TR Snippet- Hotels and Locations Review
I planned my trip to be closer to the strip and hopefully play poker with tourists rather than local regulars. I also wanted to avoid the buses because with all the new routes I did not really know how the buses were going to run.
ORLEANS
Always a delightful room, especially for free. They dug back about four years to offer me this room as I have not been there since they eliminated the 10/7 double bonus.
I intended to try the pool, but I never made it.
I did got down to Seattle Coffee and use the free wifi. That was just great. I did not even buy coffee. It was listed as an amenity on my $5 resort fee.
Two free nights and $10 in free food offset the resort fee. I have to check my records too as I may not have been charged the fee.
GOLD COAST
April is such a pleasant month and I wanted exercise, so I decided to walk from the Orleans to the Gold Coast. It took me a half hour and was very easy in every way except the sound of racing engines so close.
I did notice that the laundromat on Arville is closer to the Gold Coast than the Orleans and I would roll a suitcase up there and do my laundry in pleasant weather when staying at the Gold Coast.
This was one of my favorite spots: Afternoon jazz band, great location for getting to other casinos, fine buffet with redeye gravy for breakfast, and a small, uncrowded pool with warm water. I also used the Fitness Center and liked that it looked out over the pool. Fine machines. Everything was uncrowded. Of all the hotels this one was the cleanest. My sleep apnea machine needs to be plugged in so I see behind the unmoved furniture and the bed bug inspection has me looking behind the headboard. Everything here was clean.
They have a $3 resort fee, but it was no on my bill. I did ask about it and the girl said that it probably had been booked wrong, but I booked on line using my B Connected card. Others report the fee dropped on comped rooms.
SUPER 8 KOVAL
I was very hesitant about booking this place. No matter what the logic that bed bugs can inhabit anywhere and cleanliness is not the issue, I had read that they had some incidents (ironically while hosting an exterminators convention) and I worried. So I brought up the issue with the desk clerk, explaining that I took medication that lowered my immune system and I feared that bed bug bites might be big trouble for me. He was absolutely the most accomodating fellow of my entire trip. He game me room 3045 which he said was used the family of the manager when they came to town and which had a brand new bed. He also told me that whenever this happens they throw away everything.
I knew these rooms were small with just one queen bed, but I found this place delightful. No maze of hallways and the amenities were really incredible and without a resort fee. I did not try the little pool, but they have one. I did use the wifi and the great television. Three HBO channels and Turner Classic Movies, which satisfies me, as well as many other stations. The best television in Vegas.
So I had my sleeping issues at 3 AM. I packed up my dirty clothes and went to the laundromat right there in the hotel and did my laundry. I brought my computer and was on line all the while my two loads washed and dried. It was such a treat and it set me up half way through the trip to have plenty of socks and underwear and choices of shirts.
It was quiet.
I had a coffee maker so I could make my morning tea and use my ceramic cup. What a treat that is!
In the lobby was a machine that dispenses coffee, hot chocolate, something vanilla, and other hot drinks. I took one with me every time I left the building. Also int he lobby was a large screen television and during one rainy morning I just hung out and waited for the rain to end while I watched someone cook food.
I did not need the free transportation to and from the airport or a place to keep my dog with me, but all that is available at the Koval 8 too. They said that they would negotiate a rate of about $40 a night if I stayed for a week next time and I may very well do that. I forgot to ask about cancellation policy, however. I would need to be able to cancel without penalty.
With Ellis Island right next door for food and the strip a short walk this is a great location.
I could build my Flamingo/ LV Boulevard part of my trip around the Super 8 and the Gold Coast and be very content.
FLAMINGO
My treat to myself was five nights at the Flamingo where Harrah's had comped me two nights on my poker play. I looked forward to being right on the strip, to having a wonderful pool, and to being able to easily find a poker game.
I then filled in my 16 nights with two free at the Orleans, three fairly cheap at the Gold Coast, a weekend at the Super 8 and another at Vegas Club, and my final two nights at El Cortez where I always end my trip on an ACG coupon so that thirty dollars gets me two nights and a free ride to the airport.
As it turned out my least favorite stay was the Flamingo.
It started badly when my inspection for any sign of bedbugs showed a clear blood trail under the couch cushions. There was a live bug there also. Perhaps this was not a bed bug and the activity was old, but most places throw out the beds and furniture after an infestation. I moved and they let me.
However, I was a bit shaken and then I saw another blood trail in the second room I called again. They moved me again, but they weren't nice this time. They had given me early check in and now the desk clerk told me that if the third room was not satisfactory I would have to wait until check in, which she quotes as 4 PM. She was testy.
I just said, "I understand," but what I thought was that if the third room showed the same blood trails, I was out of there, comps or not and off to perhaps Eastside Cannery or back to the Super 8.
The only pool open was like ice and the weather turned cold as well, so I swam two days, once in a crowd of folks filling the chairs and eating the grilled hamburgers and once almost by myself when I just could not tolerate the icy water nor tolerate the cold air even for reading by the pool. When the lifeguards are all dressed in sweatshirts and wrapped in blankets it is not a day to swim.
The hot tub was delightful, however, and I stayed in that a long while the second day.
The grill looked wonderful, but it did not help me as I struggle not to eat too much to smell all that fine cooking meat. So what would clearly be a perk for most visitors was a difficulty for me.
The room itself was basic. I understand that were I to pay for a GO room, I'd have done better, but I am always frugal, so actually it was no different than my other hotels except it lacked a coffee maker. I missed that as I brought my own tea and a fine ceramic cup for early morning.
Part of the issue around my careful bed bug inspection is that it is made more difficult if out of the way places are never cleaned. Behind one table in one of the rooms I left was an old sock and a couple months of dust and dirt gathered around it. I don't really get what is so hard about vacuuming behind the furniture once a week.
My sleep issues were compounded by the fact that I could not keep a Do Not Disturb sign. Apparently the kids staying on my floor were collecting them for their college dorms and mine disappeared every day and had to be replenished. The maid was great and took care of me, but it was just one more hassle I did not need.
VEGAS CLUB
Here was another worry on the bug issues. I know this place is in decline and has had some incidents. I was concerned.
I booked for $29 on a weekend using this search engine which sent me to Priceline.
http://www.bookingadvisor.com/
I love this site as it gives me the top three picks for my dates.
When I called to confirm, they asked me if I would like to upgrade to the North Tower for $5 a night and I jumped on that. I am still unsure when they charged me the $5 and they may not have included it anywhere. I expected to pay it to the hotel on checkout, but I did not.
Turtleman has said often that the North tower is a value secret in Downtown and he was right. My room was fine. The couch had one spot of wear, the rug had a coupld spots and they had taken something off that was wall mounted and left four small screw holes, but everything else was clean and comfortable. The television sucks. Plaza had TCM last time. Not here.
EL CORTEZ
Pavillion.
I generally love the El Cortez, but it did not come up to good standards this time and did not compare well to the others of the trip. The shower door made noise. The hot water was tough to regulate. I missed having a table. The doors require slamming to close and that can be heard in the rooms.
I did like the new elevator with key entry to the fifth floor. That feels more secure. They look great too with all the wood inside.
I probably could have been moved, but I spend most of my time there at the poker table anyway.
The price is right. Two nights for $30 with a free ride to the airport.
While there I walked down to Krispy Kreme for the free wifi and bought coffee (which was wonderful) and a doughnut (quite a treat) Sitting outside in the morning along quiet Freemont was just perfect. The wifi was fast and easy with no hassle connecting.
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