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Trip report Gold Coast March 3-5

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Hyperfocal, Mar 5, 2010.

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  1. Hyperfocal

    Hyperfocal VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    This trip was a last minute decision. I had just finished and invoiced a project, so I wanted to get out of town. Southwest fares had gone way up, but I decided to check Priceline. I was really surprised to find non-stop on Airtran (motto: Veal pen in the sky) round trip for about $220 with taxes. So, at noon, I booked a 9am flight for the next morning. I didn't have any comp offers on the strip, but I did have a two-night offer from the Gold Coast. I had never stayed there, so I booked and got a premium room on the offer.

    One nice surprise from Priceline. They let me request and receive aisle seats without Airtran's usual $6 seat selection fee. Aisle seats are a must on Airtran because the seat pitch is so close that even at 5'9", my knees bump into the seat in front of me. The guy in the middle seat was about 6'5" and was suffering mightily.


    Gold Coast was a first for me. I had only stayed one night off strip before, and that time, I had a car. I'd take this as a challenge to see if I could stay off strip in the future. I knew the gambling was better at Gold Coast than on the strip, but I still like to spend evenings on the strip or downtown.

    You can say I'm a cheapskate. I'm a low roller with a gambling budget of a couple hundred bucks. Because of my underlying cheapness, I have taken airport shuttles on many trips. ...always without any of the nightmare stories until now.

    I bought the ticket and the woman said, "There'll be a bus at stand 5 in about 20 minutes." That was the first clue. 20 minutes later, the bus arrived and I was in the middle of a long line. We loaded up all the people who would fit, leaving about 10 people behind. As the driver got in, a man who introduced himself as a Las Vegas Ambassador got on. First he gave a quick bit about some attractions and how single women could get in free to most nightclubs before midnight. Then... he started talking about Planet Hollywood... and how great it was... and how they were giving away free show tickets... BING, BING, BING. There was a timeshare saleman for Westgate on the shuttle!!! This is utter BS from Grayline. Never again. At least the timeshare guy left the bus with a bunch of unfortunate suckers at the Venetian.

    About an hour and 15 minutes after the plane landed, I was at Gold Coast.

    First nice thing. No line at the check in counter. A very nice young lady checked me in and I was up to a 7th floor premium room with a view of the strip, the Palms and a field of satellite dished that would make NASA jealous. The premium rooms are a lot nicer than I expected. They have made the most out of the little rooms. The bathrooms are very functional for their size and are much larger than the ones at some of the downtown hotels. The one negative is that the dark wood furniture is showing wear -- any nick immediately shows light wood underneath.

    After a quick lunch, I started gambling --- and losing. Pretty soon, I found myself down to $25. I didn't have a lot budgeted for gambling on this trip and was waiting to hit my bank's ATM in the Walgreens on Fremont St for a free withdrawl. Hopped the shuttle to the strip and the Deuce downtown. Refilled the wallet and started a little low-rolling play on Fremont. Nothing worked, down, down, down. Stopped at the Triple 7 for a steak and a large IPA. Lost more trying to hit the progressive royal on the 10cent Joker Poker at MSS. Lost at Blackjack. Lost more at full pay Joker Poker at the Vegas Club. I won back about $40 on low stakes blackjack and headed south to the strip.

    Stopped in at Bill's and tried the unfortunately named "Rapid Craps." Rapid Craps is a Shufflemaster game in the same vein as Rapid Roulette, with individual screens for each player around the table. It has one dealer instead of the normal three. They were keeping a pit boss or an extra dealer around to help people but one guy ran the show. You buy in with cash and are paid with chips. Players throw real dice on a full-size table. All the bets are on a personal screen. It seems like a good option for a person like me, since it's a $3 table on the strip and it really reduces the trepidation level for new players. It could also be good for folks who like playing the dark side, since no one else can see your bets and only the aggregate bets are displayed on overhead screens. Drink service was great and I was losing money at a slower rate.

    After a couple hours, I was down about $40 and took the 202 bus back to Gold Coast, since the shuttle had stopped running.

    Woke up and found myself with $34 and some change. Charged a buffet to my room and played some nickel triple play VP, planning on another ATM trip.

    When I was down to $2.05 in the machine (and I had been down under a dollar), 10d, Qd, Ad, Jd came up. I held them, expecting to get something like a 4. Amazingly, the Kd showed up and breathed life into my bankroll.

    Freshly (royal) flush, I headed back to the strip for some sightseeing. Hit the Bellagio to see the conservatory, walked through Vdara, where there were virtually no people. Walked over to Aria, which was surprisingly empty. I had been there opening night and couldn't walk for the crowds. Now, dollar VP machines were 25c and the bank that had been $25 was $5. The place was very quiet, not empty, but there didn't seem to be any buzz. It took less time to walk from the back of Bellagio, through Vdara to Aria than it would to take the tram to Crystals and walk through the pocket park to Aria.

    Went back to Gold Coast and played a bit of VP. Won consistently, but small. In the evening, back to the strip, where I hit 4oak at Casino Royale and cashed in the $25 bonus. Then I hit a $73+ Tie Fighter bonus on Star Wars. Dinner at Grand Luxe at Palazzo with four 4s as a nightcap. Walked back to Bill's and hit a couple hardways on Rapid Craps for a small profit. Got back to Gold Coast and hit two straight flushes and a Wild royal on Joker Poker to finish the day up over $300 from $2.05 after buying dinner, drinks and handing out a lot of tips.

    Friday, I checked out after getting the bill squared away. They hadn't entered the room as a comp, but the clerk quickly rectified the issue without any drama. All the service at the Gold Coast was without any problems, the room was cleaned quickly, bartenders and waitresses were pleasant. Drink service was good. I have to say that it may be quicker to take the 202 bus when heading to the strip, since it is more frequent than the Boyd shuttle and the shuttle goes to the Orleans before it ends up on the strip.

    Took a cab to the airport. Much faster, but much more expensive than a shuttle ($20 w/tip). In the future, it's either a rental car or a cab. No more shuttles. Airtran back to MKE was about an hour delayed and the guy next to me had some sort of unfortunate gastric issue necessitating aggressive use of the air vent.

    All said and done, I was able to spend two nights in Vegas, eat, drink and gamble for about $300 including airfare. That's why I keep going back.
     
  2. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    Sounds like a fun quick in and out. Hubby and I are spending 6 nights in Vegas in April arriving on a Saturday and the only comp we had for the Saturday night when we booked was at the Gold Coast (we love playing there but have only stayed there once for one night on New Years eve many years ago). We're staying one night, Saturday, before moving onto Palazzo so was happy to hear the room was ok. We are also booked for a premium comped. Did you attempt an upgrade to a suite; I'm thinking about trying...what can it hurt?:eek:
     
  3. lowsmith

    lowsmith Low-Roller

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    My group really likes the Orleans and the Gold Coast. We play at both (use the shuttle mostly). We usually stay at the Orleans, but have stayed at the GC and always had a great experience at both hotels.
     
  4. VegasDiva

    VegasDiva VIP Whale

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    Sounds like a fun quick trip , glad you had a nice time at the GC
     
  5. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

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    Great trip report. I love the 9/6 JOB at the bar and the Gold Coast offers great table games at low minimums, great odds at the sports book and decent comp offers. Awesome hit on the Royal Straight Flush! Gold Coast is close to the strip and Palms has great full pay video poker (though I never seem to win there).

    I was comped a suite six months ago (an offer based on like an hour of green chip blackjack and a few thousand points earned on $0.25 9/6 JOB at the bar). The room was a trip back in time into the 1970s complete with with shag carpet and a tiny bathroom (with a tiny shower window standard in most Coast hotels). If you want the extra room, the suite is nice with a new large TV in the living room and a decent TV in the bedroom. The king size bed as nice and comfortable but the bedroom was very small with the bed and tv / drawers taking up most of the space. The living room / wet bar area was twice as large as the bedroom and contained a refrigerator, wet bar and a dining table for four.

    If you are looking for a larger space, the suite will work. If you are looking for modern furniture / an updated room, I would go with the remodeled rooms which they call "premium".

    [​IMG]

    http://www.goldcoastcasino.com/accomodations/deluxe-suites

    The bathtub shower (which is not shown and for good reason) is something you would find in a house built in the 1950s / 1960s - something like this: [​IMG]
     
  6. Hyperfocal

    Hyperfocal VIP Whale

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    I didn't ask for or have a suite offered. Honestly, my play level is pretty marginal for anything above a basic midweek comp offer and I knew I wasn't going to be giving them much more play than I had in the past. If I hadn't hit that royal, I would have stiffed them on the second day.
     
  7. peanutmnm

    peanutmnm Scotchy

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    I have spent many free nights at the Gold Coast. It's by far our favorite low roller place.

    Nice recap.
     
  8. Emerald

    Emerald Low-Roller

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    I went to Vegas twice and I stayed at the gold coast.. that property has been kind to me.. I hope to make it back there again. I am a low roller.. I only spend 200 a day gambling.

    Love the trip report. Great for us low rollers.
     
  9. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    Thanks for the info Viva Las Vegas.....I think I'll stick with the premium room we currently have comped; it's only one night so I'd prefer the remodelling smaller room over the older style suite before moving onto the Palazzo (not Bellagio). The rooms at Palazzo are a very nice size so one night in a smaller room won't kill us. We're also double booked at PHo on an offer there....love the PHo Casino so figured we'd better get a last "stay" in there as well before HET ruins it. Probably won't sleep there in favour of Palazzo, but couldn't turn down the freeplay and resort credit.:eek:
     
  10. garyz100

    garyz100 Low-Roller

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    hey hyper, i have the same promo that i will be useing in 4 weeks. my question is did you by chance check out the other shuttle service not sure of the name , but i used it last nov. to go to orleans. thanks gary
     
  11. BackInVegas

    BackInVegas VIP Whale

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    Rio next door has FREE shuttle service

    Their buses go DIRECTLY to the strip, no Orleans ride.

    Just an FYI.

    Since I stay at the Palms, I usually cab it everywhere but I found this little tidbit a nice ride if I happen to be at the Rio and not wanting to walk across the bridge.

    I play a lot of craps at the Gold Coast because the limits are smaller than at the Palms.

    Al my sportsbook bets occur at the Palms.
     
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