Please ADD your own Las Vegas Trip Report. Date of Trip: November 27, 2003 to November 29, 2003 Hotel Stayed At: Treasure Island (oops I mean TI) Report by: Dave <> From: Georgia

Flew out on Delta Thanksgiving morning. Flight was surprisingly full, but uneventful. It is always amusing to me to listen to how loud the airplanes TO Vegas are, and how quiet the planes FROM Vegas can be....

We go to Vegas several times a year and prefer to rent a car rather than cab it. Got a great deal from Dollar for $15/day. No problems getting the car, although not surprisingly the guy at the Dollar counter worked real hard to sell us insurance! What, at $15/day, you arent making any money??

We have experienced long lines at the check in at TI before, so I was glad we were in this time on a promotion and could use the faster VIP check in. I have to say, even if it is empty, it is cool to get handed an envelope by the front desk staff. We asked for a room overlooking the pirate battle or whatever the new show is. The staff person seemed almost offended, "of course you would get that" For future reference, dont bother with that side of the hotel. You cant see the show (we were on the 17th floor) but you can hear the cannons. Of the three sides to the property, get the pool side, this also gets you the best view of the strip.

Got settled into the room, which was the usual very nice room. Overall for the money, I still consider TI to have about the best value on the Strip.

We went down to check out the casino. We had not been there in about 9 months, and although there wasnt a whole lot different, they do seem to be trying to improve their slot selection. They have even added a high-limit slot area of sorts. We played a bit, no luck to speak of, then decided to wander down and back on the Strip. Walked over to the Venetian, my luck was non-existent, my wife though won $50 on every nickel machine she played. She asked me which ones to play, and I was having more luck pointing to them then playing them! Personally, I dont like the Venetian casino, too big and high ceilings for my tastes. Moved on to Harrah's, O'Sheas and the Flamingo. Weather was gorgeous, I should have stayed outside for the luck I was having!

Walked back through the Mirage and was curious to see if the white tigers were still on display, and wondered if one would be wearing an orange jumb suit. The Mirage casino is gorgeous, but still no luck even for my wife who usually does very well there.

Decided to head out to our other favorite place in Vegas, Sam's Town and on the way stopped at Del Taco. Man I love their burritos...and its tough to find one in the East. The burrito was a good as it gets as we didnt have much luck although I hit 4 Aces on Video Poker. If you like Videro Poker, Sam's Town has the most VP machines I have ever seen. Normally we stay out there as the slots are looser and the rooms are much cheaper. Last April we went out and got rooms for $19. They are nothing fancy but nothing wrong with them either, and a much nicer feel than being at the downtown properties. We were going to get a snack at the Mexican restaurant there, but werent hungry. My wife absolutely loves the meatball soup and the chips come with two kinds of salsa and bean dip...man is it good!

Anyway,started feeling "guilty" so went back to TI to give them some action. I usually stick to craps and have fond memories of playing at TI. My wife and I were married there 3 years ago, and my brother and I went down one night to play craps. We had no idea what to do, other than the pass line bet, didnt even know what odds bets were. Fortunately we had a freindly delaer who showed us the joys of the place bets. My brother in a classic case of beginners luck, must have rolled for 30 minutes. We had no idea what was going on but they kept handing us money and it was a blast. Well this trip wasnt quite as exiciting, but almost as successful and won about $300 the first night.My wife meanwhile was playing slots; she normally does not like the slots at TI, but they seem to have improved the selection and she was doing OK. Since we planned on driving out to Red Rock canyon at sunrise, we called it a night around 11.

Got out to the Canyon about 630 which was just after sunrise, but still a nice drive. Might have made it on time, except I got stuck in the Starbucks line at TI. We "found" this on our last trip and love to drive through; its so peaceful and scenic. On the way back we decided to add to my casino chip collection and checked out a few I had missed earlier. First stop was the new Westin Casuarina. It is everything I have read about it, small, small, small. Wife won a few dollars while I played craps with a fellow from Ottawa Canada who couldnt keep the dice on the table. At one point I yelled over to my wife to get the dice that had rolled under her chair at the slot machine and bring it bacl. Very friendly dealers there, but the tables are right by one of the main entrance doors, and it was COLD. Moved on to Ellis Island (interesting, small and kindy dirty looking but not really that bad), Key Largo (small, weird layout and cramped), Tuscany (big open room, no atmosphere at all) and the Hard Rock. The HR was smaller than I was expecting and has one of my personal pet peeves, metal $1 chips at the tables (Flamingo also turns me off for that reason). One some money (but no hog) at the Harley Davidson slot machines.

Time to head Downtown. Took my wife there last trip and she loved it. Its really nice if you like to move around from place to place without having to walk miles. Went into most all of them downtown, I won $300 on some slot machine that broke when it went to pay out, wife won $100 there as well. Had the 99 cent shrimp cocktail at GG, wife won $200 at the Las Vegas Club on a Top Dollar machine. We had valet parked at the Golden Nugget, and went to leave. We waited about 20 minutes for our car, saw many people who came after us get their cars and leave, then had to complain. Took them another 15 minutes to find the keys, then another 10 to get the car out to us. total turn off...sorry GN you lost a future customer there.

Went back to TI and won another $300 playing craps. This was starting to get surreal, I dont normally ever win money, but had 3 winning sessions in a row, plus the slot machine win downtown. Went back to the room, found out we had a minor family crisis going on back on Georgia, so had to change our flight the next day from 130 pm to 9 am. So naturally we went down to play some more and won another $100 at craps. I was playing with a group of 4 guys who didnt understand the game too well, but didnt let that stop them have fun!. Then a woman starts playing wearing and announces it is her 30th birthday and all her girlfriends were upstair sleeping. She then told us she needed to win money for a boob job. This of course sent the group of young men into a frenzy, and I had more fun watching them than I did playing craps. Caught up to my wife later on and she was winning a little too. Unfortunately, we had to go to the airport early and called it a night.

Normally the day you leave Vegas is uneventful, but not this trip. Got checked in and were waiting at the gate and decided to play some more. Yes, I know the airport machines are terrible, but oh well...My wife played some Deuces Wild and got the 4 2's !! Nic $250 win to end the trip.

Not mcuh to report in the food department, we dont normally go to Vegas to eat, so we try to spend as little as possible on food. Had 2 buffet tickets from TI, but based on previous experiences, didnt use them. Its not the worst buffet in the world, but I would definitely not pay for it, nor would I stand in line and wait for it.

One qucik note on the Casino Marketing Department at TI. The night before we left I asked if any of the room or food charges could be comped. They decided that I only had enough play to cover some of the food. I thought that was a little tight, but OK whatever. Went to checkout at 630 am and the comp was not processed. At that time of the morning there are no hosts on duty so I tried talking to the Casino Manager who put me on hold for 5 minutes. We had to leave for the airport, so I hung up on him. Couple days after I got home I checked the credit card and saw that they had not only comped the food, but the room charges as well!

Like everyone else, cant wait until the next trip!

Dave
Dave <> - Georgia    1651

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