This month I have mixed in some side information about various Vegas casinos, especially in the food area. After all, even skilled gamblers have to stop and eat while they are chasing promotions!
ELLIS ISLAND
Ellis Island going upscale! Who would have predicted this! Construction has begun on a ten-million dining and entertainment venue in front of the present casino, fittingly to be called The Front Yard. Go to their Facebook page to see a drawing of this classy-looking addition. Upgrades are also happening next door at the world’s largest Super 8, now a part of the newly-named business of Ellis Island Hotel, Casino, and Brewery.
Now, it they could just do something to mitigate the heavy smoke in their casino.
TUSCANY
The 20% senior discount moves to the Gift Shop for the whole month of August.
PALMS
Watch for machines to disappear or be moved around as they continue with major remodeling.
The Lucky Penny coffee shop is now open. I am going to have to visit there a few more times to see if the opening glitches have been corrected and I can make a positive review. And that might take a while since I will have to do some major persuasion to get Brad back there. He does not like a menu of what he calls “weird food combinations.”
Fortunately the Social Table has opened in the space left when Hooters closed – and Brad really likes their casual sports-bar menu: “No weird stuff here, just simple basic food I like.”
And continue speaking of weird, the now-closed buffet will open at the end of the year, with the name Haute Plates. No, Brad, that is not called “hot” plates. I knew what the word “haute” meant – high-class or fancy – although we often referred to its use as hoity-toity – but it was not in my spoken vocabulary. So here is dictionary help in pronunciation for Brad and all of us that are not impressed by people or things who put on airs:
Haute – ōt/ – adjective
(“h” is silent) – so pronounced like the word “oat”
Brad has already figured this new buffet will probably be “weird” – “you feed your horse oats.” Hopefully he will at least try it once before he condemns. I am hoping it will be wonderful!
HARD ROCK
Do you love Hard Rock collectibles? Then you might want to check out their August promotion to earn a “2017 Collector’s Edition” hoodie. Details here.
CET
Here are some of the details of the CZR Great Gift Wrap Up (GGWU) promotion, earning points all year for holiday shopping. Shopping dates:
Paris | Thursday, November 2 – Monday, November 6, 2017
Caesars Palace | Wednesday, November 29 – Sunday, December 3, 2017
You can earn shopping points at any of the Las Vegas properties plus at Harrah’s Resort Southern California, Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino and Resort, Harrah’s Casino Hotel Reno, Harrah’s Laughlin, and both of the Tahoe casinos. Complete details here.
I continue to strongly recommend to CZR players the resources by Darryl D. McEwen, publisher of the Seven Stars Insider. So much information at this site for players at all levels. Other helpful information can be found in his Mr. AC Casino column in the Atlantic City Weekly and his travel articles at TravelZork.com.
SLS Las Vegas (former the Sahara)
Club52 has replaced The CODE players club. Mark’s Las Vegas gives all the details.
And there are rumors that the new owners may change the name of this casino, perhaps even reverting it back to its original name, the Sahara.
BOYD PROPERTIES (The Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, Sam’s Town, California, Fremont, and Main Street Station)
I’m trying not to be frustrated with their usual let’s-confuse-the-heck-out-of-our-players monthly mailers. A quick check with other players show the frustration is wide-spread. For example, many (all?) of the mailers have these words on the cover: “Look inside for your exclusive August Offers! Valid at 7 properties.” But when you go to the first inside page which contains a calendar-like list of promotions, there is a particular casino listed at the bottom, which in our case is our home casino, the Gold Coast. Other people’s mailers have that same 7-property note on the front cover, but a different list of promotions for their different home casino. Throughout the mailer there are pages describing various promotions, some noting a specific casino, some with no casino labeling at all so perhaps inferring it is company-wide. Long and short, it is almost impossible to know exactly what promotions are where and when.
This is not a problem limited to Boyd properties, sad to say. Other multiple-property companies seem to have difficulty with making a mailing clear on the details of a promotion. CZR and Stations also constantly frustrate me since I can’t help you readers with information if I can’t figure things out first myself. I will continue to do the best I can, but you will have to always read the fine print yourself, and sometimes the only way is to actually be in a casino and double-check details in person.
Brad, We were at the “Lucky Penny” (Replaced the old 24/7 restaurant at the Palms.) on June 29, 2017 for a soft opening. The menu has some strange names. The server explained what the entrees were. We had a Pesto Broiled salmon with Sesame spinach, hummus and garbanzos. Try it you’ll like it. B-)
Hey Jean. Re : Boyd mailers. Ever heard of segmented offers?
Unfortunately, some of the best places to play, with the best promotions, are also the stinkiest. There are two contributing factors: most such casinos are smaller, older properties, built before the advent of modern ventilation systems (and often, during a time when people thought cigarette smoke was healthy!!!); and many of those casinos are frequented by locals–and I swear, there must be a municipal ordinance mandating that every Vegas resident smoke at least a pack a day–with possibly an exception for those who are in iron lungs. There are a half dozen casinos in town with great promotions–Ellis Island is one of them–that I simply can’t visit because they are small, have low ceilings, and are frequented by chain-smoking locals. Not that the big Strip monster resorts are free of smokers, but they, and to a lesser extent locals’ chains like Stations and Boydbrain, have higher ceilings and more modern ventilation systems.
Looks like not much this month
Love your writing. Your inner (outer, in your case, English teacher shows). Poor Brad. Can’t get away with anything. That’s what I always tell my wife, ‘You’re the best woman I’ve ever been married to (except when you’re giving me a hard time).’, to which she replies, ‘I’m the only woman you’ve ever been married to, if you’ve forgotten.’