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Impressions of Rio

Discussion in 'Off-Strip Hotels' started by billyinpg, Oct 15, 2013.

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  1. billyinpg

    billyinpg Low-Roller

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    Here I am but 14 hrs away of going home and here are my 1st time impressions of Rio.

    We booked this last minute 2 weeks ago on a comp stay, 3 nights Sun to Wed. It looked like a nice property and we've never stayed off strip so we said what the hell and gave it a shot.

    The good......

    I somehow got a Samba comped and jumped on it. I did the $20 trick and it got us an upgrade to 30th floor strip view, comped resort fee, comped early check in and WTF free coffee?!?

    It's a nice property and we love the room, as in it looks new so king smoking room on the corner. We tipped house keeping $2 a day and today we had a chance to chat with ours. They really appreciate the tip.

    The bed is comfy enough and having a fridge is a bonus.


    The bad......

    Drink service is very very spotty. The drink service sucked in the masquerade area of the casino. Early morning until around 9PM you could die of thirst. However a short walk to the Ipenama area and you would almost drown in drinks.

    Room service is double the time they quote you for arrival.

    Late night eats and snacks are tough to come by.......

    I would avoid the Burgerking thing and the pretzel place, neither were good enough that I could finish the meal.

    We never did find out when the tattoo shop opened either, we went there at various times and it was closed up.

    Not really a gripe but right now we can hear the Voodoo club some 20 floor above us. It's not loud but we can hear it.

    All in all it rates a pretty good in my book, it's the off strip thing that's in the way. If this place was on strip, well, I think we would choose this one.

    BTW, if you read this check out the post I will post in a few min about what happens to left over booze at a CET property, it's an eye opener.

    I'll put it in misc. Vegas chat.
     
  2. jackincols

    jackincols Guest

    I've never liked staying in Masquerade Tower for all the reasons you list, billyinpg, especially not being able to get a late night snack on the way to your room. Added to that is the fact it's a helluva hike there and back from the ressie desk and main casino for anyone with "walking issues" like me. That's why I always request Ipanema Tower when staying there.
     
  3. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Rio has the absolute best cocktail service there is! A guy with a tablet comes around and takes drink orders, punches them in with your slot machine number. A few minutes later your drink arrives!

    I wish they would roll this out to more places!
     
  4. Smo

    Smo Mr. Las Vegas

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    Never stayed at the Rio, yet, but the drink service in the masquerade area was superb. I enjoyed the Whopper Bar for a late night junk food snack. You could have walked next door to the Gold Coast for more choices to eat at. Subway, TGI Fridays, some Asian places, and you can even eat at the bowling alley over there!

    Yes, you were trapped in Rio, but with the nice weather I would have ventured next door to see what they have to eat.

    Thanks for the review. :thumbsup:
     
  5. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    I'm staying there Sun-Fri next week. I like quiet when I sleep so I'll probably request the IP tower even though the Samba Suites look nice. I'm not too picky when it comes to rooms but the little sleep I get I like to have quiet :)
     
  6. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    One other comment, I realize that being off the strip is a hinderance to some, I certainly get that. But they do have shuttles to/from Bally's/Paris and Harrahs and that's good enough for me.
     
  7. billyinpg

    billyinpg Low-Roller

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    Back home again and I see I'll have to clear up my drunken rambling a bit LOL.

    Regarding the drink service, the Ipanema side was excellent I almost drowned in drinks over there but the Masquerade side was only good for Sun aft onwards till we left at around 9 PM. Monday morning there wasn't a server to be seen, Monday afternoon still nothing it wasn't until 7 or 8 PM that it got decent. Tuesday started off the same and My GF ended up spending Tuesday night on the Ipanema side and again she could have drowned in drinks where I on the Masquerade side was literally making trips to my room for a fresh drink. This morning 8AM to Noon we saw the server once.

    The room seemed to be a very fresh renovation, very very little wear to be found and the housekeeping staff was the best ever. The only thing that was a little strange was low water pressure in both sinks and they didn't seem to drain very well. An extra garbage can would have been nice as well.

    The dining we did there was good with the exception of the Burgerking (might have been an off night for them as we actually like Burgerking) The Pretzel my GF had was delightful for her but I sure didn't care for the pretzel dog I had.

    We did go to the Gold Coast and eat there as well, cheap and good buffet for breakfast one day and the steak and lobster one night at TGIF. The only thing that I missed was being able to grab a hot dog or something around 4 or 5AM.

    We took the shuttle to the strip and it was good but we ended up in a cab a couple of times because on a short trip like this time is money baby, we just didn't feel like sitting around waiting LOL

    The room service thing just bugs me. I ordered up some Pizza Hut and they said 45 min. It didn't show up until an hour and a half later. It was a great pizza though even though we were nearly asleep when it showed up.

    We were chatting about it on the way home and decided it would rate a 3.5 out of 5 based on our experience. That being said we would stay there again but in the Ipanema tower.

    Hope that clears my muddy ramble from last night up.:beer:
     
  8. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    Great info, thank you.
     
  9. KarenTN

    KarenTN Tourist

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    If you ordered Pizza Hut and it took way longer than it should, shoudn't that be the fault of Pizza Hut and not the Rio's room service?
     
  10. abileneblues

    abileneblues Low-Roller

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    I've stayed at the Rio a couple of times, both in the Impanema tower. It was pretty quiet there, both times (both in August, weekday and weekend), with only the occasional sound of a neighbor's door shutting.

    The first time I went was before the new system for drunks--er, cocktail service. It seemed to be hit or miss then. The last time, with the new system in place, it seemed to be more consistent across the entire casino. I tend to spend more of my time on the Masquerade side of the casino, playing VP. One thing that can slow it down is when your server has to take a turn doing a dance or song.

    Last year, our non-smoking room had a powerful smoke smell everytime the air conditioner came on.

    On the whole, we found it to be a good value but decided to stay on the strip this year as we felt like we spent way too much time waiting on the shuttle, not to mention watching people that just walked up just before the shuttle arrived trying to shove in front of everybody that had been waiting for 20-30 minutes.
     
  11. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    I absolutely hate that, I've run into it at most of the shuttles at one time or another.
     
  12. billyinpg

    billyinpg Low-Roller

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    Well you would think so except I ordered it from room service,it was delivered to my room by room service and charged to my room. Strange thing is that I didn't actually see a Pizza Hut anywhere in the place. I assumed that the Rio had a franchise in one of the kitchens that was room service only.

    It was promoted on one of those glossy cardboard fold up triangle things. I dunno maybe it's a recent addition to the place.
     
  13. Mitkraft

    Mitkraft VIP Whale

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    Why in the hell would you WATCH that? You don't watch, you holler loudly "Hey people, the back of the line is over here!" And then listen as the people in line express agreement. I hate it when nobody calls these people out!

    The only time we ever did the Rio shuttle was on our last trip because we wanted to eat at the seafood buffet. I just figured I'd have to wait however long it took for the shuttle to arrive but as it turns out there are usually more people in line waiting than will fit on the shuttle. After eating the line for the return shuttle was even longer so we caught the eye of a cab driver who was dropping off near the shuttle and used that instead. We were just going to Flamingo so it was cheap and worth the express ride.
     
  14. ju5tagt

    ju5tagt Low-Roller

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    Makes you want to just push them under the shuttle - I hate it when they do that!!!
     
  15. Happygirl21

    Happygirl21 VIP Whale

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    Ready for this shocker? They are doing the tablet drink thing at The Quad . At least at the tables, I'm guessing slots too.
     
  16. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    That IS a shocker lol.
     
  17. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    The Rio shuttle goes to Harrahs and Bally's correct? I don't believe it goes between Harrahs and Bally's? Runs till 1:00 a.m.?
     
  18. Mitkraft

    Mitkraft VIP Whale

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    I thought the shuttle only ran between Rio and Bally's. Is that not correct?
     
  19. billyinpg

    billyinpg Low-Roller

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    I believe it's Rio - Bally's, Bally's - Rio. Then it's Rio - Harras, Harra's - Rio. We spent some time waiting and only ever saw the one shuttle with the same driver sometimes it was going to Harras and others Bally's.

    The driver's name is Darren the guy is a blast when the riders are having fun.

    Just to touch on the drink service, yes there were order takers and waitresses working hand in hand, drinks came fast at those times. Sometimes it was either a order taker or waitress and at those times they would take the order on a notepad and bring it to you, it was pretty slow at those times.

    One night I was playing on Masquerade side with one waitress/ notepad for the whole side, my GF headed over to the Ipanema side and came back a little while later with a drink for me. She told me there were at least 5 pairs on that side and drink service had everyone drowning.

    She talked to a "red shirt" about it and they told her it was because the servers/ order takers on my side didn't show up for work.

    I find it kind of hard to believe that 9 people in one area didn't show up for work. To me it seems as though the management may be too busy or overworked to notice and adjust the level between the 2 sides.
     
  20. abileneblues

    abileneblues Low-Roller

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    Didn't mean to imply that I was passive or quiet. In fact the wife was embarrassed by what I said to the miscreants. I think I still have a bruise from where she pinched me. In my defense, it was really hot and I was tired. I just didn't turn around and notice that there were children behind me when I used that word. :nono:
     
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