Yo ElevenMan
Tourist
My wife and I are in our mid-thirties and go to Vegas annually. This was our second trip in 2002 and the most interesting to date.
We have found that driving from Denver is not that difficult so we again set out on the open road for Vegas at 5am on Thursday (Sept 29). I averaged 100mph (no lie) and we emerged from the desert at 1pm Vegas time (9 hours elapsed). If anyone has beaten this time I would love to hear about it.
We normally stay at the Venetian or Mirage but decided to shack up at the Monte Carlo on this trip. I pulled right in the third level of the parking garage about four spaces away from the walkway that takes you to the hotel and casino. SWEET! The car would remain in that space the entire trip (for more reasons than one which I will explain later).
The check-in line was almost empty so we got our room within 10 minutes. I tried the $20 trick and the desk clerk handed the $20 back to me and proceeded to price an upgrade for a better room. We declined but he was nice about the whole thing. Bottom line - IT DIDNT WORK.
Got to the room and unpacked when my wife realized she forgot her black pants. We decided to go over to Bellagio and find an overpriced outfit for her. Tram arrived in seconds and we were wisked over to Bellagio. No dice on the pants - $500 was the cheapest we could find.
Took the tram back to Monte and I proceed to plop down $200 on a $5 craps table. Played basic strategy and quickly lost $700 in the first hour at the casino. OUCH!!!
Later we went to MGM and my wife played three card poker and lost another $100. We called it a night and went to bed around 10am down $800.
Next morning after Nathans for breakfast we headed out to the pool. It was better than expected but not as nice as Mirage. After getting some sun we headed to the room th change for the evening.
I went to get a pair of shoes from the car when i realized that my key was missing from the nightstand in our room. Did I lose it the night before or did someone take it? I was sure I placed it there. We proceeded to turn the room upside down for and hour with no luck. Found someone elses keys under the TV stand - really I did. Called housekeeping, security, and lost and found - no luck. Just about to have my in-laws FEDEX another set of keys when i realized AAA would make one at no cost. Called the locksmith and he was at my car before I could come down from the room. An hour later and the problem was solved. (The hotel finally found my key but did not call my room and instead left a message on my home machine - not impressed).
After the Key debacle we ate and drank at the brew pub and then headed over to Alladin so the wife could play some more three card poker. Nice hotel and casino! Drank three Cosmo's and then the wife hit a $10 straight flush and won $700 - back to even money now. Walked over to Bellagio and bought my wife a necklace from Tiffany's for an early birthday present! Wow she looked good in it.
We skipped dinner and caught a taxi to the Palms and went to the Ghostbar on the 44th floor. Zero wait at 10pm for an impressive view (after $20 cover of course). Drinks were $11 each - YIKES. ended up staying awake basically all night.
Next day wife had hangover and I was dog tired. We hap until 12 noon and then set out for the night once again. Brew pub for a second day was great then off to Mirage and Venetian for Craps. Won $50 overall and played for awhile so i fealt much better. After that we took a Taxi to Madalay Bay which is now my favorite casino. Absolutely beautiful place! Lost $200 at Craps, not bad.
Sunday was our last day so we wanted to make the most of it. Skipped the pool and headed back to Alladin for more three card poker. Wife played for 5 hours(down $600)without one person at the table getting three of a kind or a straight flush. AMAZING. Finally she got dealt a straight flush and again we were even for the trip.
Had dinner at Blackstones (best steak I ever ate). My wife wanted to try craps so we went back to Mandalay. She lost $200 there and they changed to $10 minimum so we took the tram to Luxor. Tram was so packed it was scary! Our stay at Luxor was quite fun as we proceeded to watch this girl roll for 45 minutes straight. Wife won $1000. NICE.
We decided to walk to Alladin (bad choice) and by the time we arrived we were exausted. Wife lost $600 at three card poker and another $500 at craps. NOT GOOD. We decided to call it quits on that note and headed back to pack for the trip home.
All in all a great vacation in Vegas! Hope it wasn't too long winded.
About Monte Carlo - nice room and great access, however all the talk about noisy rooms is true. Walls are paper thin and the plumbing woke me up several times!
Good luck to all!
We have found that driving from Denver is not that difficult so we again set out on the open road for Vegas at 5am on Thursday (Sept 29). I averaged 100mph (no lie) and we emerged from the desert at 1pm Vegas time (9 hours elapsed). If anyone has beaten this time I would love to hear about it.
We normally stay at the Venetian or Mirage but decided to shack up at the Monte Carlo on this trip. I pulled right in the third level of the parking garage about four spaces away from the walkway that takes you to the hotel and casino. SWEET! The car would remain in that space the entire trip (for more reasons than one which I will explain later).
The check-in line was almost empty so we got our room within 10 minutes. I tried the $20 trick and the desk clerk handed the $20 back to me and proceeded to price an upgrade for a better room. We declined but he was nice about the whole thing. Bottom line - IT DIDNT WORK.
Got to the room and unpacked when my wife realized she forgot her black pants. We decided to go over to Bellagio and find an overpriced outfit for her. Tram arrived in seconds and we were wisked over to Bellagio. No dice on the pants - $500 was the cheapest we could find.
Took the tram back to Monte and I proceed to plop down $200 on a $5 craps table. Played basic strategy and quickly lost $700 in the first hour at the casino. OUCH!!!
Later we went to MGM and my wife played three card poker and lost another $100. We called it a night and went to bed around 10am down $800.
Next morning after Nathans for breakfast we headed out to the pool. It was better than expected but not as nice as Mirage. After getting some sun we headed to the room th change for the evening.
I went to get a pair of shoes from the car when i realized that my key was missing from the nightstand in our room. Did I lose it the night before or did someone take it? I was sure I placed it there. We proceeded to turn the room upside down for and hour with no luck. Found someone elses keys under the TV stand - really I did. Called housekeeping, security, and lost and found - no luck. Just about to have my in-laws FEDEX another set of keys when i realized AAA would make one at no cost. Called the locksmith and he was at my car before I could come down from the room. An hour later and the problem was solved. (The hotel finally found my key but did not call my room and instead left a message on my home machine - not impressed).
After the Key debacle we ate and drank at the brew pub and then headed over to Alladin so the wife could play some more three card poker. Nice hotel and casino! Drank three Cosmo's and then the wife hit a $10 straight flush and won $700 - back to even money now. Walked over to Bellagio and bought my wife a necklace from Tiffany's for an early birthday present! Wow she looked good in it.
We skipped dinner and caught a taxi to the Palms and went to the Ghostbar on the 44th floor. Zero wait at 10pm for an impressive view (after $20 cover of course). Drinks were $11 each - YIKES. ended up staying awake basically all night.
Next day wife had hangover and I was dog tired. We hap until 12 noon and then set out for the night once again. Brew pub for a second day was great then off to Mirage and Venetian for Craps. Won $50 overall and played for awhile so i fealt much better. After that we took a Taxi to Madalay Bay which is now my favorite casino. Absolutely beautiful place! Lost $200 at Craps, not bad.
Sunday was our last day so we wanted to make the most of it. Skipped the pool and headed back to Alladin for more three card poker. Wife played for 5 hours(down $600)without one person at the table getting three of a kind or a straight flush. AMAZING. Finally she got dealt a straight flush and again we were even for the trip.
Had dinner at Blackstones (best steak I ever ate). My wife wanted to try craps so we went back to Mandalay. She lost $200 there and they changed to $10 minimum so we took the tram to Luxor. Tram was so packed it was scary! Our stay at Luxor was quite fun as we proceeded to watch this girl roll for 45 minutes straight. Wife won $1000. NICE.
We decided to walk to Alladin (bad choice) and by the time we arrived we were exausted. Wife lost $600 at three card poker and another $500 at craps. NOT GOOD. We decided to call it quits on that note and headed back to pack for the trip home.
All in all a great vacation in Vegas! Hope it wasn't too long winded.
About Monte Carlo - nice room and great access, however all the talk about noisy rooms is true. Walls are paper thin and the plumbing woke me up several times!
Good luck to all!
Plus it seems it's always snowing or VERY windy (I've done it in December and January).