Trip report 8/2 - 8/5

Hi to everyone on the board. This was our second trip to Vegas this year and decided after lurking on this site for many months and harvesting great info to finally register and post a trip report.

Flight: Allegiant Airlines is the only non-stop flight to Vegas from this midwestern location. But with rates as low as $79 one way……no problem! The aircraft are older but seem to be well maintained and clean. Flight attendants are friendly and accommodating also. After a smooth two-hour ten-minute flight we landed in Vegas at 2:30 p.m. No checked bags so we headed directly to the taxi stand. (Side note: My wife and her mother flew Allegiant Airlines from this location last October to Vegas. Flight coming back was delayed for several hours due to mechanical problems. Two weeks later they both received in the mail a voucher for a free round trip back to Vegas for their being inconvenienced. Very nice!)

Hotel: We skipped the airport check-in this time because last April the desk clerk said they can’t offer free upgrades at the airport location. Don’t know if that is completely true or not but that is what we were told. A short $10 cab ride and we arrived at the New York New York Hotel and Casino. Proceeded directly to the reservation desk and after a few minutes in line we were waited on by a very nice young lady. I told her that I had a reservation and she asked us if we had stayed there before and I told her yes just last April and had received an offer through the internet for $67 a night for a standard room. Prepared to do the $20 trick learned here on the board, I asked if there was any chance of a complementary upgrade with a strip view? Before I could hand her my ID and credit card with a $20 folded in between she said “sureâ€! We were upgraded to a Park Avenue Deluxe on the 32nd floor with a strip view plus she gave us three coupons for 2 for 1 breakfast at the “Il Fornaio†restaurant, two roller coaster tickets, four free drink tickets at “The Times Square Barâ€, and a $10 dollar voucher at “Starbucksâ€. I non-chalantly handed her the $20 anyway. I felt she had a good attitude and treated us well and that is a great way to start a vacation whether we got that great of a deal or not. The room was as nice as could be with a great view of the strip, close to the elevators and just across from the ice machine. Only wish the rooms came with a coffee maker and small fridge. I guess that is their way of getting you back downstairs to spend your money.

Food: Ate at our favorite places at the NY NY. Breakfast two mornings at the “Il Fornaioâ€. The eggs benedict and omelets are wonderful. The sandwiches at “Greenbriar and Sons Deli†are so big and fresh and the fish, shrimp, and calamari rings at “Foulton’s Fish Fry†are very good. Had the barbecued mahi mahi sandwich at the “ESPN Zone†one afternoon. Came across a coupon for 2 for 1 Guinness at “Nine Fine Irishmen†too. Experienced the crabcakes at Jimmy Buffet’s “Margueritaville†at the Flamingo. “The Buffet†at The Bellagio is the only buffet we won’t miss each time we go to Vegas. IMHO, I think it’s a push between it and the Paris buffet. Had dinner one evening at “Mon Ami Gabi†for the first time. Because it was so hot outside we didn’t have to wait long for patio seating on the rail. We both had the onion soup, salad, and I had the steak with brandy peppercorn sauce and my wife had the roasted pork tenderloin with garlic spinach. We also a shared bottle of the Chardonnay house wine. The misters weren’t much help against the heat but as soon as the sun went down behind The Bellagio they helped keep it bearable. The great service along with the fountains from across the strip made it a great evening. Thanks to the info from this board we found the .99 shrimp cocktails one evening downtown at my new favorite little casino, The Golden Gate. I slammed three of those things and I am still suffering from a little “shrimp lagâ€!

Monorail: Thanks to David B. and his detailed report we couldn’t wait to check out the new monorail. Bought the $10 24 hour pass at the MGM and away we went to see The Fremont Street Experience for the first time. According to the automated voice at the MGM station, a new train arrives every six minutes. And that was pretty accurate each time we re-embarked. The cars are nice and air-conditioned and were never really too crowded except later in the evening. And the only problem as David B. pointed out, not enough handrails. They don’t go real fast except in few spots but they do accelerate quickly catching most people off guard. Got off at The Sahara station but couldn’t find the bus talked about here for the .50 ride downtown. Asked around about it but nobody was clear if it was still running or not. No problem! Went to the bus stop across the street and grabbed the next bus on the strip for $2 each and away we went to Fremont Street. How great it will be when they expand the monorail all the way North. And since we purchased our 24-hour pass in the early evening we were able to use again most of the next day too.

Fremont Street: I must admit, the light show was not as cool as I thought it would be but we really liked downtown Vegas. Couldn’t believe that this is our fourth trip to Sin City and we hadn’t experienced it yet. Next trip we will definitely spend more time there and maybe even stay there. Only had a few hours to get back to the Sahara because the monorail stops at midnight so we were kinda pressed for time. Started at one end and tried to duck into most of the casinos, making obligatory deposits along the way. Went into the Golden Nugget looking to catch a glimpse of Tom, Tim, John, Tommy or any of the cast of “The Casinoâ€. We saw Monique in the pits and I asked her jokingly for an autograph, she got a chuckle out of that. I guess you could call that a celebrity sighting. (Last April we saw some of the cast of “Will & Grace†along with John Cleese filming an episode at Caesar’s.) Anyway……most impressed with the vibe downtown with the bright lights, low ceilings, friendly crowd. I’m sure this is the old Vegas style feeling my late father-in-law used to talk about all the time. Can’t wait for next trip to spend more time there. At 11:30 PM we grabbed the bus back to The Sahara to catch The Monorail back to MGM.

Gambling: Since this is only our fourth trip to Vegas it stills seems hard for us to spend any amount of time in one spot with all there is to see and do. I still feel a little intimidated by some of the table games except early in the morning when the tempo is a little slower but hey…..baby steps! Although we obviously are not big gamblers my wife can’t pass an Elvis or Wheel of fortune slot without making a deposit. She had a pretty good run on Elvis at NY NY one afternoon and cashed out up $250. I did about the same on VP at the same locale also. We were drawn in one evening by a table game there called “Sic-Boâ€. The players at the table along with the dealer kind of lured us in. Bought in for $20 and spent over an hour there. Up over a $100 at one point but ended up giving it all back and walking away when I got back down to $20. What a fun group. We played a few slots and VP in a few other casinos up and down the Strip and downtown but nothing significant was pocketed.

Departure: Smooth check out at NY NY front desk at 6:00 am for 8:30 am flight. Two-hour uneventful flight home. Honestly I don’t know how anybody spends more than three days in Vegas. I’m always completely exhausted by the time we leave but who comes to Vegas and leaves rested right? Must spend more time in training before next trip……….stay up longer and drink more!


Ramblings:

Props to the staff at New York New York Hotel. Everyone from the front desk clerk to the cocktail servers and even the maintenance staff were most friendly. Although the pool is pretty much a non-event compared to the others in Vegas, the drink and food service there was really good.

Saw Big Elvis at the Barbary Coast for the first time. That big man can hardly walk but he can sing!

Got to love those .99 shrimp cocktails at the Golden Gate, my new favorite casino downtown.

The new Roman Plaza area outside Caesar’s is coming along nicely. Fountains are up and working and an outdoor lounge there is a welcome relief from the heat.

The dueling piano bar at NY NY is a great place to make an arse of yourself.

Walking the strip didn’t seem as crowded as trips before. Thought maybe it was because of the monorail?

Circus Circus is kinda scary.

So is that souvenir store across from the Sahara where we found some REAL Vegas gifts (not those crappy ones from the airport) including the Elvis sunglasses with attached sideburns which eluded us in Memphis last summer. I don’t think they appreciate the humor of them down there.

And lastly…….why do parents bring their children to Vegas? I’m outta here!

 

Nice report, i just got back too.. (see my report)

Couldn't agree more with the Golden Gate assesment.. Im mainly a low stakes BJ player and the GG delivers with good rules and nice staff.

I love the gift shop across from the Sahara! Its so big! theres also a few good ones downtown too.

Circus Circus - i agree. ugh. ditto with the kids in vegas thing too..

next time stay downtown, you'll love it!

 

Good job, yellfore, glad you managed to get downtown. Show up for the Madness and we'll get you started on the dice. The Gate's a good place for that too, even though I've yet to win there...

 

I enjoyed reading your trip report. I am heading out in just about 2 weeks and cannot wait! We are actually staying for 7 days!! This will be the longest we have stayed at one time. We are going to stay at NYNY for part of that time. I love the whole atmosphere at this casino. We made the mistake of staying at Circus Circus once. Never, ever will I make that mistake again. I also have to ask - why oh why do people bring their children to Vegas. Take them to Disneyworld.

 

Well-written report yellfore99, glad you had a nice trip. I have never been to NY NY in all my times in Vegas. I don't know why? I guess it's due to the fact I end up in a 3 star type place, not a middle to higher end place like NY NY. And we usually don’t walk that part of the Strip...That I don't know why either. We end up by the Riv and Stardust....Mmmmm maybe the 1.00 Beers at the Westward Ho have something do do with it...

I too had to go to Sin City a number of times before checking out the downtown. My last two trips included two-nites stay downtown. I have stayed at the Fitz two years back and the Nugget last November.

Shrimp at the Gate is good isn't it!! It does have a neat atmosphere; you can almost "feel" the history in the place. We had lunch as well at the Gate a few times, and listened to the piano player while having a few beers. I wonder what the rooms are like? The Golden Gate is the oldest and smallest hotel in LV.

Good report, and think about staying downtown on your next jaunt, I like 4 day trips, 3 days seems short, especially when flying in from the east. My past 2 trips have been split, two days downtown and two on the Strip or off Strip. Wherever the best deal turns up on rooms...

RossW

[ August 19, 2004, 07:20 AM: Message edited by: RossW ]

 

Hey, Casino Royale and Barbary Coast often have those $1 specials too (I think most recently it was Becks at CR and well drinks at BC--or was becks the special at the Ho?) Anyway, they do have drink specials on the hoity-toity end of the Strip too

 

Makes no diff to me where one can get cheap beer. the Ho or the hotiey-toitey places...... $1.00 beers are $1.00 beers, here in Canada you go out for a few beers and it ranges from $3.95 to $5.50 a beer at a bar or lounge..Damn government taxes.....

[ August 19, 2004, 07:27 AM: Message edited by: RossW ]

 

Glad you had a good NYNY trip. Unfortunally my old trip report is not still online here, but I must say, I was not impressed with what happend to us there (they mixed up, put us in the wrong room, and then called us late at night to tell us to fix it, I got a nice free upgrade after I was done with em).

I think NYNY is the perfect sized casino, and the Bar at Times Square is the best free show in town, IMO.

Nice trip report.

 

Thanks to all for the replies. Doctor Al, would love to make it out for THE MADNESS and learn to throw the dice especially at the Gate. I usually spend the whole month in the mancave with the big screen so Vegas would be a welcome change.

 

Heck yeah, nothing says "you da man" like strolling into Mirage with the dollar beers you brought in from across the street. You're money and you don't even know it.

 

Heck yeah, nothing says "you da man" like strolling into Mirage with the dollar beers you brought in from across the street. You're money and you don't even know it. </font>[/QUOTE]No problem--I don't go to Vegas to impress other people or pick up strippers--who cares where I get my drinks?

Besides--I've never gambled in Mirage. But I have brought my cheap drinks into Bellagio and had no problems at all. Of course, I wasn't wearing my overalls at the time, so that may be why they continued to serve me

 

On the contrary, I probably had the silk shirt and sunglasses to go with my dollar beer (and the El Cortez concierge had pressed my overalls to a crease you could cut paper with). How am I going to kill that bunny?

The show ain't for the 'dancers' tho. I haven't met too many in greater Clark County that haven't scared the crap out of me. No chocolate chip coochie for me, no thank you.

 

I also have to ask - why oh why do people bring their children to Vegas. Take them to Disneyworld.


disney world is not as exciting as vegas, and they get tired of mickey after age 8 or 9
Hey children also live in vegs everyday so why not bring them to vegas? It is very exciting to them as well as the big children (adults), the bright lights new sights not to mention all the math they can learn when counting up my winnings or subtracting my losses what a learning experience. Just make sure to keep them safe at all times.