Live from Vdara- 2/13/10

With all these wonderful reviews of City Center - wonder if I should by some MGM puts for 6 months-1 year out - just might do that - if I could only figure out these damn new option symbols lol! Buy me 20 of MGM42473294732473209473298740983274093248709328740932874032874 - sure that is a lot easier than MGMAC

 

Geez, I'm sorry you're having such a bad experience. Particularly after you responded to my mostly positive post before you left for Vegas. To anyone else who's booked for Vdara, I can at least tell you that room 41042 has a great view and absolutely no technical problems.

 

That Whole Foods receipt would be handed directly by me to the manager (after making a copy). Along with a request that THEY go to the store & replace the items at their expense & deliver them to your refrigerator.

 

So I know you all are just dying to live in our misery. Well it is now 8 :52pm Vegas time. We ordered our $140 room service compd on Vdara, whatever. The air con that was supposed to be fixed while we were out @ 1pm-7pm tonight was not ( actually I called and they said it was, which turns out, it was not...) so we have had maintenance guys here since we returned @ 7pm tooling around with the air con, replacing freon, valves, you name it. So, happy Valentines Day for us, yipee! Shared with 2 complete strangers, our child and $140 worth of cold food, awesome... as I am typing this, the master bedroom air con is still making some strange noise. At least the microwave did not start smoking when I re-heated dinner, so that is a plus.

I even spoke to the "manager" earlier and point blank asked what is the deal. We have been MORE than patient, and why were these "issues" not addressed, especially when I called this morning? She said ( you all will love this one) that the air con WAS fixed and that I did not advise them of the noise. Well, I corrected her very quickly and told her I did advise Justin of the smoking microwave, the furnace of 80 degrees this morning and the upside down mattress when I called this morning, including the electrical issue with the mysterious vent "noise" which also in sync turned off the TV. So the guys asked if I did, which of course we did, and they jut shook their heads. It is so painfully obvious that Vdara really hurried to open this "resort" and many, many, many things were overlooked. As I told the "manager" we are done, just done. We have started to resort to alcohol to get thru this AND this was supposed to be a very much needed break and celebration.

The frustration/ stress of all this non-sense I now have a beautiful cold sore on my lip, nice, and we are really, really wishing we would have booked Mandarin or better yet, the cruise, we considered. But nope, we are here @ Vdara. Also, when we ordered dinner, I had also ordered the kids rice krispy treats and choc covered marshmellows as that was the one "safe" thing our daughter could eat. They are out of both. I asked " you have nothing that is gluten free"? No, the chef check the fridge for marshmellows and they are out?! Hell, even Walgreens has marshmellows, WTF? So being the good Mom I try to be, before my dinner got here, I braved it to CVS and got my princess a allergy friendly treat, hubby was enjoying his very expensive, very nice whisky from the bar downstairs. Thank god I worked out this morning and did a quick 11 miles on the treadmill, the only thing keeping me together.

So, tomorrow is another day here at Circus Circus, I mean Vdara, trying to play dress up as a 5 star hotel, yeah ok. Happy happy joy. We are going to see Matsuri, hit the Secret Garden @ Mirage for the millionith time, which is fine. Most of all, our strenght as a family has really been awesome. We have laughed thru most of this disaster. Infact, the highlight was Bella at her dinner ( 5pm @ Sushisamba) where we got her kids hamburger and rice. She goes ( mind you, she is 7 1/2 yrs) " no way I am a vegan/ vegitarian like Mom. NO WAY. This hamburger just rocks all the way. And let me tell you, my meat is very important to me. None of this veggie burger junk, I need my meat, just like Daddy. So, thumbs up!" OMG, I almost had my glass of champagne come flying out of my nose. We were laughing so hard, we were crying. It was pretty funny. So I guess thru all this, we can still laugh and have fun, even if we have complete strangers in our room at 9:10pm on Valentines Day seeing us in our PJ's oh well! Sorry for the typo's it has been a LONG day!

 

i don't even know what to say to your issues that you've had. it's a shock the city center is still dealing with basic upkeep to their rooms at this point. you have been more than polite and tolerable....i guess you just realized nothing is going to be the way it should and you will make the best of it. good luck and i applaud you for your patience.

freakin city center p.o.s.

 

I would go down to check in, talk with highest ranking person on site, demand to be moved and comped to the MO with the current bill at Vdara taken care of on the house. Zero excuse for that nonsense.

 

Horrible - it's like reading a movie script for a Chevy Chase vacation.

I am so sorry that you are going through this and now, selfishly, so worried about next month. I checked with the DD - her Expedia trip is paid for and non-refundable. I'll let ya'll know if I hear anything back from concierge.

 

is still shaking my head at the comedy of errors you 3 are going thru

totally NOT acceptable........ as one earlier poster suggested , perhaps they should shut down entire hallways/floors and have maintanence/quality control go thru the rooms again....... and rethink which rooms to let folks check into! good grief

 

What a joke...I am glad I have not much interest in the strip anymore, or "shitty center" for that matter!

You deserve a free vacation for what this crappy excuse for a hotel has done and not done.

 

Wow you have alot of patience! After the second room I would of been out of there and demanding refund. Hope the rest of your stay is enjoyable.

 

Good Morning All!

I am enjoying my cup o coffee and some quiet and my other two are still fast asleep! I am planning on getting my caffene on and hitting the gym for a quick 8-10 miles run, some yoga then we are "dealing" with these issues. It got even better after I logged off last night. So, apparently the air con in the sitting area NEVER worked, that is right, never worked. Now, according to the front desk, it was serviced and the main guys said it DID work, hmmmm. Someone obviously not doing their job around here. Now, here comes the fun part....hang on...

The master bedroom air con, needs some random valve which OF COURSE they do not have ( story of our life this trip I tell you all!). So now, they have to contact a outside contractor ( yes you are reading this right) and see if they can remove and re-soder this valve in. So all night it was hissing, banging, everytime it kicked on. I made the guys show my daughter what it looked like on the inside so she would not be scared of the noise anymore and see there is not some wicked beast living inside the closet. It kicked on last night before they got here and it was so loud, she high tailed it out of the room into the hall!

So, the guys that were here last night, one left us his home phone number to call him IF we had any questions. He was very, very nice and so apologetic, he was just in shock after we had told him everything. Honestly, so are we at this point. He also said, we CAN move again ( move #4) and they have many BIG rooms here. Such a hassle to move all the food again, all of our crap, again....

Also, found out some "insider'" information...apparently, not public knowledge ( well will be in about 2 seconds), not all the floors are even open here in this pos hotel. Taking a step back, it now is very obvious, but just some insider info there.

The HUGE problem we are having is we booked this trip thru Southwest Vacations, which we have never done ( usually book separ) and will never, ever do again. I am also calling them at some point today and American Express. Thank god I used my AMEX. We are in some top 3% spending group with Amex so we have a "team" of litigators that will fight for us. I have used it one other time, and let me tell you, stuff was resolved very quickly. Something has to be done. We have spent a better time of this trip moving rooms, on the phone complaining or dealing with strange men in our room....and I think what is really the kick in the groin is we choose this over doing a cruise which would have left yesterday....

We are going to see Matsuri. I am having some "alone" gambling time while hubby takes daughter to M & M world. I hate to say this but our flight home Weds cannot come soon enough. I think if given the option, we would fly home tonight and just call it a day...so sad...mind you, this was a trip we had all looked so forward to. Our daughter even made a countdown calendar in her room...I will update later

On a total side note. The Chinese New Year decorations at Palazzo, Bellagio, Wynn and Venetian are just SO beautiful! We are hoping to catch the tiger dance today. I donated some cash to the casino at Palazzo yesterday afternoon. I was not feeling it and husband insisted I go in the casino and gamble. I was out $100 in about 3 mins. Didnt even really care. Today has got to be a better day!

 

Hi Lauri-

No, that is so not true and do not let Expedia tell you otherwise. I have learned thru many cancelled, "non-refundable" reservations thru Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline, nothing, absolutely nothing is absolute. First, speak to a supervisor at Expedia. Explain to them all the issues your friends is currently having at Vdara and the lack of management to handle the issues at Vdara, therefore really making this hotel unable to be occupied.

Second, call your credit card company and explain the issue. They will fight for you regardless of what cc it is. You are usually backed 100% by all credit cards for purchase protection. Especially since you are looking to re-book at a acceptable hotel, not cancel completely.

Sorry on this one, I would fight like hell. You do not want to even risk going thru this nightmare, especially on a wedding. From what I am hearing everyone here is having some type of "issue". We saw 3 diffrent sets of maint guys on our floor alone!

Good luck

 

I would love to hear more about your trip, such as the gaming, shows, restaurants. What are you able to enjoy with your daughter? I'm curious how families work their adult time with kids there. Sorry Vdara has been such a night mare. I would also call Expedia today and not wait until you leave, as well as call to discuss with your credit card company. Expedia can fight with the hotel while you are still there to support your claims. Good luck!

 

We do all the "kid" friendly things. Example, Secret Garden @ Mirage, MGM tiger display ( daughter held cub and had pic taken w/ cub for $25 over NYE), M & M world, KA, Matsuri, Mystere, LOVE, shopping, Build A Bear ( our tradition), taking in the sights which yes, included the Pussy Cat Dolls ( never said we were perfect parents) the girls were just doing their jobs @ Caesars casino.

For adult time, well, book a suite w/ sep bedroom and bathroom. The Signature I think is still the best option for this. Use Luxury Suites Intrl for that, we have several times and never have any issues there. We tag team it for working out, gamble ect. It is just the 3 of us. We have no one really we can leave daughter @ home to watch her, so if we want to really travel anywhere she comes with us and enjoys it. We have learned just to be realistic about how the trip will go and we are not here for a "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas type of vacation those days are long gone!

You can bring the kiddos and still have a lot of fun. Just be realistic about getting them off the strip at a decent time to avoid accelerated sex education. And really, is what they see any worse that some commericials on TV these days?

 

well even though its a pain for you i really appreciate this report as it validates some of the feelings i had when staying at Aria. Its ez for folks at home to see you on vacation and say oh this or that seems so minor. But the thing they forget is you have worked long months for this vacation and are paying premium dollars for everything to be PERFECT. Then thanks to the incompetence of MGM-Mirage, even the most basic things can not be done properly. To me THAT is a BIG DEAL! That is tantamount to fraud, theft by deception, false advertising, call it what you will. Your reservation and prepayment establishes a contract with them to provide the promised level of vacation experience. MGM and Harrahs are no better than snake oil salesmen. Only Wynn, and maybe Palazzo truly deliver.

anywho ya might as well have a great time berating those rahPtards and keep on partying it up!

 

My heart goes out to you and your family,the way that you've been treated is horrible. Thank you for posting your reviews. Here's hoping that the rest of your stay gets much much better!!

 

I was really hoping that Vdara would have taken care of all your problems and you would now be reporting how smooth everything was going. I feel for you. Not only would I have called my cc company and sicked them on MGM/Mirage but I would have spent much of my free time telling people (if there were any) checking in not to waste their money or time. I would be bad mouthing Vdara everywhere.

 

I don't think I'd use a debit card for Vdara, preferably an Amex, they have given me a lot better "representation" in disputes than useless JP Morgan Chase. I once got DOUBLE-CHARGED on my Chase card for a room (both Expedia AND the hotel charged me) and I lost the dispute! It took me over 6 months to get straightened out with the hotel manager.

 

If you haven't already done so, I strongly suggest that you direct the Vdara management to this thread. It might help.

 

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