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Dbueler's Summer TR August 17-21

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by dbueler, Sep 19, 2016.

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  1. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Hannibal Mo
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    My Trip Report

    Hey everyone, I’m going to TRY to keep this shorter than past TR’s. We shall see! I’ve been very excited about this trip…. It’s been a long 5 months since I was last in Vegas and work has been absolute hell. It's taken much longer than usual to get this typed up, so let’s get this show on the road!

    Wed August 17th

    I flew from STL non-stop on Southwest, with a mid-morning flight time of 10:20am. The regular security line wasn’t too bad, but TSA Pre-Check was completely empty… yay! I was A26 so I was easily able to get a front of the plane aisle seat. This flight was not supposed to be full, but there was some sort of travel mess in Denver and they ended up putting a bunch of CA folks on our flight to connect through LV instead of Denver. Completely full.

    Flight left on time and arrived 15 minutes early, but (and there’s always a ‘but’) there was a plane at our gate. The pilot said the plane would be leaving in 12 minutes. Everyone groaned and I said I’d believe 12 minutes when I saw it, which sure enough proved to be right. After 30 minutes of NO information, the pilot came on saying it would be another 10 minutes or so. So everyone thought the plane at the gate was leaving in 12 minutes, but it turned into 40 minutes…. BS. If I was in any other city, not a big deal, but it’s a big deal in Vegas!

    Grabbed my checked bag (quick) and requested an Uber ride to Harrah’s. I have had such great luck with Uber and Lyft, doubt I will ever use another taxi in Vegas. Driver was there in 2 minutes.

    I arrived at Harrah’s at 1pm local time and they had my room ready. I only qualify for the basic Carnival rooms, I don’t play enough for the remodeled rooms anymore, but did try to upgrade to one. They said it was $20 more/night, which was ok with me, but they didn’t have one ready and I thought it would be silly to pay more and to wait, so I took the Carnival room since it did not have an adjoining door (can’t stand those). Honestly, the older room was perfectly fine, very clean, and similar to the Hampton Inn rooms I stay in every week traveling on business.

    I ended up having a problem with the ac not working well enough, couple that with the famous CET motion sensor, and that room was easily 80 degrees with the drapes closed. I did call and ask maintenance to check the ac and replace the filter. It got cold as a refrigerator after that.

    Gambling the first day was terrible. I played 2 hours before I hit my first 4OAK. I play multi-hand nickels/dimes and single line quarters. And there is this Crystal Forest penny machine that I’m addicted to….. we have a ‘thing’ going on… Nonetheless, absolutely nothing was working.

    I met Fflowers for dinner at Border Grill in the Forum Shops. There’s a great Travelzoo offer and I try to buy it every trip … you get the Border guac, a choice of an app to share (we are in love with the cheese skillet!), 2 entrees, a shared dessert, and an alcoholic drink each. I always get the skirt steak, it’s excellent and we adore the sangria there. It’s way too much food, just a ridiculous amount, and the voucher is $59. We are always so pumped our first meal and spend hours catching up!

    Thursday August 18th

    This was the BEST day I’ve ever had in Vegas, followed by the worst night I’ve ever had in Vegas…..

    I woke early and really enjoyed watching Wake Up with the Wagners then the Today show. I never get to lay around and watch the news, so I took full advantage! Fflowers and I met for breakfast at “our” place on the patio at Mon Ami Gabi. We ordered our usual Eggs Bene (perfect), blueberry French toast (incredible), french bread, etc… and enjoyed a beautiful morning on the patio. We really lucked out on the weather, it wasn’t particularly hot for August.

    Afterwards, I went to the Flamingo Spa for my 80 minute massage appointment with the goddess Erlinda. Fflowers is an Erlinda fan and had a treatment by her the day before. I make my appointments with Erlinda well in advance as she has quite a following, and I understand why, she is magical! The attendants at the spa all know me and spoil me to death, I think this is the only place in the world that truly cares if I am comfortable! Best massage ever then back to the room to relax.

    Fflower’s and I had a late dinner res at Giada’s so I had plenty of time to play, although I was a little apprehensive after my first day beating. Gambling couldn’t have gone better today, everything I touch paid…. Those days are so far and few between but so fun!! I started with multi-line nickel vp and hit a number of 4oak’s on triple play DDB and 5 play DDB, I even hit quite a few kicker hands although not aces. I kicked it up to dimes once the games appeared to be playing well.

    I decided to play single line quarters, just to see if I was really lucky or if it was a fluke (LOL) and I hit several 250 4oak’s on DDB then hit two 4oak’s on Boner Deluxe for $100 each…. I adore hitting four 5’s and getting $100 for it! Oddly, I did not hit one 4oak on quarter Bonus poker the entire trip, but hit many on DDB and Boner Deluxe. I prefer to play Bonus but if you’re hitting 4oak’s on DDB and Boner, score!

    I decided to play my Crystal Forest addiction and, holy cow, it paid well too! I only bet 50 cents but hit a massive bonus (after hitting many small dollar ones) for $140. That’s a pretty nice pay on a 50 cent bet!

    Dinner was Giada’s, our favorite. We always order the bacon wrapped dates (2 orders this time…shhhh), and several other small plates of meats and cheeses, and a small pizza. It really is my favorite food in Vegas. We really don’t care for the entrees, just the small plates.

    I played more after dinner and the lucky streak continued with more 4oak’s. This was a very profitable day!

    As I was walking to my room, I could hear a huge commotion down the hall (near my room of course). There was a group of 15 or so kids, some clearly underage, yelling and screaming in the hallway. They had a couple of rooms and evidently they thought the hallway was their living room. It was only midnight so I decided to let it ride for an hour or so, and naturally it only got worse. Loud and fighting with each other, screaming at other people on their phone right outside my door. Ugh. So I called security and complained. I did make it clear I WAS NOT turning them in for the POT, only for the noise.

    Security came, blah blah blah, and it started back up. Someone else must have called security as they returned and told them to “behave”. Ha…. Of course, it started right back up and I called security again. It finally settled down and I fell asleep about 2:30am only to be awoken from a sound (and sleeping pill induced) sleep at 4am. They were right outside my door screaming at some bitch on the phone, their description, not mine. Keeping my chain on the door, I opened the door and BEGGED them to go into their rooms, stay out of the hallway. They screamed at me, so I called security AGAIN. When security came up, they were talking in front of my room door, so I opened the door and told security they need to stay around to listen to what they do, these kids aren’t even in their damn rooms at all…. All 15 are in the hallway the entire time. One crazy girl then screamed, calling me a White Bitch. Seriously? I then told security I no longer felt secure in my room and something needed to be done.

    So here’s what they did…. They sent two guest services managers to my room, this is at 4:30am and they said I needed to move. Yep… I need to move. Not the “lawbreakers”, me. One of the manager was talking about a lovely suite in the Mardi Gras tower, which I didn’t want as it overlooked Carnival Court and I have no interest in listening to that until 3:30am every night. They said they would find a wonderful room and send up a bellman, so I began to pack. It took a half hour for a bellman to arrive, then I moved to one of the renovated rooms in the Valley tower. Yea, nicer room, but I sure don’t like where this is headed these days with NOT DEALING WITH troublemakers. Pot smoke everywhere, when I told the security officers these kids aren’t out partying because some are clearly underage (I have 3 kids in their teens and early 20’s, so mom knows) and they just nodded.

    By the time I got unpacked it was 6am., the sun was up, so no sleep for me. Even though I knew better, I went downstairs to gamble. You can’t win when your karma is down and mine was in the tank. I was exhausted.

    I used the monorail to travel to the Westgate to redeem my Groupon voucher for (2) VIP to that evening’s Purple Reign tribute show. Fflowers and I are both avid Prince fans and this was her show of choice for her birthday. The box office attendant told me the show was selling our regularly since Prince passed away.

    I met Fflowers and her family for her birthday brunch at Wynn and we had a great meal. I was afraid the food would make me more tired, but it actually perked me up! Afterwards, Fflowers was in a slot tourney at Encore so we cheered her on!

    I walked back to Harrah’s and gambled for a break-even session, greatly improved from the morning disaster!

    That evening, I met Fflowers and her family for her birthday dinner at Lakeside at Wynn. Simply stated, it was incredible. We had a lovely table lakeside and were able to watch several of the shows. Their Sangria was hands-down the best I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a lot!!) If we don’t have dinner there on our next trip, I’m going to stop in and ask if I can order sangria to go…. It was that good! My filet was fabulous, everyone enjoyed their meal.

    Afterwards, Fflowers and I slipped away and took Lyft to the Purple Reign show, I believe the fare before tip was $5. We last saw Purple Reign at Hooters, so it’s been awhile. It’s a great show, it’s hard to believe he isn’t Prince. Lots of “chair dancing” until the audience started standing and dancing, we immediately popped up and joined in. Really a great show, I would see it again today. Only negative was they didn’t play “When Doves Cry” AT ALL…. That was one of Prince’s biggest songs and my 2nd favorite.

    I gambled only a few minutes after arriving back at Harrah’s (I returned via monorail) and collapsed in bed. I was exhausted but pleased I really enjoyed the day after virtually no sleep.

    Saturday August 20th:

    The plan was for me to arrive Encore by 11:30am to cheer Fflowers on during her last tourney session, that didn’t happen because I woke up at 10:30am. Dear lord! The room was cold and dark, I guess I decided to make up the missed sleep all at once. I texted her that I would see her later that day, then I laid in bed and watched the US Women’s Vball team win Bronze at the Olympics. My husband and I both played volleyball for years, my husband even played several matches with Karch. We were double rooting for the US women since Karch is their coach. It was a fun morning just laying around watching sports while texting my husband about the match. I know many consider this a waste of Vegas time, but I honestly NEVER get to do this between the job, kids, traveling, etc…

    Hunger drove me from my room to the Harrah’s weekend brunch buffet. It’s way overpriced, I used points, however this is an excellent brunch for fellow breakfast lovers. Crisp bacon, excellent eggs, biscuits and gravy, and those homemade cinnamon rolls in the hot pan…. Wish I had one now.

    I gambled for awhile and made a little $$ on VP, nothing special. I walked back to Encore for the 5pm and joined Fflowers and her niece for the tourney awards banquet. It was nicely done with an open bar and snack foods. Fflowers did well at the tourney, it was very exciting!

    None of us were hungry enough for the Wynn buffet we planned so we had sandwiches at the deli, I believe Zoozacrackers. The food there was very good, I had an adult grilled cheese with tomato and bacon. I thought it was crazy expensive, Fflowers charged it to the room to be comped.

    Ahhh… goodbyes are so hard! My flight left very early Sunday morning, Fflowers wasn’t feeling her best and was spending time with family so I walked back to Harrah’s. I had a long, last night gambling session that ended up costing me a small amount. It would have been nice to win a big parting gift, but not this trip! I was fortunate this trip had only one bad losing session, a few small loss sessions, and one full day of winning. I don’t keep gambling funds separate, nor do I keep detailed records, otherwise it feels like a work trip. I came home a couple hundred less than the amount I took, and I paid cash for many items, so I had a pretty good trip. If I lost, I certainly lost less than one normal Friday night at my local.

    Sunday August 21

    I didn’t realize you could check out of Harrah’s from your phone, they sent an email asking if I would like to schedule a check out time, so I gave it a try. Sure enough, at 7am I rec’d an email saying I was checked out and included a copy of my receipt. Nice.

    I had a very early flight at 6:40am on SW. I used Lyft to the airport, really enjoyed this driver. He waits until the club crowd has died down and begins work at 5am. He said since I was going to the airport, I was his “target market”! He was a funny, bright guy and he had some great stories. The airport was crazy busy, he said there was a UFC the night before and everyone was leaving. Security was crazy long, but the pre-check line only had 2 people in line. Even if work didn’t pay for mine, I would. $85 for 5 full years of short security lines and not unpacking/undressing, I’m in.

    Arrived back into STL early and drove the 2 hours home. It was a great trip, far too short. I couldn’t stay a full week like usual due to the major supplier issue at work, but something is better than nothing! I’m looking forward to the next trip, I fly out Christmas evening as does Fflowers. It seems soooo far away.

    Thanks for sticking with this report, good luck to all!

    diane
     
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  2. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

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    I want to be the first to say that this is total BS!! I hope you write a nice letter to the hotel manager to express your displeasure with how they handled this situation. I would have been LIVID. Glad to hear it didn't sour you on the rest of your trip.
     
  3. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    So sorry you had all that trouble at Harrahs that night. I guess it's easier to move one woman as opposed to 15 kids. I was at Ballys a few years ago and 4-5 people decided to stand outside my door and carry on a very loud conversation at 4 a.m. I was by myself so I wasn't going to open my door and ask them to go away so I called security. They cleared them out of the hall in 10 minutes.
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2016
    Happy birthday to me!
  4. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    It may be easier, but not right. They should have got balls and kicked them all out! I would tell he to stay at Linq next time, but I have a bad feeling they would treat the same scenario the same way. :(

    Glad the gambling was decent for you at least, Diane!
     
  5. M0rtyC

    M0rtyC TBD

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    Unbelievable that they wouldn't boot the kids. It's not like they were dropping money in the casino or at a club. Guess that's the new normal at CET 2nd tier properties
    Glad you had a good gambling trip and I would never, ever feel like sleep is cheating a Vegas trip.

    Can't wait to read the December trip. Nice job on this one.
     
  6. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

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    My guess is, since the kids had seen me, Guest Services wanted me where they couldn't find me. My room was around a corner at the end of the hallway, as was theirs. If they had decided to "wait" for me the following night, I would be blindsided around that corner. That still doesn't excuse Harrah's allowing guests, especially non-gambling non-tier score guests, to impact other people's hard earned vacations. I pointed out to Guest Services that I was a gambler and there to play, while these kids wouldn't drop a dime in their casino or restaurants, and they agreed. Everyone should have a good time in Vegas, but it should not come at the expense of other guests.
     
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  7. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    Kudos for trying to keep it civil when dealing with the offending juveniles.
    Anything past "whipper-snapper" level is unacceptable for me!
    I'm still curious as to why they moved you rather than giving the kids the boot!

    Glad to hear you enjoyed the Purple Reign show.
    Listening to Minneapolis-area radio I've heard a lot of Prince songs lately!
    When Doves Cry :cry: is my favorite, too. It's been reported that Prince had thousands of unfinished/unpublished songs in storage at Paisley Park.
    Perhaps the follow-up hit When Geese Chuckle was just a few years from radio release! We will never know...

    Awesome report, dbueler! Thanks for sharing it!

    RICHARD
     
  8. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

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    +1 to everything DBueler said, the good and the really jacked up!!!! DB, so glad you were there to help celebrate my birthday! It was another great trip for the books and it wouldn't have been nearly as fabulous without you!
     
  9. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Hope you got some good DSTP hits on your trip! ;) And happy belated birthday!
     
  10. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

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    I did! Though more UX, which is not that super volatile to which I am addicted! LOL. And thanks! I will try and post some photos. It still wound up being a losing trip money wise but the hits kept me going. I got 4 royals over the course of the trip, two with nickels (but with UX multipliers) and two with quarters, one with a 3x multiplier (so 3k) and one without (so 1k).
     
  11. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

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    I, for one, enjoy your long reports!

    Sorry about those kids. Perhaps a call to Metro would have solved the problem a bit quicker then the so called security people at Harrahs? :haha:

    They routed people from California, going to Vegas, through STL? Did I read that right? I bet they were pissed.

    Enjoyed the read, as usual.
     
    No reason to go home yet.
  12. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

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    How awful to deal with that noisy group! It would have been a real downer to my trip.
    Thanks for the report....enjoyed your details!
     
  13. Big dan

    Big dan High-Roller

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    Thanks for the write up, sounds like you had a good time. As for the juveniles I agree they should have moved them, besides they are not supposto have that many people to a room so that alone should have been grounds for eviction.
     
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  14. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

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    Hey JPW..... the people from CA were traveling from STL to CA, the original flights were supposed to be STL-Denver-CA, but there were issues in Denver, so they routed them STL-LV-CA... so about the same route. I heard several say they were actually arriving earlier than planned as the layover in LV was much shorter than Denver. I never get that lucky!! Your turn for a TR!
     
  15. agirl

    agirl Low-Roller

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    You are such a positive upbeat person that it makes me doubly sorry you had to go through that at the hotel. On the subject of pot, my husband and I just returned from a Vegas trip and for the first time in our lives we ran into this problem at both Green Valley Ranch Resort and Sam's Town. We are in our 50's so I plead old age "ignorance" but we could not imagine why we were suddenly smelling SKUNK in our room at GVR. When we realized it was pot coming through our bathroom vent, we thought it would just be a one-time occurrence. A couple nights later when we checked into Sam's Town, I came up to the room in the evening to refill my drink and the stench was overwhelming. I called the front desk and complained and said it was skunk weed that I was smelling. The lady didn't even seem to be surprised, and said they would have security on it immediately. The problem disappeared, but my questions to the hotel security staff remain. First of all, we were on a no-smoking floor. Secondly, although pot is legal in Vegas, it's only for medicinal purposes. So I just don't get it. Thirdly, that stuff smells GOD AWFUL. If it's going to continue please put them all in their own wing and let them share the ventilation. UGH.
     
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