Worst Las Vegas Experience

[Steve]

Stacey sent this is..I expanded on it.

This week's Topic Of The Week Question is:

What was your worst Las Vegas experience? This would include shows, restaurants, hotels etc.

[dscs007]

Being stuck in Vegas for 9 days with little or no money ( Sept. 05 ).

David

[talanhart]

Any time that I lost a lot of money and had to go to an ATM. This has only happened two or three times in 25 or so trips.

[54hoppin]

I have always had a blast. So I would have to say the worst is leaving. I always love my time there, I don't expect more than I should and always receive more than I deserve. Yogi

[Johanna7]

Actually, we have not had any real bad experiences in Las Vegas. We have enjoyed most shows, especially the ones we won for free on wheel spins and we have usually enjoyed just about everything.

Lots of things impress me about Las Vegas.

We once witnessed a mugging and that was not fun but it was downtown while waiting for the cat bus to return to the strip. I guess that was the worst thing but it didn't happen to us.

Good topic though.

[im9a51]

The worst time I had At Vegas should not have been as we had 6 nights comped rooms over the Thanksgiving weekend, had reservations to 3 great shows, and was anticipating having a leisurely vacation. As it turned out the day after we got there, maybe due to all the walking, I developed 2 ingrown toenails. The pain was so bad, I went to the gift shop and bought platinum coated toenail clippers, etc. Took an hour to self operate, but oh how happy I was to have relief and be able to joyfully walk, pain free, casino to casino. My joy was short lived though as by night fall I had this terrible ache developing in my face. By the next morning I realized I had a full blown tooth ache. Anyone that has ever had an abcessed tooth knows that no amount of tylenol or pain medicine even touches the pain. Our flight left Monday morning so I spent two sleepless, painful days and nights. Couldn't win a thing (maybe attitude and pain jinxed me) which even made the pain worse. Winning would have at least made the pain worth it, lol. Was the first time I was happy to leave Vegas. Trying to get my teeth in tip top shape before our next trip in June, I don't want a repeat.

[interele]

I forgot to tip the driver. He just went ballistic at me
Swearing at me , calling me a f****** cheap Brit.
He then jumped back in the taxi and roared off still
screaming out of the window and making rude
gestures. It really put the dampers on an otherwise
really nice time.

Very bad experience, it put me off Vegas for a long while

:-(

M

[uugee]

Went to a convention at Bally's a couple of years ago. Got to town on Sunday and by Wednesday had the worst case of gastrointestinal flu ever. Later found out that over 70 people in our group (of about 1500) got sick. Some went to the hospital for dehydration. I ended up at Harmon Health Center and got a shot so I was well enough to fly home on Thursday. Apparently some similar outbreak had happened the previous year at the Flamingo. Bally's security took a report from me and when I contacted them later they gave me 4 free nights and some cash. I have stayed two other times at Bally's since then with no problems. I understand that this is probably the Noro or Norwalk virus that causes so much trouble for cruise lines.

[BOBNDEE]

The worst time I had At Vegas should not have been as we had 6 nights comped rooms over the Thanksgiving weekend, had reservations to 3 great shows, and was anticipating having a leisurely vacation. As it turned out the day after we got there, maybe due to all the walking, I developed 2 ingrown toenails. The pain was so bad, I went to the gift shop and bought platinum coated toenail clippers, etc. Took an hour to self operate, but oh how happy I was to have relief and be able to joyfully walk, pain free, casino to casino. My joy was short lived though as by night fall I had this terrible ache developing in my face. By the next morning I realized I had a full blown tooth ache. Anyone that has ever had an abcessed tooth knows that no amount of tylenol or pain medicine even touches the pain. Our flight left Monday morning so I spent two sleepless, painful days and nights. Couldn't win a thing (maybe attitude and pain jinxed me) which even made the pain worse. Winning would have at least made the pain worth it, lol. Was the first time I was happy to leave Vegas. Trying to get my teeth in tip top shape before our next trip in June, I don't want a repeat.

This has to be the worst story ever. I can not imagine both ends hurting.
I hate even a blister.
Hope you have a better experience the next time.
Dee of bobndee

[tracyfm]

Worst Vegas experience for me started in Albequerque, NM. We had a flight from Houston that connected in Albequerque. While eating Quizno's during our 30 minute layover, some idiot decided to jump a turnstyle so all the alarms went off. They herded us to the downstairs terminal & kept us there, nose to nose, for 4 HOURS... with no explanation at all. It was awful. By the time we got to Vegas, we were exhausted - we were staying at the Boardwalk! (hey, cheap strip) and we all decided to WALK to Ellis Island for the $4.95 steak dinner. Little did we know what a walk that would be. The dinner was great but I'm still hearing about how I made everyone walk 10 miles for a steak. Then, to top it all off, we had one more night to go & I left my purse unzipped in a van cab that decided to drive like a maniac & my wallet (with $200 newly won plus $400) slipped out. No ID & a plan to catch in the morning.

Still love Vegas & we go every year (including this summer) but that whole 3 days was the WORST.

[BOBNDEE]

Our worse time was George Karlin. We grew up with him and were familiar with his humor, on this night he was kill the cops and so gruesome that not only were we not thinking he was funny but the whole audience. I saw later that he had lots of issues to deal with. Too bad we had to pay to go through one of his bad times.

[qualleyiv]

I've been to Vegas a handful of times (I think 5) over the past couple of years. I always have a great time, but unfortunately, I did have a pretty bad experience this past trip (which was 6 days starting on the Sunday of the NBA all-star game).

I've been a lurker on this forum for quite a while and, based on a lot of positive comments, I booked 9 room-nights at the IP for our last trip. Although this is a long story, I'll try to abridge it a bit. As I said before, we arrived at IP on Sunday. Although the rooms were pretty 80s, I had expected as much. I hadn't quite expected the smell or the hole in a wall in the hallway, but I figured that was tolerable for the price (even though Sunday was $100+ dollars thanks to the all-star game, which BTW, I had no interest in). In any case, we hit the strip Sunday until late. Got back to the room and hit the sack in our somewhat uncomfortable beds. Normally, in the AM, my ritual is to hit the jacuzzi. I had specifically checked the IP's website before going and it indicated that the jacuzzi was open "year round". However, when I woke up on Monday morning and looked at the jacuzzi from my balcony it was empty. At this point, I figured, "no big deal". I know that many hotels clean their hot tubs on Monday morning and that this often involves draining and refilling. Although I was a little disappointed, I figured I would have plenty of time to hit the hot tub later in the trip (we were staying until Sunday). So, we hit the strip again. Came back to the room in the late afternoon and noticed the jacuzzi was STILL empty. At this point, I called the concierge to find out what the deal was.

The concierge informed me that the jacuzzi "was" open. I pointed out that this was clearly not the case and asked to speak to someone at the front desk. Upon being transferred, I was informed that the jacuzzi was "closed for repairs" and would continue to be closed at least until Friday. At that point, I expressed my displeasure (as a side note, I realize that I'm probably a bit odd with my obsession with the jacuzzi and all, but for me and my wife, sitting in the jacuzzi in the morning is a big part of a vacation and I always specifically plan for this wherever I go). The person who I spoke with informed me that the jacuzzi was an "amenity" which was not included in the price of the room. I asked if there was anything that could be done to rectify this problem (which was clearly not indicated on the IP's website or anywhere else) and she told me that they would not do anything, but that they could "let us check out". I asked if there was any way that we could get passes to use another hotel's hot tub to which I was told that this was not possible.

As I said before, this is a very abridged version of the story as the actual call lasted about 45 minutes. In any case, I ended up telling the hotel manager that we would be checking out (including canceling our reservations for our 2nd and 3rd rooms near the end of our stay). So, we started to pack and I get a call from the front desk. Apparently, the manager decided she didn't want us to leave and offered to let us use the IP's spa hot tub as a consolation. Although neither I nor my wife were particularly thrilled with the fact that the jacuzzi's were separate men's and women's facilities, I felt that this was a pretty fair compromise. What I didn't realize until I went down to the desk was that the manager meant that they would let us use the spa ONE TIME as a consolation. In other words, TWO spa passes to accommodate three to five people (over the course of our stay) over a week. Oh, and two free buffets which, if you don't know, the IP's buffet is so bad they should pay people to eat at it. Needless to say, one trip to the jacuzzi really wasn't going to make up for the entire week.

In the end, we ended up leaving the IP and staying at South Pointe which was quite nice (although staying off-strip does affect a Vegas trip IMHO). Ultimately, I'll NEVER stay at the IP again as I found the staff to be VERY UNACCOMMODATING. While I realize that the IP is a bargain hotel, as far as I'm concerned, the few extra dollars a night are worth not being treated like crap.

[BobWerner]

Well, I have two:

1) The first time I went I was 19 and couldn't gamble. Being in Vegas and not being able to gamble SUCKS!

2) The last time I went. I had a coupon for the Sahara Buffet. BLEAH! This buffet should be shut down. Terrible. Main Street Station beat it by leaps and bounds.

[Hockey53]

One of my worst experiences was about 7 years ago when my wife,daughter,father in law and I stayed at the Motel 6 across
the street from the MGM Grand in Vegas. We had told them when
we made our reservations we needed a handicap room since my daughter
needs to be transfered around in a wheelchair. The only handicap space
we got was in front hotel room.
Then the room itself was small and we could barely move her wheelchair
in and out of the room. Thank goodness we only stayed there one night.

The other was staying at the Riviera with my wife and daughter when the
electricity went out for about an hour or so on our side of the hotel. Plus,
when I made reservations to stay there,they didn't tell us that we could
have gotten a hospital bed for my daughter while we were staying there
until the day before we left.

[tryon4]

This happened about 13 years ago. We were originally booke (by travel agent) into excalibur and were notified about a week prior to departure that they were overbooked and had moved us to The Stardust. I figured one hotel is as good as another. We had only been to Vegas twice, our honeymoon 1982 and ten years later,1992.
We were not in the hotel but out back in a motel like place. (We were on a program so I figured we were stuck, Oh how I have learned since) When we opened the door there was a huge hole in the wall, bathroom door had a footprint on it. Morning #1 I left the room and outside my neighbor had constructed a clothesline and hung his underwear. I felt I was back at boy Scout Camp. Afternoon delight on day #1 was interupted by maid looking through the blinds. Day #2 saw me leave the room and greet my neighbors with "Good Morning fellow campers another great day here at Camp Can't Suck Enough". Night #3 had a stranger try our door which prompted a call to security. The reply "I'm on alone there is nothing I can do right now". Repeated calls to front desk went unanswered until the last day of our trip when we were offered free tickets to the show Something Into The Night.
We always referred to the place as Camp Can't Suck Enough and now we are much wiser travelers and would never allow such a thing to happen again.
Episode 2 was a coulpe of years later when we went to The Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. Great show, great meal, great deal of dust from the horses. I'm Asthmatic and didn't take into consideration the dust. As the show ended I startd to have great difficulty breathing and was rushed to hospital. 3 hours later and filled with adrenilin I'm raring to go. Poor wife is exhausted.

[gina777]

The worst time I had in Vegas was on New Years Eve 1999. Some young man thought it would be a idea to climb to the top of the street light pole in front of the Paris. I don't know if he slipped or got electrocuted but he fell to his death right in front of our eyes. He lay on the strip for hours as the police tried to keep the crowd at bay---not a pretty sight, needless to say.

[Steve]

Stacey sent this is..I expanded on it.

This week's Topic Of The Week Question is:

What was your worst Las Vegas experience? This would include shows, restaurants, hotels etc.

As far as shows..the worst was Tropical Passions at The Sahara..the only show I have ever walked out on..it closed two days later.

Restaurants had to be the Sidewalk Cafe at Bally's. Our waiter brought us the entire meal at ONE TIME. This included appetizers, main course, soup, dessert and even the check. Then he just left and never came back.

Another "worst" was waiting for a cab at The Rio on N.Y.E. After an hour Eileen and I walk across the street to the Gold Coast and got a cab in 15 minutes.

The erector set version of the Aladdin Buffet was one of the worst meals I have ever had. Another as the $5.95 Steak Special at Binion's. I have never had a steak that was cooked perfectly but you still could not chew it.

Harrah's was the only problem we had with a room. After waiting over 8 hours to get a room which was still unavailable..a PR friend of mine made a call to the front desk. Five minutes later we got the keys to the room which ended up being a three-room suite with a hot tub the size of a small lake.

Steve

[jt3451]

the worst is food posioning at ballys buffet. terrible pains, sickness from both end. both my sister and i
she spent 3 days in hospital to get out just in time to catch out flight home, which was a nightmare due to the illness.
thank god we got home
and guess wht bally's did.
at check out i explained it all and they did nothing, nothing and that was it
i will never ever stay or eat there again. shame on them
stay away from the food stay far away:eek:

[Steve]

I am posting this for one of my Las Vegas contacts that does not want their name used for obvious reasons :eek:


I stopped at a gas station right off of the strip to get gas and looked to my right, as I was pumping my gas innocently, and faced something that will haunt me forever! In broad day light in the open for anyone and everyone to see, was a very over weight African American woman giving this super skinny, 90 year old cowboy in full attire receiving some hand manipulation. It has scarred me and I will never forget it! This was about 8 years ago when I was here to visit. I know you should expect things like that but I think it was the mixture of the two that did me in!

[Mrs. PapaGeorgio]

Drinking too much on my wedding night and tossing my cookies. My hubby was SO proud he married me!:rolleyes:

[deemaxx95]

Our worse time was George Karlin. We grew up with him and were familiar with his humor, on this night he was kill the cops and so gruesome that not only were we not thinking he was funny but the whole audience. I saw later that he had lots of issues to deal with. Too bad we had to pay to go through one of his bad times.

We too saw George and he was horrible. I guess we are old enough to remember the "Real George Karlin"

The good thing about his show was the back up comedian, He was actually funny.

Our worst time was coming home on Christmas eve the year is snowed out there. We had a 3 1/2 hour wait for the plane. People were shoving and one family actually got thru to the seats without showing their boarding pass. I was not happy. Complained and later got 2 free tickets on SW. My husband had chest pains and was rushed to the hospital when we hit Houston.
By the way I am the other Dee and my husband is Bob.

[LINDABO]

The only one I can think of right now is having dinner at the old Holiday Casino (which is now Harrah's, I think) and ignored us (eight of us) most of the time. We didn't even leave her a tip.

[dmfam]

I have enjoyed my trips so much that the people that hound you as you enter and leave the Aladdin is the worst! They really should let up.

[Jacob36]

After thinking about it, I guess the worst was last April and was not mine, but my mothers, while eating at the Orleans. Mom ordered the sausage gravy and biscuits, it arrives and she takes one bite and says the gravy is spoiled. While waiting for the server to come back, mom starts to feel sick, so she leaves and after a few minutes the server comes and I tell her, the gravy is spoiled and that my mother is in the bathroom sick. The server takes food back in the kitchen, comes back, and says that she will take it off the bill. Therefore, mom gets spoiled food and sick for free.:mad: After we get back home, I write a letter to the manager at the Orleans. Reply, we are sorry.

I guess my worst would have to be the first time I took my mom out for her birthday. I was doing OK on the poker and slot machines, was up about $3000 on the third day. However, mom went broke, so I started giving her money and the next thing I knew, two days later, we were in the airport and I had to hit the ATM :confused: to get money so we could get something to eat before our flight. We still had fun though.

Mom still does not have the money management down yet, but she is getting better :rolleyes: LOL. I also keep better track of how much I am handing out to her now when I take her and tell her enough is enough.

[1940GMC]

I guess our worst Vegas experience was at Harrah's....paper-thin walls (could hear conversations next door clearly), NO water pressure, and staff that just really didn't care.

We stayed at Polo Towers once with my sister and caught Legionnaire's Disease....that was horrible. Double pneumonia and a sinus infection. Off work for a month (teaching 7th grade, that is NOT easy!!!).

Once we started staying at Mandalay Bay and THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, our Vegas experiences have been marvelous. We go back every year.

[JMVegas5866]

HAHA my first and only worse experience and boy was it an adventure!

Last year was the worst experience. I got sick on my last day. I think it was due to staying out in the July heat too long? On my last day I woke up feeling light-headed and wobbled to the bathroom. It wasn't pretty from there haha. After 'that' I forced my self to take a shower and get ready as I had to check out of my room at the Mirage by 11am. I had a few hours to spare so I tried to rest in bed. House keeping knocked and entered early at about 9am. The housekeeping lady that had been making my room all week said she was sorry to enter as I she saw I was still in bed. I said don't worry about it and explained to her I wasn't feeling well. I asked if she could do my room last if it was no trouble. She said no problem and said she would come back at 11am. I said thankyou. That bought me 2 more hours of trying to rest and trying to figure out how I was going to get through the rest of the day being my flight wasn't leaving untill 10:55pm! LOL. So I rested up and the housekeeper came back at 11:30ish. She told me that I can stay in my room until 2pm if that would help me better. She was super nice and understood and saw I felt like total crap hahaha. By 2am I made it a point to have all my stuff together and I left my room as I didn't want to abuse my privledges. I peeked down the hallways looking for the nice housekeeper and found her. I told her thankyou and gave her a tip for letting me overstay my time in the room.

Nothing was charged to the room, so I didn't have to worry about going to the front desk to check out (phewwwwwwww). I proceeded outside and checked my bags with the Mirage baggage dudes outside. After that I decided to be brave and go for trying to tough it out and enjoy the rest of my day before it was time to leave. So I crossed the bridge to the Venetian to waited for the Duece Bus to go Downtown. I was praying to god that the bus wasn't too crowded and that there was going to be a seat available because I was still feeling very light-headed. The Deuce came and it was pretty full. I had to stand up front near the busdriver (ugh). When the bus picked more people up it got really crowded and I had to try to move to the back so people could board. Now I am squished like a sardine and I am standing up feeling dizzy. Luckily when it stopped at the Riviera people got off and a seat was open (phewwwwwwwwwwww... relief). So I had a seat and tried to make the best of it for the rest of the bus ride to Downtown. I got off at the Fremont stop and darted to the nearest casino restroom. LOL. Did my thing in there until I felt better.

At this point I want to play blackjack because I love that game and love cc. I wanted to try and win some money before I left Vegas. So I felt a little better and walked to 'another' casino with no problem. I sat down and lost the majority of the rounds delt. So now at this point I am still feeling under the weather, and now lost some money, and I am mad about my bad day I am having. I got up and walked out of that casino and went to 'another' across the way. Sat down at one of thier blackjack tables and everything was working out well and I was making a comeback after 30 minutes of play. Before I know it the dealer stops dealing cards. I look up and I see 2 security guards behind the dealer thinking they were going to do a refill. Strange thing was that they weren't carrying the clear case of chips. I look to my left and the floor lady told the dealer to stop the game and pointed to me and told me I was not allowed to play blackjack anymore. Now if my day wasn't already in the dumps this is tickin' me off even more. So I asked her to tell me why I can't play BJ anymore and she wouldn't even give me an answer (even though I knew what the answer in her mind was). So I follow her as she walks away from me and I told her you can't just ask me to leave and not give me an answer because that is quiet an embarassment infront of everyone. She continued to ignore me. I demanded to talk to someone else and get an acceptable answer. She looked away from me and pointed in another direction to some other guy on the floor. Then I went over to him. I said "What is the reason for you telling me I can't play? He said "We just don't like they way your betting from $X to $XX to $XX and so on". I said "Well it's a $X table and your sign says I can bet up to $XXX max." He paused and gave me no answer and said "Sorry sir you can play craps, roulette, 3 card poker, but not blackjack". I said "Well I don't know how to play any of those games, but I bet your casino would love that anyway wouldn't it?" He had no response to that either. Then I said "I apologize if I wasn't playing by your rules. Do you have a sign with all the rules on it that says I can't make increased bets? If so then I will follow that if you just show me it in some form of print." He said "No we don't have a list of rules, you'll just have to leave because this is private property and we have the right to refuse anyone we want. Have a good day." I said "Ok, fine, but when I lost $X during the first half hour playing the same way you didn't have a problem with that and it was perfectly fine only when you get to take my money, right?." He had no response to that either. So I left and went to cash my winnings in and left. The whole time I had 2 security guards following me around until I left. How lame! They should put up signs that say "Dumb players only. No thinking allowed".

By this time it is time to head back to the Mirage and wait for my aiport shuttle. I was fine the whole way back because all the previous excitment gambling took my mind off of being sick haha.

Overall out of all my trips I consider that the worst experience because its the first time all that has happened. But I would say even though it was the worst experience it was still fun in a way :)

[judyqu]

Hubby and I always said we'd never stay at the Boardwalk because it looked like a dump! Never say never, right? A few years ago, one of hubby's pals stayed there -- said it wasn't that bad, so after receiving an offer, booked a stay for a few nights. We should have immediately checked out after the toilet backed up and overflowed the first time. It either didn't flush or when it did, it overflowed. Maintenance "allegedly" fixed the problem each time they came to unblock the toilet. I got sick (I'm sure from the bacteria in that room). Bad enough to be sick on vacation, but to be sick in a hotel room where you can't flush the toilet is disgusting. I sent not one, but two letters to the Manager of the Boardwalk after we returned home. He never responded. I would have gladly bought the explosives for the Boardwalk's implosion.

[Nancy from Indiana]

Years ago when we went to LV with friends (B & J), our friend J always
wanted us to go to "revue" shows - mostly all mediocre to bad. The worst was at the old SanRemo - 3 women doing magic in the nude. I didn't care about their being nude, it was just a really bad show. J & I sat on the table so we could see, but we left before it was over. Didn't want to gamble there
- never went back. Other bad show (also picked by J) was like Tropical Passions but it was at the Rio.

[vegaslvr]

We've had several bad experiences, but considering that we go at least once a year since 1989, the good totally outweighs the bad. Our first time there we stayed at the Riviera, it was where our trade show was being held. We were SO naive', after all, this was VEGAS & surely all the rooms were palaces !!!! NOT TRUE. This room was old & dingy & thread bare, even the curtains were torn & hanging a little off the rods. Very sad & disappointing. Then, (yes we did it), we looked across the street & there was this huge sign at Circus Circus for a $3.99 dinner buffet. That was the one & only time we've ever eaten there, it was horrible.

Another time, on the way home, I got sick before the plane was off the ground. This is prolly too much info but, both my "ends" were occupied for the entire 4 1/2 hour trip back to Maryland & I was taken off the plane in a wheelchair, too weak to walk. You know those little barf bags they have? Well, they kept giving me plastic trash bags. :( I never did figure out why, I had been feeling great the whole time.

The third was our 2nd time there, & a lesson well learned & never forgotten. I was playing a $1 slot machine with 3 lines, sometimes I played one dollar, sometimes two, & sometimes three. Of course, you all know what happened.... I lined up the jackpot win on the third line, but only had 2 coins in. I could have cried, but instead, kept it as a learning experience.

[JVegas]

My worst experiences in Las Vegas have always been the car rental companies: In 12 trips to Las Vegas in 8 years I've had:

Landing at 1 in the morning and not getting a car till almost 4.

Employees that didn't speak english and couldn't tell me what car to take leaving me standing in the cold until I found a manager that spoke english.

The rental companies being out of cars, although I had a reservation.

Giving me cars that had not been cleaned and reeked of smoke.

Having a windshield broken in a parking lot and no one at the rental company knowing how to file a claim or could tell me what to do.

Having to wait for over an hour for transportation to the airport.

And of course: Overcharging me!

Other than that, the worst experience would have to be the Viva Las Vegas show at the Stratosphere!
james

[MHIROTSU]

This was a few Thanksgivings ago and I was meeting a friend from New York in Las Vegas. We both arrived on Wednesday and had a great time that day and night. We had a late night meal before going to bed. That night and through the entire next day (Thanksgiving Day), it was coming out of both ends, sometimes at the same time. That wasn't pretty. I felt bad that my friend had to deal with Las Vegas all by herself on Thanksgiving Day. She had a great time, but we wanted to spend the entire weekend together because we hadn't seen each other for years.

I couldn't figure out whether it was that late night meal that made me sick or I caught something from my girlfriend (different girl than the one I met in Las Vegas) who had the exact same symptoms just before I left. Maybe it was my girlfriend getting back at me for going to Las Vegas without her. In either case, it was my worst day. But I've never had a bad trip to Las Vegas.

I've always said that you will pay if you don't take your girlfriend/spouse to Las Vegas with you. I paid dearly this time.

Mike

[Larry Robinson]

My wife and I worst experience in Vegas was being stuck in Vegas
on 9/11. We were staying at Harrahs and due to return home on
the morning of 9/11. We had to stay an extra 4 days and finally
got out of town on Sat. Most of the shows closed for the remainder
of that week so there wasn't anything to do except gamble and sit
by the pool. It was very strange not seeing any planes in the air
over Vegas. Upon arrival at the airport there was a tremendous line
of people waiting with their luggage. We literally got out of the cab
running to get in line. We had to wait nearly 3 hours before checking
our luggage and of course we missed our scheduled flight. Upon
touching down in Birmingham most of the passengers aplauded to be
arriving safely.

[King of Kurtopia]

My worst experience only lasted about 1 hour, two Christmases ago in Las Vegas. My wife went to pay for our bill at the coffee shop in the Mirage. Her coin purse was gone with all of our gambling money. It was our first full day there and we had 4 more days to go.

Fortunately a casino security lady found the coin purse and turned it in. After filling out the paperwork we found out who found it and tipped her $100.

We could have hit the ATM, but it would still have been a bummer. After that everything was great!

Kurt

[sonntex]

Many moons ago back in summer of 1982 I think, we took our first vacation trip to LV. We had been before on business but never on vacation. I had won $500 as second prize in a Bumble Bee Tuna drawing and we decided to spend it on a trip to Vegas. We got our trip thru a local travel agency and thought we were all set. The morning that we were to leave I got sick. Felt really nauseated, but I told hubby I thought I could make it. Well, we got bumped on the air travel and they rebooked us on Braniff, which really was not bad. As we were trekking down to get on the plane, I got sick for real. Puked right there but no one seemed to notice. Everybody was to hyped about their trip to notice that they were walking thru puke. I felt better after that and had a 7-Up and brownie on the plane.

We get to LV and take a cab to our desination - you remember the Landmark? We go into the cafe there to get something to eat and as I am downing my burger (I was famished), I suddenly upchucked the 7-Up and brownie all over the table and my clothes. The waitress rushed over and said "that's all right, honey", and proceeded to clean it up but I was :o .

Well, we get our room assignment and they tell us there are no more rooms in the tower and they will put us in a "cottage" out back. Okay, we think. One of the employees takes us back to the cottage. This is a long walk thru vines, brambles and over loose rocks. We are in the cottage at the ..very...end. This guy starts to unlock the door and it would not unlock. He tried several times and went back to get another key which did not work either. So we go around to the back to the cottage which was adjoining ours, and he opened the door (where someone was staying) and we went thru and then crawled thru a small window that connected the two units. Needless to say, the Landmark was not a 5 Star hotel. The bed sagged and the bath was tiny. Everything was OLD.

But I did not get sick again and we did have a good time. I remember that it was about 115 in the shade and we walked everywhere we went. We ate some greasy $.99 breakfasts and I won $35 on a nickel machine at some really filthy place downtown.

However, we never stayed at the Landmark again. We opted for Circus Circus after that :eek: . Until we discovered Harrahs.

We were staying at Harrahs, I think it was about 1987, and having a good time. Back then I played $.25 roulette mostly. I had been playing for the better part of the night and ordering rum drivers. About midnight I go scouting for hubby and find him at a $1 machine with a tray full of dollars. All of a sudden I got sick and guess what-- yeah, puked all in his tray of dollars and on his shoes. A couple of security guards rushed over with a wheelchair and took me to the room where I rested for a while and felt better. I went back down to the casino and there was hubby at that same machine still winning. He was so excited about finding a winning machine that I could have died and he wouldn't have missed a beat. He just complained about me getting sick all over him.

Next bad trip was a couple of years ago when I got sick from eating the buffet at Ballys. We tried once more after that, but not good. We will probably never eat there again. Luckily, this time we were staying at the Rio and I had a decent bathroom to be sick in plus a nice plushy robe to warm up my shivers at 5:00 am.

Then this past winter our flight got cancelled because of the bad weather at DFW. No flights in or out. We spent all day in McCarran waiting for a flight out. USAir did put us in first class on the way back to our destination. Then we got back to DFW and our luggage did not make it. Took about 3 days to get it back. Then we got home and the dogsitter had hosted a party at our house and did all kinds of damage. But you can read about that in my trip report.

Last time was NBA All-Star weekend which was not really bad but I was solo that time and spent most of my time in my home base at Harrahs because I was afraid to venture very far. I probably will not go out on the weekend ever again.

Well, there you have it. 5 bad trips out of about 30. We're planning another trip for the end of May with our daughter and her hubby. Hopefully, it will be the best ever.:D

[Rodman7]

This past trip was the worst. Drove from Michigan & got to NM & ate something that made both my wife & I sick. Salad!!! Both had intestinal problems from then on. Wife was worse than me. Looked forward to this trip for a long time. Spent 4 days there in which 2 were not much fun. Going back April 9th & hope things are better.:eek:

[1940GMC]

I had the same experience as the previous poster....took nearly 3 hours (at 1:00 a.m.) to get a rental car. One person working the counter.....line of people out the door. Amazing.

[bevierose]

It was the week, 4 yrs ago that we declared war on Iraq, that my cousin was in the ladies room and put her purse on the floor and had her wallet stolen, bingo!! She didn't realize it immediately but soon thereafter. The main problem stemmed from the fact that she needed her ID, license from Florida to get home. That was stolen along with her pictures of her father, who is deceased, not to mention other important valuables like her LCSW licensure card for her profession. We realized it as we were going to see "Mamma Mia" at Mandalay Bay. We were there and she said what happened? Some freak turn of fortune occurred! I waited for her outside the ladies room at a Wheel of Fortune slot and play very slowly. On the 4th try, I landed a $1000!! I took the money,which was only $250 and gave it to my cousin who was feeling pretty down after her wallet was stolen. Then something else amazing happened...I looked down on the carpet in Mandalay Bay and discovered a $100 chip! I almost was afraid to pick it up thinking that maybe somebody set me up to pick it up. I picked it up and looked around but nobody responded to me. I then told my cousin and she said, "go and try your luck." I went over to play and got 2 Aces! I won on both and then won about $700 more!!! I walked away a winner and gave it to my cousin who had been robbed. She was so excited, and all went well after that. We had stayed at Harrahs where they were extremely understandin and gave us comped dinners the next 2 nights since this had happened. Then when we left, we had a special note from the city police about the robbery, but they searched my cousin anyway but she had a xeroxed copy of her license that Harrahs was so kind to call for from her doctor's office. (Thank God they had a copy of her picture and driver's license as we live in Florida.) So, in the end it was a win-win situation. Nevertheless, Peg, my cousin, is missing those pictures of her family that meant a lot to her.
Be careful out there where you leave your purse!

[momviolett]

1st morning of trip in shower,leaning over to shave my legs & my back went out.Didn't want hubby missing any fun so sent him on his way after he brought me an ice pack. We had arrived the night before & gambled till the wee hours,so I was able to sleep but could barely roll over in bed. Hubby came back around 5:30. We were at the I.P. & they had an in house clinic.I was not going to lay in bed for 5 days so hubby helped me dress & doubled over, holding his arm I made it to the clinic. Dr. was a grad of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland where we are from. Felt my back,gave me a shot of Demeral, a shot for nausea (demeral I.M. makes me sick) and a shot of a muscle relaxent. Had me lie down for 1/2 hr. while he called White Cross drugstore for some perscriptions to get me through rest of trip. Got up, walking straight, & no pain. Was fine from then on. At home when this has happened I'm on the couch for 5 days after xrays & the most they'll give me is persription strength Ibuprophen. This dr. saved my vacation, we had a great time & alls well that ends well. In 15 trips other than a few minor annoyances this was the only bad thing that happened. I think thats a great track record.

[pateboo]

This was a couple of years ago. I wanted to see Tom Jones but he wasn't playing when I was going in June for my birthday trip, so I booked a ticket for the comedian George Wallace instead. Well, his shows kept getting canceled and I kept changing my ticket for him until I couldn't change it anymore because of the date I had to come home. I never did get an explanation as to why his shows were canceled, just my money back. To this day it still aggravates me to see his billboards on the strip and that he's one of the top draws. I have a ticket for Howie Mandel in June. I sure hope nothing happens to make him cancel. :rolleyes:

[tdress]

Early morning at Bellagio. I figured why stop and pay for a cup of coffee when I could just sit at a slot machine and get a free one from a waitress.
5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes 30 minutes 45 minutes later when the waitress finally came back with my order I had dropped $200 in the slots. All because I was too cheap to spend $5 on a cup of coffee.

[pateboo]

I almost forgot about the time my friend and I, both of us female, finally got a seat on the bus going up the strip when a man, who I think was Italian, and his wife boarded. The man looked at the two of us and started wildly gesturing and babbling something at us. There were young guys who could have given up their seat for his wife and instead he decided to pick on US. I happen to have an ankle full of hardware from an accident and it was bothering me from walking all around downtown and then standing on the bus a while, and this rude man starts going off on us like WE'RE the ill mannered ones.

Not all of my bus trips were bad though. My friend and I had two wonderful bus drivers. One even waited for us when we got trapped in the middle of the strip because of the heavy traffic. When we finally got across and on the bus, he told us that he told the rest of the people that he was going to wait for us. I don't know if that's what he really did or not, but it was great that he waited for us.

[tlcrnicu]

Hello Sonntex,
Whatever happened after you filed your po-lice reports, etc?
I remember reading that post and thanking my lucky stars that it could have been me! :eek:
Our worst trip has never involved anything in LV, (that death guy totally freaked me out in front of the Paris Hotel, thank heavens I wasn't there!)
But a phone call from home saying that our house was full of smoke ant that the fire dept had been there. We were lucky, it wasn't a fire, our furnace had totally died, and probably gone to HE double hockey sticks, and had filled the house with terrible smoke. Our daughter and our dog got out safely and the house was pretty much aired out when we got home. Big expense, though!:(
Listening to these other stories makes me happy that none of these things has happened to me!;)

[Lackqueen]

First, I have to agree with Steve that Binion's steak special is awful:(

On our last trip (Sept. 2006) we got a taxi from the airport. We had been to Vegas twice a year since 1999. This time, I noticed the cab driver was driving through "the tunnel." I asked "Why are we going through the tunnel?" He said "It's a holiday weekend, too much traffic." I then told him that we had been coming to Vegas twice a year for the last few years and we NEVER were taken through the tunnel! Well, he went beserk!! He threw his hands off the wheel and started yelling at me. He said "Pay me whatever you want to pay me, I don't care!" in addition to a few choice words. Hubby & I just looked at each other. Hubby asked me for a pen & paper & wrote down the cab driver's info. In the meantime, the driver was driving like a maniac. When we got to the hotel (Wynn) the driver called in & got the cab fare what would have cost not going through the tunnel. He got just that fare, with no tip from us!

The next night we went to Mandolay Bay for a UB40 concert. We met friends there who live in Vegas. Before the concert started, myself, my sister & my friend were in the water & a college-aged guy was dancing with us & we were having a good time (our husbands stayed on the beach). This young guy hung around with us for a good hour and all the time we were wondering why a young guy was hanging out with us middle-aged women. Once the concert started, he disappeared & our husbands joined us in the water. All of a sudden, my girlfriend turned to rubber and appeared to be wasted out of her mind. We had only had like 3 cocktails all evening. We figured out that this young guy who was "partying" with us must have put something in her drink. That really sucked!

When we checked out at the Wynn a couple of days later, we were told we had a $300+ bill for using items from the refrigerator & snack bar in our room!!! We didn't even lift any items as we knew they all have sensors on them & if you hold them for like 20 seconds or something you get charged. Fortunately, that matter was straightened our right away & we weren't charged.

I learned one thing, although I never had to say it before....I WILL tell the cab driver immediately...NO TUNNEL!

[luvvegas]

Hubby and I always said we'd never stay at the Boardwalk because it looked like a dump! Never say never, right? A few years ago, one of hubby's pals stayed there -- said it wasn't that bad, so after receiving an offer, booked a stay for a few nights. We should have immediately checked out after the toilet backed up and overflowed the first time. It either didn't flush or when it did, it overflowed. Maintenance "allegedly" fixed the problem each time they came to unblock the toilet. I got sick (I'm sure from the bacteria in that room). Bad enough to be sick on vacation, but to be sick in a hotel room where you can't flush the toilet is disgusting. I sent not one, but two letters to the Manager of the Boardwalk after we returned home. He never responded. I would have gladly bought the explosives for the Boardwalk's implosion.


aw heck you would never get to go to vegas again if you had to buy the explosives hahahhahaha my brother owns the company that Implodes all those casinos and your right it was great to Implode the Boardwalk haha now we just got back from watching them Implode the Stardust and how awesome it was to watch I had only seen the bvideos of them all and this time My brother had me come out as it was my sons first time to hit the button AWESOME for him....

[vegasbabe]

oh let's see.....
Boardwalk buffet--gone!

being charged twice for 2 "O" tickets at Bellagio, when I only had $450 left to spend for a 3 day trip--was fixed after 5 hours of arguing

going to the strip on new year's eve 2007--I missed seeing Chicago perform on TV. I was with my boss, and we walked about 5 miles. My feet were not happy with me.

sitting through the entire Anthony Cools show--I don't see what the attraction is. I thought it was stupid and disgusting in some spots.

From a local's perspective:
shopping the newest vegas walmart. Boulder and Harmon. The worst shopping trip of my life! If any walmart people are reading this, they either need new mgt., or a new training manual. People were rude, and slammed the door in my face at 10:15 pm, rather than the usual greeting. They were out of everything! Whole aisles completely empty. Somebody must have forgotten to order! Checkout--there were 4 registers open, when they needed about 10! This store is about a mile from my house, but I'll never go back!

[vegasbabe]

I was in Vegas on 9/11 too. It was before I moved here, and my parents and I needed to catch a flight home. We were worried all week, and almost bought a cheap used car and drove home. However, there were no "cheap" used cars available. Our flight was that friday and we got out fine. But it was spooky with no airplanes, disappointing with all the shows being cancelled, and boring with very little money to gamble with.

For all of you who have witnessed death out here, I'll add my experience. There has been a horrible problem with jay walking lately. It almost seems like people are trying to commit suicide by SUV. I saw one such incident 2 weeks ago. The guy was lying on the ground with his head in a pool of blood. His leg was snapped completely backward at the knee. The ambulance attendants were nowhere near him. I assumed they were waiting for the coroner.

A word of advice-- please observe all signals at crosswalks, and use elevated crosswalks where available.

[BOBNDEE]

We have bought many bottles of wine just trying to get one glass to take to our room. Still do it, never learn!
bobndee

[troubleman]

That would have to be ANY TIME AT THE BUFFET I SCOOP ONIONS FROM THE TRAY.

[PinkFloydActuary]

Let's see...

- We woke up in the motel rooms of the Trop one year and found our dresser covered in ants.

- We were walking back to the room at the Ho when they were cleaning out a sewage line. I tried to breathe through my mouth, but then I could taste the air and almost gagged on it.

But I think the worst experience I ever had involved a trip with a guy who was easily upset with the rest of us. His parents lived in Vegas, so rather than spending the moolah for a Saturday night hotel room, we decided to camp out at his parents for one night. Our first issue was that it took more than five minutes to decide what to order on four pizzas to satisfy six people. He got fed up and refused to eat with us. Then, we found out that the five guests were to all sleep on the floor of a standard bedroom. My friends and I average about 6 foot 2, so that was a lot of fun. The next day, we checked into the Frontier and decided to go for lunch before unloading our coats and some of our bags from the car our "friend" had borrowed from his parents. Still being poor in those days, we decided to skimp on lunch and eat at the Ho's snack bar. This sent the guy into a rage as he wanted to go to a restaurant. So he drove off in the car with half of our stuff and didn't come back for two days! At one point, we were discussing how my buddies would need to ship my coat back to Chicago (the rest of them were living in Colorado.) The worst part of this was that the rest of the trip was fun - decent gambling, good food, OK weather. But the dark cloud this guy cast really ruined the whole trip. Needless to say, we agreed to go without him the next year, and he didn't understand why, e-mailed us and told us what a$$%^@! we are, and none of us have spoken to him since.

[JUDY316]

We always enjoy our stay in Vegas. The only time we had a problem was a few years ago when my husband and I caught that novo-virus and were sick as dogs for several days!

[cindyinnj]

Never had a bad hotel or show experience in Vegas, so far.....but I have to say the worst experiences about Vegas is leaving it, losing money and not getting to visit it as much as I'd like to (monthly if I could...LOL ;) )

[sinkhole]

I went with a friend about five yrs ago who was a complete idiot and ruined the trip. She lost her voice when we landed was the best part. I accompanied her to a wedding cuz her husband did not want to go. It was an $80 cab ride to the reception - then she left me there to make out with the brides younger brother! Remember she is married - TRAMP!

Weather was cold and rainy that February and she picked Circus Circus as the hotel for us to stay!

NIGHTMARE! We are no longer friends! :eek:

[MJNelson]

Our last trip which was suppose to be from February 25th to March 1st was delayed 18 hours going out of Minneapolis because of snow and then to top it off we were delayed 26 hours leaving from Las Vegas again because of snow in Minneapolis. This was not bad enough as we arrived at the airport in Las Vegas at 6A.M. and did not get the cancellation news until 2:30P.M.in the afternoon and everyone had to wait at the airport for the go or no go so we could get our luggage which was on the plane. Snow is one thing, BUT, waiting for 8+ hours in the Airport was a little much.

[stevevarro]

My first "worst" trip experiences was over twenty years ago.

I lived in So. Calif. and told some friends I was leaving on Friday morning to spend the weekend in Vegas. So off I went with my $300.00 "fun" money.

First stop: Whiskey Pete's. (every even made it to Las Vegas). 15 minutes later I was broke. 15 MINUTES! WOW, talk about not knowing anything about money management. I got home later that afternoon and my friends said; "I thought you were going to Vegas?" When I told them my tale they were shocked, but not very sympathetic. I quickly learned about money management.

Second but worst experience
Not long after that I went with my Parents for a few days of fun in Vegas. The first afternoon both my mom and dad got really sick, some fly type bug. We could not find a hotel anywhere. Luciano Paveratti was performing and every hotel in Vegas was sold out. We headed for Henderson and found a small motel called the Swanky Inn. Believe me when I tell you this was nothing swanky! The rooms had old and the carpet worn out. Rust spots in the sink and tub/shower. Pipes that banked when you turned on the hot water. Each room had round bets, but square sheets that didn't cover the whole mattress. The ceiling globe over the bed had live bugs trying to crawl out, but due to the high sides of the globe were unable to do so (thankfully). With the folks so sick they could hardly walk to the bathroom we were stuck.

No one slept that night, thanks to the bugs crawling up the light fixtures and my parents being sick, and me laughing about the ridiculous situation and the square sheets on the round beds.

Update to the story... They tore down the swanky in and build the "Joker's Wild" casino. The dining room is called the Swanky Cafe in honor of the motel. I don't plan to eat there in this lifetime!.

[lvooris]

I must have been in my early twenties and went by myself to Vegas. I was fit back then and walked all over Vegas. On my last day there I guess my body was so dehydrated that I started feeling very strange and knew I was going to pass out. I found a McDonald's in one of the casinoe's (the one with the downstairs escalatar) I was almost off it when I passed out.

A really nice security guard that worked at Cesaer's carried me to one of the booths and bought me something to drink. He told me I had heatstroke. It took me a few days to recover from that. Lesson learned for me!

[mturner]

My very worst experince is too sad to tell ( my sister was dying of cancer and wanted to see Vegas one more time )

But my other was I stayed at the motel part of the Stardust.... need I say more!

It made the westward ho look good!

I have learned my lesson about getting what you pay for.

[ChicChas]

The worst thing that has happened to me so far is an experience in February '06 when I lost my ticket ticket to "Hairspray" at the Luxor AFTER I was in the inner lobby, but before the opened the doors to the auditorium. Here's the whole story from my TR at the time.



"By now, it’s time to get changed for the theater then head back to Luxor. I’m there on the early side and the doors aren’t open yet. Hit a few machines in the theater vicinity and have horrible luck. They’ve probably placed low payout machines in this area figuring they’d get suckers like me to play while they wait.

Here is the sad part of my trip. Eventually, the doors to the theater open, the usher takes my ticket and hands back my stub with the seat number on it. I enter the inner lobby but the auditorium isn’t open yet. So I decided to purchase a drink and flip through my program. Shortly, I noticed I couldn’t find my ticket stub with my seat number on it. I start retracing my steps, stopping at the bar to see if I left it there, checking with the ticket taker to see if it had been turned in, etc. I even went through the trashcan where I had dumped my soggy napkin. No luck. Checked with the ticket taker again. Nothing.

I then headed back to the box office hoping they could reissue my ticket. I still had the credit card receipt in my wallet, so figured it wouldn’t be a problem. I stood in a long line and, when it was finally my turn, ran into a less than hospitable representative who claimed to be unable to help me in any way. So, I went back to the theater to look around some more. The ticket taker with whom I had previously been talking from inside the theater refused to let me back in because I didn’t have a ticket. I felt like I was in CATCH 22."

[FayGep]

We've gone to LV at least twice a year for the past 20 years and for the most part we've had nothing but good times. Three trips that I remember I got sick with some sort of flu, another time I broke a tooth, and once I had my money stolen while playing at a dollar poker machine ... but nothing compares to the trip we made on 9/11.

We left Detroit at 6:30 EST that morning on a nonstop to Vegas. The flight was usual boring and we both went to sleep. We awoke as the pilot was saying "20 minutes to Las Vegas, prepare for landing." Suddenly the flight attendant ran up the isle looking worried, and the plane made a long U turn. The pilot announced he'd been advised by the tower of a problem and was turning the plane and landing in Albuquerque,NM. He assured us there were no mechanical problems with the plane but we would be stopping for an undetermined amount of time. As we landed we noticed a large number of armed military people on the runway ... then we were there. The plane was totally quiet ... no one knew what was happening. We were told to deplane and go downstairs to the baggage area where we would be informed of what to do next. As we left the pilot told everyone the United States was under attack, "They'd bombed" the Pentagon and the World Trade Center using commercial planes, there was another on the way to the White House, and another heading who knows where. There was a huge gasp as all the passengers grouped together .... who were "they" ... how were they able to "bomb" us, why our planes instead of "their's" ... where was the President? It was total confusion, no one had any answers and we had yet to see any reports on TV.
Downstairs was a total disaster as the luggage from multiple planes was unloaded into the center of the room. Luckily we found ours quickly. My husband (Jim) said since this was a military base and we were under attack we'd better get out of town as quickly as possible, so we tried calling car rentals to no avail .. everything was gone. We were sitting on the floor watching a very large box circle the luggage convair belt when suddenly Jim said "Why don't you go try and rent a U-Haul"? I called ... and yes ... they had a medium sized truck ... which I immediately rented to go one way to Phoenix where our Daughter lived. Returning to where Jim was sitting I found him talking to a Japanese gentleman (from Japan) who had been in Milwaukee for a business meeting, and was trying to find a way to Phoenix where he had a friend with whom he could stay. One thing led to another and we were on our way across NM with Jim driving "Hell bent" with a very large truck, a small amount of luggage bouncing around in the back, no air conditioning, and a Japanese man who spoke very little English. Remember we still didn't know what exactly had happened and we thought we were under attack so he drove that U-Haul across the mountains at 70+mph the whole way. Our little man was holding onto the window ledge with both hands ... but, bless his heart, he never complained or screamed. At one point I tried to turn on the radio to see what was happening only to hear the announcer compare the attack to "Pearl Harbor". Our guest didn't understand much .... but he heard that ... as I quickly turned off the radio and apologized. We got to Phoenix 6 hours later where he met his friends and we stayed with our Daughter ... and finally found out what had happened.

The next day since it appeared no planes were going out in the near future and we had the 2 week trip booked as well as a car rental ... we decided to go on to Vegas so we drove our Daughter's Blazer ..... Hoover Dam was deathly quiet with only military helicopters flying overhead. We had to go through 2 checkpoints and searches to pass over. Vegas on the other hand was pandimonium. The Budget car rental place was full of people shouting, crying, and demanding and the workers looked as if they all wanted to cry. Luckily we'd reserved ahead and using Fast Break we got our car quickly and were out of there. (We drove our Daughter's car to Vegas ... she took a bus to Laughlin and picked it up a few days later) The hotels were full of stranded people, and there was not a rental or cheap used car to be found anywhere. When we checked into Bellagio the counter man couldn't believe we'd arrived from MI ... and when we told him we came by U-Haul .... he said he'd heard it all, and booked us into a suite for no extra charge. First and probably only time we'll ever stay in a suite in Bellagio.
Three days later Vegas was DEAD! We stood on the top of the Treasure Island parking garage and I swear you could shout and hear an echo. There were absolutely no lines or waits to get into any restaurants and the casino floors were enpty. That is except downtown where it was business as usual.

We won enough to pay for the trip and then some so despite the terrible events we had a good time. The day we left Vegas Jim hit a Royal on a dollar machine at the airport! The attendant said they'd turned off the power at the airport on 9/11, and after turning it back on there were jackpots everywhere. She said the locals were even going to the airport to play for awhile.

We've been back many times since but nothing compares to that trip.

[danitaylor]

A Las Vegan since 1997, I've been in L.A. having surgery and that sort of thing for a year or so. I get back every now and then to do some business and then return. Two weeks ago Thursday, I reserved a room at the Orleans for $30 plus tax and the new ridiculous $5 mandatory fee for free calls (who cares? and entry to the spa (not). Visit for one night was the plan - return to L.A. on Friday. My 87 year old mom was with me and became ill just before we were to leave. She wound up in the hospital for six nights thereafter and I would up spending an obscene amount of money on lodging .... nascar week to add insult. at least a grand went for lodging and about the same in gaming to keep myself occupied while mother was in the hospital.

qu'elle nightmare!

[Kruzer]

It has only happened the one time but after checking in at Treasure Island, my kids found a bottle of Jack Daniels, Some Chinese herbal and a baggie with cocaine residue under their bed. Housekeeping never reported it to security :confused: and threw out the stuff:mad: . It's been almost two years and I still haven't heard back from them. Guess I won't ever stay there again!!!!

[Mulberryflash56]

About six years ago my wife and I took a cab from MGM to the Las Vegas Hilton. Instead of taking the shortest route there, the cabbie went via I-15N. I immediately confronted him, and refused to accept his piss-poor explanation. I told him that I was not paying him $20. I think that I gave him $10 and walked away. Since that time I have not gotten in a cab while in Vegas. That was a blessing in disguise:D . Thereafter, I have always rented a car wherever we travel (except in NYC & Nassau, Bahamas Islands)

[Brillo]

We made the mistake of flying into LV on Friday night of the NBA All Star Weekend. I should also mention that besides the basketball game it was the weekend after Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year and President's Day weekend. Getting our luggage was a nightmare....they unloaded 6 flights worth of luggage onto one belt. Needless to say the belt stopped when it became overloaded and people were climbing over each other and the piles of luggage trying find their bags. Found our bags and proceeded to the car rental lot on the shuttle....it took 45 minutes to get out of the car lot. Finally off to the hotel we got stuck in traffic on the back streets for an hour and a half. It took us three hours and fifteen minutes from when our plane landed to get checked in at the hotel. We got up Saturday and scoped thing out. Everything was crowded but that's to be expected on the weekends. Saturday night on the strip was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. Hordes of basketball fans collected at every available space in front of the casinos and the gangbangers all collected on the crosswalks. The crowd was extremely rude and disrespectful. Lots of alcohol and the smell of dope in the air. No one would move so that people could get through. Everyone was yelling at each other in some language that must have been derived from english. The guys were grabbing and groping the girls as they walked by (though it looked like some of them were enjoying it). What a lowbrow crowd...nothing but a bunch of thugs! Worst part was that there was not a police officer in sight for crowd control. Sunday night it was an entirely different scene. LV police were out in force. Officers on every corner and none of what we saw Saturday night was going on. We've been going to LV for almost 30 years and enjoy it tremedously, but we will definitely think twice before going on a holiday weekend again.

[tugboat]

My worst experience in Las Vegas was last year my husband and I had tickets to go see Barry Manillow at the Hilton and when we went the night of the show it was cancelled. Very dissapointing we seen him a year ago it was a great concert but I wanted to go see him again. But other than that we have not had one bad experience in Las Vegas. ;)

[dreamcatcheril]

April 2007 starts 33 years of Vegas trips. let me think
I never got sick
I never got sick from food,
I never got in a fist fight.
I never got so drunk I passed out.. ok there was one time.
I never hit a big jack pot on a slot machine. I don't count $1000. royals as big
I never had a bad room having stayed in some dumps
I Never saw a bad show... I even laughed through "naked show girls of magic" because it was so bad.
This is starting to sound boring.
Does old ugly strippers in a seedy, shabby run - down North Vegas strip club count?????? No it was fun, Kind of like my wife offering me a lap dance for $85.00

I got it,, On 2 seperate trips to the Mirage. Up early 6AM gambling and there was no cocktail server to bring my morning coffee.. That was the worst thing that happened

[flamingofun]

No bad experiences in my 12 trips. Tugboat~~I too have Barry Manilow tickets for the 2nd time this June. I'll die if his show is cancelled!! And FayGep from Mi your 911 tale was increditable. Viva Las Vegas

[Souette]

Two things:

1) The massage from Hell at the Las Vegas Hilton Spa. In a nut shell...the therapist hurt my shoulder and when I told her about it, she moved to my feet and I thought she broke my toes & ankle just within a matter of seconds. :eek:
I limped out of the spa and the ankle continued to swell throughout the day. I have pictures. Left a hand-written note to the manager. Never heard anything back.

2) Same trip. After I left the Hilton, I headed to Death Valley to soak up the 127 degree heat. As I lay floating in the pool, I sat straight up with a voice in my head telling me to head home. Dripping wet at the pay phone, I changed my flight and cancelled my reservation at the Bellagio for later that week.
Didn't tell my husband I was coming home but he was happy I did. As we turned out the lights to go to bed that night...he told me that he had a major heart attack while I was gone and the moment that I received my "voice" to go home...he was having an MRI completed. He wouldn't call me or let anyone else call because he didn't want to interrupt my trip. He knew how much I look forward to my Vegas/Death Valley trips.
He ended up having open heart surgery/4-bypasses that week.

Let's hope my trip to Vegas next week turns out better! :p

[jbueng]

I see LOTS of people have gotten sick after eating at Ballys! No thanks! Fatburger, here I come!

MY VEGAS PROBLEMS.

1) Back in 2000 or so I go to Vegas solo, (i miss that) Anyhow, I decide on a night at Crazy Horse II stripclub. After 4-5 dances, I am going to finish my drink and go back to the IP. Well this little Honey talks me into one more dance. Sound familiar guys? Back to the story, She gaurantees the ride of my life, I'm a sucker, I say OK. She does her bump and grind. And she was right, It was good. I go back tot he IP, retire for the night. Only to wake up and not be able to get out of bed. My back was out. Two more days on the trip with so much to do! It was a slow two days, but I made it around. get home and call my chiropractor, relief right, wrong! He says, It's been out for three days? Come see me on Monday, I'm heading to my Lake cabin for the weekend. Damn......

2) I'm at the Hard Rock. Playing slots right. I turn around and see Nikki Six of Motley Crue fame coming towards me. Cool right? I tell my friend Doug. He don't even know who Nikki Six is and continues to play his WOF machine. Nikkis entorage of ladys and security come right to our area. Security starts setting up rope stantions around the area and Nikki starts playing a .50 machine. I have my back to him playing WOF. I lose all I want and offer the machine to Nikki Six's girlfriends mother. She sits down, I continue to watch my buddy play WOF. Soon, a security goon comes over and tells me to move on. I say why, he says because I told you to. I said what am I doing wrong. He just says I can't be there because I am not playing. I tell him I am not bothering Mr. Six. He doesn't seem to care. Lots of idiots are coming up to the barriers and taking photos and stuff, they were the ones bothering him. I refuse to leave, two more visits from the security gaurd in a monkey suit, and they have had eneough, I get SIX-ed from the casino! Can you believe it? I can't. I guess my money isn't as green as that washed up rocker's. Some people are on a power trip!

3) Flights have been great! Especially the one out of Minneapolis that had a unique jet stream that headed right for VEGAS! A 3 hour flight got in in 2:05! Yeah! a extra hour in SIN CITY! Well the story goes bad right there as I stand in line at ALAMO waiting 1:45 minutes to get to the counter to get my car! Damn it! Lost an hour in VEGAS now.
PS-Sign up for THRIFTYS Blue chip club. Use your member# to rent online. NO waiting at the shuttle or at the Thrifty rental location. Straight to a car in 1-minute. Also, they always offer you a free upgrade! Hassel Free!

4) This ones from my buddy Doug, Who can't type, but, can pound the keys of a slot machine like no other!
On fly out day doug comes to my room and says his wife is too sick to fly. Well that can't be. It was. She was sent from the IP's Clinic to a hospital. He missed his flight, Sat in the hospital for 4 days with her as she recovered from kidney stones. Then had to wait two more days to get his flight out! Lost a week of work. Had another week of motel bills, food, gambling, etc. and was over minutes on his cell phone totaling over 500 minutes too much! I asked him later about the hospital, he said it was a nice place. He added the waiting room wait for his wife to get a bed was 17 Hours! Thats right 17hours. DO NOT GET SICK IN VEGAS!

5) Remember two nice words used together does not mean great things. Like GOLDEN & PALMS. Had a friend stay at Golden Palms casino and it was terrible! No Place that bad in VEGAS! Hands down. We do get good laughs about it though!

[vegasdough]

Only two things stick out and both were buffet induced: One at the Gold Coast and one at the Sahara.

Lately any negative experiences have all involved the Monorail. Not worth the trouble.

[Boston_Bill]

I have been pretty lucky as far as really bad experiences. I suppose my worst was just waiting for a red eye flight back east and having no hotel room most of the day and very little cash on hand. That was one of my first trips.

[King_Ozzy]

This just happened this past weekend. I flew in on Saturday night, 11pm on March 17th, and it was a mess. Dollar only had 1 bus running to pick people up when we all saw 10 Alamo buses pass by. Had to wait for three trips by the same driver to get to the rental lot. They didn't have the car i had reserved and was asked to take a Jeep Liberty, which was the only one they had available the next class up. It was so dark in the lot that I didn't realized how dirty the thing was inside. Looked like it was not cleaned after the last 4 rentals. Called Dollar and they didn't seem to really care and told me to bring it in but I may have to wait a while to swap cars. Just what I want to do on my vacation. Alamo, next time, never Dollar again. :mad:

[jerry h]

Arrived at Imperial palace Sun. pm, Played golf Mon, woke up Tue to a heart attack. Spent Tue, Wed, Nad Thur morn. in hospital. Imperial staff saved my life and I will forever be eternally grateful.
Jerry H

[legalois]

It was quite a few years ago, back when people dressed "nicely" for air travel. I was wearing a knit pant suit and 3" heels. When we arrived our room wasn't ready yet, so we left our bags at the hotel and began exploring. Of course my feet gave out quickly, but hey, I'm a woman, I can take it.

Then I developed a slight headache. Not to worry.

We walked into one of the casinos (can't remember which one) that had a strange layout. Not one huge open area like today's casinos, but rather all separate smaller rooms and you could wander from one, through another and basically get lost. Which is what happened. We separated and I played a little. When I went to find my husband I had no idea where he was. My headache had increased to a "killer" and I had no idea where to look. I couldn't go back to our room - we didn't have one yet! Luckily I located him playing blithely at a blackjack table, not a care in the world, while I broke down and cried in relief.

Not really a 'worst' experience but it's all I could come with.

[Y2J2006]

All four of my trips, which have been between Jan 06-Jan 07, were all great. Two were convention trips, jan 06 and Jan 07, so May and Oct were awesome times. I love it. Heading back in June and will have another blast.

Stayed at Vegas Club-Jan 06, was a clean room and not a problem at all, just staying downtown can get expensive taking cabs to The Strip. Was there in Vegas for my first time ever, attended the Adult Entertainment Expo
Stayed at Excalibur-May 06, was a big room, and the AC was c-c-cold. Was a long walk to the elevator from the room and then a long walk from the elevator to the front. But hotel was a nice place. Busy busy casino, and check in was a breeze. Would stay there again.
Stayed at Stardust-Oct 06, need I say more? Was an awesome place to stay, loved the feel of the place and the atmosphere. The workers were all friendly. Trip was based around staying there as we planned it for just that purpose.
Stayed at Imperial Palace-Jan 07, they upgraded me to a deluxe room facing The Strip. Could hear the live band down at the outside bar and the view of Mirage/Caesars and Rio was nice. Having the monorail right there was vry convenient. Busy busy casino. Would stay there again. Easy walk to the Adult Entertainment Expo that I attended. Was my first trip ever anywhere solo.

[Mrs. PapaGeorgio]

Arrived at Imperial palace Sun. pm, Played golf Mon, woke up Tue to a heart attack. Spent Tue, Wed, Nad Thur morn. in hospital. Imperial staff saved my life and I will forever be eternally grateful.
Jerry H

OMG! How scary! Glad you're OK!!!!

[Jacob36]

I am posting this for one of my Las Vegas contacts that does not want their name used for obvious reasons :eek:


I stopped at a gas station right off of the strip to get gas and looked to my right, as I was pumping my gas innocently, and faced something that will haunt me forever! In broad day light in the open for anyone and everyone to see, was a very over weight African American woman giving this super skinny, 90 year old cowboy in full attire receiving some hand manipulation. It has scarred me and I will never forget it! This was about 8 years ago when I was here to visit. I know you should expect things like that but I think it was the mixture of the two that did me in!

I wonder if that could be the same one I seen walking through the Orleans last year. Wearing a mini skirt along with one of those tops that I think they call a belly shirt and knee high boots, all 300 to 350 LBS of her. :eek:

Sent cold chills down my back.

[zodton]

My wife and I were offered comp rooms at the Vegas Club, and being that we stayed there before and was happy with the rooms we were delighted. Till we got there the room was just nasty. The mattress was beyond bad and the carpet in the hallway was just plain old gross. Even the food at the Upper Deck has lost its playability. And to add insult to injury the new owners do not recognize payer points that were previously earned.

[lvandm]

My 1st trip to Vegas 1992
Harrahs was remodeling the buffet we should have known better

The 3 of us that ate Turkey took ran to the pot for 3 hrs. It hit me about 2 am playing VP at the Excalibur
It can be a tough ride up the Excalibur Elevator when the turkey kicks in...

My one friends disaster ended just before we boarded the plane to come home.... Maybe there is a GOD...

[Musikman in WI]

What started as a New Years trip to spend with 300,000 of our closest friends turned into a time of mourning when my Mother died unexpentently the day we landed. Worst of all, no flights back due to the holidays.ONly bad trip so far.

[RWHannu]

I'm always amused to see how many people seem to lose control of their bowels in Las Vegas and how eager they are to give everybody the details.

On the theme of illness, one of the worst situations I wound up in was several years ago during NAB...despite not feeling all that well, one of my colleagues made the trip anyway- but wound up not being able to leave his room for most of the trip due to fever, coughing, etc. (This was the same week that Columbine happened so there wasn't very much cheery stuff to watch on TV during the day either.) Turns out he had pneumonia and on the third day we hauled him down to that clinic across the street from the El Cortez (we were all staying at the Lady Luck). They gave him some sort of prescription, he managed to make the flight home the next day, and took about two years to straighten out the insurance payments.

Second worse trip was a when a couple of us seemed to come down with the 24 hour flu at the tail end of another NAB trip.

[lvgecko]

Before moving here, we vacationed here once a year. Our trips started with leaving our little town in Texas and spending the night in Dallas to catch an early flight to Vegas. One year, I woke up in our hotel in Dallas about 3am totally congested. Well, I certainly wasn't going to cancel my vacation over a little congestion, but I felt really strange all over. When we got up 2 hours later, business as usually - hurry up, get ready, get to the airport and get to Vegas! I was still a little congested the whole flight, but hell-bent on my vacation. This had to have been our second or third trip to Vegas, because we were still "cabbing" instead of renting a car. About half way to the hotel, I lost my voice - completely. Must have been the dry air that pushed me over the edge. Bad thing was, I felt just fine! I had no voice the whole trip. At the time, I was a blackjack and craps player almost exclusively. Believe me, dealers are not too kind when they think you're "whispering" instead of talking. My partner had to tell the dealers that I'd lost my voice, but they still gave me dirty looks - I think I understand how they felt when the only way I could communicate with them in the loud casinos was with "psst" or snapping my fingers or waving my arms! And trying to get my partners attention was just as bad! We were staying at the LV Hilton - they found us a clinic to go to and provided a humidifier for the room - God bless them! I didn't get my voice back until I had been back at work for nearly a week after the vacation - almost 2 weeks without a voice! Trust me, some folks at the office were almost elated that I couldn't talk!

That was our worst trip. Nothing nearly as bad as some of the other post-ers have endured!

[sailor53]

After several days of drinking and gambling, I developed a nosebleed (fortunately I was in the room when it started) and it wouldn't stop. I ended up staying in the room for 13 hours till it stopped completely.

I learned a valuable lesson about staying hydrated and using saline spray to keep my nostrils from drying out.

[iam4nd]

Hate to jinx myself but nothing bad has ever really happened to us in Las Vegas. We've had some weird experiences as related to in another thread, but nothing I would consider bad, including a few almost terrifying cab rides. Strange how after they're over you kind of look at them as wild, funny, or different:confused: .

[Y2J2006]

Actually my first trip to Vegas in Jan 06 I attended the Adult Entertainment Expo. My buddy gambled. Everything was fun, we stayed Fri-Tue. We stayed downtown at Vegas Club. Anyhow Mon we headed to The Strip, went to Mandalay Bay to House Of Blues for a bite to eat. My buddy had fried onions on his burger. Later that night at the hotel he is in and out of the bathroom. Tuesday when we leave for the airport, again he is in and out of the bathroom. Get to the airport and he is got a bad stomoach ache and heads to the bathroom there 3 times. Halfway home on the flight he says "Uh oh" and slides across the seats and heads to the airplace bathroom, and is in there for 20 minutes and we have turbulence.
I felt sorry for him as his last night was ruined and the whole flight home he felt so raunchy. Was an excuse for us to go back in May. but as he said no more House Of Blues food. LOL.