Landed in Sunny LV at 10:30 AM August 31 (Thursday). We booked our rental car through Priceline.com and got a Buick Century 4 door for just 21 bucks a day! Unfortunately, it was from Alamo. If there is a more unfriendly rental car company, I am unaware of it. The lines were long, and the attitudes were high. Through Priceline, you are charged for the rental and all fees and taxes. The goons at Alamo tried to charge me the taxes again. After speaking with the manager, it was cleared up and we were on to the Aladdin Hotel. The overall opinion of the Aladdin was simple. It exceeded our expectations for accomodations, but the casino was less than great. The rooms were nice in size and had both a stand up shower and full bath tub. The first night we were there, the power went out. Being on the 36th floor, I was kind of nervous. I would give the accomodations an A-. The casino was confusing...as most of them are. The service was slow, both drinks and change. The slots club booth was disorganized. Overall, I would consider another stay at the Aladdin.

I do not like to stay in the same hotel for more than three days. You can call it superstition or needing a change of scenery. On Sunday we moved next door to the Paris Hotel. This place could quite possibly be the absolute worst hotel on the strip! Check in took almost 30 minutes and I was only third in line! When I checked in, I requested a room overlooking the strip. I was told they have a 25 dollar premium for that. When I informed the lady that the Aladdin didn't charge this, she said very rudely...."well...we do!" We declined to take her up on the 25 dollar charge and went up to the room. The room itself was very small. Once in the room, I had to make a 4 minute call. On the TV room bill appeared a charge for almost 22 dollars! I know they rip you off on this stuff, but this was beyond a rip off! Upon returning to the room to sleep, my wife needed an extra pillow as she is 6 months pregnant. She called room service and was told...."We don't have anymore pillows!" I am nowreally furious! I called to the manager on duty. After waiting on forever hold (about 5 minutes) the manager came on and boy did I let her have it. From the 25 dollar premium to the 22 dollar phone call to the pillow. She was able to find the pillow and agree to cut the phone bill by 50%. I went down to the casino and hit the VP for a 1,000 dollar RF. I would not gamble again in the casino due to their horrible customer service.

Upon winning the $1,000, we decided to stay one extra day. I remembered reading on this BB about the Stardust Suites. We booked one for our last night (Tuesday) for 91 bucks. It was fantastic. We found the Stardust to be one of the friendliest hotels/casinos on the strip....and they had extra pillows to boot! The suite was 700 square feet with a living room, bedroom, and wet bar. The bathroom had a soaking tub with jets. The shower was one of the largest I have seen. All this on the 31st floor overlooking the strip....and no 25 dollar premium for the view. We will stay here again no doubt!

For you video poker fans....I had my best luck at Stardust, Golden Gate, Bellagio, Plaza, Stratosphere.....worst luck at the Aladdin, Babary Coast, Las Vegas Club and Monte Carlo.

Looking for a place to watch the Football games?? We watched them at a bar in the Stardust Casino. It was not too crowded and showed all games. The sportsbook there is huge and crowded, but the bar has a one teller annex for sports betting. I never had to actually enter the congestion of the sportsbook.

Food..Food...Food...
We took in our usual buffets. We enjoyed Harrahs, Stratoshpere and MGM the most. Treasure Island luunch buffet was like eating dogfood. Service was extremly bad there as well. Overall, The food was usually great. There is a brewery near the Hard Rock called Gordon Biersch. I highly recommend this place. Good food and awesome beer. Make sure you get there early, as this place turns into a loud party joint by about 10PM.

Shows...

We saw Lance Burton at Monte Carlo. It was awesome. Tix were 45 bucks. Well worth it. We sam Justin Tranz at O'Sheas. He is a hypnotist. This show does have some adult humor to it. I would say kids 14 and over would be OK. The tix wer 29.95 for 90 minute show. This too was extremely entertaining. The last show we saw was EFX at the MGM Grand. I am not a song and dance type person, but I did enjoy the lights and special effects. Some of the show is in 3D! Prices here ranged from 50-80 bucks. I would say that the show bordered on the price for entertainment value. If you like song and dance, you would probably like it more than I did.

That is about it...Please email ma if you have any specific questions...I would be happy to return any questions. We did get to see 95% of the casinos while we were here. It was our 3rd trip to LV.

Ampool
Your comment on the rip off phone rates is a painful reminder to me of seeing a $60.00 charge for a 3 minute call to friends back in England last year. Never again.

Good report. I was wondering, if you travelled by air, how did you manage to stay an extra night?

You had some interesting experiences, Ampool. I wouldn't have been very happy with the power outage at the Aladdin either ..how long did it last?

It's hard to believe that a Hilton (ie, Paris) could not scrounge up one extra pillow! I'm glad you hit your Royal there<g>....congratulations!

Do you have an Alamo QuickSilver card? It allows you to bypass those loooong lines, and even with a Priceline reservation, you might be able to go through the QS desk instead of waiting in the main line. A long line at that desk is about 3 people.

Thank you for the description of the Stardust Suites; they sound really nice, and it sounds like you ended your trip with on an upbeat note.

Interesting trip report! I'm interested in knowing what type of machine you hit your Royal on at Paris - DB? JOB? I've never been able to win a THING there!

I've also been to Gordon Biersch - excellent!

Nice trip report! Interesting to hear about your experience at Paris. Congratulations on the royal flush!

Royal Flush was done on a JOB machine. I burned through about 50 bucks in quarters in 20 minutes before hitting it. I didn't have a good feel about the odds of the machines at Paris. Glad I took the money and ran. Hit a straight flush on dollar machine in stardust. Yet another reason why Stardust was so good to me.

Anyone going to Vegas soon that would like to know which machines paid out, I will try to give my best desciption.

Rob

Ampool,
Sounds like a pretty gruling pace for a person with a 6 month pregnancy! <s> My daughter went along with us on our latest trip and she is also "with child", she did well but had a little problem with swollen ankles by the end of the evenings.

I agree Paris VP is a wasteland and the Aladdin is even worse! For someone who plays VP, you picked 2 hotels that arn't very VP friendly.

I'm shocked that there where not 2 extra pillows in the closet at Paris. We stay at the Flamingo and that is standard issue there.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. You did a great job with the report!
Lee-PA

Ampool,

Thanks for the report. I've got some good friends going to the Alladin to stay next week. I'll be anxious to hear if they agree with you.

Congrats on the Royal. I've never stayed at the Stradust but always kind of liked the place.



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Jeff, Gambling Moderator
senatorjm@prodigy.net

Thanks for the trip report. Sorry to hear that you had a few unpleasant experiences but the royal flush should have eased some of that pain. I know it does for me. We have played some VP at the Stardust but have never had any luck there. Seeing Lance Burton sounds like fun but I always get frustrated when I can't figure how how they do their tricks.

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Fred@talkvegas.com