I'm beginning to think September is NOT a good month for taking a Vegas trip for us. You may remember last year, we flew on 9/11 and ended up in Alburque, NM for 2 days, then took a train home. This year, we were originally booked 9/17 - 9/24 at Caesars. My husband's mother passed away the Saturday before. After all the hoopla with the family, Tim felt it best to continue with the trip just to relax from them.

We were on NW FF miles. Needless to say it cost us $50 to get them back since were were not able to rebook a flight through FF. The regular fares were going for $600 - $700 PP/round trip! I thought we we done! Then I checked the FunJet Vacations and got a RT for $180 + taxes and applicable fees, for $400 for the 2 of us. This is coming from Detroit. My only concern was it was on ATA (a previous experience of them leaving us in a casino while waiting for another plane, left a bad taste in our mouth)....

Then I called Caesar to reschedule our room. You may have read my previous post a month or so ago about the problems I was having booking the room. Originally, they gave us 3 free nights in Palace Tower, 2 nights at casino rate. The last 2 nights were the problem.... They said we could have at $300 & $400 + per night. I finally found someone who would give us casino rate for the last two. When I rebooked, I explained what had happened and she told me most of my offer will transfer, however the last 2 nights would be at $500 per night!! I told her that was ridiculous! She then said that based on my play, etc., etc., etc..... I told her she could take that offer and stick it! I was not going to stay and chance having to pay $500 a night when my entire 7 night stay wasn't going to add up to that! She could really care less........

I called the Aladdin (had offer for $29w/n and $69w/e. They still had rooms available. When she saw how long we were going to be there, she asked if we would want to upgrade for $20/night. We took it...

We left Thursday, 9/17 and arrived in LV around 9am. I was surprised at the difference in ATA. They had new planes (had adjustable headrests - up for taller people -like me- and also the sides would fold in toward your head for sleeping. Very comfortable. Seats were wider than the ones on NW. I would definitely fly them again!)

Took my "lose quarters" (no more than $3-4) and put them in a Wheel of Fortune machine. One 100 quarters ($25). Cashed them in and put them in my purse.... Didn' want to waste time cashing them in.

Arrived at the Aladdin where the woman behind the reservations counter was very welcoming. Joked with me asking if I wanted 2 queens or 1 king, but that if I took the king and Tim started acting up, I could call down and request a cot for him.....Also have to mention the bell people are not pushy in the least! Asked if we needed help with the bags, said no, and they said ok, have a nice day........unlike at Caesars where they tell you you can't get into your room until 3 (even though you checked in at the airport and got a room right away!)

Someone on one of the boards gave us an area of the hotel to ask for (overlooking Paris Pool/Belagio fountains). She could give us one, but it would be at least a 2 hr wait to have the room cleaned. She offered one overlooking the Aladdin pool. Took that just so could unpack at get gambling!

We could not believe the room. We had upgraded to the 2nd level room (don't know names). The bathroom was HUGE, with separate sinks, a sit down shower, separate commode room, and a large soaking tub. When you walked into the room, you had the bathroom first, then the bedroom. This was nice, because when you slept, you didn't hear all the noise in the hallways.

The bedroom a also very large. It had a desk with a computer (didn't try it....couldn't find any info on the cost) a large sofa (very comfortable), sitting chair, and an armoire with closet/drawer/tv combination. The room also had an ironing board and safe. Was surprised since someone had said Aladdin did not have safes in the rooms.

So far, so good. We unpacked and went downstairs to do damage. I had to unload the quarters in my purse (was getting too heavy to cart around), so I put them in a quarter Triple Bonus VP machine. Hit 4 of a kind (don't remember what) and ended up with $300! It was a hand pay and the floor people where there very quickly. I then moved to a $1 Double Five Time machine. Hit right off the bat for $1500! Again, another hand pay, this one accompanied by my Uncle Sam notice! I tried moving up to the $5 slots, (what the heck...I was on a roll!) No luck.

Met up with a couple from NY we had met a few years ago while staying at Flamingo, and have since become friends. Took the trolley to Rio to get tickets for Penn & Teller the next night. Played awhile at Rio, no luck. They were staying at Flamingo again and said the place has really gone down. They were looking to move on for next trip.

Came back to Aladdin, played a short while and went to bed.

The rest of the trip consists of one or more of the following activities....this way, I don't have to repeat.

Didn't let me finish.....

1) got up and walked about 4 miles (only lasted 3 days.)
2) ate breakfast. Did the buffet at Harrahs (had $3 off coupons. Not bad breakfast buffet. also ate at Champaign brunch at Aladdin, the regular breakfast buffet at Aladdin (not the best I've eaten at, but certainly not the worst) and also the coffee shop at Aladdin. Proportions are way too big! Would advise splitting, unless someone is an overeater!
3) sat by pool until roughly 1pm.
4) showered then went to gamble.

Some of the highlights we did are:
1) Saw Penn & Teller. Had a 25% off coupon. Was glad for that. At a cost of $72/ticket ($50 something with coupon) it was not worth the price. I don't know if it was too early in our trip to do a show (2nd day - and with 3 hr time change), but both Tim and I fell asleep! It really was not that good.

2) Ate at PF Changs at Aladdin. Would definitely recommend this place. Dinner for 2 with an appetizer and 1 alcoholic drink came to roughly $40 with tip! We ate their 2x's. First time, had Orange chicken and Honey something or other chicken. Both were good, but orange chicken was a bit too spicy for me and honey chicken was a but too bland. The next time we had the sweet & sour chicken and cashew chicken. Would definitely recommend these two dishes, along with the lettuce wraps (appetizer)!

3) Went to Eiffel Tower at night. Beautiful view. Would definitely recommend! Drawback- I'm afraid of heights. Elevator is glass and you can see out as you ride up. Even Tim was getting a little queezy on the ride up. Got off the elevator where we both clung to the back rail for life! After being up their a few, we calmed down and actually made it to the mesh enclosure to take wonderful videos of the strip at night.

4) Tim had received a $30 play coupon for Belagios (last year) to use during his birthday month. As stated, we never made it due to 9/11. We took the coupon this trip where the girl told us there was nothing she could do because it was last year's promotion. Then said to talk to Manager. Moved down the counter and explained situation to manager. He said for accounting reasons they could not honor it this year, but that he would be happy to give up 2 dinner buffets with 1 drink each if we wanted. We accepted and thanked him. The buffet is good, but we are simple folk so a lot of the variety they offer, we would'nt even want to try!

The gambling portion of our trip went like this....Thurs, Fri, Sat - I won, Tim lost; Sun, Mon - we both won little; Tue, Wed, Thurs - Tim won, I lost. Every night we came back with a couple hundred in our wallets.

We checked with a host. I was a little disappointed here, but still was acceptable. They treated us very nice and were not stand-offish. We ended up getting all our meals and pool bar comped. They did not do anything with rooms. I suppose we should have said/asked about it, but we were greatful for the food comps. We'll wait to see what kind of offers we receive on our play.

If room offers to follow are good, we will definitely return to the Aladdin. I don't understand why they are not busier. Everything about this place was great. Drink service, floor personnel, cage personnel, everyone was nice.

We've been home 2 days, and I just booked air for our May trip.....We're ready to go back!

One last note.......Our friends staying at Flamingo had said they were staning in the casino, close to the long hallway taking you to the restaurants (Alta Villa/Conrads) when she saw a cat walking down the hallway toward them. As it got closer, they realized it was not a cat, but the hugest rat they had ever seen! It entered the casino area and they said it was the funniest site! You could tell exactly where it went because heads where popping up and screams would follow as it moved through out the casino. Now I understand, if you leave the front door open, anything could walk in, but somehow I don't think I would ever be able to stay there again....YUCK!

Carol,
Really enjoyed your report. We most always fly out of Detroit using ATA because of the price difference between them and other airlines.
That cat er rat was looking for Lee, it didn't know he moved to MSS

Larry, just booked with NW for May (Sat-Fri) for $453 for 2, round trip! Good price.

Carol,
We've stoped staying at the Flamingo for quite a few trips. I never seen a rat inside the place, but why not, when you really think of it. Or any place for that matter that has doors open and food.
I'm glad you enjoyed PF Changs. There are many other good things on the menu, so experiment! I like the location of the Aladdin one, but prefure the one on Paridise across from Terribles Casino.
I might have been the person who said there where no safes in the Aladdin rooms. On our stay both my sisters room and mine had no safe, and we where forced to use the saftey deposit boxes at the cage...yuck. Things might have changed or we just got rooms without them? Your room description sounds a lot like what we had gotten on our visit. The rooms are nice, arn't they? I think the reason for the low turn out in the casino is several reasons however. Last visit we experianced long cage & coin redemtion lines, slow jackpot pay-offs, and hard to be found cocktail service. Add poor pay scale VP, and only 6 deck shoe games for BlackJack, and this isn't a gamblers paridice! I do however like a lot about the Aladdin. Although over priced the cafe serves a heck of a steak & egg breakfast! Dealers and pit crew are very friendly, and cocktail waitresses, when you can find one, are Mmmm, easy on the eyes???
Sorry to hear about your husbands mother passing. But you probably made the best choice to continue with a vacation. All the more reason to need one after something of that magnatude.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiances with us in your trip report. If your May trip is around Memoriel day, let me know, maybe we can all meet for lunch!
Great report, and you won some days too! Congrats!

Hi Carol,

We had a good experience at the Aladdin, too. As to why its not more busy, I thik its a combination of getting into and out of theplace. Also, even to walk to another casino is quite a hike.

Thanks for the report.

Tom

Carol,

Nice trip report and enjoyable to read. Were those first 100 quarters(Wheel of Fortune machine) won at the airport? Those machines are tempting upon arrival, but I usually pass those up for the wait on the return trip.

We stayed at the Flamingo only once and were dissatisfied with our room even though they claimed it was an Exec. suite. I also never felt safe walking alone to the room. Can't really explain why other than there were too many nooks, corners and crannies to manuever. Rats were definitely not the reason. However, now I'd even hesitate to walk the hall along the strip. Rodents are on my "most disliked things in life" list.(G)

Congratulations to both of you on the wins. Sounds like a nice trip and not a big losing one. Sorry to hear about the family loss. Certainly understand the benefits of an LV trip following that type of stress.

Thanks again for the report!

Beth

Thanks all. Also forgot to tell you, Tim took a $20 bill at the airport on way home, put in machine and cashed out. Then proceeded to go down the $1 slots and put in $1 in each. Hit triple diamond -- 7 -- triple diamond for $720. Not a bad way to come home.

Lee, we are planning on the week prior to Memorial Day. The usual week we go in May. Sat thru Fri. Would love to meet for lunch.

Tom,
I forgot about the parking and getting in and out of the place.....another good point that keeps people out. Valet service stinks too!

Carol,
I don't have hard dates for May yet, your way ahead of me on that one. I'm still waiting on my 2003 Calendars! LOL I'll post when it gets closer, and maybe...just maybe, we can all have lunch at PF Changs togeather! <S>

The parking is what keep me out of the Aladdin it's a pain.

Thanks for the report Carol. I've never spent much time in the Alladin. I check out the new strip properties when they open then usually hang around my off-strip haunts.
Sounds like a good trip, flight, room, food, etc.

Carol -

Thanks for the TR - it sounds like you were very lucky! I saw Penn & Teller recently and thought it was just okay. I've seent them in the past and they were better then. Ate at the Eiffel Tower earlier this year and really loved it!