snippet 2008- Hotel Overview

Normally my 11-15 day trips are a shuffle from one two night stay to another with perhaps a refreshing 3 night stay somewhere along the way.
I set out this time to have a relaxing 4 night stay in Laughlin and at the same time reduce the weekend hotel prices. I had intended to stay 4 nights at the Edgewater to be close to the 2-6 Colorado Belle poker action. I also saw that as a way to limit the amount of luggage shlupping in triple digit heat. The River City shuttle to Laughlin picked me up and delivered me casino to casino. I had not had much difficulty with the heat, but still I wanted to be cautious and it proved a good choice. I carry the largest suitcase allowed on airplanes as well as a C-PAP breathing machine and a small carryall bag. By the end of the trip the heat was oppressing me, dehydrating me, tiring me, and threatening to make me sick after my last hotel change, from free rooms at the California based on Main Street Station play, to paid rooms with one coupon at El Cortez which left me wiped out and sleeping for a long while. At 61 years of age, heat exhaustion, accompanied with mild diarrhea is nothing to be ignored.
As well as not having too much shlupping of luggage, I wanted good access to pools when possible as swimming is my major form or exercise in summer.

Most important is chosing Vegas hotels is location. And I really believe that the most flexible locations are not in the expensive strip hotels , but off the strip with bus access to prime strip areas and other interesting gambling. This does not suit the folks who need a room that pampers them. However, I am pampered simply by not having to set up a tent, pampered by accessible hot water, a comfortable bed, protection from rain and sun and wind. And I get all of that at below the price of camping out.

Terribles offers great access at a low rate. Just from their site I booked two nights at $29 each with $25 freeplay. with one bus ride I could go to Palms, Gold Coast,Rio, center strip, Sam's. From Palms/Gold Coast/Rio free casino shuttles can get me to many points on the strip. A free shuttle to the Orleans gets me to the Tropicana CAT bus and access to NYNY/MGM. So in my mind Terribles is excellent flexibility.

This trip my average hotel expense was $12 and only two nights were free based on past play. The rest were deals found on the net, coupons, and finally the icing on the cake was getting four free nights in Laughlin from coupons sent to a board friend for the purpose sharing them with some new gambler. These last coupons saved me $130 but also meant I needed to move once with luggage in Laughlin's +10 degree higher than Vegas heat) I would need to go from Aquarius to River Palms, a good walk along a rather maze like riverwalk. I discovered that the river taxi would take me and my luggage anywhere for $4. No high land metered taxi rates and no worry about traffic jams or going thru the tunnel. $5 with tip. A ten minute wait in the shade watching the river roll by. What a luxury! So piecing together free rooms in Laughlin is very simple and cheap with the added benefit of a fine boat ride rather than a walk past the seedy characters of downtown with tons of luggage.

All the rooms I stayed in were low end regular rooms. None were dirty. Some had some disadvantages. Here is an overview:

First two nights at Terribles: I asked for a room near the pool and that was granted. It meant I was a good walk from the casino, but I love being able to come back dripping wet and not pass too many other people. I loved the pool set in a really pleasant garden like courtyard with plenty of afternoon shade. It was never crowded and yet had plenty of people to watch for entertainment. The flat screen TV was a total disappointment. The reception was fuzzy. I much preferred the regular old fashioned TV's in my later rooms. Of course, no TV is worth anything in Vegas. They have no channels without commercials.
I used this hotel both to eat for free on points saved from prior years, to play matchplays, and as easy access by bus to the strip at Flamingo, or Gold Coast, or the Palms. I walked from there to the strip my first night, coming back at 3AM. That pass then paid my trips over the next day. Also, this is the only hotel from which we can use the River Palms Laughlin Shuttle.
Terribles picked me up at the airport and transported me free to the hotel. How nice to be so close to the airport after 5 hours of flying. An hour off the plane and I was in the pool stretching out those cramped muscles and watching a beautiful Dutch bikini.

Then it was off to Laughlin. As the Laughlin Entertainer says, : "All the thrill of Vegas at one third the price in a laid back riverfront community."

My next two nights were at Aquarius in Laughlin I was surprised not to find this a little more upscale than the cheap River Palms. It is center Laughlin strip and that is a great advantage. The pool was stark, just stuck on top. It was full of kids in late afternoon. It was fully in the sun until sunset. I had a fine time because I like watching kids in pools.
My tower, however, was adult only- over 21. That was nice. I don't like kids late at night or when I am napping and they run the halls.
The room was clean, but not behind the bed table. I pulled it out to plug in my sleeping machine and it was pretty dirty behind. The fan in the bathroom made a whining noise, so if Ihad been with another person, it would have disturbed their sleep. I played some DB 10/7 there and did well. So I have VP seeded this spot for future mailings.
Aquarius gave me easy access to the Colorado Belle poker games and also to the Watchman store at Riverside. It also was walkable at noon to the IN-N-OUT burger which was on my list of things to do, but will not be next time. LINK

As always I liked walking the river at night and seeing the carp, koi, and ducks as well as the lights on the water.

River Taxi to the River Palms was fine except getting down to the taxi from Aquarius meant going down some stairs. In the future, were I to leave, or especially were I to arrive there, I would use the next casino access at the Riverside. There was a ramp choice at the River Palms.

My next two nights at the River Palms again put me in a tower very close to the pool. The pool was better than Aquarius but not up to the standards of Terribles. Again there were plenty of children to watch. Children in Laughlin in the summer are very common. My room was cleaner behind things than Aquarius. The bathroom faucet was hard to operate, but I got the hang of it. Outside the window was a loud air conditioner which would bother some people, but it was really white noise and blended well with my C-PAP air rushing sound so it was never a problem for me. I left my phone charger there when I checked out, and they found it after I called and are mailing it to me.


Although I had originally wished for 4 straight nights, I liked being in one part of the Laughlin strip one time and then in a separate part. It was too hot to do much walking. I found the same 2-6 game at the River Palms and also found the best coupon news in all my gambling, 6 hours of play or any 4 of a kind (even with only one card) gets the player a certificate good for a free room that can be used up to 6 months. I left with 4 free nights for my next trip based on live Poker play.

If the promotion keeps going, I will use this as my main casino on future trips. They had full pay Double Bonus 10/7, so again I seeded future offers with some play. They also have a fine promotions system. You go to a kiosk and swipe and it tells you what you are entitled to and prints your certificates. At the promotions booth, the woman told me that for 7 more points I could swipe in a cash give away. So I played and swiped for a wind of $10; however, that was the lowest of five choices. Better luck might have given me $200, so it was a great promotion.

I also liked access to the pool and to comedy. From downtown I have to take a bus to see comedy. At the River Palms I saw three fine comics for $20 during a 3 hour break from a 14 hour poker session.

The shuttle brought me back to the airport. I went to ground zero and caught the 109 to the DTC. It was Sunday and the bus was not crowded. That is the best day said the driver. I rolled my bags across the street to the California for two nights. Although the daylight bleeding slats in the window were the same as those at Main Street Station, this was a quieter casino, and again I was just short one floor elevator ride to the tiny, cold California pool for my morning swim. Even in this August heat that pool water was cold in the morning. So I had the pool to myself and could swim in circles until I was too tired to go another lap.

I shlupped my bags up to Pavilion rooms at the El Cortez. These are the most basic of the bunch, but I like that balcony, especially at night. I also go to play poker and sleep. I am tired by the end of a trip. When I wake up at 3 AM I can go play poker and then go back to bed. They send me no free offers anymore for rooms, so I am using up my points for food and abandoning them as a playing casino except for live poker. They downgraded all full pay machines except a few and they dropped comps 300% on those. Still I like to get an efficient and free shuttle to the airport and they have the best. I could leave the hotel at 2PM for a 3:30 flight and know I would have plenty of time. This time we were there at 2:05PM, leaving early because all passengers were ready.
My plan in the future is to use them for my last three nights, ending on a Tuesday because a standard discounter deal is to give Tuesday for free if three nights are booked.

I could have stayed more cheaply at the Vegas Club. They had a deal at Expedia where any three nights booked on a Master Card got a $50 gas certificate and weekday rates were just $18. But I did not want to walk to play poker at the El Cortez.

So my next trip to Vegas will again be
Terrible's and some strip area poker games.
Laughlin for free nights while I play poker and for a good long stay at River Palms.
The El Cortez for the end of the trip.

I'll fit in free downtown at Main Street Station or Four Queens if I have offers, but the Four Queens has reduced comps a bit for me. It is still a good offer $25/$50 2 for 1 with $50 freeplay, but only two night stretches.