vegas in december

This will be a short report.(no apologies for mis spelling) My wife and I took my 80yr mom for 7 days. She can walk a little but we took the wheel chair so we could cover as much ground as possible. We were there 10 years ago almost to the week. Flew from spokane to vegas nonstop. uneventful. I booked the tickets online with america west. Only one problem...it is a small plane and when we got to vegas there was no ramp we had to go down the little plane stairs and because of the wheelchair had to wheel along the tarmack around parked planes and phyco baggage carts. I deceided to book the trip direct with the Paris myself. Booked into regular room at $89 a night and weekend went to $129. The Paris has what they call premier view rooms and P rooms the P rooms are their suites. The way the hotel is set up only 1/3 of the rooms have excellent views (premier veiw rooms) These were priced at $129 a night and went to $169 on weekend. we checked in at the airport I had my licence, credit card and a visible $20 bill. I asked for a complimentary upgrade to a view room (i was not interested in a suite as their was 3 of us and we needed 2q beds.)
When he saw the $20 there was a noticible reaction from the young man working the check in. He was extremlly helpful and we got an excellent preimer view room. We could see the ballon the eifel tower and watch the fountains at bellagio. Bottom line is, I can't say we would not have gotten the better room just by asking, after all it was the slow season. but it is worth the $20 to try. I wondered about what to say how to phrase the question.Would they or me be embarrased etc. etc. I was so tired I just laid the money out and asked. It was easy and I got what I wanted. He spent 10 minutes showing me where different rooms were located, after I picked on I gave him the $20 thanked him and headed for the hotel. We took a strech limo cost $50 was a nice way to go. As stated earlier loved the view we were on 15th floor oh yea forgot we overlooked the pool.I wont go day by day but we tried to hit every resort or casino in the 7 days. I spent alot of time on this forum and others trying to decide where to stay. Most people say you dont spend any time in your room so it dosnt matter. To us it did there is so much to see and do lights noise action all those fabulous things. But we wanted a clean quiet refuge to regroup for another round of action. After researching I picked the Paris. We visited all the hotels and I am convinced that we definitley made the right choice. I would rate the resorts as follows. Paris 9 (cobble stone bugged me a little)
Alladin 8, NYNY 5, Bellagio 8, Mandalay 5, Rio 6, MGM 5,Mirage 6,Monte Carlo5, Ballys4 ,Luxor7, Venetian7, Tropicana 5, Ceasers7, I didnt rate the older hotels or the other off strip. Why we rated Paris highest. Location was great, layout was easy to navigate. Service at restaurants and drinks as well as housekeeping was excellent. We are non smokers and found the Paris the best. .....GAMBLING.... I am the biggest gambler out of the three of us but definitley not hard core when I play slots its quarters or dollars and mostly play tables. I love the sucker games carribean stud, let it ride, etc. Wife and mom just play nickels and quarters. We gambled at all casinos and did not really notice more wins or losser slots other than alladin. I am used to 3 reel machines or video poker and would make snide comments to my mom and wife when they wanted to play nickels or heaven forbid pennies...aaaargh. Well, I sat down with them at the new 15 and 20 line games,Monopoly,Goldfinger,Tabasco etc. I could not believe that I would ever look forward to playing for nickels but the new machines have fun bonus rounds and are more interactive than reels or even some VP machines. I was winning like crazy. Now im hooked I made more money on these cheap machines than I did on VP. It seemed like almost every time I sat down I walked away with $50 to $100 bucks. My wife and mom did not do as well. The machines are hillarious Men in black,i love lucy. The paris machines do not take coins just bills and tickets. I was disappointed I wanted coins. Some casinos use both some just coins and bills. By the time we left I was sold on the tickets easy to use,carry, way cleaner. As to my favorites the tables I did well
Again usually up $100 at end of day did lose sometimes but overall good. We did not notice any difference between downtown casino and strip resorts other than table minimums.
Best win was at carribean stud I had $25 out and $50 to stay and was dealt 4 of a kind and the dealer qualified...was paid $1500
played some more lost another hundred and left. I went and played the$5 slots something I never do...lost $200 went to bed.
ATTRACTIONS eifell tower was good (didnt like wire)
ELVIS museum was great not a huge elvis fan but was fun,saw the free show. Wax museum was fun. did not like Coney island.
Freemont street was well worth seeing and free also cheapest souveniers. Welcome to vegas lights $30 ,everywhere else at least $40. Rio sky show was worth seeing. Highlight was MARRIAGE CAN BE MURDER dinner theatre at the EGG & I food was aqverage but evening was excellent. We joined all the polayer clubs and searched for coupons. We ended up with a suitcase full of free t shirts and mugs. FOOD did a couple of Buffets Paris was excellent, Alladin was OK nothing else worthy of note. I guess this was longer than I thought. I ended up spending $1200 bucks of winnings in spokane.
Must do again:
stay at PARIS
visit as many resorts as possible
murder theatre at EGG & I

 

Thanks for the comprehensive trip report, nkrog. Glad you made out well with the room and in the casinos.

My question to you is, why did Mandalay Bay only rate a 5? I go every march and love it there. How was Paris better?

Jack21

 

Hi hkrong

Enjoyed your report, no bs. I must comment on and congratulate you on taking your 80 year old mom. Some people have difficultly dealing with older people, they can be trying and you must be understanding of their needs.

I am sure that your good memories of your trip together will last a long time.

 

Thanks for posting Nkrog. We're there in May and based upon your report ...my wife's choice is looking like a winner. She's into slotplay so I will have to tell her to keep an eye out for those new ones you've tried.

Great TR...all the best in 2005 !.

 

Great report and glad to hear that you found your home away from home!

I must admit that we have never even entered the Paris Casino. We will have to check it out next time there!