legalois
11-05-2005, 09:06 PM
Firstly, let me introduce us: Mr. G (alias “Mr. Cheap”) is semi-retired and I still work full time. He hates to part with a dollar and I’ don’t, but I love a bargain. We take two short Las Vegas vacation each year (April and October) and stay wherever we get the best deal. Buffets are our choice for meals and we’ve watched the prices rise considerably since our first trip in 1980.
As you may remember, we took advantage of the Autumn Package invitation recently. This was a winner!
For the first time I can remember our flight had NO delays. We flew out of Philadelphia, through Salt Lake and arrived at the IP around noon and we actually received a snack pack on the plane. Crackers, spreadable frommage, raisins and Oreo cookies – just enough to take off the edge. No wonder Delta’s in financial difficulty!
Shopping tip for the ladies:
As usual, I managed to buy a necklace and a couple of pair of earrings during our layover in Salt Lake. I can’t remember the name of the shop, but I always manage to find something I like there. They carry turquoise jewelry, copper stuff and the kind of neat things I don’t see here at home.
Also for the first time EVER, we didn’t have to wait for our shuttle bus – it was parked and waiting for us.
Check in at the hotel was quick and painless. They put the $25 hotel cash on my player’s card at check in. I later applied it towards our $29/night room.
Room #1010, non-smoking, with 2 king-sized beds, had the expected non-scenic roof-top parking lot/restaurant view, with Caesars off in the distance, but hey, what do you expect for that price? It was clean, had a tiny balcony with sliding doors that actually opened, the beds were comfortable. Other than having to call Housekeeping after the first unsuccessful attempt to flush the toilet, we were fine with our room and its location. Frankly, I have no desire to be up any higher than a fire ladder can reach anyway. We weren’t too far from the elevators either. Contrary to other comments I’ve read, they were not that slow. By the way, someone was there to fix the commode in less than five minutes. Good service, I’d say.
We were hungry (of course) and since we had 2 free buffet coupons, it was off to the IP buffet – the one on the second floor near the Poker Room. It’s not anywhere near the top of the buffet list, but when you’re hungry you’re a little less picky. It was lunch time and they had little ready-made sandwiches on hoagie rolls. Mr. G had two and was wishing for more the next day, so I guess he liked them.
Day One we pretty much stayed in the immediate area of the IP, playing in Harrah’s, Casino Royale and IP. While I wanted to rack up as many points as possible at IP, hopefully to ensure future offers as good as this one, they just don’t have a very wide variety of slot machines. And I couldn’t get a decent hand at Let It Ride to save my A$$.
It was an up and down day for me and I ended up minus $10 for the day. Not bad at all!
Day Two started out with breakfast at the IP buffet – it’s hard to kill breakfast, and as long as the fresh fruit selection is decent we’re both happy campers. It was, and we were.
We then proceeded (walking, of course, to covered every casino from IP down to Luxor, leaving small deposits everywhere. The day started out like Day One, up and down, but ended up with me being down.
The conservatory at Bellagio was more beautiful than last fall’s decorations. I loved the giant water wheel and the little bridge you could walk across. And how about the dry ice “steam” for a spooky Halloween effect?
Dinner that night was the buffet at Harrah’s, which has been moved to their Italian restaurant next door. The room is really quite cramped and the beginning of the buffet line is awkward to get around. The food was OK.
We walked down to see the water show at Bellagio, and thoroughly enjoyed Gene Kelley’s Singing’ in the Rain. We wondered how many younger people watching the performance had even heard the song, knew who sang it, or where it was from. We then had one of our free 20-oz. drinks at the Daiquiri Bar and wandered to our room.
We stay on East coast time during the entire trip so we usually hit the sack when everyone else is starting to crank up. It all evens out because we’re up earlier, with all the others in our time zone.
Day Three was breakfast at the IP buffet again, after which we headed off in the opposite direction. It was fairly warm when we left, but as we walked out of the Venetian it began to sprinkle. The drops became bigger and were a little chilly. We heard thunder and hustled on to Wynn. By the time we got out of there, the skies were brightening up and the day actually turned nice again.
We played everywhere again and Wednesday was a down, down, down day all day long. I like to earn some points down at Stardust, as they usually extend an offer too.
On our way back I talked Mr. G into walking through the Ross store across from the Stardust and found a nice little jacket for work.
Dinner was at the Flamingo buffet, but only because someone was handing out $5.00 off coupons in the Carnaval Court at Harrah’s. We were both very pleased.
The room is huge, with high ceilings, lots of windows and greenery. Very pretty. It was Oktoberfest and the menu was mostly German dishes. The salad bar was excellent and I pigged out on giant crab legs. If you eat there, check out the desserts first. I’ve never seen so many in one place, ever. I simply couldn’t decide, and I’d eaten too much ‘real food’ that I only had room for two. The lemony one was only fair, but the strudel was delicious.
Later that night, when Mr. G had decided he’d gambled all he was going to lose, he went to the room to watch a game on TV and I stayed at Harrah’s, at their Piano Bar. I love this place! It seemed to me that they have regulars who show up often, and sometimes a few ringers sneak in. The bartender did a great number but the cocktail waitress’s “I Will Survive” was barely OK.
The best was Stewart, who looked like he should be holding a “Will Work For Food” sign. He did several numbers, but when they started playing the vamp for “Super Freak” I lost it. The guy’s voice was OK, but he had absolutely no sense of rhythm. It was a riot!
Working my way back to IP, I stopped for the second 20-oz. drink and hung out at the IP Karaoke bar long enough to hear a very large guy rip through Louis Armstrong’s “I Ain’t Got Nobody” like it was his own song. Then he settled into a motorized wheelchair and left. That was the best performance all night.
Our flight home was uneventful and we’re looking forward to April.
As you may remember, we took advantage of the Autumn Package invitation recently. This was a winner!
For the first time I can remember our flight had NO delays. We flew out of Philadelphia, through Salt Lake and arrived at the IP around noon and we actually received a snack pack on the plane. Crackers, spreadable frommage, raisins and Oreo cookies – just enough to take off the edge. No wonder Delta’s in financial difficulty!
Shopping tip for the ladies:
As usual, I managed to buy a necklace and a couple of pair of earrings during our layover in Salt Lake. I can’t remember the name of the shop, but I always manage to find something I like there. They carry turquoise jewelry, copper stuff and the kind of neat things I don’t see here at home.
Also for the first time EVER, we didn’t have to wait for our shuttle bus – it was parked and waiting for us.
Check in at the hotel was quick and painless. They put the $25 hotel cash on my player’s card at check in. I later applied it towards our $29/night room.
Room #1010, non-smoking, with 2 king-sized beds, had the expected non-scenic roof-top parking lot/restaurant view, with Caesars off in the distance, but hey, what do you expect for that price? It was clean, had a tiny balcony with sliding doors that actually opened, the beds were comfortable. Other than having to call Housekeeping after the first unsuccessful attempt to flush the toilet, we were fine with our room and its location. Frankly, I have no desire to be up any higher than a fire ladder can reach anyway. We weren’t too far from the elevators either. Contrary to other comments I’ve read, they were not that slow. By the way, someone was there to fix the commode in less than five minutes. Good service, I’d say.
We were hungry (of course) and since we had 2 free buffet coupons, it was off to the IP buffet – the one on the second floor near the Poker Room. It’s not anywhere near the top of the buffet list, but when you’re hungry you’re a little less picky. It was lunch time and they had little ready-made sandwiches on hoagie rolls. Mr. G had two and was wishing for more the next day, so I guess he liked them.
Day One we pretty much stayed in the immediate area of the IP, playing in Harrah’s, Casino Royale and IP. While I wanted to rack up as many points as possible at IP, hopefully to ensure future offers as good as this one, they just don’t have a very wide variety of slot machines. And I couldn’t get a decent hand at Let It Ride to save my A$$.
It was an up and down day for me and I ended up minus $10 for the day. Not bad at all!
Day Two started out with breakfast at the IP buffet – it’s hard to kill breakfast, and as long as the fresh fruit selection is decent we’re both happy campers. It was, and we were.
We then proceeded (walking, of course, to covered every casino from IP down to Luxor, leaving small deposits everywhere. The day started out like Day One, up and down, but ended up with me being down.
The conservatory at Bellagio was more beautiful than last fall’s decorations. I loved the giant water wheel and the little bridge you could walk across. And how about the dry ice “steam” for a spooky Halloween effect?
Dinner that night was the buffet at Harrah’s, which has been moved to their Italian restaurant next door. The room is really quite cramped and the beginning of the buffet line is awkward to get around. The food was OK.
We walked down to see the water show at Bellagio, and thoroughly enjoyed Gene Kelley’s Singing’ in the Rain. We wondered how many younger people watching the performance had even heard the song, knew who sang it, or where it was from. We then had one of our free 20-oz. drinks at the Daiquiri Bar and wandered to our room.
We stay on East coast time during the entire trip so we usually hit the sack when everyone else is starting to crank up. It all evens out because we’re up earlier, with all the others in our time zone.
Day Three was breakfast at the IP buffet again, after which we headed off in the opposite direction. It was fairly warm when we left, but as we walked out of the Venetian it began to sprinkle. The drops became bigger and were a little chilly. We heard thunder and hustled on to Wynn. By the time we got out of there, the skies were brightening up and the day actually turned nice again.
We played everywhere again and Wednesday was a down, down, down day all day long. I like to earn some points down at Stardust, as they usually extend an offer too.
On our way back I talked Mr. G into walking through the Ross store across from the Stardust and found a nice little jacket for work.
Dinner was at the Flamingo buffet, but only because someone was handing out $5.00 off coupons in the Carnaval Court at Harrah’s. We were both very pleased.
The room is huge, with high ceilings, lots of windows and greenery. Very pretty. It was Oktoberfest and the menu was mostly German dishes. The salad bar was excellent and I pigged out on giant crab legs. If you eat there, check out the desserts first. I’ve never seen so many in one place, ever. I simply couldn’t decide, and I’d eaten too much ‘real food’ that I only had room for two. The lemony one was only fair, but the strudel was delicious.
Later that night, when Mr. G had decided he’d gambled all he was going to lose, he went to the room to watch a game on TV and I stayed at Harrah’s, at their Piano Bar. I love this place! It seemed to me that they have regulars who show up often, and sometimes a few ringers sneak in. The bartender did a great number but the cocktail waitress’s “I Will Survive” was barely OK.
The best was Stewart, who looked like he should be holding a “Will Work For Food” sign. He did several numbers, but when they started playing the vamp for “Super Freak” I lost it. The guy’s voice was OK, but he had absolutely no sense of rhythm. It was a riot!
Working my way back to IP, I stopped for the second 20-oz. drink and hung out at the IP Karaoke bar long enough to hear a very large guy rip through Louis Armstrong’s “I Ain’t Got Nobody” like it was his own song. Then he settled into a motorized wheelchair and left. That was the best performance all night.
Our flight home was uneventful and we’re looking forward to April.