Trip report: South Point Vegas August 7-11
Setup: So the ostensible reason for this trip is that it was the annual convention for the health and wellness company my wife and I have been a part of for close to 3 years. I do love the products (we lost a combined 50lbs, and are tons healthier) and more importantly I love the culture and the wonderful people we’ve met. But, truthfully, she’s more engaged in it than I am and I’m not sure I would have gone if it wasn’t in Vegas.
A few months ago I sent a note to Courtney at SP and asked for a regular room, but that maybe for one night we could have the 1500sqft suite so we could have a meet and greet for some team members. She agreed to just put us up in that suite for all four nights, comped. Which I thought was very generous, but that’s how they are at SP and I know I have a good history of play there. About 3 weeks ago I contacted her again to say that the team was more like 20-25 members. It was simply to let her know….I had no agenda. Well, she came back and said that she’d put us up in the 2500sqft 2-bedroom suite for all 4 nights. Wow. Didn’t expect that.
Here's the video Suite
I’m not going to bother with the details of my flight, I can’t imagine anyone cares about that.
ROOM: Ok this room is pretty epic. I made a quick youtube video of it so people could see. Nicest room I’ll probably ever stay in. On Wednesday we had another team meet and greet at a suite at the Venetian (where the convention activities were) and several people thought my place was better. We did host about 25 people that Sunday night. Was great to have a nice liquor store AT South Point, with reasonable prices. Unfortunately a couple people who were supposed to bring FOOD to the event didn’t show up, and that gift shop at SP doesn’t have much, so we were stuck with bags of pretzels. Oh well. Oh, and we had 3 other people staying with us in that room, and yes I did ask them for $50 a night. My wife was a little uncomfortable with that but I said look, the rate at the Venetian was $200 a night and this is 10x better. Plus the room isn’t really FREE, I get it because I gamble at this casino and have spent my own money doing that. Maybe it’s weird, but hey everyone who stayed with us thought it was an amazing deal.
GAMBLING: Well, this was my first losing trip out of my last 3 (Reno and Vegas). I play strictly VP, usually 10-play Super Times Pay nickels, or single line quarters. I do play fast and I can play quite a lot. On Tuesday (I skipped convention activities), I played for 8 hours straight while everyone was gone. I sat down to play the first night, 10-play nickels. Literally my 5th hand included a royal flush. I laughed. After that, I had some sessions where I stayed even for a while but I never got those big hands. I think I played enough to still get one of the smaller suites for my daughter’s 21st next March.
FOOD: Well, breakfast every morning was a protein shake or bar, just like at home. I had to have the clam chowder at the Oyster Bar at SP because frankly it’s the best I’ve ever had. My wife and I ate at Don Vito’s (Italian…duh) at SP for the first time. I thought it was perfectly good. Service was solid, portions were a little larger than I anticipated and tasty. $65 with tip for 2 entrees, appetizer (stuffed mushrooms), a glass of wine (free using funbook coupon). Happy with that. Because of all my play on Tuesday, Wednesday morning I asked Courtney for a $100 comp to the Mexican place at SP so the 5 of us could eat together. She graciously gave that, and it was a great meal. Fajitas were the best I’d had in a while. My wife and I did eat the buffet once, the day we were leaving. Really the only 2 decent things were the fresh cooked Mongolian Grill and the salad bar. The rest of it looked subpar, and stale, frankly.
MAROON 5: What? Oh yeah the company booked Maroon 5 for a final day private concert for the 15,000 of us who were attending (probably 12k actually went to the concert). I wasn’t sure I would know too many songs but I swear out of the 1.5 hours they played I only didn’t know 2 songs. Pretty tight band, great vibe in the room. Other than that, no shows this time. Too much else to do.
SUMMARY: We didn’t charge anything to the room, so there was nothing to ask to be comped at the end. I thought the room was amazing enough. Other than the gambling, it was a great time.
FUNNY THOUGHT: Ok the weirdest thing from the trip was on Tuesday when I was playing for 8 hours straight (starting about 8am). Around 10am I heard them announce, “Bobby Long……phone call for Bobby Long”. Ok. Then they kept announcing that……until about 3pm. I actually started to wonder if it was some sort of code. I hope some poor sod didn’t stay on hold for 5 hours. After I’d had more and more drinks, I started playing around……when they would make the announcement I’d say loudly in the Hank Hill “King of the Hill” voice….”Dammit, Bobby, pick up the phone!”. I doubt the people around me found it as funny as I did.
As always, if you want to know anything more specific, just ask.
Setup: So the ostensible reason for this trip is that it was the annual convention for the health and wellness company my wife and I have been a part of for close to 3 years. I do love the products (we lost a combined 50lbs, and are tons healthier) and more importantly I love the culture and the wonderful people we’ve met. But, truthfully, she’s more engaged in it than I am and I’m not sure I would have gone if it wasn’t in Vegas.
A few months ago I sent a note to Courtney at SP and asked for a regular room, but that maybe for one night we could have the 1500sqft suite so we could have a meet and greet for some team members. She agreed to just put us up in that suite for all four nights, comped. Which I thought was very generous, but that’s how they are at SP and I know I have a good history of play there. About 3 weeks ago I contacted her again to say that the team was more like 20-25 members. It was simply to let her know….I had no agenda. Well, she came back and said that she’d put us up in the 2500sqft 2-bedroom suite for all 4 nights. Wow. Didn’t expect that.
Here's the video Suite
I’m not going to bother with the details of my flight, I can’t imagine anyone cares about that.
ROOM: Ok this room is pretty epic. I made a quick youtube video of it so people could see. Nicest room I’ll probably ever stay in. On Wednesday we had another team meet and greet at a suite at the Venetian (where the convention activities were) and several people thought my place was better. We did host about 25 people that Sunday night. Was great to have a nice liquor store AT South Point, with reasonable prices. Unfortunately a couple people who were supposed to bring FOOD to the event didn’t show up, and that gift shop at SP doesn’t have much, so we were stuck with bags of pretzels. Oh well. Oh, and we had 3 other people staying with us in that room, and yes I did ask them for $50 a night. My wife was a little uncomfortable with that but I said look, the rate at the Venetian was $200 a night and this is 10x better. Plus the room isn’t really FREE, I get it because I gamble at this casino and have spent my own money doing that. Maybe it’s weird, but hey everyone who stayed with us thought it was an amazing deal.
GAMBLING: Well, this was my first losing trip out of my last 3 (Reno and Vegas). I play strictly VP, usually 10-play Super Times Pay nickels, or single line quarters. I do play fast and I can play quite a lot. On Tuesday (I skipped convention activities), I played for 8 hours straight while everyone was gone. I sat down to play the first night, 10-play nickels. Literally my 5th hand included a royal flush. I laughed. After that, I had some sessions where I stayed even for a while but I never got those big hands. I think I played enough to still get one of the smaller suites for my daughter’s 21st next March.
FOOD: Well, breakfast every morning was a protein shake or bar, just like at home. I had to have the clam chowder at the Oyster Bar at SP because frankly it’s the best I’ve ever had. My wife and I ate at Don Vito’s (Italian…duh) at SP for the first time. I thought it was perfectly good. Service was solid, portions were a little larger than I anticipated and tasty. $65 with tip for 2 entrees, appetizer (stuffed mushrooms), a glass of wine (free using funbook coupon). Happy with that. Because of all my play on Tuesday, Wednesday morning I asked Courtney for a $100 comp to the Mexican place at SP so the 5 of us could eat together. She graciously gave that, and it was a great meal. Fajitas were the best I’d had in a while. My wife and I did eat the buffet once, the day we were leaving. Really the only 2 decent things were the fresh cooked Mongolian Grill and the salad bar. The rest of it looked subpar, and stale, frankly.
MAROON 5: What? Oh yeah the company booked Maroon 5 for a final day private concert for the 15,000 of us who were attending (probably 12k actually went to the concert). I wasn’t sure I would know too many songs but I swear out of the 1.5 hours they played I only didn’t know 2 songs. Pretty tight band, great vibe in the room. Other than that, no shows this time. Too much else to do.
SUMMARY: We didn’t charge anything to the room, so there was nothing to ask to be comped at the end. I thought the room was amazing enough. Other than the gambling, it was a great time.
FUNNY THOUGHT: Ok the weirdest thing from the trip was on Tuesday when I was playing for 8 hours straight (starting about 8am). Around 10am I heard them announce, “Bobby Long……phone call for Bobby Long”. Ok. Then they kept announcing that……until about 3pm. I actually started to wonder if it was some sort of code. I hope some poor sod didn’t stay on hold for 5 hours. After I’d had more and more drinks, I started playing around……when they would make the announcement I’d say loudly in the Hank Hill “King of the Hill” voice….”Dammit, Bobby, pick up the phone!”. I doubt the people around me found it as funny as I did.
As always, if you want to know anything more specific, just ask.
