KenoMom
10-12-2005, 11:35 PM
Hotels: Bally's (Sunday through Wednesday) - cost $150 for 3 nights
Sam's Town (Wednesday through Friday) - cost free for 2 nights
Airplane: ATA and SW Airlines
Car Rental: US Rent-a-car (Fox)
Buffets Visited: The Orleans, Sam's Town
Restaurants: Cafe at Paris, Italian restaurant at Paris, Fatburger near MGM, Bourgainville Cafe at Terribles, Coffee Shop at The California, Mexican restaurant at Sam's Town
4 trips within a one year period (October 04 to October 05) is a new record and one that saw the dawning of a new era...the absence of jackpots and the realism that all good things must come to an end. After 14 years, we are suddenly having to discover nongambling things to do or else make our trips shorter and further between. On the other hand, maybe it just took 14 years to realize what others have always known and we should consider ourselves lucky that we had this many good times with our favorite vacation spot.
So on to our latest trip report...6 days, 5 nights with overnight stays at Ballys and Sam's Town.
Okay, we're usually cheap....not in what we spend so much as in where we stay. A gourmet dinner is lost on us as we view it as the $100 that would have given us more chances to win in the video keno machine. We're women who enjoy sitting all day in front of a good machine and escaping the real world of husbands, kids, carpools and career/volunteer obligations. We aren't necessarily picky but we expect things to be the way we're told they'll be. Gradually what started out as a serious gambler trip has evolved into a "female family and friends" event that rudely awakened two of us to the realization that to some people, life does exist beyond a video keno machine!
After a last minute flurry of plane changes, we all managed to get to Las Vegas on Sunday. The Hawaii traveler arrived first with the usual pleasant experience of an overnight on ATA. Something to be said for those nice leather seats - especially when the flight isn't full and you get to stretch across 3 of them. Makes for a pleasant sleepover, the better to get an early start on the video keno. The Virginia and Texas travelers weren't so lucky. An attempt to gather in Houston the evening before to take the first flight in the morning to arrive alongside the Hawaii traveler got aborted with Hurricane Rita. In fact, it was literally a last minute nail biter about how Virginia would get to make it and whether the airports in Corpus would allow the Texan to make her connecting flight. After some tense moments, Texas and Virginia converged in Houston to a ghost town airport and while 12 hours in flights and waiting time for Virginia....touchdown in Vegas was finally achieved at 5:30 pm Vegas time (original time was 8:30 am).
(SW Airline flight from Houston was nice but I am more convinced that airlines giving an opportunity to select a seat in advance are the better way to go.)
I am also more and more convinced that the small car rental companies like US Rent-a-car and Sav-Mor are winners in Vegas. Rarely any lines at the counter or in waiting for the shuttle. With 3 women and that many suitcases, we had booked a standard vehicle ($111.00 including taxes for the 6 day stay) but were upgraded to a minivan. Great....this vacation is starting off with the same vehicle I have to haul everyone around at home in....I thought this trip was to get away from all of that!
Our first stop was Bally's where we would meet up with our Hawaii counterpart (or co-conspirator). Having stayed many times at Paris, this was our first stay in Bally's. One nice thing was that in the shuffling of our hurricane changes, the hotel personnel were absolutely wonderful about allowing our Hawaii cousin to check in before we would arrive. Since I was the one with the coupon offer, usually they make you wait until the person on the reservation checks in. Not only did they accommodate this situation, but I had also asked about upgrading to at least a renovated room as I had read somewhere that some of their rooms needed to be redone. We ended up being placed on the same floor that offers the special breakfast/happy hour with a gorgeous view of the strip (Venetian, Stratosphere). The negative was that we fronted the main thoroughfaire to the UNLV hospital. One night of the noise and we were quickly used to the sounds. Our Hawaii cousin said it just reminded her of home.
If you are lucky enough to get one of the renovated rooms, I highly recommend Bally's over Paris. The room is significantly larger which allows 3 women using 2 beds the opportunity to spread out. Often we have problems trying to allow for all of our suitcases and this time it was not the case. There was good lighting to read on the chairs and two tables which provided nice space to spread our personal items. I believe we were on the 17th floor and we decided to skip the breakfast/happy hour deal. The charge is $30 per day for 2 people...I think they quoted $8.50 for the additional person. As we are all over the board with sleep habits, we didn't want to miss something that we prepaid.
One meal that evening to the Cafe in Paris where my Hawaii cousin got to renew her love for the apple crepes. Texas and Virginia enjoyed the omelettes. This cafe always seems to offer nice large portions which is great for people who only plan up to 2 meals a day.
Vido poker was played on Sunday at Bally's by the bar with two great bands (one was playing until 3 am), Paris and Alladdin. Alladdin has been our latest discovery for great video keno selections but no luck was made that night.
Monday took us on the start of a 2-day mission. Texas and Hawaii are coffee drinkers and I was determined to buy them an emersion tool to warm water in the hotel room. We visited 2 Wal-marts, one Target and 2 Walgreens to no avail. We also enjoyed our favorite buffet at The Orleans and a stop for some gaming at The Palms. Topped the evening off with a walk through Alladdin's Desert Passage in search of the elusive emersion tool and a midnight "dinner" of one of the best NY Strip steak specials in town at the Paris Cafe. 2 days now and no jackpots so far :(
Tuesday started off another driving spree to ironically, the Walgreens right on the strip near the MGM where the emersion tool was located. I still can't believe we wasted all that time when it was right up the street from us! I had figured that one on the strip wouldn't offer it in difference to the hotels who want you to go down and buy their own coffee. Happily I was proved wrong and that was one "hunt" accomplished. Took the opportunity to combine that stop with lunch at the next-door Fatburger. If you like burgers and thick milkshakes, this is a great place although I think I like the one over at Green Valley Ranch better. Visited the shops at the Forum and Fashion Mall where we found some adorable "time out" rocking chairs. So now we moved from locating one purchase to spending the remaining time trying to figure out how to order 2-3 chairs and get them to Hawaii. Visited the Venetian to compare prices and encountered a way to win some money (i.e., it's obvious with this much shopping time that we are not winning a darn thing). (note the lack of gambling so far)
They are now doing those shows where you watch and give your opinion before the shows go on real television. Got $10 for one hour of our time and they said people actually spend all day doing this. Made mental note to increase stay in Vegas on the next trip to allow for 4-5 hours of recouping casino losses in this manner.
Dinner this evening was spent at the Italian restaurant at Paris. Love the singing waiter and waitress and the pizza is the best I've had in Las Vegas.
Wednesday was checkout day and before heading to Sam's Town, we stopped in at Terribles for another favorite meal at the Bourgainville Cafe where we feasted on their $4.99 roasted chicken and the humongous bread pudding desert. Texas was visiting that casino for the first time and so we got to use her coupon that gave one free meal PLUS a bottle - not a glass of wine. For 3 teetotalers, this was quite interesting to watch....I'll just leave it at that.
Most interesting situation: playing video keno (it's video keno heaven here with almost every machine offering the game), and hearing the gentleman beside us talking about the body bag that was removed from the back of the hotel when he had just come into the casino. Turned out that someone was killed in one of the rooms. The next day the place was packed with people who thought like my Texas cousin - that maybe they'd offer frequent jackpots to get people to return to the casino. No such luck with the jackpots but the casino certainly had a lot of attendees.
Sam's Town redeemed themselves this time. Our past experience was in an old room where they bolted everything down. Threadbare with darkened hallways, it gave you a pause about ever coming back again. But 2 nights free and 2 free buffets were too much temptation on this trip (especially after Virginia had been to Vegas 3 weeks earlier) and so we took another chance. We were treated to a refurbished room that overlooked the inner courtyard with the waterfall show. Thankfully the show doesn't go on too late as it gets quite noisy. Beautiful mahogany-colored furnishings. Not as roomy as the Bally hotel, but about the same size as a Paris room. Dinner this evening was at the buffet which featured steak night. I must say though that the steaks are only so-so and probably not worth the extra costs unless you have a coupon like we did.
Thursday was our last day as we would depart quite early on Friday. It's normally our last hurrah but you know the gaming is bad when you've managed to watch Martha Stewart's Apprentice and The Apprentice over the past 2 evenings. Placing a phone call to the movie theatre at Sam's Town is also not a good sign.
Went downtown to our usual Main Street Station which is our favorite place to stay downtown. Played a little there, at the Vegas Club and California where we treated ourselves to our favorite chili rice and crabmelts. Contrary to what I heard someone post, you don't have to have parking tickets validated if you park at Main Street in the covered parking area. Another stop at Terribles and more gambling at Sam's Town were on the list for the evening. Enjoyed a nice mexican meal at Wiley's and Jose's in Sam's Town and surprise, surprise....went to bed at 10 pm.
Not a single jackpot on this trip and the maximum Virginia won on video keno was $84.00 on a 7 out of 10. Hawaii doubled that several times and Texas just gave up and relegated herself to a penny machine.
Sam's Town (Wednesday through Friday) - cost free for 2 nights
Airplane: ATA and SW Airlines
Car Rental: US Rent-a-car (Fox)
Buffets Visited: The Orleans, Sam's Town
Restaurants: Cafe at Paris, Italian restaurant at Paris, Fatburger near MGM, Bourgainville Cafe at Terribles, Coffee Shop at The California, Mexican restaurant at Sam's Town
4 trips within a one year period (October 04 to October 05) is a new record and one that saw the dawning of a new era...the absence of jackpots and the realism that all good things must come to an end. After 14 years, we are suddenly having to discover nongambling things to do or else make our trips shorter and further between. On the other hand, maybe it just took 14 years to realize what others have always known and we should consider ourselves lucky that we had this many good times with our favorite vacation spot.
So on to our latest trip report...6 days, 5 nights with overnight stays at Ballys and Sam's Town.
Okay, we're usually cheap....not in what we spend so much as in where we stay. A gourmet dinner is lost on us as we view it as the $100 that would have given us more chances to win in the video keno machine. We're women who enjoy sitting all day in front of a good machine and escaping the real world of husbands, kids, carpools and career/volunteer obligations. We aren't necessarily picky but we expect things to be the way we're told they'll be. Gradually what started out as a serious gambler trip has evolved into a "female family and friends" event that rudely awakened two of us to the realization that to some people, life does exist beyond a video keno machine!
After a last minute flurry of plane changes, we all managed to get to Las Vegas on Sunday. The Hawaii traveler arrived first with the usual pleasant experience of an overnight on ATA. Something to be said for those nice leather seats - especially when the flight isn't full and you get to stretch across 3 of them. Makes for a pleasant sleepover, the better to get an early start on the video keno. The Virginia and Texas travelers weren't so lucky. An attempt to gather in Houston the evening before to take the first flight in the morning to arrive alongside the Hawaii traveler got aborted with Hurricane Rita. In fact, it was literally a last minute nail biter about how Virginia would get to make it and whether the airports in Corpus would allow the Texan to make her connecting flight. After some tense moments, Texas and Virginia converged in Houston to a ghost town airport and while 12 hours in flights and waiting time for Virginia....touchdown in Vegas was finally achieved at 5:30 pm Vegas time (original time was 8:30 am).
(SW Airline flight from Houston was nice but I am more convinced that airlines giving an opportunity to select a seat in advance are the better way to go.)
I am also more and more convinced that the small car rental companies like US Rent-a-car and Sav-Mor are winners in Vegas. Rarely any lines at the counter or in waiting for the shuttle. With 3 women and that many suitcases, we had booked a standard vehicle ($111.00 including taxes for the 6 day stay) but were upgraded to a minivan. Great....this vacation is starting off with the same vehicle I have to haul everyone around at home in....I thought this trip was to get away from all of that!
Our first stop was Bally's where we would meet up with our Hawaii counterpart (or co-conspirator). Having stayed many times at Paris, this was our first stay in Bally's. One nice thing was that in the shuffling of our hurricane changes, the hotel personnel were absolutely wonderful about allowing our Hawaii cousin to check in before we would arrive. Since I was the one with the coupon offer, usually they make you wait until the person on the reservation checks in. Not only did they accommodate this situation, but I had also asked about upgrading to at least a renovated room as I had read somewhere that some of their rooms needed to be redone. We ended up being placed on the same floor that offers the special breakfast/happy hour with a gorgeous view of the strip (Venetian, Stratosphere). The negative was that we fronted the main thoroughfaire to the UNLV hospital. One night of the noise and we were quickly used to the sounds. Our Hawaii cousin said it just reminded her of home.
If you are lucky enough to get one of the renovated rooms, I highly recommend Bally's over Paris. The room is significantly larger which allows 3 women using 2 beds the opportunity to spread out. Often we have problems trying to allow for all of our suitcases and this time it was not the case. There was good lighting to read on the chairs and two tables which provided nice space to spread our personal items. I believe we were on the 17th floor and we decided to skip the breakfast/happy hour deal. The charge is $30 per day for 2 people...I think they quoted $8.50 for the additional person. As we are all over the board with sleep habits, we didn't want to miss something that we prepaid.
One meal that evening to the Cafe in Paris where my Hawaii cousin got to renew her love for the apple crepes. Texas and Virginia enjoyed the omelettes. This cafe always seems to offer nice large portions which is great for people who only plan up to 2 meals a day.
Vido poker was played on Sunday at Bally's by the bar with two great bands (one was playing until 3 am), Paris and Alladdin. Alladdin has been our latest discovery for great video keno selections but no luck was made that night.
Monday took us on the start of a 2-day mission. Texas and Hawaii are coffee drinkers and I was determined to buy them an emersion tool to warm water in the hotel room. We visited 2 Wal-marts, one Target and 2 Walgreens to no avail. We also enjoyed our favorite buffet at The Orleans and a stop for some gaming at The Palms. Topped the evening off with a walk through Alladdin's Desert Passage in search of the elusive emersion tool and a midnight "dinner" of one of the best NY Strip steak specials in town at the Paris Cafe. 2 days now and no jackpots so far :(
Tuesday started off another driving spree to ironically, the Walgreens right on the strip near the MGM where the emersion tool was located. I still can't believe we wasted all that time when it was right up the street from us! I had figured that one on the strip wouldn't offer it in difference to the hotels who want you to go down and buy their own coffee. Happily I was proved wrong and that was one "hunt" accomplished. Took the opportunity to combine that stop with lunch at the next-door Fatburger. If you like burgers and thick milkshakes, this is a great place although I think I like the one over at Green Valley Ranch better. Visited the shops at the Forum and Fashion Mall where we found some adorable "time out" rocking chairs. So now we moved from locating one purchase to spending the remaining time trying to figure out how to order 2-3 chairs and get them to Hawaii. Visited the Venetian to compare prices and encountered a way to win some money (i.e., it's obvious with this much shopping time that we are not winning a darn thing). (note the lack of gambling so far)
They are now doing those shows where you watch and give your opinion before the shows go on real television. Got $10 for one hour of our time and they said people actually spend all day doing this. Made mental note to increase stay in Vegas on the next trip to allow for 4-5 hours of recouping casino losses in this manner.
Dinner this evening was spent at the Italian restaurant at Paris. Love the singing waiter and waitress and the pizza is the best I've had in Las Vegas.
Wednesday was checkout day and before heading to Sam's Town, we stopped in at Terribles for another favorite meal at the Bourgainville Cafe where we feasted on their $4.99 roasted chicken and the humongous bread pudding desert. Texas was visiting that casino for the first time and so we got to use her coupon that gave one free meal PLUS a bottle - not a glass of wine. For 3 teetotalers, this was quite interesting to watch....I'll just leave it at that.
Most interesting situation: playing video keno (it's video keno heaven here with almost every machine offering the game), and hearing the gentleman beside us talking about the body bag that was removed from the back of the hotel when he had just come into the casino. Turned out that someone was killed in one of the rooms. The next day the place was packed with people who thought like my Texas cousin - that maybe they'd offer frequent jackpots to get people to return to the casino. No such luck with the jackpots but the casino certainly had a lot of attendees.
Sam's Town redeemed themselves this time. Our past experience was in an old room where they bolted everything down. Threadbare with darkened hallways, it gave you a pause about ever coming back again. But 2 nights free and 2 free buffets were too much temptation on this trip (especially after Virginia had been to Vegas 3 weeks earlier) and so we took another chance. We were treated to a refurbished room that overlooked the inner courtyard with the waterfall show. Thankfully the show doesn't go on too late as it gets quite noisy. Beautiful mahogany-colored furnishings. Not as roomy as the Bally hotel, but about the same size as a Paris room. Dinner this evening was at the buffet which featured steak night. I must say though that the steaks are only so-so and probably not worth the extra costs unless you have a coupon like we did.
Thursday was our last day as we would depart quite early on Friday. It's normally our last hurrah but you know the gaming is bad when you've managed to watch Martha Stewart's Apprentice and The Apprentice over the past 2 evenings. Placing a phone call to the movie theatre at Sam's Town is also not a good sign.
Went downtown to our usual Main Street Station which is our favorite place to stay downtown. Played a little there, at the Vegas Club and California where we treated ourselves to our favorite chili rice and crabmelts. Contrary to what I heard someone post, you don't have to have parking tickets validated if you park at Main Street in the covered parking area. Another stop at Terribles and more gambling at Sam's Town were on the list for the evening. Enjoyed a nice mexican meal at Wiley's and Jose's in Sam's Town and surprise, surprise....went to bed at 10 pm.
Not a single jackpot on this trip and the maximum Virginia won on video keno was $84.00 on a 7 out of 10. Hawaii doubled that several times and Texas just gave up and relegated herself to a penny machine.