Steve
09-16-2005, 01:58 AM
Dear Steve,
Just wanted to fill you in on my recent trip to Vegas June 23rd to 27th. Thank you for a lot of helpful information from your newsletter. We took America West via Phoenix from Ft Lauderdale that was included in a pkg deal. We arrived in Vegas at 2:45 pm, got our luggage with no problems and took the Bells transport. The driver loaded our bags, 2 small ones, and broke the wheels off of our one bag. He claimed he didn't do it, but he did. Therefore, we had to buy a new one since we couldn't lift this one. They would not make good on it, so we chalked it up to a bad experience with them. The ride to the hotel was like a sightseeing tour though. I recommend using Grey Line, which is the one we usually use for $19 roundtrip. So we got to the Paris Hotel, checked in and delighted in our beautiful room. We chose this hotel as part of the pkg deal since we wanted to be in the middle of the strip, where we could go to either end without slugging it in 104 degree hot sun. We first took our baths, continued to drink lots of water to get our swelling down in our feet and took a short nap to refresh ourselves. We then went across the street to the Caesar's Forum to eat Italian. We ate at Spagos and enjoyed it as always. We window-shopped and watched the fountain show at Bellagio to end a great evening. We played some Triple Cherry quarter slots along the way at Bellagio and our hotel without much success. The next day on Fri. I went down to get 2 cappucicnos for $5.38 each. I am not spending that again, is what I thought. For $12.95 each we could have had a whole buffet breakfast! We went out to the pool, very beautiful but crowded. People from all over the world were sunbathing mostly, not swimming very much. We talked to some younger people from Georgia who were visiting for business. We took our afternoon siesta and cleaned up to go for an early dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, a restaurant chain with an outdoor cafe on the strip at the Paris. We had a steak, pomme frittes and a glass of red wine for a very good price of less than $30 each. We proceeded down the strip to Harrahs to see our favorite entertainer of all time, Clint Holmes. His show is more than fabulous and well worth the money. He has to be the most versatile and talented professional with a heart full of love for his audience. You feel like you have experienced Clint after you leave so happy. We had front row seats where he shook our hands, talked to us and made eye contact many times. After the show we said hi to his family who was out front, just beautiful people.
We stopped off at O'Shea's to gamble at the poker machines. What fun, and we both won! If you play only a quarter, you won't win much. You need to play the 5 quarters to win anything major. We went back to the Paris and had a late night egg platter at Le Cafe. The service was wonderful and food good.
The next day we tried to get the concierge on the phone, no answer any time we tried from the room. I then tried to call the front desk for some information, and they put me on hold for over 20 mins, unheard of! Then to cap it off we tried to get someone to bring us a shower cap, forget it. It just was impossible. And, it wasn't even a busy week end! We took off for Treasure Island to have lunch at Dishes, which is the freshest and most delicious buffet of all. It was just remodeled and reopened in Nov. It remains our favorite of all of them. We went to the machines to play poker again and broke about even after nearly 2 hours. We were dying to see the new Wynn. We went across the street and loved the elegant upscale shopping promenade. Very tastefully done with Cartiers at the entrance. It is still fun to window-shop. We took a turn around the casino to see what was going on. Actually it was quite dead for a late afternoon. We went to see the waterfalls and peek at all the restaurants' menus. They didn't seem any higher than the other hotels on the strip. I wanted to check it out for my son who is going there the end of July. We were impressed, but the corner spot of its location leaves much to be desired. It can't compare to the Bellagio in many ways. But, viva la difference!
After that we headed back to the Bellagio again to have a drink right near the entrance of a bar with great music. If you gamble right outside the door, you get your drink, listen to the music and play whatever you want. They have very good service in there with lots to do and see. We took a walk to have a look-see and enjoyed the people-watching and the art work displayed. We went across the street to the Desert Passage late and found lots of things to buy at ABC for our room. That is the cheapest place to buy munchies, wine, trinkets, souvenirs and what not. We loved some of the kiosk shops with jewelry, purses, personalized items and more.
We awakened early the next day and decided to go shopping down to the outlet center. First we wanted the Premier outlets but ended up going to the LV Outlets. For my cousin and I it was great. We bought Nikes, Clark sandals, some kid's stuff for our grandchildren, a new suitcase, a couple of tops and grabbed a cab back for about $14 (due to the heavy traffic on the strip). We put our things away, rested awhile and went out to the Paris buffet for dinner since we didn't want any major trek. We were disappointed as we remember the service to be a lot better and the food too. Only go there if you love seafood, which we don't. We did have veal, prime rib, chicken, crepes, veggies of all kinds and some divine dessert. All in all the food was cold! I couldn't believe it and asked about it to the manager there. She said that this was all they had and shooed us away. It was very rude. We won't be eating or going back to the Paris ever!!!! I think either Treasure Island, Harrahs or Bellagio, if we can afford it, is where we will go next time.
On the last day we asked if we could have a late checkout, and they gave us such a story that we figured let's just place our luggage in hold and forget it. We did just that. We went down to the Gospel brunch at Mandalay Bay for the 1 o'clock seating. We ended up walking in the heat, eek, but picked up the train at Excalibur to Mandalay Bay. We were looking forward to it since we had been in New Orleans at the House of Blues and loved it. The food was terrible, sorry. They did have waffles, which I love and a little bit of this and that. But, not good at all. We sat near to the stage and was it ever loud, forget it! The people sitting next to us were from Cherry Hill, NJ and knew people we knew from years ago. That was fun at least. The show was so-so is all I can say. It wasn't the talent-packed group that I had seen in New Orleans but rather people who shouted "Amen" and "Yes to Jesus" so many times that the singing seemed incidental. Anyway, we then went through the promenade to Luxor and then onto Excalibur and out to NY NY. We gambled a little there and won again on Deuces Wild Poker machines. I love that game, and it makes you feel like you have some control over your own destiny. When you sit in front of the slots, you can lose a lot of money quickly without having any fun. It got pretty late so we headed back to the Paris and recovered at luggage at the north end of the hotel. We waited for our pickup from Bells and no one. We called on our cell thankfully only to learn they didn't have our reservation although I had made it the day before with their manager. I had to make quite a fuss to get someone over there to pick us up finally. The driver who broke our suitcase before was on duty and didn't even want to return us to the airport because we had complained about the broken suitcase. When something happens like this, you need to complain so they know who it is and what has happened in the hotel, with the transport co. or even with a nasty server. He gave us a dirty look but took us to Americawest. We got a direct flight to Ft Lauderdale home. We made some acquaintances at the LV airport since everyone looked completely exhausted 11:30 at night, like they had hangovers and had just rolled up on the beach. We saw a fellow flier spread eagle on the seat with her purse on one arm. Then we saw a young girl completely tossled and asleep curled up on the corner floor near the check-in desk. We felt out of it too, believe me, as we had walked too far, drank too much, ate too much, gambled too much and shopped too much...much to our delight. When I got home that day, I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation but loved it so much. When am I going back to Vegas? I hope soon. Enjoy your time there and take a bath when you first get there to get the swelling down in your feet and legs. Drink only water on the plane and when you first get to Vegas. And, try to eat few desserts, lots of good veggies, few carbs and not as much wine as I drank while there.
My best to you all.
Just wanted to fill you in on my recent trip to Vegas June 23rd to 27th. Thank you for a lot of helpful information from your newsletter. We took America West via Phoenix from Ft Lauderdale that was included in a pkg deal. We arrived in Vegas at 2:45 pm, got our luggage with no problems and took the Bells transport. The driver loaded our bags, 2 small ones, and broke the wheels off of our one bag. He claimed he didn't do it, but he did. Therefore, we had to buy a new one since we couldn't lift this one. They would not make good on it, so we chalked it up to a bad experience with them. The ride to the hotel was like a sightseeing tour though. I recommend using Grey Line, which is the one we usually use for $19 roundtrip. So we got to the Paris Hotel, checked in and delighted in our beautiful room. We chose this hotel as part of the pkg deal since we wanted to be in the middle of the strip, where we could go to either end without slugging it in 104 degree hot sun. We first took our baths, continued to drink lots of water to get our swelling down in our feet and took a short nap to refresh ourselves. We then went across the street to the Caesar's Forum to eat Italian. We ate at Spagos and enjoyed it as always. We window-shopped and watched the fountain show at Bellagio to end a great evening. We played some Triple Cherry quarter slots along the way at Bellagio and our hotel without much success. The next day on Fri. I went down to get 2 cappucicnos for $5.38 each. I am not spending that again, is what I thought. For $12.95 each we could have had a whole buffet breakfast! We went out to the pool, very beautiful but crowded. People from all over the world were sunbathing mostly, not swimming very much. We talked to some younger people from Georgia who were visiting for business. We took our afternoon siesta and cleaned up to go for an early dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, a restaurant chain with an outdoor cafe on the strip at the Paris. We had a steak, pomme frittes and a glass of red wine for a very good price of less than $30 each. We proceeded down the strip to Harrahs to see our favorite entertainer of all time, Clint Holmes. His show is more than fabulous and well worth the money. He has to be the most versatile and talented professional with a heart full of love for his audience. You feel like you have experienced Clint after you leave so happy. We had front row seats where he shook our hands, talked to us and made eye contact many times. After the show we said hi to his family who was out front, just beautiful people.
We stopped off at O'Shea's to gamble at the poker machines. What fun, and we both won! If you play only a quarter, you won't win much. You need to play the 5 quarters to win anything major. We went back to the Paris and had a late night egg platter at Le Cafe. The service was wonderful and food good.
The next day we tried to get the concierge on the phone, no answer any time we tried from the room. I then tried to call the front desk for some information, and they put me on hold for over 20 mins, unheard of! Then to cap it off we tried to get someone to bring us a shower cap, forget it. It just was impossible. And, it wasn't even a busy week end! We took off for Treasure Island to have lunch at Dishes, which is the freshest and most delicious buffet of all. It was just remodeled and reopened in Nov. It remains our favorite of all of them. We went to the machines to play poker again and broke about even after nearly 2 hours. We were dying to see the new Wynn. We went across the street and loved the elegant upscale shopping promenade. Very tastefully done with Cartiers at the entrance. It is still fun to window-shop. We took a turn around the casino to see what was going on. Actually it was quite dead for a late afternoon. We went to see the waterfalls and peek at all the restaurants' menus. They didn't seem any higher than the other hotels on the strip. I wanted to check it out for my son who is going there the end of July. We were impressed, but the corner spot of its location leaves much to be desired. It can't compare to the Bellagio in many ways. But, viva la difference!
After that we headed back to the Bellagio again to have a drink right near the entrance of a bar with great music. If you gamble right outside the door, you get your drink, listen to the music and play whatever you want. They have very good service in there with lots to do and see. We took a walk to have a look-see and enjoyed the people-watching and the art work displayed. We went across the street to the Desert Passage late and found lots of things to buy at ABC for our room. That is the cheapest place to buy munchies, wine, trinkets, souvenirs and what not. We loved some of the kiosk shops with jewelry, purses, personalized items and more.
We awakened early the next day and decided to go shopping down to the outlet center. First we wanted the Premier outlets but ended up going to the LV Outlets. For my cousin and I it was great. We bought Nikes, Clark sandals, some kid's stuff for our grandchildren, a new suitcase, a couple of tops and grabbed a cab back for about $14 (due to the heavy traffic on the strip). We put our things away, rested awhile and went out to the Paris buffet for dinner since we didn't want any major trek. We were disappointed as we remember the service to be a lot better and the food too. Only go there if you love seafood, which we don't. We did have veal, prime rib, chicken, crepes, veggies of all kinds and some divine dessert. All in all the food was cold! I couldn't believe it and asked about it to the manager there. She said that this was all they had and shooed us away. It was very rude. We won't be eating or going back to the Paris ever!!!! I think either Treasure Island, Harrahs or Bellagio, if we can afford it, is where we will go next time.
On the last day we asked if we could have a late checkout, and they gave us such a story that we figured let's just place our luggage in hold and forget it. We did just that. We went down to the Gospel brunch at Mandalay Bay for the 1 o'clock seating. We ended up walking in the heat, eek, but picked up the train at Excalibur to Mandalay Bay. We were looking forward to it since we had been in New Orleans at the House of Blues and loved it. The food was terrible, sorry. They did have waffles, which I love and a little bit of this and that. But, not good at all. We sat near to the stage and was it ever loud, forget it! The people sitting next to us were from Cherry Hill, NJ and knew people we knew from years ago. That was fun at least. The show was so-so is all I can say. It wasn't the talent-packed group that I had seen in New Orleans but rather people who shouted "Amen" and "Yes to Jesus" so many times that the singing seemed incidental. Anyway, we then went through the promenade to Luxor and then onto Excalibur and out to NY NY. We gambled a little there and won again on Deuces Wild Poker machines. I love that game, and it makes you feel like you have some control over your own destiny. When you sit in front of the slots, you can lose a lot of money quickly without having any fun. It got pretty late so we headed back to the Paris and recovered at luggage at the north end of the hotel. We waited for our pickup from Bells and no one. We called on our cell thankfully only to learn they didn't have our reservation although I had made it the day before with their manager. I had to make quite a fuss to get someone over there to pick us up finally. The driver who broke our suitcase before was on duty and didn't even want to return us to the airport because we had complained about the broken suitcase. When something happens like this, you need to complain so they know who it is and what has happened in the hotel, with the transport co. or even with a nasty server. He gave us a dirty look but took us to Americawest. We got a direct flight to Ft Lauderdale home. We made some acquaintances at the LV airport since everyone looked completely exhausted 11:30 at night, like they had hangovers and had just rolled up on the beach. We saw a fellow flier spread eagle on the seat with her purse on one arm. Then we saw a young girl completely tossled and asleep curled up on the corner floor near the check-in desk. We felt out of it too, believe me, as we had walked too far, drank too much, ate too much, gambled too much and shopped too much...much to our delight. When I got home that day, I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation but loved it so much. When am I going back to Vegas? I hope soon. Enjoy your time there and take a bath when you first get there to get the swelling down in your feet and legs. Drink only water on the plane and when you first get to Vegas. And, try to eat few desserts, lots of good veggies, few carbs and not as much wine as I drank while there.
My best to you all.