Live from Vdara- 2/13/10

Wow, I dont think I have ever had such a bad experience at any hotel. This will be our fourth trip to Vegas. First time stayed at the Riviera (only because hubby's boss took us for a convention). Will never stay there again. Second time stayed at the Monte Carlo. That was a good stay. Only thing was it wasnt in the middle of the strip. Third trip we stayed at the Flamingo in one of the regular rooms. Was not impressed. Room was dingy. Buffet was horrible (father got sick after eating the soft serve ice cream). We also booked this upcoming trip through Southwest vacations and will be staying at Bally's. Little worried after reading the reviews about Bally's. Hopefully all will be great. Hope your trip starts looking up and your family can actually start enjoying it.

 

Hmm....I don't think I have really seen a bad review on Ballys. I doubt you will have any problems there - I KNOW you won't be experiencing anything like bellamom is!

Regardless, your patience is about 2.6 million% higher than mine would be......

It is good that you are documenting this all as it happens so times & events are recorded. I would note any names not already recorded to help in documenting these events.

 

Good Morning all-

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post, it has been busy around here. Yesterday was full of surprises. I went down to the gym to do a quick ( very quick 7 min/ mile run, cant walk this morning, nice!) and came back to the room to find my husband on the phone with the Director of Hotel Operations. She had read my post on Facebook and had wanted to hear what was going on with our stay. So, all sweaty, I got passed the phone. I filled her in and she was very nice, and very apologetic. Now, before I had gone down to work out, I had also opened a claim with our Amex card, now of course, I did not share this information and I not pulling the claim until everything that was promised is indeed fullfilled.

So, long story short, we got to see Lion King last night complements of Vdara, came back to the room with some chocolates, rice crispy treats/ marshmallows and a note of apology. We are also are supposed ( key word here) be coming back here in a month on the house. Now orgininally she was working on getting the trip refunded, however, I had also mentioned we were looking at coming back here in a month for daughters birthday, which is how the credit stay came up, which is fine as long as it is up to par. Honestly, me and husband and daughter are absolutely just exhausted. Daughter now sounds like she is getting sick, which is not totally unheard of as we have not had one good nights sleep here yet. The air is still not working so yet another phonecall this morning. I spent another night getting up and adjusting the thermostat down to try and get cool air down. Add in all this drama and well, this has not been a fun vacation for any of us. Honestly, wish we were going home today and sleeping in our own bed.

Another note, Vdara is not on the strip. Good walk back to Vdara just like Signature. I learned this fun lesson venturing out to get dinner for us over at Planet Hollywood from Tacone Grill and bringing back to room. Not as close as one would think. Also, it is VERY noisy. Reminds me of living in the city of Chicago many years ago. They got the "city" feel down that is for sure. The walkway from Vdara to Bellagio is great as long as you are back by midnight, which for us, not an issue. We did take the tram from here to Monte Carlo last night on our way over to Mandalay Bay, nice as well. Monte Carlo looks much, much nicer from what I remember. Nice food court, really pretty inside.

Sorry for all my rants. And for anyone sitting at home thinking what we went thru not a big deal, trust me, I have NEVER, ever experienced anything like this on this level. I used to travel for my job and my second car was literally a Southwest airlines jet and my second home some hotel, meaning I was gone 3 days a week. When we travel we totally admit we are travel snobs. We usually stay at the Four Seasons when we can or something close to it. We do this because of our daughter's allergies and we do spent a lot of time in the room. This would have never happend at the Four Seasons or really most hotels. We are just to emotionally spent from dealing with all this. This again was really supposed to be our "vacation" to get us thru the next couple months as husband will not have any time off for some time. So we shall see what today brings...

Yesterday, we did venture over to the Mirage and the Secret Gardens. Saw the dolphins and the baby dolphin, Bella, who our dd loves as her name is Bella as well. We saw the dolphin Bella when she was only a few months old, now she is 18 months old and still really cute. We also saw the new baby white tigers who were also adorable. The weather here the past few days has been just fantastic. Not too crowded, and I think today will be even less so. From the Mirage we walked around a bit, and took in the sights. I can tell you, the casualness of dress here has taken on a whole new level with people. Gone are the days of trying to dress to impress. Really kind of strange, sign of the times I guess.

We decided I would head to PH to pick up dinner from Tacone Grill ( Restaurant.com coupon, we love Tacone) and I would meet them back at room. I hit Gap which had an awesome 45% off everything sale. Picked up some really cute stuff for Bella ( she is in a uniform during the week) and a adorable sequined dress for her to wear to Lion King marked down from $50 to $10! She looked SO cute in her dress, found out, we were all overdressed...Got dinner and started my trek back to Vdara. Scarfed down dinner, changed and took tram/ cab to Mandalay Bay.

MB was also just dead. Most of these casinos have been very, very quiet. So the new "standard" for seeing shows is tank tops, cut off jeans, jesus sandals ( Birkenstock), T Shirts, and hooker wear. I am not kidding. I was shocked at what some people think is acceptable to wear to a show, or let alone outside their hotel room, again, sign of the times.

The Lion King show was great. The opening act just blew us all away. I have to admit a few times I felt my eyes getting very heavy, not because of the show, b/c of lack of sleep. The show ended at 10pm and poor Bella was a walking zombie. The line for the cabs was easily 250 deep. The bellman came to the end of the line and grabbed us and another family with a young daughter and brought us to the front of the line. Sorry to all the people I am sure we pissed off, but honestly, so thankful as we knew it was a matter of time before Bella really hit the wall. She is a total nightowl like me, however 3 days on no sleep finally caught up with her. We made it back to Vdara with a very strange cab driver talking on her cell phone speaking Indian the entire time, whatever.

Get to the room, Bella puts on her jammies and puts herself to bed in the other room. We were wondering where she was, and poof, she was asleep in bed! Poor kid! By this time I am totally convinced the chocolates Vdara gave us were Exlax disguised at gourmet chocolates as my tummy was upset ALL night. More than likely stress, mixed in with something I ate ( I also have allergies to everything EXCEPT Veuve Cliquot Champagne which has been my main nutritional source this trip ) so between that and the thermostat, made for again another fun, and yet exciting night!

Today we are doing the white trash buffet as I like to call it. We need to try and eat some of our cold/ frozen food left that we cant pack and bring back to AZ. So we will be much like the hyenias in Lion King last night, scrounging for food! Ha! Not sure what we are going to do today. I would like ( key word here) to gamble as I have not (boo, hiss, boo), but honestly, with the fantastic luck we have had up to this point, not sure it gambling is a smart idea. Hell, maybe my luck will change? Or could just skip it and piss away some money at the many new stores here...

So that is all my friends for now. I predict some champagne today, walking and enjoying this weather, and who knows what else. We are going to try and relax and enjoy our last day here...
cheers!

 

Yay! Nice to see your family and you have a good time finally!!!

 

Turnaround...

I am glad to see there was a little bit of a turnaround for you guys. It was almost painful to go through some of the stuff with you guys, even if we were just reading it online. I hope they truly do make this up to you.

If I stay in a Motel 6, I expect Motel 6 service. If I stay high-end, I want a high-end experience. You guys have certainly gotten more Motel 6 than high-end!!

I'll be watching to see what the "rest of the story" turns out to be!!

 

Sorry for the horrible trip, hopefully either your claim or the director can make it good, although to me it would be hard to make something like that good because ultimtately they can't make up for the time and stress of dealing with those things. The moneys certainly one thing and hopefully they will make good on the refund or next trip comp, but I'd feel like they had a long way to go to break even for me.

Sounds like in the end though you managed as a family unit and that was an enjoyable read.

 

Good Evening Everyone!

Well, considering everything, today was a fun day. We "slept in", which equates to about 7am for us ( 8am AZ time). It was soooo stuffy in here again, grrrr....Bella and I grazed on some of our "safe" food for b fast. Husband went down to the gym. Bella has been sniffling and sneezing since last night, never a good sign. Now, b/c of all or our many "issues", we travel with a mini-pharmacy, meaning more than prepared for any allergy, asthma, or other health "issue" Bella or I might have. So, out the came the well traveled therometer to take Jr. Miss temp, 99.0, awesome! Bella runs low like me 97.5 norm, so 99.0 low grade fever. Also mind you, upon looking around the room, there is about an inch of dust on everything, more than likely from them tooling around with the vents in this wonderful room for the past 4 days, again, awesome. Now, anyone with allergies and asthma knows that breathing in this stuff not a good combo. Throw on top of that , no sleep, stuffy room, travel, perfect combo for a chance to get sick.

Being mom of the year, and Bella not being hungry and us wanting to enjoy the last day here, I bribe ( I mean give the incentive) of having some gluten free pizza for breakfast. No go. Ok, how about GF pizza, AND chocolate? Nope, not hungry. Crap. Not a hungry kid, something MUST be wrong. One more try....how about ANYTHING you want to eat? Bingo! Chocolate, rice crispy treat and some GF pretzels. Hell, not the best breakfast but food I guess. Something in her tummy to get some medicine in there as well. So we decide after again not getting much sleep to call down and tell the director we really just want whatever refund they can give us, IF we come back for Bella's birthday, we want to stay where we want. So, we are still waiting to hear back on that one, more than likely when we check out tomorrow morning, more to come on that one...

So, after Fred gets back from working out, and eats, off we go for our adventure. Now, just so everyone doesnt freak out and think we are dragging around a sick kid with some random illness and exposing everyone....Bella has had chronic upper respiratory "issues" since birth. She was a preemie and has always had sinus/ respir issues. She will get a cold, which usually settles in her ears. Ear infections are not contagious. We know now after 7, almost 8 yrs of dealing with this what we need to do to keep it out of her ears. We set off to CVS to get her some decogestant ( the one thing I did not pack) and talk to the Minute Clinic physician assist ( this is an awesome place! 2 on strip if anyone ever needs urgent care. They are in CVS and Walgreens and cost $50, they will bill insurance). We were already planning on step B IF Bella's ears should get worse and we cant fly home ( perfect way to end trip), and drive back to AZ. PA assures us as long as Bella does not become feverish over 102 ( duh) we cant fly and just keep up with decongestants. So we load up on gum, water and some decogestant and off to Crystals @ City Center.

Hmmm, strange, cold, shopping center. Kind of sterile like City Center. We end up getting lost in there and feel like we are in a maze. Now mind you, my legs are SORE. Most of the stupid escalators going down are not working. I have no problem climbing but walking down, forget it. I really overdid it with my super run and paid for it today! We finally make it out of Crystals and off to MGM. I hit the slots, Fred takes Bella to visit the lions. I played Wheel of Fortune for about what seemed like forever. I ended up losing everything, but provided for some much needed fun.

We all meet up and head back to Planet Hollywood as Bella needs another sugar fix at the new Sugar store. Never said we were perfect parents, sugar seems like a good treat for all of us! Did a quick temp check, temp gone, no Motrin or anything, so hopefully, just a fluke thing. So off we go for some sugar. Load up on treats and walk around a bit. Looking at the clock we realize we spent ALOT of time in MGM and PH as it is almost 4:30. Fred and Bella are fading fast. Usually, we are walking around allday and back to the room by 7ish. However, this trip took so much out of all of us the first 3 days, it finally has caught up with us. I really want to see Aria. So, Fred and Bella head back to camp @ Vdara, I head off to check out Aria.

Wow, so this is where everyone is. Compared to Vdara, Aria is a totally diff world! First, there are people, lots of people. Fun, music, edgy, fun place. I did not think it was smoky like someone else mentioned, and I am very sensitive to smoke. MGM was very smoky today. Aria was not over the top crowded, but had a good vibe. Beautiful interior, not cold like Vdara. Warmer colors, tons of machine, table, restaurants, ect. I decide to hit the slots for a bit. Play for over and hour. Look @ clock, crap, it is past 6pm. Ok, so now I am a bad wife and mother. I can only imagine both husband and child chewing off own arms b/c they are so hungry. I realize I have Fred's phone in my purse, fantastic. Scope out Player's Club desk to see about any comps I have earned today. They agree to give me like $75 to use at restaurant that has takeout, even better. Find house phone and call room to inform family I am on my way with food. Regain super mom status. Bella already ate food in room, Fred has started on import beer in fridge. He has re-stocked my supply of Veuve Cliquot, all is good.

Order bunch of food @ Aria and while waiting walk around some more. I instantly decide we possibly try staying here in the near future. Really nice employees, nice atmosphere overall. Grab food and start on my 2 min walk back to Vdara. Make it back to Vdara, eat dinner, which was really good.

Bella is sneezing and sniffling her tiny head off, no fever so that is a good sign. I am just hoping that whatever this is she is fighting holds off until we are off the plane and back home in AZ. Worst case we can always drive home if we need to. Does not look like it is heading that direction ( everyone cross your fingers), and anyone who has kids knows how quickly these kiddie cooties can either get better or worse within hours...

We have the limo picking us up @ 9am. I packed up most of the crap in the room. Seems this trip all the animals we on their best behavior, no xmas tree just tempting them to be naughty. The petsitter said the dogs did decide to get into the pantry and re-create their own Vegas style buffet, but not a big deal. I think it was some oatmeal or something. They are labs so they like to eat. I have learned to keep anything that could potentially hurt them, waaayyy out of their reach, that is labs for you!

I will update everyone on what our checkout brings in the morning. I am curious to see how all this pans out. I have never been sad to see a trip end. I wish we could start this trip over again this Sat and stay somewhere else. I guess if we are back out in March, we can try. We did have fun today, just a bit tired. As I am writing this, Fred is sacked out on the sofa bed, Bella playing on her Nintendo DSI and we have SpongeBob on the TV, not your typical Vegas adventure I guess, but we still always have fun!
Kim

 

thanks for the report

 

Glad you got in some fun time amongst all the stressy times
I would just take a refund and pass the comp'd room next month , think they will improve service by then?

Thanks for your live reports each day

Have a safe trip home and hope Bella feels better real soon

 

I doubt they will give you a refund, but it will be fun to see you try! I hope you get home safely and quickly!

 

Just to be clear...I am not trying for anything at this point. THEY suggested the refund, not me, so we shall see. At this point anything they do will be appreciated. I am waaayyy past the point of trying anything

 

Good morning all-


This is going to be lighting fast....our flight is cancelled this morning, just got the call, sweet way to start the day! We were woken up with the sweet singing of construction workers doing metal cutting at about 5am this morning, just like Snow White in the forest being lulled by birdies. Bella is congested but seems ok. I have to drug her up pre-flight which is now @ 10am, which leaves me about 30 mins to get outta here! I will update everyone upon checkout!

 

So we made it back to AZ without any more "issues". Easy flight home, pretty empty which explains why ours was cancelled an hour later. Came home to an intact house, all the pets were happy to see us. Hooray for the new petsitter! Did speak to director @ Vdara. They are refunding us 3 nights back to my Amex. Here is the kicker...I asked how much the "refund" was going to be, my answer was " I dont know, we are waiting to see." Little does this person know, the brainiac who checked us in told me how much we were paying per night $200, so if it is anything less than that , we are going to have a problem. So we shall see. I still have my claim open with Amex, so at this point I am letting it go for tonight and tomorrow start sending some emails. I took a bunch of pictures of the room and will get those up tomorrow as well. We are all so tired from not sleeping the entire time we were there. I realize for some that is the norm in Vegas, but for us, we wanted to get sleep!

I went to Bella's school got her work for the week as I am pretty sure she is staying home. She is in good spirits and spiking tiny fevers, nothing horrible.

So, we are still trying to figure out if we are going to go back for Bella's birthday in March or not. I did really like the way Aria looked and the whole vibe there. However, we do really like The Signature and everything there as well. I guess sometimes newer does not always equal better. I am still in shock in the transformation of Monte Carlo's interior. Now, I have no idea what the rooms look like, but the interior did look nice.

So now back to all the fun stuff, you know, unpacking and laundry, yipee! Thanks everyone for all your support thru this journey!
Kim

 

WHEN YA going in March?

 

Well hopefully the refund will work out well. Keep us updated!!

My curiousity abounds at how much you gambled to get a $75 food comp, LOL. Maybe I should be checking at the Players Club desks more often when I am gambling at MGM props.

Did I read once they estimated $50 food comps for 1000 points - that seems too high - so I am probably not remembering it right.

 

As of right now....March 25-28, Thurs - Sun. I want to fly out as soon as hubby gets home from work. Air is sky high on Sunday, so Bella and I might drive out early and just have him fly out after work, us all drive back Sunday. The princess has requested Vegas for her 8th birthday. Pools will be open by then. From what I can remember from last March, it was still kinda chilly...

I have a bunch of offers on my Players Club card I am going to look into tomorrow with a fresh mind.

 

I only gambled about $200 the entire day on slots between MGM and Aria. I was playing a machine @ MGM for about 2 hrs and @ Aria for about 1 1/2 hrs? I already had points from New Years so who knows? I was chatting with the host about our stay @ Vdara, so maybe she felt sorry for me and having to cart back food for my sick kid and husband stuck in room w/ sick kid? Who knows, we were all appreciative for it and the food was pretty tasty.

It was the release I needed for a few hours! Well that and my medicinal glass of Veuve Cliquot!

 

I just uploaded pictures of our suite in my albums. Please excuse the extreme mess, we had literally 10 mins to pack, and get to airport to catch flight as our original flight was cancelled!

 

great pics!

i also wanted to give you "mad props" from my allergy-laden son for the idea of chocolate covered marshmallows and rice crispy treats. last night i melted a few hershey bars and did some dipping and he absolutely loved it! never would have thought of that without your trip report so thanks!

i may have to host a kiddie fondue party next weekend while im home alone with all three kids and wifey is working on her mall of america trip report.

 

Great pictures

Glad you all made it home OK HOpe Bella recovers quick from her sniffles

Hope you don't have any more issues either from AMEX nor Vdara in getting the refunds

TY so much for sharing with us all the fun and games n agonies of your trip!