TR - Ziggurat Suite NY NY - Thanksgiving

This was a solo trip over Thanksgiving. My BF had to work over the holiday and we don’t usually celebrate with either of our families, so I was OK to sneak in one last trip. I got there on Wednesday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. and had a flight out on Saturday morning.

I will post as replies.

 

Hotel -

Comped Ziggurat suite at NY NY. I liked this suite. It was funky. It really looks just like the pictures on the NY NY web site. The TV’s were updated flat screens. The views were very good. On one side I could see MGM Grand, and on the other Excalibur. I was on the 16th floor (17th was the highest). It was quiet and the bed was comfy. You could hear the rollercoaster but it didn’t really stop me from sleeping.

The couch was circular and was really more for sitting then getting comfy on. I sat on it with the intentions of stretching out and watching a little TV, but you really couldn’t stretch out.

Would I stay here again? No – but that’s just because the casino was smaller than I normally care for and they just didn’t have many machines I really liked to play. I tend to try to play mostly at my home casino, so it’s important that there is a good variety of machines. I like the selection of machines at the Bellagio much better.

Just a few negatives – no wi-fi. I really missed having that. Also, didn’t care for the location of the safe – which was right by the door to the hallway.

 

Stash your cash cards -

I had 44 cards and got 7 cards for $5 and 2 for $25 – for a total of $85 in free play.

M Life -

Not thrilled with M Life reps at NY NY. I noticed that on the second day my points just didn’t seem to be going up as fast as they should. I went up to the booth and after trying to explain the problem to people who really don’t understand the program – I was promised a supervisor would look into it. I had like 8600 in points, but over 100,000 in tier credits. 1 point = 10 tier credits – so there is no way your tier credits should be higher (proportionally) than your point play (unless you’ve used some obviously – which I hadn’t). I never heard from the supervisor.

Went back on Friday and explained the problem again and after 20 minutes or so, I finally got the woman to understand the problem and agree that there was a problem. She said she would talk to her supervisor and have him call me. He called me and basically blew me off – and said it looked just fine to him – and I needed to pursue it with M Life.

I ended up with 196,000 tier credits – which only netted me $155 in point play and express comps. On my last trip I earned 135,000 in tier credits and got $175 in point play and express comps. According to my calculations from the tier credits I earned, I should have gotten around $254 in both point play and express comps (196,000 / 10 = 19,600 points – plus 30% platinum bonus points - 5,800 - for a total of 25,480).

Not even sure if I’m going to bother getting M life involved. Knowing them, they will just reduce my tier credits to match my point play.

Gambling -

I did end up playing quiet a bit at other M life properties (Luxor, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and Bellagio). But the only place I had any luck was NY NY. Three hand pays – 2 on Ultimate X poker, my new favorite machine. I was playing 3-play quarters on DDB and it dealt me four 4’s with a kicker. I had a 2 x multiplier on all 3 hands – which equaled 4,800 coins – or $1,200.

Then it dealt me four 3’s and gave me the kicker on the middle hand – where I had a multiplier of 8. That hand alone paid 6,400 coins – the other two hands 400 each. So a $1,800 hand pay.

On a regular dollar VP DDB machine I was on my last hand and kept an Ace – and it gave me the other 3 plus the kicker – for $2,000.

Holiday Gift Shop -

This was very nice, and very well organized. You walk in and sit down with a rep who gives you an order form listing how many points you have available. Then you walk around the room and make your choices. Each choice had a card for you to take to bring up to the reps again when you were done choosing. I had 39,000 points to spend and did end up getting a Hello Kitty necklace. All items are shipped to you, or actually to any address you wanted it shipped to. I went to the one at the MGM Grand – it was in one of the ballrooms.

 

Australian Bee Gees -

Slept through it – and by that I mean I was really tired and I laid down at like 5:30 with a full tummy from my Thanksgiving dinner at NFI (nummy), and a full wallet thanks to my first hand-pay – with the intention of watching a little TV before cleaning up and heading for the show. I had been up since like 3:30 in the morning and was really tired. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 8:00 p.m. I have NEVER been able to take naps in Vegas. But I guess I was just really tired. Oh well, I did head back downstairs and hit my second hand-pay, so I can’t complain too much about sleeping through the show.

Other observations:

Kids, kids, kids – everywhere. I’m sure the fact that it was a holiday weekend had something to do with that – but I have NEVER seen so many kids in Vegas. One night I was sitting at a machine at like 3:00 in the morning and 2 adults and a very small child walked by. Really? I also saw a little boy sitting and leaning against a wall outside of the casino – I assume while his parents gambled inside. Frightening!

Weather - Beautiful. It was like 62 and sunny each day. I really enjoyed it not being so hot. I would definitely make another trip in November again.

Next trip – MGM Grand. Tentatively looking at June 1. We have enough express comps between us to pay for a Skyline Terrace Suite for 3 nights. Will probably book the airfare pretty quick here as it is currently only $253.

 

Nice pics. Congrats on the VP hits.

 

Thanks for posting the pics...I have one of those suites reserved for the end of February...

 

Thanks for posting!

 

Nice tr Josie! Thanks for sharing and sorry about the point calculations- that would have really annoyed me!!

 

Nice TR! You did not tell us if you won or not?

 

Thanks all.

Letsdoit - You mean did I actually come home money ahead. Not the way I gamble . I brought some of my bankroll home - and I consider that a win.

 

lol....I agree. No ATM means winner!!!

That is what I tell people all the time. I bring x amount to gamble with and in consideration that the room, food & entertainment costs me zero, I am a winner if I come back with some of my bankroll.

 

This is exactly how I measure the success of a trip. Should I come home with extra, it's an added bonus.

Great TR Josie, thanks for sharing it. Loved the suite pics.

 

I consider it a good trip if I come home with some of the money that I took to gamble with. It is a great trip if I come home with more!

 

I stayed in one of those suites in May of 2010. I actually fell asleep on the circular couch twice. The shape isn't the greatest, but I remember it being pretty soft and comfy. Thanks for sharing and congrats on the hand pays.

 

And by fell asleep, you meant passed out. Or am I just projecting my own vegas habits on you?

 

Suekel - thanks much!

gmille58 - exactly!

slimmy28 - wow, I'm impressed. I should have actually stayed on the couch. That's when I gave up on and went in to watch TV on the bed and feel asleep and missed my show.

ChickenBone - thanks for the chuckle. I'm afraid it was the turkey dinner and full belly that made me fall asleep. Being a solo female traveler I try not to drink too much when in Vegas.

 

Thanks for the report. The Ziggurat suite looks pretty good, especially with flat screen TV to bring it into 21st century!

What's that about no WiFi? Do they still have wired connections in those suites?

 

Thanks Tubbs! You know, I didn't even look for a wired connection as I had my iPad. I had always heard that some of the lower end M Life properties didn't have the wi-fi, so when I looked for a wireless network and didn't find one, I didn't give it another thought.

 

Thanks for the pics, really enjoyed your trip report! I love nothing more than to read how every experiences Vegas! I learn so much from reading people's trip reports.

I think it may have been an old one of yours that mentioned "never plop into fabric seat - it may be wet and who knows from what"? even if not you that is something I never forgotten...

anyways, thank you for taking the time to post and with pics!!

 

Thanks much for the nice comments! Yes, it was me who had to do the walk of shame back to Excalibur with a wet bum after sitting on a chair at MB. Hmmm - maybe that's why I didn't go there on this trip