NYNY-Orleans 3/19 - 3/23

Long time lurker, LONG time Vegas visitor, first time poster.

I have been going to Mecca (i.e. Vegas) about every other month for the last 2 years or so, generally alone as my hubbie hates the place. I get comped rooms at the Orleans (my home away from home) so I usually splurge on one night at a strip property, trying out different hotels on each visit. So far I have hit the Luxor, The Wynn (twice, FAB), MGM, Strat (yuck), Ballys, Southcoast and for this visit, NYNY.

I have been wanting to try out the spa room at NYNY for a while, but been waiting for a good rate. As luck would have it I got a good rate for the first night of my most recent trip so I booked the room and headed to Vegas with high hopes. Interesting note, when I booked the room, the reservation agent asked why I was only staying one night and I explained that I had comped rooms at a different hotel for the next 3 nights and was just interesting in trying out their property. The mention of comped nights changed her tone considerably, I think she assumed I must be a "player" so she offered me the casino rate on the room and VIP check-in and encouraged me to get rated as they would love to have me become a regular. Note to self, always mention comped rooms when making reservations.

VIP check-in ended up being very convenient as NYNY front desk was a zoo. I got my key and headed up to my room. The room was a bit of a disappointment, it was large but weirdly under-furnished and the spa was sitting by itself in the corner looking sort of out-of-place. The worst part though was the stink. The smell of mildew was overpowering. While I was fiddling with the windows trying to get that little vent to open and hopefully air it out a bit, a maintenance man showed up. Apparantly he had been notified by the cleaning crew because the smell was so bad. He flushed out the jacuzzi (said it hadn't been used in a while so there was probably some standing water in the pipes) and the smell went away. I decided to go downstairs and gamble a while (extremely tight slots, not a single ticket out my whole stay).

When I got back at around 6pm, the smell was even worse. I called down and told them I needed a new room. They were extremely helpful and apologetic, I can't say enough about the service, everybody was so helpful. They then offered me that most sought-after of Vegas gems, the room upgrade. I jumped at their offer of the Ziggernaut suite and they sent a bellman up with my key and to help me with my bag.

Well, the new suite was something to behold. Definitely the biggest, swankiest room I have ever stayed in. However, it was located on the 3rd floor, the first floor above the casino and my view was hilariously bad. I opened the curtains to find myself staring directly out at the back of the roller-coaster, A/C ducts and a maintenance man strolling across the roof directly out my window. I literally could have stepped through the window and onto the roof. I actually found it sort of charming in a weird sort of way. It occurred to me that nobody who could actually afford to pay for that room would ever agree to stay in it so I am guessing they keep it for those emergency upgrade needs like mine. I took tons of pictures, it was a total gas.

Well, the adventure continued. I had some food sent up and was settling in for a movie around 9pm (I am an early riser and believe it or not, usually turn in early as well, even in Vegas). Suddenly I heard what sounded like rain, inside the room. I pulled back the curtains in the bedroom and there was water running down the inside of the window. Odd, thought I, as I dialed the front desk to report the trouble. They said they would sent maintenance up right away. As I waited for maintenance, the water began to truly pour down, running out of the light fixture in the ceiling and literally splashing on the floor. As the flood spread rapidly across the bedroom floor, I moved furniture and unplugged a lamp so it wouldn't short out, and then called the front desk again to explain that "No, this is REALLY alot of water, not a little leak, somebody needs to come up now before I have to run for it to save myself from drowning".

Long story short, maintenance showed up, looked shocked and ran upstairs to see what was going on. Turns out the people in the suite above me had stumbled in drunk, decided to have a jacuzzi, and then passed out on the bed while the tub continued to run and flood their room. They got the situation sorted out and I was upgraded again to the same suite, but this time on the 21st floor. Much nicer view! Really an amazing room.

The next morning, I got up to take a shower and the shower handle came off in my hand. No water. Great. I called maintenance again (the fourth time they had been to one of my 3 different rooms, and remember, I was only staying one night). They fixed it right away, but at that point, even though I had found the whole experience kind of funny and was not really that put out, I was determined that I was not paying for any of it. I made a few calls, got transferred around and eventually got a hotel manager who comped my entire stay, room service included!

The next three nights were comped at the Orleans, which I love. Which meant for four nights in Vegas, my total hotel bill came to $45 and that was for some room service at the Orleans. You have GOT to love that!

Hit a few nice jackpots at the Orleans, I always get more action there, and hit a few of the locals casinos that I hadn't been to, always growing my slot club card collection. I can't recommend the Orleans enough. I know it's pretty much common knowledge on the boards, but really, unless you HAVE to be on the strip, you wont find a bigger, more comfortable room, more pleasant casino, and nicer staff anywhere in town. I Love them! In fact, love is not a strong enough word, I lurv them, I lofe them.

This was an unusually troubled trip, although alot of fun and I've gotten a ton of mileage from the jacuzzi flood storage. Hope you enjoy the trip report, I'd love to hear other stories about trips that went awry in a funny way.

Thanks for reading.

 

Buttercup--I LOVE your attitude! Many people would be bitching and moaning (because 3 room changes due to maintenance error in a single night stay is, well, quite unacceptable!) but you seemed to laugh through it all--thanks for the report! I'm glad NYNY comped the rooms too--it was absolutely the right thing for them to do!

 

That's cool you made the best of it all there.

Congrats on your 8000th post Hoya.

 

Well.... at least you got to see several rooms!

 

Great post and I agree with Hoya --- GREAT ATTITUDE!!! Had me laughing out loud with you (as opposed to at you). Going to Vegas is an odyssey and your story is evidence of that.

Glad you had fun and thanks for the report.

JoeVegas

 

What a time you had! I was just thinking of booking the Orleans, even though we like to stay on the Strip, and you decided it for me!

 

Great post. I am staying at NYNY for 3 nights in may, but have been thinking about changing over to Flamingo, but now I must wait unitl the rates drop or it will be NYNY...Which I don't mind as I have stayed there before. Just wanted to try out Flamingo but booked NYNY first and now the rates are going up for the nights I am going in may, and there going up all over the place.

 

As mentioned great attitude, glad to see you had a good time and didn't let the troubles put a damper on your visit. Additionally, it's comforting to hear I'm not the only one that experiences crazy mishaps...

 

Amazing TR, high-quality standup routine material, LOL. Thanks for the write up, all the NY/NY staffers were lucky to have you as a customer, since I'm sure other many other visitors would have gone ballistic. I probably would have been darn crabby after the bogus shower handle, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, even if I'd managed to be calm before that point.

Why does such a rotten stay make such a great story?

Have any delightful, positive memories of your 3 days @ the Orleans ;-) to share with your pals here on the board? You sure were entitled to a relaxing stay after your first eventful night at NY/NY.

 

Great report, and good job on keeping a good attitude. I don't believe I'll stay in NY NY...first someone working there told us all the food there sucks adn now your room stories.

 

WOW NYNY really won you over I guess. We had a similar experience our first trip to Vegas, of course it was the San Remo which is bad enough in itself. First move was because in April moths are everywhere, and the maid left the window open!! There had to be a 1000 in the room when we entered LOL Moved us, next room like yours had a leak in the room above it, then they put us in a suite with a broken bed...I kid you not, I sat on it (I weighed all over 120LBs at the time) and it crashed down....We still laugh about it and to this day, I haven't set foot back in the San Remo LOL

 

Wow! Sounds like quite the experience with the water pouring down. Glad they comped you the entire stay.

I'd love to see the pics of the room if u got them online?

 

Thanks and Photos

Many thanks for all the kind words. I love being in Vegas more than anywhere, so it's easy to keep a positive attitude.

I had some requests for photos, and I happen to have a couple I will post here. One showing my bizarre view from the suite, and a couple that show the flooding.

Thanks again for the replies and keep posting! I love reading the trip reports while I sip my coffee in the morning in my officle (office/cubicle). I have it all decorated up in a Vegas theme, complete with blinking welcome to Vegas sign and a mosaic of my almost 40 slot club cards. My co-workers think I'm nuts but they just haven't drunk the kool-aid yet.

 

Wow

As everyone else said great attitude and way to stay calm in the middle of a comedy of errors. It is good to know that NYNY took care of you in the end because there is no way you should have paid for the room.

Glad that the Orleans did not disappoint.

Sammi

 

i'm glad i read this because i was thinking about booking ny ny for my hubby birthday trip, but we also decieded before this to go with bellagio or treasure island