Question of the Day - 12 January 2007

As ever, thanks so much to everyone who took the time and trouble to write in – your responses contain some great tips and salutary tales of caution, together with a host of amusing stories, poignant personal revelations, and hilarious anecdotes, which we hope everyone will learn from and enjoy. It goes without saying that all of these are subjective opinions and experiences and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of LVA, but we have added our two cents worth where we felt it appropriate or helpful. In most instances, however, we haven't meddled. Here goes.

"Worst of Las Vegas, 2006":

• "I always play three- and five-play VP at Caesars, my "high-end" haunt (at least until now - seems like Harrah's has crippled it). So, naturally, at Main Street Station – a favored LVA downtown emporium that is one of my "low-enders" - I was a dealt a club royal, straight out. The machine froze and I was momentarily bewildered, then realized I'd hit the big one for $4,000. About five seconds later, I realized it would have been $12,000 or $20,000 if I'd been at Caesars. So it was simultaneously my best and worst moment of the year."
• "My worst experience in Las Vegas for 2006 was a personal horror, but it also produced some lasting positive memories.

  "While walking around the Venetian, waiting for the showing of the Blue Man Group, I discovered my wallet missing. I can't describe the horror I felt at that moment – it was paralyzing. The wallet contained about $1,000, a credit card, driver’s license, and various other forms of personal information. Either the wallet was lost in the cab ride over to the Venetian or, less likely I assume, I was the victim of a pickpocket.

  "I contacted the nearest security desk and explained to them what happened. Their reply was to let me know that I was, in essence, screwed. Have a nice day.

  "I walked over to the Customer Service desk in the hotel lobby and the lady there (I wish I’d written down her name) was very sympathetic and as helpful as she could be. She informed the Venetian cab greeters (the ones who wear those cute gondolier-type outfits and stand out front and open your cab door on arrival) of my situation. They, too, were very sympathetic and immediately began inspecting the back seats and quizzing every cab driver from that point on and continued to do so for the next several hours (they explained to me that all cabs eventually come around again and again and the cab I rode in would do so as well. Unfortunately, I made the common mistake of not getting a receipt from the driver, nor noticing the cab number or the name of the cab company on my ride to the Venetian - a mistake I'll not make again!) All their efforts, sadly, didn’t yield my wallet, but I'll always remember the sympathy, kindness, and words of encouragement I received from the Customer Service representative and the cab greeters of the Venetian.

  "There was nothing more I could do and not wanting to waste the money I had spent on show tickets, I attended the Blue Man Group performance and, bless them, they were able to take my mind off of my sinking depression for short periods of time.

  "I returned to my hotel downtown, the Golden Nugget, and explained my situation to the hotel manager. The Nugget reversed all the charges for the phone calls I had to make contacting my credit-card company, my return-flight airlines, and the lost and found of every cab company in Las Vegas – and there are a lot of them! (After returning home, I sent a letter with picture description of my wallet to every LV cab company. While that didn’t produce any results, I did get some very nice replies with helpful suggestions on other things I could do to try and find my wallet. I really appreciated their concern and help.)

  "That left the last hurdle of how to get through airport check-in and security to fly home, without having any ID. I need not go into detail about this, other than to

LATEST: "Just a quick comment about the Rio buffet: having read the high recommendations on LVA, we tried it (using our LVA coupon, of course) and found the food and selection to be outstanding! Only one negative: one of the steam tables was overly hot, because when I tried to pick up the metal tongs, my fingers got burned! Not seriously enough to file a formal report, but I did let managment know about the danger, and my hand still stung for a while. It would be nice if they replaced the all-metal tongs with plastic-handled ones." NEW UPDATES: "I just wanted to respond with my opinion about Delmonico's at the Venetian. We used to make it a point to have dinner there whenever we came to Vegas (several times per year) and we loved the service. Something happened about two years ago (perhaps a change in management?) and all the staff that had given us the great service left. Since then, the service has been soooooo slow and less than acceptable. We decided to take our stomachs elsewhere and haven't been back in the past year. We now frequent Fiamma's at the MGM and Mesa Grill at Caesars, although the Mesa Grill's service has been slow the last two times we've been there so they may be on the chopping block too. While Fiamma's is an Italian restaurant and a little pricey, their steak (especially if it is a special) is fantastic and we have always received warm, appreciative and timely service." "Not a question but a comment about the Worst of LV 2006 -- I have lived here on and off for 16 years and have eaten at the RIO Buffet 3 times -- I got food poisoning twice and actually had to go to the hospital. I can eat a box of nails and not get sick (never had food poisoning anywhere else) so something is a miss over there. I think it might be the seafood. Just FYI." Many thanks to the reader who wrote in with the following feedback about Delmonico. Please feel free to contact us with your personal take regarding any of the experiences detailed above. And don't forget to tune in tomorrow for the "best ofs": Regarding experinces at Delmonico: We've eaten there twice. The first time (May of 2005), was pure magic. Fabulous service, exquisite food, incredible experience in every way. Our second visit was November of 2006. It was a nearly identical experience other than that the service was noticeably slower than our previous visit. It was obvious that our host was not amused at the problems and seemed on top of trying to improve the situation. I suspect there is new staff in the kitchen or some other change that seemed to create a problem in November, but it hasn't deterred us from making sure Delmonico is a stop on our next visit. I'm not one to spend a great deal on a meal, but Delmonico is worth every penny. My best suggestions to someone planning a visit is to allow plenty of time for your meal. It's not an experience you want to rush. For us, that means going for lunch and not planning anything for the afternoon so that we can enjoy the bruschetta and french onion soup, incredible pork chop and rib eye steak, and linger over the banana cream pie without having to hurry to get somewhere else."