Another wonderful trip....but then again, when is a trip to Vegas NOT wonderful!

Had a 6:40 am flight out of Detroit with no problems. Was surprised to see NorthWest is now serving meals again ... for a price! I believe you got cereal/milk/danish/yogurt for around $7. Played a short time in the airport and was surprised that we still had to wait for our luggage. Usually when we do this, our luggage is sitting on the side of the carousel. Was also surpised that we didn't have to match our luggage to our tickets upon leaving the luggage area. When did that start??

Arrived at the Aladdin around 8:30. There was no one in the check in line (although I had received a letter stating I made gold status and I should use that line upon check-in). When we got to the desk we were told we were VIP's (that's a first and a surprise) and should have used the VIP check-in. She had said the room reserved for us through our host (asked what time we would be arriving) was not ready but that housekeeping had been alerted about our early arrival and it should be ready within 1-2 hours. We could wait in the VIP lounge if we wanted. Since I've never been a VIP we had to go in and see what that was all about! Nothing more than a huge living room with free beverages. Grabbed a water and pop (soda for you easteners)checked the luggage at the bell desk, and proceeded upstairs to start our gambling!

We were in our room by 11:00. We had room 2332. It was the top floor of the tower with a FANTASTIC view of the Bellagio fountains and pool area! I don't think a better view exists in that hotel! We would watch the fountains from bed every night! (The windows in this room are close to the floor, unlike the lower rooms where the windows come halfway down.) Went to the 2:30 mass at the cathedral, walked to Treasure Island for their buffet, came back to Aladdin gambled for a short while and died. Had now been up nearly 20 hours.

Sunday we had received an offer to attend any of the shows at Aladdin, complimentary. We caught the Sunday mattinee showing of Miss Saigon. Good show, however the theater was sooo cold! Couple in front of us, during intermission, came back with a winter coat! I had the tickets and Tim decided to go to the restroom shortly before intermission. He had no clue what our seats were and proceeded to parade up and down the aisle looking for me. Everytime he was coming near for me to wave, he would turn his head in another direction! The usher had him sit in the aisle until intermission (since it was so close).... Only Tim!

Found the two restaurants I had asked about in an earlier post. Cheeseburger at the Oasis and an Italian one (can't remember the name and we didn't make it there this trip). We ate at the Cheeseburger one on Sunday. We had actually eaten there for breakfast on our previous trip! Tim had the hamburger with blue cheese and said it was really good (although they could have been a little more generous with the blue cheese!) I had the chicken salad. Excellent! You can find their menus under Desert Passage.com Service was a little slow, but we weren't in much of a rush.

Our gold card provided us access to the spa (gym, sauna, and something else) We used the gym 5 of our 7 days. It's clean, has both free weights and weight equipment. Made it there at 6am (opening). A couple days it was pretty crowded, but there were still enough machines for everyone.

Tuesday we went to dinner at the Mexican place in the Desert Passage. I think it's called LaCantina or something to that effect. We both had a burrito with beans & rice and a beer. Let me tell you! We did NOT need prunes for breakfast for the next few days! I had to buy some Imodium AD to stop it! I would not recommend this place.

On Tuesday, my sister came into town staying at Rio. They came for dinner and we ate at P.F. Changs. Our favorite restaurant in Aladdin! We had the lettuce wraps and sweet & sour chicken for 3 and 1 had a big salad of some kind and pop. The bill for 4 came to around $58.

Wednesday we went to Rio to see my sister. They had tickets for both Ron Lucas and Scintas. I would recommend BOTH shows! I didn't think the puppet show would be very entertaining. Was I wrong! If you are looking for something to do in the afternoon - cheap - I think it's $7 plus a drink or it includes a drink - go see it.

The Scintas was also a great variety show. While both Tim and I were somewhat bothered by the sister's act (she tried to be too much like Celine) the two brothers were great! You left this show feeling very patriotic and loving of your family. They are a family act and make you feel like part of their family.

We sat by the pool almost every day. I don't know what it is, but Tim seems to attract all the weirdos! The first day out we sat by this little alcove. The woman next to us (dressed in BIG hat, long sleeves, pants, shoes, etc) went on about how if she remembered correctly this area was great for shade. She was alergic to the sun! Well at 9:45 when the sun came over the hotel, guess who got the sun first! She left some stuff on the chair and proceeded to move to the other end where it was still shady. The second day we had our same spot and a young couple had the other 2 chairs in this area. We pulled our chairs out of the alcove to get more sun. This same lady comes up to Tim and says "Excuse me, but could you move your chair so I can fit a chair back in there" (meaning the alcove and the chair would have to be the opposite direction of the chairs in order to fit) Tim said yes I do mind and no you're not putting a chair in there! Now, if the women is alergic to the sun, WHAT THE HECK IS SHE DOING OUT THERE???? There is a large section by the hotel that doesn't get sun all day. Why doesn't she stay there?

As for gambling, we didn't hit anything too big. The best I did was playing one coin in a $5 video poker machine. It kept hitting 2 pair & 3 of a kind. After awhile I got gutsy and started playing all 5 coins. I had it up to $800 and it was going up and down. I decided to cash out at $600. It paid a paper ticket. It was still paying out, so I put another $100 in it. I had the machine up to $1125, but got too nervous and cashed out at $1000. Not bad, $1600 for $150 cash in! The best Tim did was hit a single bar, 10X, single bar on a $5 machine (one coin in) for $500 just as we were leaving. While we hit some smaller pots, they added up and we did come home with more money to go back with!

Thursday, we decided to play the $500 free slot play we had received. Now mind you, we had discussed how we were going to play this for the past 3 months after getting the offer in the mail!(since I had been told by a friend you have to play it all in one machine!) We had decided to put it in either a $5 or $10 slot machine and play 1 coin. I had gone to the promotion desk the night before and she said we were not booked in under that promotion code. I found my host to ask her about it and she did something and said we were all set. So at the pool the next day, we discussed again how were planned to play it (before meeting my sister)that same day. On the way down, I gave Tim the cashier checks to cash and said I was stopping in the spa to see if they sell this handlotion they have there (it smells like grapefruit and is wonderful -- but the don't sell it) and would meet him down there. Well, I figured I had to walk right past the promotion desk so I might as well get the $500 promotion ready. I did, she reiterated that I had to use it all in 1 machine. I new exactly where to find Tim. He is in one of 2 spots. He was at the first one I looked (the $1 slot machine). When I got there, he said, "Hey, what is this promotion thing and the 500 credits? Did I win something? All of a sudden it said your promotion is ready so I hit the promotion button!" When he saw the look on my face (maybe it was my hand coming up to clobber him!) he realized what he did! We were both so angry! He blamed me that I didn't tell him first and I blamed him because he knew what it was! We ended up with $417.50 (yes 50 cents on a dollar machine....I still can't figure if we were gipped or got a bonus) Needless to say, the excitement and winnings were over-shadowed by our anger at each other.

We had a red-eye out on Friday and asked the host Thursday night if we could have a late check out. She was very apologetic that the hotel would only give us until 6pm because of it being Friday and the start of Memorial weekend. We really wanted until about 3 or so so we could do the pool in the AM and get ready. She comped us all our nights except the last one (which wasn't on the book as of Thursday) and our pool bar bills. No food was comped. I wish I understood this comp business. Last time we only had food comped. Oh well, I'm happy to get anything off my bill!

Friday we took the red-eye (I had used by FF miles to upgrade to first class on the return flight). Eventhough we slept the whole way (except Tim, who was bothered by the lady across the aisle (wierdo) who put her hand in a small bag of popcorn, rattled the bag for 5 minutes, and pulled out one kernal of popcorn!) it was worth it! You could actually move in the seat!

A couple of other notes. Had a pool side message! wonderful! Won't be the last time for that!

Also spoke with host who said she thought it is a done deal with Planet Hollywood (but they aren't saying yet) and that they feel it is a good thing. Said that they should be able to draw more stars to the hotel. I asked about the "Asian" bid and she said she thought it was a "dummy" bid.

We have 16 weeks this Tuesday until our next trip the "Heaven"!

54Carol,
Thanks for a wonderful trip report!
I could just picture the 2 of you being mad at each other over the $500 promotion thing. I hope you can both laugh about it now.

I like the Aladdin, I hope the new ownership thing works out for them. I love the rooms there!

Those $5 machines really make your heart beat...don't they?

Glad you like PF Changs, I haven't ever had a bad meal there....I will one day, but I've had so many good meals there, I could easily over look a bad meal at that place.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your trip with all of us! I needed an LV fix!

54Carol,
Thanks for the great report.
"we didn't have to match our luggage to our tickets upon leaving the luggage area. When did that start?? " That started after 9/11 they moved sercuty to other locations. Check-in instead of check-out.

LOL, Carol, it seems we ran into the same climate control on our trips, alternating between no AC and freezing! I'm jealous! No, not because of your gambling luck but because you saw Ronn Lucas ...he was on vacation while I was there.

I hope you and Tim are speaking again<g> and my compliments to him for telling that rather strange lady at the pool that he did mind her maneuvers! Too many times, we just let people get away with things like that.

How was the buffet at TI? LOL, I think you may have created a stampede over to the Cheeseburger place at Aladdin<g>.

Thanks for the report!

Tim & I are talking again. We don't bring up that $500 promotion. It's still an open wound...

Daisy, the buffet at TI is very plain. But that is why we like it. We always seem to overstuff ourselves at the buffets because there is so much offered. They have the standard roast beef, turkey, and a couple mixed dishes, not much of a selection. We are usually so tired at this point that trying to make any kind of decision, hurts! It's become our tradition to go there after church if we fly in on Saturday.

I definitely do recommend Cheese Burger at the Oasis and the Ron Lucas show.... and stay away from the LaSalsa Cantina (I think that's the name)

Carol,
You'll laugh about it one day...maybe not yet, but one day!
Maybe you'll get a repete of that promotion. It sure sounds like you gave them enough play to be invited back. I have found Casino marketing repete promotions that work!

Thanks for the report Carol! It's so neat to hear how different each person's trip is.

What other properties have you stayed at and how do they compare to the Alladin?

Senator, We've stayed in the following places, pretty much in this order. ... Excalibur, IP (never again), TI, Flamingo, Caesars, Aladdin.

The first few years (11 yrs ago come Sept.)we went to Vegas we were on a tight budget. Excalibur was just opened and you could get a room for $35/night w/o having ever played there. Our gambling budget was only $50 each/day! Let me tell you! It went quickly! Excal was clean and we really didn't mind it there - kids and all! Although it was confusing trying to find your tower!

We moved to the IP with a group deal (air/hotel package). Our room had a balcony - we thought great - opened the door to see we overlooked the area where the buses waited for the tour groups! We were overcome by gas fumes! Every night we came to the room and Tim would put a book of matches in the wall air conditioner (major rattle). Every day the maid would take them out! We thought the IP had a smell to it and the people there were rude.

We moved up to the Flamingo on an offer we received. The rooms were small but hey by my house's standards - big! They were showing wear, but the newly remodeled rooms (last time we stayed there) was very nice. We loved the Flamingo for the pool and the Chinese restaurant (can't remember name). At this point, our playing (ok, our allotment) was a lot higher than when we started, but we could never get ANYTHING out of this place except casino rates on rooms.

Went to TI on an offer. We liked it there. It was clean and had a fresh "air" about it. The only drawback was that we stay on eastern time (pretty much while there) so we are in bed early. Every 1-1/2 hrs the show out front would go off and scare the be-jesus out of us! Could ask for mountain view room, but like strip view better. The only other drawback is that it is close to what we consider the 'end' of the north strip. Not central.

My bro-in-law was getting deals for Caesars and talked us into going there (he gambles less than us so we figured we could get something out of this place). Loved Caesars. Loved the Palace Towers, did not care for the standard deluxe rooms. Liked the Palatium buffet, thought the Largo Cafe was overpriced for the same stuff. Loved the pool. Was ususally comped 5 nights and was given last 2 at casino rate, but the last few stays, they would not give those last nights to us. Said they had to give us regular rate and see how our play was. That is the reason we left there. I'm not booking a room at $200 & $300 + a night to "see how my play was"!

We moved to Aladdin last Sept. and love it there. The pool is not as nice as Caesars or Flamingo, but it still cools you off! It's easy to navigate (pretty much one big circle). We don't rent a car, so parking is not an issue. We love that you don't have to tramp through the casino with your luggage (or your bathing suit) nor do they pressure you to (bell hops) leave your luggage with them. Rooms are great. First had an offer for $29 for standard room, upgraded to 2nd level room for $20 more/night. Room is huge, bathroom is huge. We have had good service on machines, drinks, host, check-in. We had only stayed there the one time before this trip and gambled as much as we did at Caesars & Flamingo and have been getting great offers/freebies and comps. Heck we made VIP status! Never thought I would see that!

With Caesars Palace Tower rooms being the top pick, (although I think they are kind of dark), Aladdin rooms are just a step down (IMHO). The only thing we found we miss is the in-room fridge.

Okay, this is like a mini trip-report in itself. Think I will start a thread asking this same question. Will be interesting to hear other's opinions.