Trip Report, December 14-18 2003

TRANSPORTATION

I found a great deal on Allegiant Air; RT airfare Denver to LV and 4 nights lodging for $125/person! The flights were uneventful with a slight (1/2 hour or so) delay in Denver which gave me time to address all my Christmas cards and get them sent out.

We rented a car from Dollar. With Fastlane it was incredibly easy and I chose a spiffy red Neon. I don't like big cars, and I thought the Neon had plenty of zip even on the highway.

ROOMS

The package came with four nights at the Four Queens, but I had two free nights at the Orleans so we stayed two nights at each place.

The room at the Four Queens was surprisingly nice. No view, but I wasn't there for the view and we hardly spent any time in the room, anyway. There were a couple of problems: the toilet started to run continuously (this was very late on the first night; instead of bothering to call for maintenance, my travel partner just took the tank lid off and fiddled around until it stopped); the heating unit was very noisy; and we were across the hall from the soda machine, which wasn't a problem except that part of the ceiling and wall in the little alcove were possibly being repaired. There was a rather large ugly hole covered by plastic and I thought it looked very tacky.

The Orleans was wonderful, as usual. The room was in the newer wing with a view of the sign out front. I don't remember this from my two previous stays, but the bed was incredibly comfortable. It felt like it had a plush foam mattress topper on it; you just sunk into the bed and yet the mattress itself was firm. I've had a lot of mattress/bed/sleep issues lately, so this was heavenly!

FOOD

"A Buffet A Day" should have been our motto. Monday dinner was the Aladdin buffet, which is my new all-time favorite. I loved the middle-eastern station and the sushi! And the salad bar was great, too; always a big plus in my book. I wish I had explored the stations a little better, though. I got my sushi then never went back to see what else was at the seafood station. I think I was just so enamored by the lamb kabobs and hummus that I forgot to go back to the seafood! (BTW, we did the Aladdin slot tournament deal: $25 for the tournament, $20 food voucher, and $10 free play. Great deal. My friend ended up doing it a second time, getting a denim jacket with the Aladdin logo on the back as his prize instead of the dining voucher.)

Tuesday morning was the Gold Coast buffet for breakfast; Wednesday lunch at the Rio buffet; Thursday breakfast was the Orleans buffet. I love the breakfast buffets at the Orleans and Gold Coast, and I had 2/1 coupons from ACG for both so they were a great deal. The Rio buffet was being remodeled, so it wasn't as good as usual. I do like their desserts, though! I had another 2/1 coupon for the Rio. Food was cheap this trip!

We had one breakfast at the deli at the Golden Gate. It was only fair, the eggs tasted powdered. One other breakfast was coffee and a muffin from the Seattle's Best at the Orleans, since we were having a lunch buffet.

On the night we arrived in LV, we stopped at Ellis Island for a late dinner. We both had the steak special and two micro-brewed rootbeers. I had the 2/1 ACG coupon, so this was another very cheap meal. It wasn't bad, although the steak was a little tough and I think I would've liked the rootbeer a lot better if it was served over ice! We ate one dinner at the Mexican restaurant at the Rio, it was pretty good (I loved the salsa and chips).

I also consumed a bit of ice cream... I just HAD to go to Lapperts at the Cal, which I discovered during my last trip. I had one of their decadent ice creams done up in a hot fudge sundae with marshmallow instead of whipped cream, and nuts. Whoa. Polished the whole thing off, too. I also had a waffle cone at TCBY for lunch one day, and another hot fudge sundae (this time with peppermint and espresso chip ice creams) from Kate's Korner at the Orleans, for another "lunch". Amazing that I didn't gain 20 lbs. this trip!

GAMBLING

Basically, it sucked big time! I play VP and BJ, with a few slots thrown in for fun. I don't know what it was, but I had no luck this trip! The first couple of days we gambled downtown and at the Fiesta Rancho. I played VP downtown at the 4Queens (I found the two full pay DB nickel machines off in the corner of their nickel area; only got dealt quads once!) and the Plaza (my favorite JOB nickel machines and some really old, 10-nickel DW progressives; didn't hit anything but played for quite a while on both), and sat down to play BJ once at the 4Queens with absolutely no luck whatsoever. We played nickel DW at the Fiesta, and Larry hit 4 deuces.

Once we moved to the Orleans, my luck went from bad to worse. I played both quarter (NSUD) and nickel deuces, and some triple play nickels which I switched between DW, DB, and JOB (with no luck at any of them). I mean, how many times can you be dealt 2 deuces and only get 3 of a kind? How many times can you be dealt 4 to a royal and not get anything, not even a wild royal? I wasn't even hitting 4 of a kinds with deuces! It was pathetic. And since my last couple of local gambling trips have been lousy, I was really bummed out.

On the last day of the trip, my friend was meeting a friend of his for lunch so I took the rental car and drove down to the Fiesta Henderson. I sat down at some nickel DW machines and played my $20 down to less than 50 credits, built it back up again, then WHAM - 4 deuces popped up! While I was waiting for my little hand pay, I moved to the next machine and put in a $20. Got my hand pay and maybe 5 minutes later 4 deuces popped up again!!! This time I tipped the (very speedy) slot attendant!

But that was it for my luck. I moved to some other machines (is that casino a little hard to navigate, or was it my imagination?) and the luck was gone, gone, gone. Back to the Orleans to meet up with my friend, and we had a little time to kill. The VP gods were frowning on me again, but my friend had a sudden run of luck and between VP and slots, cashed out up $210.

ENTERTAINMENT

I saw one FSE show I hadn't seen before, the motown one. Music was great, but the light show was kind of lame.

We went to see the Fab Four, which was a wonderful show! These guys are very talented, they do all their own singing and playing, with three sets from different Beatles "eras". It was great and I'd recommend it to anyone who grew up listening to the Beatles. Plus, if you have a AAA card, the cheap seats are 2/1! So with taxes, fees, etc. I got two tickets for $40!

OTHER STUFF

Before every trip, I make a list of new drinks to try. This trip, I tried a grasshopper and a keoke coffee, then one night at the Orleans I asked for a banana daiquiri. Waitress said they couldn't make one, but I should try a Midori colada. Wow. I sucked that puppy down and got another. I now have a new favorite drink!

We saw the Christmas displays at the Bellagio, the FSE, and Caesar's. I wanted to get to the Sam's Town and Ethel M's displays, but didn't quite get the time. Maybe next year.

I ran into a board member, Dewey, who I met during my trip in December 2002, at the Orleans one morning and he joined us for breakfast. I was glad to see him and spend a little time catching up.

I'm not sure why I didn't just stop playing VP and switch to slots or BJ. That's my usual strategy if I'm not winning, but for some reason this trip I was rather obsessed with my VP (and nickels at that!), which was ridiculous. I did have fun one night at the LV Hilton, playing a nickel JOB triple play machine for a LONG time and only losing $5 total.

My travel partner (Larry) treated me to a massage at the Orleans spa for Christmas. It was great; I love their spa!

That's about all I can think of at this late date; thanks for reading!

[ January 05, 2004, 02:08 PM: Message edited by: bigdogmom ]

 

Bigdog
Good report. Sorry your luck was so crappy. I know how you feel. Last years trip we couldn't hit nothing. Slots,vp,and bj sucked. We even went to my favorite bj machine at the Trop bar and could not get a streak going. Last years trip was a real bummer, but we'll be back next month to give it a go again.
Thanks for the read!

 

bigdogmom,
Sorry I missed seeing you, even though I don't know who I would have been looking for. I also stayed at the Orleans that week. In fact, I was eating breakfast Thursday morning about 9:00 at their buffet.
My luck was also on the downside that week.
I haven't been to Alladin buffet yet, but on your recomendation I plan to do it next trip.

 

Fine report. It was good seeing you even though I was pretty wiped out still when we met. Glad you had such luck at the Fiesta. Use your points to try their buffet next time. Even with a 2-1 coupon they let you use your points to pay the money part.

And thanks for the new Orleans drink. I'll try that the next time I go. What was in it?

 

Chef, we probably passed you at the buffet line!

Dewey, the Midori colada is pina colada mix and Midori (melon) liqueur. It was very refreshing. As a matter of fact, I want one now!

 

Nice report BigDogMom. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, even with the subpar luck. I enjoyed the food section of your report! Unless I get a buffet comped, like my last trip, I try to limit myself to no more than one buffet per trip! My eyes are usually wider than my stomach, and I usually end up having trouble leaving under my own power!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip, and also thank you for reading all of our TR's as well!

Rob

 

Bigdogmom,
I satyed at the orleans the 19 for the first time, and like you I was really happy with the room. Thanks for sharing the great report with us.