cancelled and spend the night amongst a bunch of upset travellers.
Stay another day in Vegas
Option Three wins. Call the front desk at Flamingo and they want $150 dollars for the additional night as they are almost sold out. No thanks. Next I call the Gold Coast. $31.00 plus tax. Grab a taxi and we are on our way. Check in and room is ready at 9:00 am. Ooops Breakfast buffet at Paris when they opened this morning. Not near as good as in the past. Back to Gold Coast. Recently Remodeled room was not as big but much nicer than room at Flamingo. Do a walk around the casino checking out video poker inventory. Decide on a JOB 9-5 with progressives on each suit of royal. Played here for quite some time then decided to walk over to the Palms for some full pay dueces wild. Checked out the food court but decided against it. Played the dueces with no luck for a couple of hours then back to Gold Coast and TGI Fridays for lunch. I really miss coffee shops. finished the day playing the JOB at the bar here. Late evening snack at the TGIF again then to bed.
Thursday
Breakfast buffet at Gold Coast. Less than $15 for both of us. Now thats better. Back to the bar for a little more video poker. Over to Palms for another crack at the deuces wild machines. No Luck. We then walk back to Gold Coast grab our luggage cab ride to airport. Flight home on time and on schedule. Grab luggage, shuttle to car, clean snow and ice off car then 15 minute ride home. Carry luggage in house for wife to start laundry while I go back out and shovel snow for the next hour. Yuck
Financials of this trip:
Airfare we used points and companion pass. = free sort of
Hotel used our rewards credits from great race = free sort of
food used rewards credits for all meals that we were able to
cash took $1200 with us and after paying for the non comped meals, taxis, tips, drinks, room at Gold Coast, gambling and any other misc. expenses got home with $147.00
Tiffany's Christmas shopping PRICELESS
This trip is my wife and I's Xmas gift to each other. We are mid 40's with no children so why not go away and be different for Xmas. Well we definately were not the only ones to think that Xmas in Vegas would be a good idea. We have been going since 1991 and have made over 90 trips to Vegas. Have never been over New Years but have hit most other major events and dates over the years and have never seen such crowds. I think Vegas is making a strong comeback now.
We left Akron/Canton via Southwest on Friday 12/21. Flight connected in Denver and arrived in Vegas on-time and with no issues. Through the airport to pick up luggage and a taxi ride to the Flamingo, with a driver from my wife's hometown and we were in our room at the Flamingo in under less than an hour from touchdown at Mcarren. Not sure what type of room this was but was the one with the faux wood floors and had a view of the pool area.
After doing the Race for Rewards this summer we had $1500 in total rewards money to blow as we wished.
After getting settled in our room we headed out to wander around the strip for a while. We ended up at Harrahs for the Big Elvis show. We have attended this show many times in the past and always take a large group to this show very a very wild time every January. When Pete sees us show up in January he usually tells the crowd that they are in for a very special treat this afternoon as the Ohioans are in the house. Well I have a few observations about the change of venue for this show. The room itself is much nicer, bright and open with much more room. My biggest complaint is the drink prices. At the Barbary Coast they had draught beer specials which is what we usually drink when with all of our friends. Now there is no longer draught available at the Big E Show and bottled domestics cost $7.19. Ouch. I actually had a $6.50 Crown and Coke while the misses had a $4.75 red wine. With the price of beer this show will not be as succesful as in the past. On a good note there are a few machines in the bar and you can get your drinks comped. Well on to the show. Pete called off for the day and said he was not coming back until after Xmas. No problem as we still had the great Chuck Rawlings to entertain us. Chuck was great as always and entertained all eight of the people in the lounge this afternoon.
Well we stayed for the whole show which lasted until around 6 o'clock. Time for some food. Lets go to Caesars for the new buffet. Not!!!! The line was a three football fields long. Into the Forum shops to Cheesecake Factory we go. After eating way to much for dinner we strolled around the mall then into the casino. Played a little here and there with not much excitement. We then headed back to Flamingo to enjoy a few Margaritas at Margaritaville (parrotheads we are). Played in the margaritaville casino and called it a night.
Saturday
Up early and off to find breakfast. Mon-Ami Gabbi was the choice. Very good but expensive breakfast, with a slightly chilli feel sitting outside people watching. Well it is finally time to go play some decent video poker. After checking VP-Free 2 I found that one of the few playable games for quarter players on the strip was a 9-6 JOB at the New York New York. After a nice walk with a stop in the Cosmo for a few drinks we finally made it to our destination. Went and got a players card printed out then found the machines we were looking for. Great a 9-6 game on the strip. We can play here all week and get noticed again by the m-life people. Sit down put my hundred in the machine and go to put players card in. No go. They do not accept players cards on these machines. What no comps?? That stinks. Well now what. Let's stay and play since we are here. Six and a half hours later I am getting hungry so we cash out our $85. Well that was pretty damn good. All that time and only lost fifteen bucks. The cocktail waitresses got more than that. Dinner time involves a walk back to the Flamingo and a very nice meal at the steakhouse. Again way overpriced but at least we are using our points we earned in the race. Two salads, one baked potato, two new york strips and a bottle of wine $175 ouch. Food was great but not outstanding and the room had a really nice feel but maybe could have used a different selection of music. After dinner bounced around the Flamingo playing some craps and short pay video poker for a $300 loss for the night. Bed Time.
Saturday
Up early and decided on breakfast at the Flamingo's Tropical Breeze Cafe. Again decent food but at a pricepoint well above what I felt fair. Service was fantastic and really enjoyed the old school keno runner.
Spent the morning gambling between Flamingo, Bally's, Paris and Barbary Coast. Nothing exciting just slowly well maybe quicky burnt through a handful of $20 bills. Over to Bellagio for some afternoon drinks while listening to the piano music. Stayed way to long but really enjoyed the people watching while listening to the music. Oh yea. Bellagio has $6.25 beers. Take that Harrahs. Well now totally relaxed and well lubed it is time for dinner. Off to Margaritaville we parrotheads go. Enjoyed ourselves here for a few hours between drinks, appetizer, and dinner. Did a little shopping in the Margaritaville store then played some horrible pay table 6-5 JOB for nickles in the Margaritaville casino. Quick stop at the craps table and off to bed.
Sunday
Breakfast again at Tropical Breeze. Decided to walk down up the strip and stopped in Casino Royal then onto Venetian, Palazzo, across the bridge to the Wynn then into Encore. Stopped here and put a twenty into a Monoply penny machine and sat down for the next two hours on this twenty. Drank more than enough Bloody Mary's and cashed out with 14 bucks left. This is the way Vegas should always be!!!!
Left Encore continued North to the Riviera for some real old school charm. I am one to always to complain about tearing down all the old classic casinos and building new ones. What was wrong with Vegas of yesteryear? Good gambling, cheap food, free or cheap drinks, reasonable priced shows and the Mob.
Well go from the Encore then into the Riviera and maybe you will start to change your mind a little bit. What an eyeopener this was for me. The Riviera had a very depressing vibe to it, some what similar to that of the Westward Ho, and Stardust had before their date with the wrecking ball. Well now I have very mixed emotions, do I want to spend all day in a place like this or somewhere like the Encore. Not Sure?
Left the depressing confines of the Riv and took a taxi to the Golden Nugget. Spent the rest of the morning at Claudes Bar playin 7-5 Bonus Poker until the afternoon. Then moved over to the bar at The Grotto for some pizza. Hit the high limit slot room for our favorite slot machine in Vegas. Dropped a $100 bill into a $25 single coin Double Diamond machine. First pull was three mixed bars for $125. Cashed out the $200 and headed to Main Street Station. We always win on that machine at the Nugget. Usually for the mixed bars within a pull or two but have also collected a few W2G's from that machine over the years with never less than a $100 bill. We have learned to hit the machine one time a trip and then leave it alone. In the past we have gotten gready and it kicked our asses more than once. Well back at Main Street Station we played our favorite video poker machines downtown. The 9-6 coin droppers always take us back to our early days of visiting Vegas. Played here for a few hours drinking a Black Cherry Stout from the on-site brewery. Eventually lost $80 of our $100 buy in and headed off to check out the rest of downtown. Picture with a millon dollars. Always Fun. Walked through the depressing Vegas Club. Hard to believe we used to stay here often when they had the full-pay Dueces Wild coin droppers for dollars. Used to love playing those machines years ago. We still remember the day they took them out. We were playing them all day the day before and the coins were jamming every ten minutes. Had a slot tech with us almost all day. We hit a royal that day along with three sets of dueces. Quite a day of gambling for us.
Staying at the Lady Luck that trip we walked back over the next morning to find that they removed the last two right after we left. I am sure we are not the only ones to miss those machines. Back to the present time we walked over to the Four Queens played a Five through the silver Strikes machine and did win one. Left there with no luck on the free pull machine. Has anyone ever won anything on this? Walked into the D went upstairs to see what has changed. Played some dollard 8-5 bonus poker with no luck at all. Liked the newly remodled D quite a bit. We made our way back to Claudes Bar at the Golden Nugget had a couple drinks then went to get our cab back to the strip. Cab picks us up and I tell him that we want to go to Caesars and to go up Las Vegas Blvd. He pulls out of the Valet area makes a right turn to head south then proceeds to turn right onto Carson Street heading away from Las Vegas Blvd. My wifelooks at me and I just shrug and am also wondering where he is going. Next a right hand turn up past the Nugget's parking garage and then the left at the Rush tower entrance. STOP!!! My wife yells to him. Where in the h#!! are you taking us. Cab Driver Uhm well UHM you said Uhm well well. I tell him he is trying to longhaul us and he is not going to get away with it. Tell him to turn around and pull into the Rush Tour Valet. We pull in and I tell the valet guy to call the Taxi Cab Autority as this guy is long hauling us. This guy is now going on and on about how he thought we said to take the I-15 and that was the fastest way. No sir I said Las Vegas Blvd. to Caesars and you said strip very crowded to which I replied thats fine thats the way we want to go. After 10 minutes and this guy still going on and on I tell him we are leaving and that I will be calling in a formal complaint. Off he drives and off we go. Do not want to catch another cab there as they were all watching and did not want to risk getting in a cab with one of his friends. Walk to the D catch a cab and right up the strip we go. No Problems. Play a few machines in Caesars then back to the Flamingo for the night.
Wow this is getting long.
Faster finish
Monday
Breakfast at Tropical Breeze.Spend the day on the strip. Nothing exciting. Finish the night off with a trip to Tiffany's at the Bellagio to get the misses a Christmas present. Diner again at the Steakhouse in Flamingo.
Christmas Day/ Our Last Day?
Breakfast at Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian. Hang out in the Venetian for most of the day. About an hour before sunset we go to Paris to Mon-Ami Gabi for our Christmas Dinner. Very enjoyable evening enjoying a couple bottles of wine and watching all the lights come on on the Strip.
We have been hearing about this huge snow storm coming through the midwest and through are area starting in the morning. Been receiving texts from the airline about possible delays or cancellations. Go back to our room to get ready and packed up for the trip home tomorrow.
Wednesday
I wake up and decide we have three options:
Leave on our flight and make it all the way home.
Leave on our flight, arrive in Chicago then have flight get cancelled and spend the night amongst a bunch of upset travellers.
Stay another day in Vegas
Option Three wins. Call the front desk at Flamingo and they want $150 dollars for the additional night as they are almost sold out. No thanks. Next I call the Gold Coast. $31.00 plus tax. Grab a taxi and we are on our way. Check in and room is ready at 9:00 am. Ooops Breakfast buffet at Paris when they opened this morning. Not near as good as in the past. Back to Gold Coast. Recently Remodeled room was not as big but much nicer than room at Flamingo. Do a walk around the casino checking out video poker inventory. Decide on a JOB 9-5 with progressives on each suit of royal. Played here for quite some time then decided to walk over to the Palms for some full pay dueces wild. Checked out the food court but decided against it. Played the dueces with no luck for a couple of hours then back to Gold Coast and TGI Fridays for lunch. I really miss coffee shops. finished the day playing the JOB at the bar here. Late evening snack at the TGIF again then to bed.
Thursday
Breakfast buffet at Gold Coast. Less than $15 for both of us. Now thats better. Back to the bar for a little more video poker. Over to Palms for another crack at the deuces wild machines. No Luck. We then walk back to Gold Coast grab our luggage cab ride to airport. Flight home on time and on schedule. Grab luggage, shuttle to car, clean snow and ice off car then 15 minute ride home. Carry luggage in house for wife to start laundry while I go back out and shovel snow for the next hour. Yuck
Financials of this trip:
Airfare we used points and companion pass. = free sort of
Hotel used our rewards credits from great race = free sort of
food used rewards credits for all meals that we were able to
cash took $1200 with us and after paying for the non comped meals, taxis, tips, drinks, room at Gold Coast, gambling and any other misc. expenses got home with $147.00
Tiffany's Christmas shopping PRICELESS
