BrokenAlice
Tourist
I hope I don't break any hearts around here when I say that I frequent another Vegas message board. Since last October, the participants of that board had been planning a large Meet & Greet event which took place at Pampas Brazilian Grille in the Miracle Mile shops. I'm not sure of the exact count, but I believe there were over 50 board members attending. Many people brought friends and family. I think there was close to 80 people in total. We had people from all over the world come including the England, Canada, Ireland, and Greece. It was a huge success.
Besides the big event at Pampas there were several smaller gatherings throughout the week. My TR will primarily highlight the places we ate, as most of the events revolved around food. Some of us also took a bus trip to Laughlin. I stayed at three different hotels over 4 nights based on price and location for various events.
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenalice/sets/72157605880003484/detail/
There's a couple videos of Downtown entertainment on my Youtube page: http://youtube.com/user/Brokenalice
I'll start with the hotel reviews and post more later:
Hotels:
Las Vegas Club - I stayed here one night. Both times I have stayed here I booked the North Tower Deluxe room which is more expensive than the South Tower. The room I received this time was certainly larger then my last room, however, this room was far dirtier with lots of old, dried stains on the carpet and a ratty, stained bedspread. I'd hate to see what the lowly South Tower rooms are like. I'm not much of a complainer and as long as there's a working bathroom, quiet air conditioning, and a bed free of insects I am fine. I just tossed the bedspread in the closet, which is something I normally do at any hotel I stay at and wore my shoes most of the time in the room. The bed was not that comfortable, but good enough for one night's sleep. I had the same experience with an uncomfortable bed with my previous stay. I don't know that I'd stay there again, but I only paid $47 for a Saturday night so, again, I'm not going to complain too much.
I had some good luck playing slots at their casino. They also have a little show stage set up in the back of the casino. On Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and 10pm they have "Sin City Circus" perform. From what I gather, the talent changes week to week. This time it had a lovely drag queen hostess that had several fun wardrobe changes and fun being saucy with the crowd. There was a man who performed shadow puppets with his hands in front of a movie screen and did some neat things including facial profiles of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and a few others - all with his two hands. Very cool. There was a juggler who juggled various balls and bowling pins in a theatrical fashion with tumbling around the stage. And the best of them all was a very bendy man doing all sorts of gymnastic/acrobatic tricks and contortions. It was about 20 minutes of entertainment in all and quite fun. Videos are on the YouTube link above.
Binion's - I stayed at Binion's the day after Vegas Club. $33 for one night. I checked in around 12 noon and dropped my bags off. My room wouldn't be ready until 4PM because I specifically requested to NOT be on the Fremont Street side of the building. The next morning I would have to wake at 6AM to go to Laughlin and I didn't want to be awake with the Fremont light show blaring outside of my window.
I was given room 505, with a lovely view of the HVAC units on top of the casino. The room appeared clean, but I still threw the bedspread in the closet because they gross me out. I really liked the headboard on the bed which had a long shelf that extends behind the entire width of the bed, behind the pillows. The bed itself was very comfortable. There was also a single-cup coffee maker with lots of coffee supplies on top of the dresser. The bathroom was small but had the essentials.
Bally's - This was my first time staying at Bally's and I was very pleased. I had booked a South Tower room on a special promotion for $50/night, for two nights. I didn't get to check-in until almost 8pm because I had been in Laughlin all day. The check-in experience went like this:
There were only two clerks working the desk and there wasn't a line, but both clerks were helping someone. I stand at the front of the rope waiting to be next. Here comes this woman stomping up to the counter and demands to be helped. The clerk was helping someone else and told the lady to get in line. So the woman stomps over and stands right in front of me and tells me in no uncertain terms that she was going to be next. Whatever, lady.
When the clerk was done the lady stomps over and starts freaking out about something. Honestly, I don't know what she was yelling about and I didn't bother listening. I just zoned out and waited. The clerk tells the woman to go down to another desk and wait for a manager. The same clerk waves me over to be helped and the lady steps a couple feet over. I was planning on asking the clerk if I could get any kind of view of the fountains with my South Tower room, but after she just got done being yelled at I didn't say a thing. I just handed her my reservation paper and my ID/CC. She click, click, clicked away and then handed me some keys and told me I'd be in the North Tower. I REALLY wanted to be in the South Tower for the potential of a fountain view, but didn't object. I knew this was an upgrade since North Tower was a few years more renovated than South. So I thanked her and went on my way.
I'm dragging my bags down a really long hallway. I am really annoyed because I am all the way at the end of the hall. Last door! I practically walked to Ellis Island! I open the door, put my bags against the wall, see the armoir, couch, bed, and then my head keeps turning to the right and I see I have a HUGE JACUZZI and marble floors and two huge closets, and two sink/vanity areas. There's even a separate room for a toilet, a separate room for a bidet, and a standing glass shower. I could not believe it. I have never had a complimentary upgrade before and this was the upgrade of a lifetime. I got a magnificent suite for $50/night! It was a dream come true.
Ok...I'll do food reviews and stuff later. Thanks for reading.
Besides the big event at Pampas there were several smaller gatherings throughout the week. My TR will primarily highlight the places we ate, as most of the events revolved around food. Some of us also took a bus trip to Laughlin. I stayed at three different hotels over 4 nights based on price and location for various events.
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenalice/sets/72157605880003484/detail/
There's a couple videos of Downtown entertainment on my Youtube page: http://youtube.com/user/Brokenalice
I'll start with the hotel reviews and post more later:
Hotels:
Las Vegas Club - I stayed here one night. Both times I have stayed here I booked the North Tower Deluxe room which is more expensive than the South Tower. The room I received this time was certainly larger then my last room, however, this room was far dirtier with lots of old, dried stains on the carpet and a ratty, stained bedspread. I'd hate to see what the lowly South Tower rooms are like. I'm not much of a complainer and as long as there's a working bathroom, quiet air conditioning, and a bed free of insects I am fine. I just tossed the bedspread in the closet, which is something I normally do at any hotel I stay at and wore my shoes most of the time in the room. The bed was not that comfortable, but good enough for one night's sleep. I had the same experience with an uncomfortable bed with my previous stay. I don't know that I'd stay there again, but I only paid $47 for a Saturday night so, again, I'm not going to complain too much.
I had some good luck playing slots at their casino. They also have a little show stage set up in the back of the casino. On Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and 10pm they have "Sin City Circus" perform. From what I gather, the talent changes week to week. This time it had a lovely drag queen hostess that had several fun wardrobe changes and fun being saucy with the crowd. There was a man who performed shadow puppets with his hands in front of a movie screen and did some neat things including facial profiles of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and a few others - all with his two hands. Very cool. There was a juggler who juggled various balls and bowling pins in a theatrical fashion with tumbling around the stage. And the best of them all was a very bendy man doing all sorts of gymnastic/acrobatic tricks and contortions. It was about 20 minutes of entertainment in all and quite fun. Videos are on the YouTube link above.
Binion's - I stayed at Binion's the day after Vegas Club. $33 for one night. I checked in around 12 noon and dropped my bags off. My room wouldn't be ready until 4PM because I specifically requested to NOT be on the Fremont Street side of the building. The next morning I would have to wake at 6AM to go to Laughlin and I didn't want to be awake with the Fremont light show blaring outside of my window.
I was given room 505, with a lovely view of the HVAC units on top of the casino. The room appeared clean, but I still threw the bedspread in the closet because they gross me out. I really liked the headboard on the bed which had a long shelf that extends behind the entire width of the bed, behind the pillows. The bed itself was very comfortable. There was also a single-cup coffee maker with lots of coffee supplies on top of the dresser. The bathroom was small but had the essentials.
Bally's - This was my first time staying at Bally's and I was very pleased. I had booked a South Tower room on a special promotion for $50/night, for two nights. I didn't get to check-in until almost 8pm because I had been in Laughlin all day. The check-in experience went like this:
There were only two clerks working the desk and there wasn't a line, but both clerks were helping someone. I stand at the front of the rope waiting to be next. Here comes this woman stomping up to the counter and demands to be helped. The clerk was helping someone else and told the lady to get in line. So the woman stomps over and stands right in front of me and tells me in no uncertain terms that she was going to be next. Whatever, lady.
When the clerk was done the lady stomps over and starts freaking out about something. Honestly, I don't know what she was yelling about and I didn't bother listening. I just zoned out and waited. The clerk tells the woman to go down to another desk and wait for a manager. The same clerk waves me over to be helped and the lady steps a couple feet over. I was planning on asking the clerk if I could get any kind of view of the fountains with my South Tower room, but after she just got done being yelled at I didn't say a thing. I just handed her my reservation paper and my ID/CC. She click, click, clicked away and then handed me some keys and told me I'd be in the North Tower. I REALLY wanted to be in the South Tower for the potential of a fountain view, but didn't object. I knew this was an upgrade since North Tower was a few years more renovated than South. So I thanked her and went on my way.
I'm dragging my bags down a really long hallway. I am really annoyed because I am all the way at the end of the hall. Last door! I practically walked to Ellis Island! I open the door, put my bags against the wall, see the armoir, couch, bed, and then my head keeps turning to the right and I see I have a HUGE JACUZZI and marble floors and two huge closets, and two sink/vanity areas. There's even a separate room for a toilet, a separate room for a bidet, and a standing glass shower. I could not believe it. I have never had a complimentary upgrade before and this was the upgrade of a lifetime. I got a magnificent suite for $50/night! It was a dream come true.
Ok...I'll do food reviews and stuff later. Thanks for reading.
