Just finished 3-22 to 3-27 stay at the Excalibur...

Wish I had found this board earlier, sounds like I missed out on some fun with other members! Anyway, we flew out Monday afternoon, got in about 6. Picked up the rental car (Alamo convertible), Chrysler Sebring Touring model (which translates loosley to "Slowest car available", and I drive a Saturn daily!). Finally made it to the Excalibur about 7:30 or so. Turned over the car to the Valet, and bags to the Bellman. Checked in with about a 10 minute wait in line, somehow found my way through the casino to the elevators. We got Tower 2, 18th Floor, Room 1 (or 18201). So basically, as you're looking at the front of the hotel, we were in the turret on the right side, fourth window down (we think), facing LV Blvd & Tropicana. BEAUTIFUL VIEW! Then, first problem, no fridge (we requested), and a non-smoking room, on a non-smoking floor (we requested SEVERAL TIMES to be in a SMOKING ROOM). Called the fornt desk, Fridge is on it's way, and now they're sending two ashtrays with it. Damn, was hoping for a room upgrade! Oh well, still had a FANTASTIC view of the NYNY, MGM, Monte Carlo, and Bellagio's signs. Bags showed up about ten minutes after I called, fridge and ashtrays showed up a minute later. This was my second trip, girlfriend's first trip. Last time I was out there, the company put me up in the Bellagio, so I was worried I might be a bit dissapointed with the Ex. Not so! Clean, nice place, quiet enough even with a floor half full of college kids in for March Madness (had like ten staying two rooms over).

OK, so her first night ever in Vegas, my first night back, what to do? Grab the car from the Valet, and go cruisin! Up the strip we went, and it was just perfect. Hit the radio, whaddya know, already tuned to a smooth jazz station. Traffic crawling along, we were just soaking a neon tan. Now, get this. As we passed the Bellagio, the fountains were shooting the high stuff. I was a bit dissapointed by the construction at Ceaser's, but no sweat. Passing the Mirage, the Volcano starts up. NIIIIIICE. Finally made it up to the Strat, turned around, and headed back to the hotel. Tossed the Valet the keys, did the moving walkway halfway to the Luxor, decided we were too hungry, headed back to the buffet at the Ex. GREAT BUFFET! We have some casino's here in KC, and they have buffets. NOTHING LIKE THIS! Headed back up to the room full, fat, and happy. Fired up the Jacuzzi, sat in it looking at the MGM and the NYNY coaster.

Tuesday started with some walking. Did the walk from the Ex through the Lux and all the way to the Shark Reef at the Bay, where the line was already back to the hallway. Turned around, hopped the tram back to the Ex. Headed to NYNY, nice place to visit, dunno if I'll ever stay there. Here's something I didn't expect: People are selling the hell outta timeshares in Vegas. And they'll give you just about anything you ask for in exchange for two hours of your time. Well, now we know how we'll be seein' Rita Rudner on friday. Next trip, I'm making a ful day of the timeshare folks, just to see how many freebies we can get. Hey, if they'll grab people who look like we did and somehow expect us to drop 20 grand on a whim, I'll take their 100 bucks worth of Tickets AND the 30 dollar food credit and run! Then headed to the MGM, nice hotel, but probably wouldn't stay there just due to the sheer size of it (did I hear somewhere it's the largest hotel in the world?). FInally headed back to the hotel, grabbed some sodas, and then went to sit for two hours and listen to how wonderful owning a timeshare is, and how much the salesman didn't like folks from Kansas. Too bad for him (as he soon found out) that it's where we live.

Headed downtown that night, to see if we ever wanted to stay there. Had heard great things about the Nugget, but I think maybe the new owners maybe aren't doing too well so far at impressing me. Hit some good slot pays at the Fitz, and did the 5.95 prime rib at the Golden
Gate. Pretty good for a meal that came in under 20 bucks. Didn't hit all the casinos Tuesday night, but decided to come back the next night and try to catch another FSE show.

Wednesday started with our first visit to Hoover Dam. Wow, big. Found out later that her Great-grandfather helped build it. Rubbed the statue toes (didn't help much). Got back to vegas about 2. Headed back out that night, got some great shots of the Eiffel Tower at dusk, saw the best fountain show I've ever seen (and I stayed at the Bellagio before), brought tears to my eyes (opera music NEVER does that!). Went in, saw the flowers, came out, great night shot of the tower, decided it'd be fun to go up it. Found out how afraid of heights I am, esp. since it was swaying a good bit that night. Didn't matter, got a GREAT overhead view of the fountain show and a LOT of pics. Back on earth, headed to Aladdin, did the slot tourney, and hit 30 bucks on the 10 dollar credit they give you for entering. So basically, we did good there, since our "Free" gift was a jacket, and we made 5 over the entry fee. Headed back down to Freemont Street. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but almost every casino smelled horrible that night. Golden Gate and Fitz managed to avoid it, but everywhere else smelled like a mixture of wet ashtray and sewer. Only in the casino's, too, not on the street. RAN, didn't walk, back to the hotel.

Thursday we decided we'd never be able to see everything we wanted to, so we headed to Sahara for the Cyber-speedway. Pretty sweet, definately worth the 10 bucks. Just try not to do it when there're three youngs boys also in for the ride. They thought it was Cyber-demolition derby, and nobody did very well. Picked up about 50 at the craps table, and she got 75 from a slot, so we called it good and headed back to our hotel, as we had 7:30 tix for Jeff Hobson's "Money and Madness" show. Pretty good show, he actually throws out money into the audience, we paid 26.50 each for the tix, came out with 19 bucks we didn't have before, so almost paid for one of us to go. Went out afterwards to see the Sirens show, which was closed due to winds. Did check out the Venetian, the tiger at the Mirage, and the Volcano show up close.

Friday morning, we drove out to Red Rock park, BEAUTIFUL. DEFINATELY worth the 5 bucks admission. If you've never been, I'd say go, if you like natural beauty. Headed back to teh Sahara. I have to give them credit, the gal in the slot club office didn't remember us, the the valet and all the craps table workers remembered our names! From only one visit the day before! Maybe it helps that when I play craps, about 50% of the time I have a bet down for the dealers. Walked out this time about 50 bucks down, but feeling VERY impressed that they remembered us. Will probably stay there in the future. Headed back to the Ex, played some craps & slots, ended up down about 100 to them. Toook a break, went over and used our Rita tickets. She's definately funny, but a lot of her stuff doesn't apply if you're not a woman or a guy in a long-term relationship/married. Headed back to the craps table at the Ex afterwards, ended up about $150 up for the night. First table I've ever seen where 9 of the 10 players had bets on the Don't pass line, if that says anything about the number of 7's thrown that night! Dice final;ly started getting volatile, so we went up and enjoyed our last night in the hot tub, staring outside with heavy hearts.

Saturday morning I must have felt generous, as I went down and donated my winnings and a bit more back to the craps table. Oh well, won't be back for a while, might as well have tried. Here's a tip if you're staying at the Ex: They have 15-minute unloading/loading spaces by the back doors of Tower 2, which is right next to the elevator, so you don't have to re-drag everything back through the casino on your way out. We actually loaded up Friday night and valet'd, so Saturday morning we only had one bag left to toss in the car. Picked up the car from the valet, made one final trip up and down the strip with the top dropped, then turned it in and headed back to the airport.

We're already planning another trip, maybe in December. Anyone know what the weather's like then?

-Mike

 

Mike,

Great report! Sounds like you gave the girlfriend a good first impression of LV!!! December will be a little cooler. 50-60 days and 30's-40 nights? but nice in that there will not be near the crowds as you experienced for MM...

 

Sounds like fun. Kinda thought non-smoking room meant more than just not putting out ashtrays but maybe they were booked up and had to make do. Rolling up and down the strip in a convertible does sound like a blast, makes me want to trailer my MG out there. We also had fun at the Sahara, that's definitely on the list for the future.

As Neon said, December would be cold (been out in late Nov and Feb), but some places have heated pools (Luxor being one), and during the day in the sun it's almost warm. A slot club lady told me that it's when most of Vegas takes vacation, though, so some shows may be off.