July 8
Lisa and I hit the road at about 10:15AM from Orange County. The traffic was light as expected on a Monday morning. We stopped at what has to be the worlds busiest In-N-Out Burger in Barstow at noon and was back on the road by 12:30. We pulled into the valet at Bellagio a few minutes after 2:00. We had 2 nights booked through our friends at Wagerworks. The check in line was sort of slow considering it wasn’t very busy. After about a 20-minute wait, I finally made it to the desk. I told the person that I was in town with my fiancé and I was trying to convince her to get married at the “B” and if there was anyway of getting a lake view room. She went into the $50/night schpeel until she noticed the $20 between the license and credit card. She then said that she would see what she could do. After a brief discussion with the desk boss, she came back and said “My boss can do it for you.” Woo Hoo, my first attempt at the $20 trick worked like a champ!
We got a great view on the 19th floor just about centered in front of the lake. The room was pretty nice with separate bath and shower and a really comfy bed. There were a few burn marks on the floor and comforter but that’s the price of staying a smoking room. The room had a safe but is was so small it was useless for anything but cash. It only fits money and nothing else. This is rather ridiculous in this day when many people are traveling with a laptop computer.
After unpacking and relaxing for a few minutes, we went over to the Mirage for more WW goodies. We picked up our admissions to the Dolphin Exhibit and the buffet without any problem. The Dolphin exhibit was pretty cool, especially for free. It probably was even worth the $10 full price admission if you are into animals. They just let the new 7 week old white tiger cub out to the public. It would be great having one of those little guys roaming around the house, until he grew up! It was over 110 degrees the entire time we were in town so there is only so much outside one can take. So after about 45 minutes of wandering around we decided to get back inside. We headed over to the buffet and since it was before 6PM, there wasn’t much of a line but the line pass still feels good. The buffet wasn’t as good as the last trip but it was still pretty decent. After gorging ourselves, we headed back to the B to hang out for a while. After watching a few fountain shows, we decided to go to the Sahara to ride Speed. We both love coasters and we seem to hit this one on just about every trip. We used a 2-4-1 POV coupon and saved 8 bucks. It is really a great coaster and now that they let you ride twice, it is really a good deal, especially with the POV. After getting our adrenaline fix, we hit the tables using the 50 for 40 coupon. We had a decent run and got about 2 hours out of the $40 between us. After busting out, we were walking through the casino when I noticed the gift shop had a “Bonus Poker” T-shirt. I just had to buy it. We then went back to the B to watch a few more fountain shows and call it an evening.
July 9
I woke up early as is usual while in Vegas. I headed down to pick up my coffee, which cost $4.00! A funny thing happened as I walked into the coffee place. I had just lit a cigarette when I noticed there was no smoking in the place. I clipped the head off my smoke and went in to get my coffee, when I came out a few minutes later, there was a maintenance guy stamping out a trash fire where I just put my butt out. Ooppsss, I guess I missed the tray! There wasn’t any damage or commotion so I just kept walking. I didn’t bring much cash with me so I got the car from the valet and hit the Stratosphere to pull from my credit line. I also needed to get my upgraded club cards since I am now a “Tower” member. I completed both in about 5 minutes and quickly found a .50 8/5 BP machine and settled in. In short time, I was getting killed. It told only about an hour to blow through $200. This would seem like pattern as the week went on. I got back in the car and went to get the woman and some breakfast.
We decided to hit the Café Bellagio for breakfast. The line wasn’t too bad and we were seated in about 10 minutes. This is where we first found the 5 star hotel claim to be a stretch. It took 15 minutes before anyone even acknowledged us. Finally a busboy apologized and took our drink order. Our waiter made his was over to us after another 5 minutes later. After quite a while, we finally got our food, which was pretty good. The only other time we saw the waiter was to drop off the check. Needless to say, for $35 for omelettes, we expected much better service than we got. After breakfast, Lisa went to the pool and I walked around to get some pictures of the B. Afterwards, we showered and got ready for a 2PM appointment with the wedding coordinator at the Stratosphere. We talked about different packages and toured the chapel and reception room again. We just absolutely love this place. No other chapel can compare with that view. Our first choice for a date was available and we booked it. May 3, 2003 is the day. After finishing up the paperwork, we went downstairs to check into the Strat. I got a mail offer for 3 free nights and since we were going to have to check out of the Bellagio tomorrow at 11AM, we wanted to have a room immediately available, so I booked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Strat. There was zero wait at check in, which is amazing considering this is one of worst things about the Stratosphere. I once again tried the $20 trick but apparently the check in girl just got out of an ethics class or something and stuck with the $75/night line for upgrades. I slickly slipped the $20 back into my pocket as she was denying me the upgrade. We did end up on the top floor of the new tower, which had the highest ceilings I have ever seen in a hotel. They had to be 15 feet high at least. We received a beautiful view of the Naked City and a partial strip view. It wasn’t the Bellagio but it was a clean room and everything still seemed new. We pretty much just looked at the room and then headed back downstairs to play some more VP. After blowing through another couple of hundred between us without even a sniff of a quad, we went back to the Bellagio to relax before a busy evening.
We took the tram down to Monte Carlo then walked over NY-NY to get 2 free coaster ride courtesy of Wagerworks. Once again, there was no problem redeeming our prizes and bounced past a big line of screaming kids to get on the ride. It is also a great coaster but damn is it violent. Perhaps we are just aging but we were in pain when we got off of it. If they could smooth it out a bit it would be one of the best coasters around. After the coaster, it was over to MGM for 2 buffets, also care of WW. The MGM buffet is pretty average for the most part, although the desert selection is rather impressive. All in all, it was a decent meal. We then walked over to Excalibur because I am a huge medieval fantasy fan and they have a store filled with swords and armor, which I like to collect. I didn’t buy anything but we did see a cool pair of champagne flutes that were made of pewter dragons and the way their tails intertwine they form a heart. Lisa even liked them enough to say that we could use them for our wedding toast. I guess this is about the extent of my input into the wedding! We didn’t buy them there and I’m glad we didn’t. I found them on the net, direct from the maker, for $45 cheaper. We hit Krispy Kreme for some fresh donuts, then walked back to Monte Carlo and trammed it back to Bellagio. It wasn’t too late but we were kind of beat from a long day so we weren’t in the mood to drive back down to the Strat to gamble. I planned on not gambling a dime in the Bellagio but we decided to try to find a quarter Keno machine to play for a while before bed. We were amazingly able to find two of them so we both feed them a $20. A few minutes later, Lisa hits 4 of 4 for $91. Another couple of minutes goes by and I hear her say, “I did it” in a quite voice. She says it again and I look over, her machine is blinking “Call Attendant!” She had hit 5 of 5 for $810! Not too shabby considering we weren’t even going to gamble there. After a few minutes of waiting I asked the woman at the Keno desk to summon an attendant. Another 10 minutes goes by and I realize that the Keno jockeys blew me off. I now decide to hunt the floor for one. After about another 10 minutes, I finally find one and Lisa is paid within few minutes. This is another example of how not to be a 5 star hotel. After getting paid, we walked around trying to find some milk for our donuts and no dice. I guess they want to you pay $25 through room service for that glass of milk. We watched a few more water shows and called it an evening.
July 10
I once again woke up early and set out for the Strat to get first dibs on the Cabana we had reserved for the day. I was pleasantly surprised when I got there and they had a special going on, $15 for the cabana for the day instead of $50 that I was originally planning on spending. What a great deal. I picked the first one close to the pool and then went back downstairs to gamble a little. My VP woes continue and I am still without a single quad yet playing a good 4 or 5 hours so far. Without quads, you are going to get killed and sure enough, I was taking a beating. I went back to the B to get Lisa and check out. Back at the Strat, we dumped our bags in the room and hit the coffee shop for a quick bite. We ordered the virtually identical meal as the day before and it was served quickly at 1/3 of the price of Bellagio with far superior service. Go Strat! We then went out to the pool. It was another scorcher, so an ideal day for the cabana. It comes with 2 nicely padded lounge chairs, TV, safe, 2 rafts and a mister system. They also threw in a few bottle of water as well. I don’t know if it was worth $50 but for $15 it was great. The best part of the deal was the raft. You couldn’t lie out in the sun for more than 10 minutes without frying but with the raft, you could just float in the pool forever. We spent a good part of the day this way. The next time, I will just rent the rafts instead of the whole cabana. By about 3 PM we were done with the sun, so we went back to the room to shower and relax. After which was followed by my first somewhat decent VP session. I finally hit my first quad, Kings, which only pay 125 but it kept me playing for a little while at least. I eventually gave it all back and then some. Lisa continued her winning ways. Her boss gave her $3 to put in a slot. She dumps the $3 in and pulls, out drops $120. It has to be the first time in history of man that someone gave money to bet in Vegas and they actually hit and received the money!
About 7PM we went upstairs to get ready for dinner. One minute I was looking at the sun go down and 5 minutes later, the sky is black and garbage is swirling all over the place. In just a few minutes a dust storm kicked up and just about shut down Vegas for an hour. The desert weather can be the strangest thing. We went up to the Top of the World lounge for a few drinks before dinner to enjoy the view as the sky was clearing from the dust storm. We then cabbed it over to Rio for the necessary stop at the Rio buffet. There are plenty of bad things to say about Rio but the buffet still kicks ass. It may not be the Bellagio buffet, but for this meat and potatoes guy, I love it. After stuffing ourselves senseless, Lisa wanted to try one of the nickel video slots. She stuck in $10 and played for at least a half hour on it. She has just got the magic touch on negative games this week, I guess.
Afterwards, it was back to the Strat for a night of gambling. We both sat down at the VP machine and quickly blow through a hundred each. Lisa says that she is going to find a Keno machine because VP is killing her. I chuckle knowing that Keno is a loser but she goes anyway. I feed another hundred and finally start to get some play out of it. About an hour or so passes and I am excited to still be playing with the second hundred. I actually hit 2 –125 quads in this session. Lisa still hasn’t come back which she normally does after about a half hour. So I cash out my hundred and go and look for her. I walk all the way to the end of the casino and I see her talking to 2 Strat employees. As I turn the bank of machines, I see her with her hand out getting a hand pay. She nailed 6 for 6 on Keno for $1600! Absolutely incredible. Here I am getting my ass handed to me on a machine that pays 99%+ and she is breaking the bank on a game that pays less than 90%! Go figure. After a little more losing at VP, we called it a night.
July 11
After going to sleep late, we both slept in. A train whistle finally awaked me at 9:45. I never sleep this late, especially in Vegas. I go downstairs for the traditional coffee/VP session and proceed to lose my shirt once again. Perhaps I should have stayed in bed. Today is leaving day even though we have the room until tomorrow. We wanted to leave late to avoid the major heat of the afternoon for our drive across the desert. After another good meal at the Strat coffee shop, we walk down to Worlds Largest Gift Shop for some souvenirs. The neighborhood isn’t as terrible as some make it out to be and there is no problem walking either way. We also hit a few of the shops in the Strat Mall. One of them has the best deals on Vegas sweatshirt, $10 each and they are decent quality. We take one last shot at gambling and I proceed to lose more money despite hitting one more 125 quad. Lisa, in her continuing magic, is trying to now hit 7 of 7 for $7000. She gets close, hitting 6 of 7 for $400 more. We hit the Club booth after we are done to inquire about what they could pick up from the bill. She says that they can’t pick up pool charges or the drink tab from the Top of the World lounge but could pick up the 2 meals at the coffee shop. Since they were less than $30 she offered us dinner that night as well. We were in a bit of a hurry so we took a comp for 2 to the buffet. It is much improved over the old one with higher quality and greater selection. We went back to the room, had a bellhop take the bags to the car and checked out. After filling up, we were on the road by 7PM and home by 10:30PM. Another great trip is in the books. As a nice ending to the trip, when we got home, there was a message on the machine about my ex-roommate’s 30th b-day that will be celebrated next weekend at the Golden Nugget. Looks like I will be “forced” to make 2 trips to Vegas in 2 weeks.
Some Random Musings...
After spending 2 nights at the Bellagio, I was rather disappointed with the service we received. The room didn’t have an iron or robes. The service we received at the coffee shop was far less than 5 stars and getting blown off by the casino staff was incredibly lame. It was almost as if we had invisible “WW” on our foreheads that only the B’s employees could see. The stay was not all bad though. The room has some nice touches like the separate bath and shower. I never really appreciated the water show until I watched from 19 stories up. It is quite impressive. We liked the theme to the Pink Panther the best. It was very well done. I sent an email when we got home about the service issues and within a day I got a response apologizing for the bad service and a free suite upgrade if we decide to stay there again. Perhaps I will take them up on the suite offer for the pre-xmas trip.
Our stay at the Strat was great. As strange as it may seem, we felt much more comfortable and wanted at the Stratosphere as opposed to Bellagio. I know I have been pimping the Strat recently but we just felt more at home in that environment than at the B. I didn’t have any problems with service anywhere in the hotel or casino. The room was just fine albeit a bit Spartan compared to Bellagio but we heard very little noise from the rooms around us as others have said.
The grand total through Wagerworks for us was: 8 buffets, 5 coaster rides, 2 Dolphin Exhibits and 2 Nights at Bellagio. The total would have easily been over $500 if we paid cash. To whoever found the glitch, I am eternally grateful!
The gambling was a train wreck for me. I played about 6-7K hands over the course of 3 days and hit just 4 quads when normally I should have hit about 15. All of them where 5-Ks. It is trips like this that make you really think about standard deviation. Your game may be positive but the short run is just about all luck. It was just a brutal stretch. Lisa on the other hand just kicked butt playing Keno. Now I have no chance in hell of convincing her that the game is a bad bet. She did so good that not even the VP gods could make us go home down on this trip. I just love my woman!
