Vegas: Winning at the Monte Carlo resort, Bellagio conservatory, Dennis Miller, and more

 

                                             You know, gambling's only really fun if you win. Gene plays a lot of slots and a lot of poker and he usually wins.  Like on this trip.  He played a lot but he also hit several jackpots, one of the $1,250.00 category.  I don't ever win that big but I do seem to have pretty decent luck on the penny and nickel slots.  Mostly I play the ones that remind me of old tv shows I liked to watch as a kid or the silly ones that are a combination of slot machine and video game.  The Munsters are usually very kind to me.  Like on this night.  I put a $20 in a Musters machine and won $100. I was giddy with that.  I took that ticket and put it into this Coyotes on Parade (it's Wolf something, CoP is my pet name for it) and won $500.00.  Read the bottom line on the machine.  I cashed out a $600 ticket, winning 48,200 PENNIES on this sucker.

When you win, it's a blast. When you lose, it's boring as hell.  I'll take winning any day.

 

All of this slot fun took place at the Monte Carlo resort & casino.  I've always liked this hotel.  It's theme of Monte Carlo is elegant and understated, as compared to some of the more gaudy (a relative term in Vegas) themes of other hotels on the strip. 

 A long time ago they had a bar called the Houdini bar with Houdini memorabilia, nice bartenders, and great martinis. It's a small thing but I always liked that bar and remembered sitting in it for hours reading a book one time while Gene played poker.  It was a relaxing afternoon.

Having spent a dozen years of my first career in the hotel business, I really pay attention to where I stay and I have adapted a philosophy of a kind:

"Don't dazzle me with bullshit, impress me with service and product."

Hey, I'm a consumer like anyone else and my opinion is just as valid as anyone else's so I'll be brutally honest.  Because my husband plays a lot of poker and slots, we often travel as guests of the casino, meaning rooms get comped and we get a little extra attention which can be nice when you're looking at a mile long registration line.

One of the first hotels in Vegas we went to as guests of the casino was the Luxor.  I used to love the Luxor. I'm a huge Egyptophile so that theme does impress me.  I know in my heart it's probably as close as I'm ever going to get to the Pyramids or to King Tut's tomb.  Originally, they had an exhibit set up comparable to a museum exhibit showing a piece by piece replica of King Tut's tomb just as Howard Carter found it in 1922.  I loved it. So when Gene said we were going to stay there as guests of the casino I was very excited. 

Until we got there.

After 3 1/2 hours of sitting in the big metal bus in the sky, we arrived at the VIP lounge tired, thirsty, hungry, and limp where we stood and cooled our heels for 15 minutes without even being greeted because the two gals manning the office were having a private conversation.  Finally, after staring at them for a while we were barely greeted and checked in and that's pretty much it.  That's the sum of our experiences with the VIP lounge personnel because why bother walking in there to be ignored?  And when Gene let our casino host know about it she didn't really seem all that interested.

All in all that trip was okay but we certainly weren't impressed.  We've stayed at the Luxor a couple of times over the years and quite frankly I was more impressed with the regular desk clerks. 

So that's my bitch portion of this post.  The reason why I went into so much detail was to compare that reception with our reception at the Monte Carlo.

Upon arriving at the Monte Carlo we went into the VIP lounge and were immediately acknowledged by both of the gals working even though they were both busy with other guests.  We were immediately offered seats and pointed towards the VIP bar and told to make ourselves at home anytime the lounge was open.  Check in was actually a pleasure instead of a tooth-pulling and every time we walked in that lounge our reception was the same.  We were offered cocktails, sodas, and water,  and the gals arranged for our show tickets with enthusiasm.  I looked forward to running into the lounge for this or that every day while I was there.  Gene later met our casino host and said she was lovely and friendly too.

We were impressed with room service.  Let's face it.  It's easy to do room service badly. The food can get cold, the orders can come up slow, small touches can be missed if you don't have good waiters but Gene and I were both impressed.  We've stayed in a lot of nice hotels and eaten a lot of room service so they have to be on their game to get our attention.  The food was always earlier than what time they'd said and quick for a hotel of that size, each dish no matter how simple or upscale was always a good temp and very well prepared, and the waiters were always friendly without being fakey ass-kissers. 

This is Gene's birthday cake delivered by room service. It's its own little mini Boston Cream Pie, one of Gene's all time favorite desserts:

I think sometimes it's easy for a hotel like MC, which has been around for a while, to get lost in the newest biggest better of the strip but I have to tell you I will take that kind of good service, great food, and fun play over more gaudy theme any day.  Thanks to Stephanie and the VIP lounge gals! 

Here are some pics from other things we did while in Vegas that weekend:

 

Dennis Miller

Dennis "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong" Miller!!!!  Am I showing enough enthusiasm? Two of the funniest people in the world to us are Dennis Miller and The Amazing Jonathan. We got to see AJ a couple of times ago,  ROBIN WILLIAMS last time we were in town, and this time I'm thrilled to say I've crossed another of my all time favorite comedians off my must-see-in-person list.  LOVE this guy! And just posing a question for fun...do smart men make anybody else hot?  I think he's smart, hilarious, and damn sexy.  I'm just sayin'....

And then there was:

The Bellagio Conservatory decked out in a fall theme with huge glass leaves suspended in the air, a long pumpking strewn haystack down the middle that you could walk through, a full-sized water mill, and animatronic trees based on the Lord of the Rings Ents.

 

 

 

 

Another day's adventure took us to Caeser's Forum Shops where there is a--I'm not kidding and have the pics to prove it!--spiral escalator(s). Of course we didn't buy anything in the Forum Shops but it is fun to window shop designers.

 

Check this out.  On the night we went downtown for the Fremont Street Experience we dropped in at The Golden Nugget Hotel to check out the new three decker pool with a water slide built inside an aquarium, built inside the pool.

   

And one more pic. This one says it all about Vegas, right?  Hee hee. (Read the sign above our heads)  I think someone must have been drinking alcohol when they spelled "souvenir's".

Comments

[Dana]

Wow you make the Monte Carlo sound like a wonderful place to stay. Congrats on the big penny slot win ! I've never won very much, I think I was excited to win 50 bucks, at a Casino in Lake Chelan, but you won 600! I told my hubby about the seafood buffet and wine cellar he liked the idea of going to Las Vegas for our AV one of these years. Loved all of the pics and the pics of the spiral escalators and the multi level swimming pool-aquarium and water slide through center !
DD

[Glenna]

Dana--I think you'd have fun. Gene and I always think of Vegas as Disneyland for adults.

[Deborah Dowd]

This sounds like such a wonderful time, and you and Gene clearly are lucky! I have never been to a casino, but you make it sound like a blast. And I am a big fan of Dennis Miller, too. A funny conservative.... who woulda thought!

[Glenna]

Deborah--It really is fun. It can be overwhelming but we've gotten it down to knowing what we like to do and what we like to skip. LOVE Dennis Miller!!!