GN /Flamingo 9/30-10/4

Just returned this morning from 5 days in paradise as usual, it went by too fast, but at least I'm off from work until Tuesday. I'll try to keep things brief for now and add in things as comments come in.

Travel- No problems getting there. Flew out of Providence on Delta with a change in Cincinatti. Very cramped 50 seater plane in the back row which didn't recline. All flights were on time in both directions.

Hotels- Golden Nugget- Stayed on Saturday Night. I had visited on previous trips, but this was my first overnight there. Was assigned room 2182 in The South Tower. Room was about as nice as advertised, with the exception of a somewhat worn carpet and a missing hairdryer. View was overlooking the Plazza and the highway. Staff seemed very professional. I would certainly stay there again without hesitation, especially after the renovations are finished.

Flamingo- Stayed Sunday- Wednesday. First night was $60 plus tax, last 2 were comped. I thought I had scored a free upgrade to a new GO room, when the clerk finally remembered it would be an extra $50 per night. After a quick consult with my wife, we decided it wasn't worth it. We stayed in room 9098 which is the front tower facing the strip. We couldn't see the Bellagio Fountains at all, but had a decent view of the front of Ceasars and their fountains. Could also see the back part of Bellagio. It was one of the blue carpetd rooms, and some of the furniture was quite dated and the bathroom very small, but the room served our needs well. There was no unpleasant odors, the bed was comfortable and overall cleanliness was good. As long as you don't expect Bellagio, Wynn, Venetian, etc... most people will feel comfortable here. It cost me $30 to extend our checkout until 4PM, but well worth it for the fact that I was up until 5:30 AM, a little hungover, and our plane wasn't until 11:45 PM.

Food:
Freemont Buffet- This was one of the pleasant surprises of our trip. We ate here the first night with a 2 for 1 after obtaining the coupon from the FSE offices above Walgreens. It was steak night, and the cost for two was $12.99 + tax. Selection was good, and everything was edible. Would go again when staying Downtown.

Main Street Station Buffet- Went for the Sunday Brunch, and I was not dissapointed. Again used the 2 for 1 coupon. For $9.99 including champagne, it could not be beat!

The Coffee Shop at TI- Ate here before "Mystere". Better then average food for a cafe, and great desserts.

Tropical Breeze Cafe at Flamingo- Although not terrible, had some of the least memorable meals of the trip here. We ate there one night for appetizers about 3 AM, and another morning for breakfast. Very pricey for what you get (Almost 30 bucks for pancakes and coffee including tip for crying out loud!). I would only eat here again if staying at Flamingo and didn't want to travel for a late night meal.

Mandaly Bay Buffet- I'm glad I finally got to try it. It doesn't get the hype of Paris or Bellagio, but it deserves rave reviews IMO. The made to order pastas were great, along with the (presplit) crab legs. Kind of expensive at
$25.00 each for dinner.

Gonzalez Y Gonzalez- Had a nice anniversary dinner. Food was good quality Mexican, in a somewhat noisy room. Prices were more than reasonable with two meals, drinks and a shared dessert coming just over $50.00. Our waiter was exceptional and we took good care of him.

Paris Buffet- Ate there for lunch one late morning. We were a little slow getting out of bed, and there was a big line, and didn't make it until after 11:30 when all lunch was out. Everything I had was great, and will continue to make a visit on every trip.

Harrahs Buffet- Had our last meal here before leaving for the airport. Much better than it was before the remodel. One unique feature is real ice cream instead of the soft serve stuff that most buffets offer.

We also had room service at Flamingo the morning before departure. It was only slightly more than the cafe, and a nice splurge.

Entertainment:

Mystere- It really lived up to the hype. I saw "O" on a previous trip and its hard to say which one I liked better. "O" had a bit more special effects, but I thought Mystere had a few more laughs. We were in the lower section on the left side of the stage. Well worth the $75 ticket price. My wife loved the music and bought the CD. Afterwards we saw "Sirens of TI". While the girls were nice to look at, I found it to be quite corney. Like most people, I would rather have them bring back the original pirate show.

Mamma Mia- Got discounted tickets through ticketmaster for $30 off. I've always enjoyed Abba's music, but the story was better than expected. All the actors were terrific. Well worth your time and money.

Lewis Black- I hadn't caught too much of his act on HBO before, but he put on a good show. The opening comedian did a good job warming up the crowd, and could have done his own show. The only thing I didn't like about the show was the seating in MGM's Hollywood theater. Its set up like a classic Vegas showroom with long booths, and I was practically on my neighbors laps. Also $10 for a diet coke and bottled water was ridiculous. Lynn and I went to Studio 54 after the show and had a great time. There was a good age mix, and none of the annoying wannabe rich folks that I feared bumping into.

Gambling:

Not my best trip to Vegas, but a pretty good end result. Lynn and I signed up for the slot club at Golden Nugget, and I got a decent amount of action for the $10 free play deal. Lynn was tired and went to bed, and I decided to hit the tables. I went across the street to LVC since GN didn't have any 5 dollar tables on Saturday Night. I proceeded to lose at every BJ game I tried, 3 in all. Needing to change my luck, I walked over to California and found a 3 dollar table. I won back some of my VC losses.

We did most of our gambling later in the evenings, and it was mostly at Flamingo in order to maximize comps at Harrahs properties. We also played a little at Harrahs and Ballys. I played a couple of BJ sessions at Flamingo, all at $10 tables, since I did not see a $5.00 once. My luck was pretty crappy, and I tried a little Pai- Gow, and it wasn't much better there. Whenever I managed a decent hand, the dealer would one up me I mostly play VP, and managed a few good hits but no royals. The best gambling session of the trip was when I walked over to Barbary Coast at 3 AM and hit the craps tables. At a 5 dollar table, I made a profit of just over $200 in about an hour! Lynn had no big hits on the slots this trip, which leads to the suspicion, that Harrahs has tightend things up since taking over the Park Place properties.


Final Observations:

Took the monorail a couple times. Its only worth it if you are traveling more than one station. The ride between Flamingo and Harahs was over in about 30 seconds, not worth the money. The pool at Flamingo was great, even though the waterslides were closed. There was no problem finding a chair in the middle of the day on both days that we visited. There seemed to be less porn slappers than on the previous trips, but a lot more time share vultures!! By the end of the trip I wanted to wear a shirt that says, "I have show tickets already, I'm going home later today, leave me alone!!" I would stay at Flamingo again. We had the same offer at Harrahs, and after taking a look at their pool, I'm glad we chose Flamingo.

Sadly, I don't know when my next trip to LV will be at this time. Even with the free airline tickets and a couple free nights, I spent quite a bit of money on this trip. Maybe next October at the earliest.

 

Nice TR Steve.
Thanks for taking the time.

Cheers, ECS.

 

How was your Delta flight from Cinn to LV? Did you notice baggage from Delta being particularly slow?

Thanks for the report.

 

The flights from CVG- Las Vegas were on Delta's 757's. They did not have the new entertainment centers in each seat, but seemed improved from my previous trips on Delta. The seats were leather instead of cloth, and seemed a bit wider. I didn't notice any delay with baggage, as our bags came off the belt within a few minutes of arriving at baggage claim.

 

Great report. This one was especially interesting to me for I was supposed to be in Vegas the exact same time you were but had to cancel due to a serious health problem that developed with my wife's mother. We booked at Ballys and had tickets to Love, Mamma Mia, and planned to go to Jubilee. Luckily I got refunds and credit for the tickets, but it still was a bummer we couldn't go but your trip report was neat for you did what we like to do when in Vegas. Thanks for posting,
Sam