I waited until today to start my trip report for a few reasons but the biggest being, this wasn’t a great trip and I needed to shake off the negativity before I started writing. Those of you who have read my reports in the past know that we like to have fun in Vegas, but something was off this trip. Not quite sure still what it was, I know we lost and that is never fun, but there is more to it. Flights. We took Delta from Memphis to Vegas with a stop in Atlanta. No delays coming and only a ½ hour delay on the way back. Smooth flights both ways. Got to Vegas 10 minutes early….wonderful except the bags took over an hour to come out. Car. We rented from Dollar using Express, took 10 minutes at most to get the car. We did lock and go with a rate of $134 for the week with taxes etc. On the contract estimated charges said $113, I didn’t argue. First win of the trip. Of course that was until we started driving the POS Jeep Liberty. Honestly it was the worse car we have ever had in Vegas, I thought for sure we were going to tip over going 20 miles an hour on an on or offramp, it was also very jerky while changing lanes. All around a bad car, but the price was great. We only ended up using a half tank of gas. Day 1. We got to the Mirage at about 4pm and pulled up to the North Valet, they had a full sign out and asked if we were guests. We told them we were there to check in so he took the car and off we went to get checked in. Hardly any wait. Got a room on the 19th floor. No view to speak of really, but the room was very nice with the exception of the postage stamp bathroom which was remodeled nicely but way too small. They also did away with the vanity so getting ready while DH got ready wasn’t an option here. I really do like the rooms though. After checking in at Mirage we have a tradition of going to the Dolphin Bar and having our first cocktail. It was nice sitting out there but service was lacking and the bar only had a few people at it. It also had a bar rot smell. While we were have our extra large cocktails our friends called and said they were finally checked into their suite at Exaclibur and wanted to know if we wanted to meet them for dinner. They wanted to eat at Burger Bar and we decided to join them. We went and grabbed the rental car and headed down the strip. Traffic was on the heavier side but we managed to make it in about 20 minutes. Lots of construction going on and dang if City Center isn’t a HUGE eyesore. Met our friends and walked from Excalibur to Burger Bar by way of Luxor. WOW the casino looks so different. I am undecided about whether I like it of not, but I think I do. Very modern and darker than it used to be. We got to Burger Bar and there was a half hour wait so we sat and had drinks at the Bar at Giorgio’s or whatever it is called. After we finished our drinks we headed back to Burger Bar and we were seated pretty quickly. Everyone enjoyed their burgers, they were cooked right and yummy. I had the skinny fries with mine along with a Mothership Wit from New Belgium Brewery, it was yummy. No one wanted dessert so we headed back to Excalibur and then DH and I headed back to Mirage. Back at Mirage we walked around and found a few machines, I played some lil’ lady machine that was ladybugs, it did let me play for a bit but nothing really. I then tried VP and nothing, by this time it was almost midnight and I couldn’t keep my eyes open so it was off to bed for me. Hubby had gone up an hour before me and was sound asleep when I came into the room. Lights out and next thing I know it is morning….. Day 2 Woke up at 5:30 for some insane reason. Got showered and ready to go. We decided to check out Palazzo and grab coffee there. The place is gorgeous we spent about 2 hours just walking around. Very pretty, but I don’t get the warm fuzzies in the casino. After checking it out we walked back to Mirage and grabbed the car, we wanted to hit the hard rock for a bit. We came we saw, we broke even. Played a little blackjack then hit the golf store as hubby was playing golf with our friend on Wednesday and he needed new shoes. After that we were hungry and decided to go to Enoteca San Marco for lunch. We got two seats at the bar, I ordered some fruity drink and dh had a beer. We then ordered our meals, we had the gnocchi fritto for an app, it is fried dough with pecorino cheese and crushed red peppers. For entrees he had the eggplant pasta dish and I had a pizza. We also each had a glass wine. Food was good, but beware portions are small and the food is expensive. Lunch for two was $120 with tax and tip. As we were eating lunch we got in touch with our friends they were also at the Canal shops so they met us as we finished up our meal and drinks. After we were done we decided to walk the palazzo shops so they could seem them. I ended up buying a purse at Coach that you can where across your body and holds my wallet a pack of cigarettes and my phone perfectly. I will not have to worry about leaving it anywhere. We then decided to show our friends the rooms since they used to stay at Mirage all the time and the changes are amazing. Showed them the room and then decided to play a little, nothing happened for me so I went to the room, then hubby and I decided to try the Silverton for a bit. Head down there and again not much, atleast this time though I actually walked away from the blackjack table up $5!! We tried a few hands of Pai Gow and nothing there either, finally decided to head back to Mirage. We relaxed and showered then headed down to STACK for dinner. We like sitting at the Bar and at 7 pm this was not a problem. Bartender was good and I tried a Pear Martini, it was alright but not get. For dinner I had the tomato soup with mini grilled cheese and the chicken parm on a stick. Hubby had the wings and these mini potato things, not exactly sure, they were like mashed or something. Both were good. We had second drinks and relaxed for a bit. Total Bill was about $80 with tax and tip. It was a fun meal. After dinner we tried some blackjack and then some slots. Again no luck this is becoming a habit. I think a hit for about $70 on the lil lady machine but other than that nothing. I tried the sports book bar, reg. vp and a few other things. I think I put a few bucks in a Wizard of Oz machine, I saw Glenda once but that wasn’t enough. Finally around 12:30 it was bedtime. Day 3. Woke up around 7 and went to the roasted bean for coffee. We decided to enjoy our lattes and banana nut muffin on the little patio outside. While we were sitting there enjoying our morning there were these little birds bouncing around, one bounced right up to us and was just standing there. We tried to feed it some of our muffin but she didn’t care for it and proceeded to hop over to the construction workers who were having their morning coffee. How funny it was to see this very big guy covered with tattoos making baby bird sounds trying to feed this little one. He said the mother will eat right out of your hands and that there were 3 babies who couldn’t fly up until last week. It was just adorable to see. After breakfast we went back up to the room but not before hitting the ladybugs again…..again nothing. We got up to the room and packed to head to Bellagio. Getting from Mirage to Bellagio was easy, there was no traffic on the strip at 10am. We got to Bellagio and requested a room in the spa tower which was not ready yet. We decided to go to the café for breakfast. I had my first sunsplash of the trip and a frittata which was delicious hubby had eggs with a ham steak and really enjoyed it. After breakfast we hit the casino for a little while, I played some cops and donuts, I hit a few bonuses but nothing really to speak of. DH headed off on his own while I continued to play, a few minutes later someone comes up behind me and scares the pants off me!! It was our friends whom we were also staying at Bellagio. We decided to walk around and they found the Wizard of Oz Machine and began to play for a bit, he cashed out a few $100 ahead. We left him there while she and I decided to go check out the menu at Sensi where we were going to have lunch the next day while the guys played golf. I really liked the menu for lunch and the dinner menu looks good too. DH finally met up with us at Sensi and he and I decided to check to see if our room was ready and it was. We grabbed our bags from the rental car and went up to our room in the spa tower, I believe it was 19-627 though I am not positive. The room itself was nice but it had a slight musty odor. We ignored it and unpacked. After unpacking I went down to see if I could find our friends and I did, they were still waiting for their room. Shortly after we split up while they tried to check in and I went to the Fontana to say hello to Diane. She told me she had seen my husband already and we chatted for a bit. I had two drinks but couldn’t hit a thing on the machines, at this time my friend called and said they were in the room and she was ready to hit the pool with us if we were still going. I said good-bye to Diane and told her I would return then went up to the room to change. Again I noticed the odor when we walked in, hubby said he didn’t notice it really so I just changed and down we went. We got 3 chairs near the big center pool which is the only heated one and shortly thereafter the cocktail waitress came around. We all ordered yummy cocktails and hung out at the pool for a few hours. DH went to the room about a half hour before I did and then D’s hubby showed up after going to the gym and we both grabbed a beer at the pool bar. After chatting a bit we headed our separate ways and had planned on dinner that night I believe we were going to do Olive’s or Sensi I can’t remember, we made reservations while sitting at the pool. Up in the room I showered and headed back to the casino and chatted with Diane again, again nothing was happening but I did have a great Pomegranate Lemondrop Martini. She really makes an awesome cocktail. I finally hit something and was able to have two drinks and come out $5 ahead, now this was something for me!! LOL While I was sitting there our friends called and she said she wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t make dinner. We were hoping it was just the sun. I cancelled the reservations wherever we had them and hubby and I decided to hit Sergio’s Italian Garden off the strip. Before going we went back to the room to grab a sweater for me and the smell was bad, it definitely smelled like a mold problem. I decided to go to the front desk and ask for a room change when we got back. I asked to speak to a manager but she wouldn’t come out of the back, instead the front desk girl called her. The manager said the room would have to be checked before they could move us!! WHAT!!! I wasn’t asking to be put in a suite, I asked to change rooms…The front desk girl said something about protocol, whatever. I stopped at the concierge and talked to someone there, he also tried to get me a manager, again no one would come out. I was getting mad at this point, I was not raising my voice nor was I being nasty to anyone yet this person would not come out. I found this unacceptable. Honestly being in this room made us feel sick, there was something terribly wrong and there was no way I was going to sleep there. Mold is a nasty thing and I am 100% positive that was the issue. It wasn’t carpet cleaner it was a musty disgusting smell. I have been in moldy buildings in Florida, it isn’t something you forget the smell of. When we couldn’t get anywhere with the front desk I asked him to call casino marketing since I had booked through them. Guess what, all of sudden we were being moved! He asked us to go to our old room and said a bellhop would be right up with our new keys. They were right he was right up and we were moved to room 25086 in the main tower overlooking the pool. What a great view with the expection of the eyesore I will call City Center. What an ugly place that is, very cold. It actually dwarfs the Bellagio. Not to mention the Jockey Club, just what were those people thinking? I was still mad about the treatment at the front desk but decided to let it go. I will send Bellagio a letter in the next few days though. It really did upset me that they wouldn’t move us worse yet that a manager would not come out. I guess I am just used to how my husband does business and never would he tell one of his members that he couldn’t see them, and if they had a problem he would fix it without making them jump through hoops. It was 7:30 at night and we were headed to dinner! Finally we were moved and ready to go,we headed there around 8:30. The food was fantastic, I had Pasta Fagiole DH had the Minestrone. Both soups were great for main courses I had the Penne Alla Checca and he had the Gnocchi both were awesome. Sergio’s has been in Vegas for well over 10 years and everytime we eat there the food is as good if not better than the last. It isn’t cheap but by no means would I call it expensive. Dinner with soup and entrees, along with 2 glasses of wine and a bottle of water was around $85 and completely worth every penny we paid. It puts any Italian Restaurant on the strip to shame. I highly, highly recommend it. After dinner we headed back to the Bellagio, dh had bet on the Yankees (I called him a traitor and told him he was breaking my heart, but hey, he won!) so he went to collect. The book was closed so he was able to cash his bet at the Cage. The night before at Mirage he be on the Red Sox and had also won his bet. DH headed to the room and I hit the machines again. I tried a little bit of everything and nothing worked again, around 12:30 hubby came and found me, he had slept a bit in our freshly cleaned carpet room (this was a different smell then the old moldy room). We knew it was clean for sure. Anyway we decided to play some blackjack and it was up and down, up and down but we had fun. Probably played for an hour and half then called it quits when the cards changed. We were still up $15 so that was a plus. I went and played some VP with hubby for a little while and again, couldn’t do anything. But yeah, sometimes it just isn’t there. We headed up to the room around 2:30 or so. Another day had come to an end.
Thanks for the report. Do you think that the moldy room and refusal of a manager to speak to you about moving contributed to this being a "blah" sort of Vegas trip? Hopefully, your next trip is more profitable and the "blahs" have given way to a better feeling.
Mirage and Bellagio Pt. 2 Day 4 Wake up call at 7am woke me up after just a few hours of sleep. I figured I would go back to sleep which I did until the phone rang again at 7:30. This time I woke up and heard hubby on the phone. He was talking to our friend who was cancelling golf, it appears that D still wasn’t feeling well and now her face was swollen as was her lip. They were going to try and find a doctor. I heard hubby hang up and he told me what was going on. He didn’t want to drive out to Primm and play by himself so he went to the concierge to have it cancelled. They did it without any question. On his way back to the room he picked us up some latte’s at Palio. By the time he got to the room I was showered and ready to go for the day. I had spoken to our friends and told them to call me when the doctor left their room. We decided not to leave the hotel until we knew what was going on. We were unsure if they would be leaving to go home or not depending on what was wrong. DH and I tried a little blackjack and nothing happened and then I tried some VP holding my own for a short time. It was right around 9am when our friends called and told us that D had to go to the emergency room, I told DH who said he would meet us at valet and he headed to get the car while I went up to their room to get them. D looked horrible, the dr. who had come to the room wanted her to have a catscan or something like that so off we went. Desert Springs Hospital is straight down Flamingo and took about 10 minutes to get to from Bellagio. We got there about 9:30. They took her information and had us wait in the waiting room. It probably took an hour or so for them to call her back and then she was back there for about an hour. They think she had an abscess but it was already going down before she got any medication so we still aren’t sure, it could have been an allergic reaction to something. Either way by the time we left the hospital to head to Walgreen’s her swelling had gone down and she was able to talk normally again thank goodness. We got her some meds and took her back to Bellagio where she got some rest in her gorgeous room….They were in a Salone Suite so at least if she was stuck in the room, she was stuck in a gorgeous room!! See there is always a positive side to everything!! After we got them back to the hotel we decided to have lunch at Olive’s, originally we were going to do that with our friends but we weren’t sure what they were going to do or if D was going to be feeling better. We got to Olives about 1:30 or so and sat at the bar. Jesse are bartender was wonderful. We both had a beer and ordered flatbread. The Bronx Bomber for both of us, just a cheese and pepperoni flatbread that totally hit the spot. It was very good. DH had 2 beers to my one and the two pizzas plus tip came to about $55 or so with tip. We took our time and ended up leaving Olive’s around 3pm. We walked around a bit and DH decided to go to the room for a bit while I went to see Diane at the Fontana. Again no lucky but I did have a yummy Bella Peach! I think I actually had two. I think decided to play the quarter machines and this time I was able to play for a bit which was nice. While I was sitting at the bar I got a call from D she told me that they wanted to take us to dinner that evening because we had taken them to the ER and run them around. I don’t think we did any running around but whatever. We didn’t do anything that we wouldn’t have done for any of our friends and they are great friends who would have done the same for us no questions asked. Anyway we decided on Sensi for dinner and the bartender who was breaking Diane made the reservations for us. Great kid named Alex but I think they called him Frenchy, which had something to do with him being French I suppose. I went and told hubby we were going to Sensi but in thinking about it, I knew D wanted to eat at Olive’s and FIX and she hadn’t gotten the chance yet because she was not feeling well so we changed our ressies to FIX. We decided to meet them near the restaurant at 7ish. I believe our reservation was for 8 pm. When we got there was no wait to be seated. My only two complaints about FIX are it is VERY loud the later you go and it was dance music which isn’t really our thing, the other complaint is the prices for a glass of wine, I don’t recall seeing a single glass of anything for under $14. The food itself is also pricey but it is fun food. We had the BLT salad, D had a mixed greens salad and her dh had the wings which are just like STACK’s and very good. For entrees D had mini crab cakes, my DH had the bobby Baldwin sliders which he said were awesome, I had a flatbread as did D’s hubby. We were all happy and full at the end. In fact DH couldn’t finish his sliders which is unusual and not a problem he usually has!! I didn’t see the bill but I know it had to be high considering we each had 2 beverages and nothing was less than $16, yes the salads were $16. Was it worth that much, maybe not, but the company was fantastic and we did enjoy ourselves and the food. It was so nice of them to pick up our dinner and we really appreciated it, we didn’t feel we did anything special for them and here they were treating us to fun, and yes FIX is fun, and enjoyable meal. After dinner D and her hubby decided to hit the room since she still wasn’t feeling great and DH and I decided to gamble a bit. After not doing anything for while he went upstairs while I sat at Fontana and talked to Shawn for a bit. He made me a few drinks and then I switched to Fiji water and hit the floor trying to hit whatever I could with no luck. Finally around 2 am I went upstairs to bed….Another day once again had come and gone. I felt bad DH didn’t get to play golf but worse for our friend who was feeling so horrible.
LVLady..between losing, must mold smell and having to go to the ER, know wonder you weren't feeling "it" this trip. Hope your friend is feeling better. Better luck next time.
Sunni I didn't look at it that way but you might be right. No wonder it didn't feel magical, not mention hubby isn't feeling quite right and apparently had a budget due right after we got back so his heart wasn't in it. Go figure. We think we are going back in January though to see how it goes.
Are last trip had that same feeling. Still can't quite bring myself to write a TR. Hubby and I had a cpl huge arguements. We hardly ever argue and never in Vegas. It must be something in the air.
Shitzumama sorry to hear about you and hubby, the funny thing is hubby and I always get into one fight in LV but not this time. What makes that a bad thing is, we usually don't win until we get into a fight and then all of a sudden it is win, win win. Heck we even tried picking fights with each other and it didn't work we just couldn't seem to stop laughing when the other would pick on something wicked stupid.
Day 5 Alright so it is our last day in Vegas. Where did the time go? It seemed to me we had just landed. I both love and hate this part of a trip. Anyway, we got up and grabbed some coffee and tried to decide what to do. Since we hadn’t really been off strip we decided to take a ride to GVR or Red Rock. We also wanted to take a drive through Town Square. WOW, what a place, it has everything and the set-up is awesome. Next time we are in town we will definitely do some walking through there. So we get on 215 and head east, so the decision was made, GVR. I really like Henderson and that whole area around GVR. It is still Vegas but feels so different. We parked on the top floor of the parking garage and made our way into the casino. It was slow out there. They have changed where they have the table games and that was a little weird to me but I like it. We walked around finally settling on a blackjack table. There was a guy already playing and he didn’t seem to mind us sitting down, however whenever someone else came he would ask them to wait til the end of the shoe. I think it was because we were actually winning which was a very nice change. It is very rare that hubby and I can sit down at a table and play together. We tried it our first morning at TI and it didn’t work but then that could have been the dealer, he was just unfriendly. Okay back to GVR, our dealer Lana was from Hungary and she was a delight. Truly a fun girl to play with, she had such a positive attitude which was something we didn’t see much of on the strip with the exception of one of the Rods, Mark and Angela at the Bellagio and Rose at Mirage. We played and enjoyed our coffee and finally decided to have a drink as it was nearly noon. We ordered a drink and continued to play, people would come and go. When I first sat down I sat at first base and lost 4 hands in a row, Lana told me to move over one spot as that was an unlucky spot. Funny as it seems I moved over, got the same cards I would have if I stayed at first and started to win. Anyone who came and sat at first lost within minutes. Very strange indeed! After about an hour we decided to head out and get something to eat. Before leaving GVR we played at a little VP, actually cashed out a few dollars ahead. Hey I think I like this place!! Alright I have always liked it, though I think we will do Red Rock over GVR next trip. We shall see. Left GVR and went over to the Cheesecake factory, I had a JW’s Lemonade which was yummy. For lunch hubby had a salad and I had the crusted Romano chicken lunch portion. Both meals were great. Service at the bar was a little spotty to start but then the bartender started talking more and it turned out to be very nice. It was almost as if she was waiting to see if we would talk to her before talking to us. The one thing I really enjoy about Cheesecake Factory is how consistent they are. We don’t have one near us so it was nice to go to one. PF Chang’s used to be a tradition for us in LV but now we live within 20 minutes of one so it is no longer on list of must eats in Vegas. After lunch we walked through West Elm since we don’t have one here and then headed back to Bellagio. We decided to hit the pool for a bit. We again got seats near the big heated pool and started talking to this couple. He had golfers tanned feet and that go the conversation started. We stayed down at the pool talking to them for about an hour and a half before I decided to head back in. I went up to the room and changed then headed to the Fontana to see Diane before she left for the night. I spent a little bit of time enjoying a drink and feeding the machines but not luck again. I changed it up and went to the quarters which gave me a little more play but not much. By this time our friends had called and they were going to Olive’s for dinner. I said no, but then went up to the room and talked to DH who said he wouldn’t mind Olive’s. They made reservations for 7:30 and we headed down to the casino. I played a little more VP with Diane and DH and I both had a drink. We left the Fontana and played a few slots then went to meet our friends in their room. They had a suite and had champagne waiting on ice. We had planned on doing this Tuesday but it just didn’t work out. They had a Salone Suite and all I can say is wow, what a great room. The décor was awesome and the openness of the room was just inviting. We sat up there enjoying the company and the great champagne for awhile and finally it was time to go to Dinner. A little background here, DH and I have eaten at Olive’s in Bellagio twice and Olive’s in Biloxi twice. He isn’t a huge fan which is why I had originally said no to our friends. For him I think it is just bad luck. He just orders the wrong thing. He does really enjoy the flatbreads and he has enjoyed a salad there before also. Unfortunately for him this would be no different. He ordered some Veal Milanese pasta dish and just didn’t like it. I didn’t realize this at the time but he was annoyed with it and I kept trying to get him to try my dinner!! Oh well. Okay let me backtrack though. We got to Olives and were seated. Took a little bit to get a drink order in, but it seemed as if our server had about 5 or 6 tables and that the restaurant was short staffed. We ordered drinks and enjoyed the conversation. A little while after our drinks came she was back to take our dinner orders, I had a wonderful salad which I think had goat or feta cheese then the ricotta raviolis, D had a mixed greens salad I believe and the butternut squash tortellini, her hubby had a Caesar salad with grilled salmon and dh had onion soup and the veal pasta dish. Everyone enjoyed their dinners with the exception of DH, still don’t know why he didn’t order the chestnut ravioli that had appealed to him when he was first looking at the menu. Oh well. Dinner by the way was $120 with tip if I remember correctly. After dinner it was decided we would walk down and see the fountains from the street since I have never seen them from that view….Well we get down there as one show is ending, only to be told the next show won’t take place for 45 minutes!! What the heck!! Just one more example of how if it can go wrong this trip, it will go wrong!! After taking a few pics we decided to stroll back up to the casino. D, her hubby and I decided to see FUSE at the Fontana. The band was excellent. I enjoyed them more than anyone else I heard that week. Honestly the entertainment at Fontana has gone downhill. The band before FUSE was horrible. Anyway, we had a few drinks and I managed to catch a fountain show from the patio of Fontana, it was gorgeous and magical. Despite the bad luck of the week there was something about standing out there that made it all go away. We left Fontana about 11 and something told me to go play blackjack. I left D and her hubby and headed to the tables. I found a table that had a seat open at first base and looked like they were having fun. I bought in for $100 and started playing. I was up and down and up down but cocktail service was good and that table was fun. I was a bit worried when I only had $20 in front of me at one point early in but things just turned around and back it went to over $100. This was how it would go for a few hours. For the most part we had the same players the whole time. Finally around 2 am one of the players who was there with her SO, who was also playing at the table wanted to leave. It got a little ugly and her boyfriend wouldn’t leave. The poor girl was exhausted and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. They were staying at Monte Carlo and she didn’t want to cab it herself. I can’t say I blame her, but it changed everything. She was mad and he didn’t care. Finally everyone at the table started to leave. The karma had changed and I lost 4 hands in a row including a double hand. The couple from France who were just wonderful left right before I did. We all left the negative girl and her boyfriend at the table to fight it out. I saw the French couple at the cage, the wife didn’t normally play BJ but she won about $200 off $20 in chips the husband had given her to keep the 3rd base seat playing, as she had not wanted to play. They were wonderful. They talked to me at the cage and were headed back to Wynn where they were staying. Only two of us at the table were actually staying at Bellagio. Anyway, I cashed out with $75 so after 3 hours and countless Fiji waters I had a great time and it only cost me $25. During the whole week there were only a handful of times that I could sit at a table for more than ½ without losing my shirt. The other times were before going to FIX on Wednesday and a late night session when dh woke up at around midnight and came down to meet me, oh and at GVR. The was probably the most fun I had though and was definitely the longest session I had. Rod our dealer right before dinner at FIX was very funny. I wish I could explain it, but if any of you remember the Dinosaur show with the baby dinosaur would be talking to the daddy dinosaur, the dad would point to the mama dinosaur and say who is that, the Baby would say “Mama” then the daddy would point to himself and say “who am I” and the baby would say “NOT THE MAMA”. Well, Rod did this imitation after someone who had an ace asked for a jack Rod said “Not the Jack” just like the baby did. That had the whole table in splits for awhile apparently everyone was familiar with the dinosaur show. Okay I regress, I went and played VP with nothing happening, I used my point play and nothing. Finally around 4 am I decided to call it a night. We were planning on going out to GVR before heading to the airport the next day so I figured I might want to get some sleep! Day 6 Woke up around 8 and felt like I had just gone to bed…wonder why….Got up and got packed, took a shower and checked out. Left the hotel around 10 and decided we did not have enough time to go to GVR so instead we did breakfast at Silverton, as always the food was great and service at the counter was wonderful. Betty Jane waited on us and with a name like that you would expect a southern drawl, nope she was from New Jersey and funny as can be. She told us she had to stop gambling, nothing was hitting and she couldn’t keep losing all that money!! She is looking forward to the M opening up next year. I had not heard of it before but I have looked it up, looks like it might be a nice place. After breakfast we hit borders and bought a few books, I needed to replace the one I lost. I also have to replace my pink red sox hat that got left at the pool. I am not sure I can replace it, as I can seem to find a place that sells the one I have….. Got the books and went to the airport, dropped off the rental car, had a great rate of $113 for the week, perhaps the 13 was an issue too!! Oh well, just a word advice though, do not take a Jeep Liberty it is the worst handling car I have experienced. It was a piece of crap for sure. At the airport no lines at Delta and security went very quickly. Our flight to ATL was fine with a delay in Atlanta. Got home a half hour late, and our friend picked us up at the airport. When we got home Shadow was jumping in circles, if he didn’t weigh 70 lbs I am sure he would have jumped in our arms. The noises that dog makes when he is happy are just too funny. He definitely tries to talk to you!! Maggie my big girl was just as happy and just gave us all the loving she could…They are awesome, they make you realize that no matter what, life is simply great……. I started off writing this trip report thinking we didn’t have any fun, but the more I wrote, the more I realized we did have fun but some things just went wrong. It wasn’t a normal trip for us, but by no means was it a bad trip. We will be back in LV before we know it I am sure. Final Observations… Pros. Dollar Express is very quick and the way to go. Room rates were awesome, they weren’t free but the rates were good. We dined at some great restaurants and going back to Sergio’s was a treat. It is so wonderful there. The new Mirage Rooms are gorgeous but the bathrooms are too small. Lil Lady slot machine is a blast. The Bellagio pools are awesome and service out there is great. Spending time with friends always makes a trip fantastic. Cons It was not even close to be slow. In fact it was the busiest I have seen it in years. Service at Mirage isn’t where it should be. Rude service at 2 of the bars was not good. Mold in the room at Bellagio was disgusting and how they handled it was worse. Jamariah at Bellagio was awful, they are the new early band. Walking down to the fountains and them being off stunk. Having to take friend to the ER, I felt so badly for her. The Jeep Liberty was horrible. And lastly, not winning and having only a few long sessions playing anything was a downer. Thanks to all who read my novel, this is actually a shorter than normal trip report for me and still it is over 20K words!!! My mom has always told me I have a lot to say!!!!
Wow, that is an intense trip! Too bad your friend got sick, as well as your moldy room, but at least you had just a little bit of fun! I agree with you on the Mirage rooms, they are great with the new remodel, but the bathrooms! Uggh...way too tiny!
Angel we had every intention of upgrading to a Tower Deluxe for $50 a night but they didn't have any. It appears they were remodeling the 25th floor when we were there.
Sometimes when there's a couple of negative issues that occur, it's hard to get back into the laid back Vegas groove of things. In all of my trips, that only occurred once to me. And it was so much the outside forces....but just a "feeling" that things weren't right. Hope all is well with you and your friends. Maybe this will be one of those trips that you can all laugh about in due time. Isn't crazy how we have a not-so-great-trip and start thinking about planning another one when we get back home?! Crazy, crazy, crazy!!
LVLady, we also had an unpleasant experience at the Bellagio recently and I will be sending a letter to Bellagio's President, Randy Morton. I believe we've stayed at the Bellagio a minimum of 15 times since it opened in 1998 and have never encountered such poor customer service as we did during our recent stay. We had reserved a lakeview room. At check-in we were told our room was not ready and to call the Front Desk in an hour and a half when it would be. We wanted to lunch at Sensi, but wanted to charge our lunch to our room. We were told that was not a problem -- to have our waiter call the Front Desk to verify that a room was being held for us. An hour and a half later, the Front Desk staff informed me that the people in the room being held for us had just checked out and our room wouldn't be ready for 3 more hours. We then went to lunch at Sensi. Per what we were told, we asked our waiter to called the Front Desk to verify, etc. He was told we could not charge our lunch to our room. I spoke to the Manager at Sensi -- he confirmed what our waiter told us, despite what we were told while checking in. I told him that it seemed that "the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing when it came to procedures at the Bellagio." About an hour and a half later I again called the Front Desk to find out if our room was ready. This time the story changed: I was told that the people in the room originally assigned to us had decided to stay another day (WTF?? That's not what I was told in my earlier phone call; didn't they say they had just checked out?) I was furious. To make matters worse, I was informed that they didn't have a lakeview available, but could give us a pool view room. I said that was totally unacceptable and asked to speak to a Manager. I was put on "hold" for about 10 minutes. I never spoke to a Manger, but surprising, when the gal I was speaking to came back on the line, a lakeview room was available immediately. All in all, it took almost 6 hours after our arrival to finally get a room. I know this is nit-picking, but when one stays at the Bellagio, you take certain things for granted, such as bathrobes in the rooms. There were none in ours. The first day I thought it was just an oversight; I had to request them from Housekeeping the second day. The mattress was also very uncomfortable; it must have been on the bed since the Bellagio opened. Like you, we love having a cocktail with Diane at the Fontana Bar. Thank God she hasn't changed. She mentioned that many people stop by and ask where your "special" video poker machine is located. It has been good to me in the past, but not this trip. I also agree with you about City Center -- it's an eyesore, to say the least. I guess our biggest disappointment is that the Bellagio always felt like "home" to us in Vegas, but no more. Prior to checking into the Bellagio, we had a 4 night comped stay at The Venetian. We had no expectations prior to checking in, but our stay was absolutely fabulous. We never encountered a rude or discourteous staff member, and the mattresses in our room were like sleeping on a cloud -- better than Wynn's, if you can believe it. I think The Venetian will now be our "home away from home" while in Vegas.
Timmysmom, Diane told me I got people started on my machine LOL And like you, it was not lucky for me this trip. As for the room, we had to wait this time too but we arrived at Bellagio around 10am and were in our room by 1pm. I can't complain about that. Sorry you had to wait so long, out of curiousity what time did they finally have a room ready for you? And when were you there? I am ticked off still and am in the process of writing them a letter, however I can't seem to get Randy Morton's email from anyone and it is ticking me off. PM me if you have it please.
LVLady, I sent you a PM with information relative to contacting Randy Morton and Bellagio Guest Services. We began checking in at 10:30 am. We are aware that normal check-in is 3:00 pm, but have never had a problem checking in the am before. We are MGM Visa card holders which entitles cardholders to early check-in/late check-out. I fully understand a room cannot be released until it's cleaned; however, the run-around we received about the previous occupants just checking out and then being told they hadn't, plus not having a Lakeview Room available until I insisted on speaking to a Manager, was totally unacceptable. It was after 3:00 pm before we finally were assigned a room. We had other issues too which were addressed in the letter I sent to Mr. Morton and Bellagio Guest Services.