Sunday, November 28, 2010

TR snippet: Super 8 hotel

Someone asked about parking at the Super 8, but I can't locate the thread, so I'll note it here along with all that I know.

ADVANTAGES

*COLD WATER FOUNTAIN ON THE WAY TO THE POOL IS A NICE FILL UP FOR WATER BOTTLES
* PARKING EXTENDS AROUND THE BUILDING AND THERE DOES NOT SEEM TO BE ANY TROUBLE FINDING A SPOT
* TELEVISION INCLUDES HBO STATION AND TCM SO IT IS POSSIBLE TO RELAX COMMERCIAL FREE EVEN WITH THE ROCO LEFT HOME
* FREE WIFI
* GENERALLY UNCROWDED BUT SMALL LAUNDRY ROOM. BRING QUARTERS AND A BOX OF SOAP. TWO WASHERS AND TWO DRYERS. I COULD NOT GET THE TOP BUTTON ON THE TOP DRYER TO WORK AND SO CHOSE PERMANENT PRESS. I took the hangers from my room and used them to immediately hang my shirts. I waited for the cycles and went on line using my laptop. It is located on the second floor. Ask the desk clerk before you walk around with laundry as it requires some navigation.
*FREE SHUTTLE TO AND FROM THE AIRPORT WORKED WELL FOR MY BUDDY WILD BILL
*VERY ACCOMODATING STAFF. I miss booked and did not confirm correctly either. I was scheduled to leave a day earlier than I thought. Luckily Bill was overbooked a day so they moved his day to me. When doing these sophisticated deals get the manager. One staff always knows the difficult answers. The other knows only routine. All were very pleasant
* COFFEE MACHINE IN ROOM BUT ALSO IN LOBBY. I like the vanilla choice of coffee with an extra expresso shot tossed in on top. Bringing a covered cup will let you get two coffees and an expresso at one time.
* POOL WITH SMALL JACUZZI ONLY IS CLOSED FOR CLEANING ABOUT 5 AM OR SO. Otherwise it is open 24 hours and heated in the cooler months. I like a daily swim about 6 am so this was perfect. Never crowded. Usually deserted.
* LOCATION TO ELLIS ISLAND A FINE FRUGAL ADVANTAGE- Each weekday at 9 Bill and I played free bingo for small prizes but a shot at a 1000. We had to bring a marker. There is no sharing of markers allowed. Nice free start to the day. The food at Ellis Island is cheap and good. 
Bill and I made a side bet on the bingo and the loser bought breakfast.  We tied. 
Sometimes Ellis required a wait.  We waited 20 minutes even for breakfast on Sunday. Played some 9/6JOB. Ellis proved a fine spot for the meetup. We went in the inside bar and just carried our drinks on American Casino Guidecoupons back to where we sat. It was not crowded at 2pm weekdays but was even less crowded at 1pm. Received no hassle on playing matchplays. I never went to supper, but I could have gone, put my name on the list when the line was an hour, come back in twenty minutes to check.
*EASY AND QUICK ROOMS ACCESS- My misbooking also meant keys that did not work. It was three minutes to go back to the desk. There is an elevator, but there are only two floors of stairs, so I generally took those. No long wandering down a maise of hallways.
*ASK AT THE DESK FOR MORE TOWELS OR PILLOWS. The maid said she could not provide them directly from the cart.
* LARGE SCREEN TELEVISION IN MAIN LOUNGE - Waiting for Wild Bill was easy as I could sit in a very comfortable chair or couch and watch a bit of the news in the lobby with my free coffee.
* DESK CLERKS KNEW THE BUS ROUTES - They get plenty of bus folks there and are used to answering questions on buses. 
*WALK LATE AT NIGHT DID NOT SEEM DANGEROUS- Because theFlamingo bus has increased the time between buses we usually walked back from our poker on the strip. There are some homeless some times but none seemed the least aggressive. 
*BUYING ROOM DRINKS AND SNACKS WAS EASY- 7 eleven was just next to the casino and we grabbed some things there. My wife came the last day with a car and bought some things for the Harrah's room by driving past Terribles and going to the drugstore on the left.
*$2 senior 24 hour pass bought on the Flamingo bus is good on the Ace/Goldline/ Downtown Express or on the Deuce. This is a $5 pass if you are not a senior. Upcharges have been dropped. Now that might change any day. All bus information here is not expected to be correct for long.
*ROOMS ARE SMALL- We stayed with one queen bed. Two bed rooms can be had for a bit more money.  I like the cozy feel of a small room when it is just me.  My wife came for one night and we did fine there.  Bathrooms are small, but the sink area is outside the bathroom area. A round table was great for the computer. Another desk area and chair are in the room as well. Only two drawers and about a dozen hangers for clothes.
* 3045 is my favorite room. Bill liked 3049. I suggest you do stay where access to the lobby is very quick.

4 comments:

K.B. said...

Hi Dewey,

It was me that asked about the parking at the Super 8. Thnaks for finding out the answer for me. I did not get to Vegas this year on my USA trip. I did Atlantic City, Pennsylvania, Reno and Lake Tahoe.
Will be back to Vegas next year and definetly try out Super 8.

Keep up writing your trips, they are full of great information. Good to see you having some winning sessions at poker as well,

Aussie Keith B.

Dewey said...

Great KB. Glad the notes are helpful. Basically, they help me as I read them over before my trips.

Anonymous said...

Dew, We recently travelled to Portland ME.stayed at motel. a couple we traveled with preceded us a few days same motel. They were upset because our room two queen beds was a lot bigger than theirs that was a king size bed. we had desk stuff chair etc think this is true most motels? we will only reserve two beds from now on for extra space.

mr anon aka chuckmonk

Dewey said...

I have not seen the two bed rooms at the Super 8 in Vegas. They cost more so I stay with the one bed as I am usually solo. This time Elizabeth had to endure one night there before going to Harrah's and she did just fine.
In the Oneida Super 8 near Turning stone we had plenty of room with two beds. Peter and I and Casey all shared a room one night and it was just fine.
When Scott and I share a Microhotel near Mohegan Sun, that was really great. One bed is on one side of a counter with microwave and what not and each bed has its own night time reading light.
I just looked at a video review of a Gold Spike room
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8h3tahijzs
that overlooked the pool. It was the first trashing of Gold Spike I have read. Most others were good reviews although perhaps those were the tower rooms. Anyway, while the narrator was trashing, I was thinking that this is about the size of the Super 8 I stay in and I'd be comfortable there at the right price. The reviewer did say that he could see doing it when solo.
So, a good bit depends on what you want. That Palazzo suite was huge as was the bed and everything there and Jim and Anne upgraded for that because their wants were more upscale.
If I am by myself, I better like the little cozy rooms just as I am more comfortable here at the lake in the downstairs small spaces as opposed to the larger space in Elizabeth's addition.
Finally, in the midst of all these folks who over bought their own homes and now are underwater (most owners in Nevada for example) the guy who designed and sells Tiny Houses is doing good business and the expense of living in that small space is next to nothing. Pop "tiny houses" in the google and see some of these places. Sure beats the taxes and upkeep on this place and all the work for all those years. Only I am a collector of old things and so I'd have to give that up and become more of a minimalist.
Hey, Chuckmonk, hope to see ya tomorrow.