First-timer Jen asked me to meet her in LV while she attended a trade show--just us girls. Wanting to be a good future m-i-l seemed like as good an excuse as any I

Thanks for the great trip report! I agree, the video poker selection at Paris is not the best. Worse yet is the way the slot club works.

[This message has been edited by Gregg (edited March 18, 2000).]

V,

Thanks for the great report. So is NYNY you're new home-away-from-home?

jm

V,
Loved your trip report. However, after reading it, I think I need a nap. <vbg> Boy, did you pack a lot of things into a few days. Sounds like Jen really enjoyed herself. Did she ever get a better view room at the Mirage? I told you those Mirage bathrooms were small, didn't I? LOL Now you know why I think I died and went to heaven when I was in the petite suite at Caesars.

I see Jen got the piano bar initiation. <vbg> Was Christine playing that night?

WTG on the room upgrades. Sounds like there must have been some party going on in the jacuzzi upstairs. LOL

I'm sure glad Michael wasn't in town driving last week. The last thing he needs is another traffic ticket. LOL Were the cars pulled over in the speed trap white ones? <vbg>

Lee Ann
Past, Present and Future Forum Moderator
leeann@talkvegas.com

[This message has been edited by Lee Ann (edited March 19, 2000).]

V,
Was very interested in you not taking a car on a short trip. Was there any time where you wished you had one? I have a short trip in May and was wondewring the same thing.

Sounded like you had some really nice rooms this trip.
Thanks for typing it out for us. I enjoyed the read! You know I live on these reports till MY next trip! LOL



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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

Greg: I was going to check my Paris slot club account until I remembered that due to the minor playing I gave them, it wasn't worth the effort. I forgot to mention what little play was quarter VP only. I sure wasn't about to waste my money or time on the dollar machines. I do like the hotel, but not the gambling.

jm: A cab driver taking me to NYNY asked where I am from, and when I told him NY, he said Yeah, I know where to take you, but where are you from? *From NY! But not from NYNY*. I would stay at NYNY again, especially if I could get one of those Player's Rooms and look forward to seeing what kind of slot club offers start showing up.

Lee Ann: Wow, your description of "the small bathrooms at the Mirage" was dead on. I gave Jen the info on the room locations, but she was perfectly happy where she was and wasn't interested in having to move. She thought it was pretty cool to see a corner of the volcano from her room, and she did get to see it go off from LV Blvd. Christina and Van were not at the Times Square Bar Wednesday night--I wonder if they still work there? There was a new girl Phyllis at the other piano with John, and then another set of piano players who I have seen previously. Although I didn't notice, there must have been white cars stopped. Did we ever discuss why so many rental cars are white? If we did, I don't remember, so why are they?

Lee: No, I had no regrets about not having a car this trip. I knew since it was Jen's first LV visit, we would not have time to sightsee off the Strip, and I didn't want to deal with going around to all the Strip hotels by car, plus there was no sense in having a car just to get back and forth from the airport and then start paying for cabs. The best price I could get from National for 3 days was $137 with all taxes, and that was down from the original $158 quote. I finally just cancelled the car, figuring I could get quite a few taxis for the price of the car. I was late getting to the airport on Thursday night. If I had had to return a car, it would have been a big headache and not worked out well. The line at the taxi stand was probably 20 minutes. I didn't have 20 minutes! I've never gone this route before but had no choice and slipped the doorman some bucks, and he grabbed my arm and we both ran to the next cab. I felt like such a jerk jumping ahead of everyone in line. Fortunately/unfortunately--I wasn't sure which on Thursday night, but--money talks.

Veronica --

Thanks for the (as usual) great trip report.

Sorry I could not make the "mini-meet" at MSS. As you'll see in my trip report, a quick phone call to the office during a break in my seminar turned into a three-hour crisis of phone call after phone call. I didn't get done until 7 pm.

ONE OF THESE DAYS I'll make a meet; one of these days.

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Mark L. in NJ

Mark: You're in trouble <g>. Seriously, sorry you missed MSS last Thursday. There's always April 2 in AC or next time in LV--or both!

V,

Great TR as usual. So we both spent our most recent trips dragging in-laws around LV?

Nice room at NYNY....have a good host? I'm jealous <g>

Caesars will get lots of deservedly bad PR over the Smokey Joe's Cafe "free" ticket fiasco...as you know, the same thing happened to me. I even went to the ticket booth for help and the gal called the slot people and told them she read the thing the same way I did (i.e. nothing about day of show only). It did no good but it made me feel better to know I hadn't misread it.


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Bill in Santa Monica, CA

Bill: That Caesars promo for the SJC tickets doesn't seem like it was well-thought out and is confusing. I feel sorry for the Emperor's Club agents who have to explain it to the players.

V,
I'm currently holding a 3 day rental with national @ $119 and I just don't know if it's going to be worth it either. I have some time till my May trip to kick it around. But I'm leaning towards not having a car.
Money Talks in Vegas....doncha just love it! [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]


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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

V, One of Murphy's Laws: You always get the large Jacuzzi tub when traveling alone. (G)
Why am I not surprised at Caesar's handling of the "free" show tickets.
Lee, $119 will buy a lot of cab rides. My advice is to put the $119 into a "transportation" envelope. Use it for bus and cab fares. Then take what's left at the end of the trip and put it into a "take Mike out to dinner" envelope. (VBG)
- Mike


[This message has been edited by Mike in Massachusetts (edited March 21, 2000).]

V, Nice TR. Thanks for the info.was that speed trap on Tropicana? They are on that street a lot especially at night.You packed a lot in that short trip.Tell us more about the "Mime"? Glad to hear no cover at dueling piano's during week.Though it's worth it IMHO.Will be at NYNY.Apr.19-26th hope I'am lucky too? Sounds like not having a car this trip didn't phase you at all.I'am also hoping that new coaster is up when I get there<G>.Hope to see you in town soon.
Bob NY.

We rented a car on this trip and you wouldn't want to know how much we paid(something around $230 for 3 days). I think the price was so high cuz my husband's office booked it the night before our flight. The bottom line was that we only drove that car 4 times the entire trip! So depending on your plans, a car is sometimes a waste. Luckily, it was on the company's tab for us.

Mike: I agree about Murphy's Law. And it figures--I didn't ask for a jacuzzi this time and both rooms had one.

Bob: Great to see you back here. The speed trap was on Paradise, just as you leave the airport. Never mind about the mime <g>. But just avoid him! I believe there will be a Talk Vegas meet during your April dates, and I should be out there then too, so see ya then. We can start the countdown now--it's less than a month away.

Gail A.: That was an expensive car rate, for sure. I hope they gave you a Cadillac for that money <g>.



[This message has been edited by Veronica (edited March 22, 2000).]

Mike,
Cute, very cute!
Ya know the car sometimes takes more time from yout LV vacation too. Valet, sometimes is a crap shoot, you just never know how long the wait time will be when you leave a casino. Self park can be a long walk at some casino's too.
On the flip side of the coin though, when a show ends, sometimes a cab ain't easy to get either.
I'm still going to give this some thought (about the rental car, not about taking you to dinner! LOL)

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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

I wish I had a camera with me at MSS Brew Pub. Every guy that walked through the door, V asked, "Are you Mark?"

<lol> V, glad you got to do Vegas by yourself. Many years ago, I did it a couple of times and really enjoyed it. No one to answer to <g>. It's nice for a change. No offense Walt!!

Glad we could get together and thanks for the Santa Fe Chicken. It was very good. Company was, of course, excellent.

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gail@talkvegas.com
Moderator, TalkVegas After Hours
Administrator, TalkVegas BB

I kept asking Gail, "Do you think that guy could be Mark?" How was Gail supposed to know THAT? <lol>

Gail: Jen acquired a taste for Vegas, for sure. And Michael is booked (on USAir!) to come to Vegas to meet us next trip, but Jen won't be coming out, sadly. She said if she had won big she would have bought a ticket for just the weekend to meet us all out there. No such luck.

Walt says fine with him because now he's got ammo <g>.

I had a really nice time at MSS too. Looking forward to seeing ya soon!

Veronica,
I don't know why so many rental cars are white. Before we joined the National Emerald Aisle, every rental car we were assigned was white. These rentals were from several different agencies. All of the cars that were pulled over that day last year were white. Coincidence????? All I know is our number one priority for rental car selection is now non-white. <vbg>

Lee Ann
Past, Present and Future Forum Moderator
leeann@talkvegas.com

Great report, V, but I'm curious...have you ever stayed in just one hotel on a trip?