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New Orleans Trip (It hasn’t been this dry since Prohibition)

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Trip Reports' started by fasbman, Nov 11, 2020.

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  1. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    I am scheduled to fly back tomorrow to Houston. I will give a more detailed version when I get back and use my laptop instead of my phone. However, here are a few impressions. New Orleans is generally very competitive with Vegas in terms of liberal liquor rules. When I lived here years ago, I’m not sure that bars even had a closing time. These days, not so much. There is no alcohol served from 11 PM to 8 AM and most bars are still closed from what I understand. I normally make a pilgrimage to Bourbon street, but I couldn’t think of a good reason to do so this trip. Also, there were no free drinks at all (other than at the tables or slots) for either Diamond or Seven Stars at any venue in the casino. The second thing is that while Harrah’s hotel is still nice, it seems to be slipping a bit, even after making allowances for the current situation. I don’t blame the people who work here. I think that it reflects more of a cutback culture. When I went to check in, there were only two employees at the check in counter, and st least 30 people waiting to check in ( there was no separate Diamond or Seven Stars line). I ended up just leaving my luggage at the Bell Desk and came back in a few hours. Also, when I got to my room, I noticed that the bathroom had only one bath towel, a couple of hand towels and only one bar of soap. Of course, for obvious reasons there was no daily maid service. In and of itself, it’s not a big deal, but it seemed to be indicative, along with no additional free drinks, and apparent staffing cutbacks, to be a worrisome trend. Now, I don’t want you to think the trip was a total downer, and I will discuss some good things when I do a more in depth posting when so get back and get some rest.
     
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  2. NewOrleansSlimm

    NewOrleansSlimm VIP Whale

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    the bars pre coronacircus never had a closing time, it was up to the people running the bar when you closed...bars just got the ok to open today at 25% capacity indoors up to 50 people...as for inside harrahs, diamond or 7* all you have to do is stop one of the people on the floor and ask for a drink, most times they dont even check your card and you dont have to be playing to get a drink.

    the hotel has slacked off the front desk for years now, usually its one or two people checking guest and a 3rd person doing diamond and 7*, once they knock the line down they will usually go back to the one or two regular front desk people

    on weekends it has been hit and miss on if its busy or not, weekdays it has been dead, now that Dan is not the GM and Samir is, whats the best solution for when you cant fill the slots you have...add more slots lol

    they added a bunch of slots inside of Masquerade and although we fought the good fight to keep it away, sadly, we now have Triple 0 Roulette table
     
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  3. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    Good to know about stopping a server for a drink. When I asked about free drinks to my host, they definitely didn’t mention that option. With respect to the Diamond/Seven Stars checkin line, the Bell desk person said they don’t do that (at least anymore). PS - IMHO Triple Zero Roulette should be played only if you have a serious death wish!
     
  4. vegasvstr

    vegasvstr VIP Whale

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    Agree on the hotel. Received a room near the bottom facing the parking ramp on a visit in October. Was booked well ahead and let my host know what I thought when told the hotel couldn't do better. (I really think they didn't want to clean a room.) Host gave me a steakhouse comp. , but still the worst room I've ever been given there and during a pandemic?
    The bathroom had a ton of women's hair on the floor and the refrigerator worked, but was totally iced over. Hotel randomly reset my room keys 3 times one day. (Both keys)
    I'm not sure when I'll be back, but they seem to not need more business.
    I will say Lesley at the hotel front desk was nice and helpful.
     

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  5. LB9

    LB9 PH Blackjack Degen

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    Sad to hear this. I'm still hopeful I can make my annual pilgrimage come March, but we shall see. NO seems to have some of the most restrictive alcohol rules in the nation, but I get it.
     
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  6. bdautch

    bdautch VIP Whale

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    I always go for the full week of Thanksgiving but I had to live with canceling this year. Next Thanksgiving, however, will be a party and a half from Oak Street to Vaughn's Lounge and every damn place in between.
     
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  7. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    There is one other thing, I wanted to mention before I forgot. Hot water seems to be sporadic at the hotel. It’s weird too. For some reason it’s hot in the morning, and not at night. You would think that it would be the other way around.
     
  8. NewOrleansSlimm

    NewOrleansSlimm VIP Whale

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    Ive had that problem with the fridge in Biloxi and Las Vegas, usually the cleaning person will check for anything inside and it doesnt close all the way, trying to stay at temp it freezes up, have to open the door and leave it unplugged a few hours.

    I really dont know what to make of this, lol

    never experienced that there, its not like its cold here to not have hot water and the boiler is right next door on top of the parking garage, maybe they aren't running it 24/7 now because it is slow, unsure on this one
     
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  9. LB9

    LB9 PH Blackjack Degen

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    Just responding to the section you quoted that I made, but I hope you didn’t take it as I have an issue with how things are operating down there during the pandemic but rather, an observation.

    By restrictive alcohol rules, I meant during the pandemic and not normal times, which should be quite obvious given how outlandish it would be to intimate during normal times given there were really no rules pre COVID.

    When juxtaposed versus other sized cities, the bars finally/recently reopening struck me as a long term holdout, especially for a city that thrives on people getting tanked with impunity lol. I can’t imagine what the tourist industry is like currently down there, I’m presuming non-existent, but as someone who loves visiting, I would surmise (much like myself) there hasn’t been much allure to come down there recently given one of the main selling points, the food and bar scenes, have been effectively shuttered until recently.

    As much as Vegas thrives on tourism, New Orleans does as well. And as much as I want to come back, it will likely be a while and I would have to imagine I’m not alone.

    Again, this is by no means passing judgment on the government’s rules during the pandemic as I’m sure the mayor is doing what she can, but more of an observation that I can’t see much reason to go back now, much to my chagrin. Love the town, but not grabbing a drink outside or in harrah’s without a hassle seems less than fun.
     
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  10. LuckyDuckyDan

    LuckyDuckyDan High-Roller

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    It's not just NO that has the 11-8 dry period. It's the entire state of Louisiana. We've got the same thing going on at the Nugget/L'Auberge (Lake Charles, LA) and Coushatta (Kinder, LA).

    I agree though - it's definitely felt out there.
     
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  11. vegasvstr

    vegasvstr VIP Whale

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    Have to say Harrahs NOLA did feel a lot less crowded/safer from a virus standpoint versus my trip to LV last week. Not sure on their room cleaning, but I always do my own wipe down.
     
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  12. 3544quebec

    3544quebec High-Roller

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    I'm setting up stills in the bayou - moonshine makes its comeback!

    [​IMG]

    That's me on the right
     
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  13. NewOrleansSlimm

    NewOrleansSlimm VIP Whale

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    gotcha, when I frst read it, im like, we have the most relaxed alcohol laws in the world, but yea now its dead in New Orleans

    we have a few places around that have said screw it and stay open till 2am, they have officials drive around looking for places open past 11pm and its a $500 fine, as long as some have been doing this and on major roads, nothing hidden, im sure someone is getting a nice payoff
     
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  14. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    NewOrleansSlimm, are you suggesting that their could be corruption in Louisiana? I am shocked, yes shocked to hear that! Well, as shocked as Claude Rains was that there was gambling at Rick's, in the movie "Casablanca" anyway!
     
  15. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    Anyway, let me get back to finishing my trip report. From now on I will break it down by categories.

    FLIGHTS

    I flew SW, and the flights left on time and arrived early. On one flight, the middle seat was empty. On the other, I had the row to myself. So, I had absolutely no complaints there!

    Hotel

    I have already spoken about this at some length, so I will add only one more thing. I had booked a City view, but they gave me a River view, which I didn't realize until late the first night (I hadn't opened the curtains yet). This time of year, fog is very common around this region. Hence, riverboats blow there foghorns all night long! Therefore, unless you are a very heavy sleeper, you may want to avoid the River view, especially this time of year. On the other hand, I did get almost 11 hours of sleep last night once I got back to my own bed.

    Food

    I really didn't venture out from the hotel or casino, so food was mainly Fuddruckers or Lucky Dogs. I did eat at Ruth Chris my last night there, which was an interesting experience. The food and service was good. The interesting part came when I was almost done with my meal. I was seated at the bar, with the six foot of separation, so there was an empty chair next to me. The hostess came to me and asked if they could sit someone next to me. Since I was close to finishing my meal, I said yes. Well, as soon as she sat down, I learned that was a mistake! She immediately started complaining to me about how she was a multimillionaire and way into Seven Stars category (and lost $250 K a year) and they were treating her like crap! Well, in my experience, that if you really are a bigshot, you don't tend to advertise so quickly and openly. At that point, the manager stopped by and asked her to please not berate his employees.

    I decided that the best thing was to flag my server down ask for the check, and wolf down the rest of my meal. The check was immediately produced which I paid in cash and hightailed it out of there. The hostess did stop me on my way out, and apologized. She said that she was trying to signal me with her eyes, for me not agree to let her sit there. Well, with a facemask, trying to signal with your eyes is really a little too subtle (especially, with the low lighting they have). More importantly, if you are having a problem with a customer who I assume is being rude and demanding to be seated, you probably shouldn't make it another customers problem. Overall, while I found the incident more amusing than anything, there are others who probably would have viewed it differently.

    Gambling

    All, in all, not too bad. I played probably a 80/20 mix of VP/slots. I ended up earning over 4000 TC (a little over 10K TC total after bonuses). There were no major wins or losses. At the end of the day I was only down a couple of hundred, with a couple of caveats. This was after a $180 FP offer, and a conversion of $500 worth of RC into $500 of FP (of which I realized about $425). Still, when you are out of pocket for only a couple of hundred of losses , for a four night comp stay, I consider that a pretty good bargain.

    COVID Compliance

    What is interesting, is that I don't recall them ever checking my temperature at the hotel (they did take it at Ruth Chris). However, every time I entered the casino, they took my temp. The first time they took it, I asked what it was, and they said 95 point 9 degrees, which seemed low. On the other hand, before I retired, I was often accused of being cold blooded when I cut someone's budget, so maybe that's accurate!

    Thanks for reading this report!





     
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  16. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    There was one other thing that I wanted to mention about free drinks. As I stated, there was no alcohol from 11PM to 8 AM. However, on the PA system they stated that non alcoholic beverages (e.g. coffee, water) would be served during that time. Now for those who haven't been there, Harrah's uses the drink menu system where you order from the VP/slot machine (and what you are allowed to order is determined by your tier level). Now this button was grayed out from 11PM to 8 AM, where you couldn't order anything. I wasn't there too much after 11PM, but I was there around 6 AM on a couple of the mornings, and I never saw a waitress come around for any kind of drink order before the 8AM timeframe.
     
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  17. 3544quebec

    3544quebec High-Roller

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    The hostess needs to get a facemask emblazoned with "Look into my eyes and discover the truth"
    But really - if she felt the woman was going to be a PITA she had the very easy out of telling her that they could not seat her next to you because of social distancing requirements. It was a copout on her part for sure.
     
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  18. fasbman

    fasbman VIP Whale

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    I certainly agree that the hostess should have dealt with the situation differently. I understand that what she did was the path of least resistance for her, but it was not the best course of action. Within just a couple minutes of the customer sitting next to me, I could tell that she had an entitlement attitude from hell! Still, the hostess did reach out to me to apologize, and she was young, so I let it slide. I figured that it was better to focus on the humorous aspects of the situation instead of getting mad about it, especially since the hostess had clearly already been given a very hard time by the customer. She definitely didn't need me to compound it.
     
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