Sunday, November 23, 2014

TR SNIPPET - MONTE CARLO FIRST DAY


MyVegas set me up with a night here, followed by a night at Mandalay Bay and then another here at Monte Carlo.

I had misgivings. I thought perhaps I would just be hassled by the check in check out of staying in one place for only a day.

Had I known that Monte Carlo does not add an early check in fee unless the check in is before ten. Somehow I got the idea the fee was as universal as the resort fee.

One thing to remember when booking a frugal trip is that the resort fee does not go up on the weekend, so if you manage a “free” room with only that fee to pay, a weekend night is really wonderful value. Weekends are hard to cover in long trips.

I stretched out my time at the Orleans, thinking that I did not want my luggage in storage for too long. I probably could have gotten in earlier.

However, getting in at 1:15PM makes a huge difference when only staying one night. I could head over for the Aria lunch buffet LINK and still have time to swim in the pool. LINK

The check in required nothing except my credit card and photo ID. It was simple.

I found it a long, long walk from the strip to the lobby, but it was no distance then to the poker room or the pool.

Aria was a little bit of a walk, but not bad. So, I was very comfortable.



ROOMS



I know from reading posts that I have the lower end of their rooms. It is fine, but in spots a bit thread worn. It does not equate to my room at the Orleans in size or comfort.

There is also two bottles of water in the room and the tap water is cold.

There is a coffee maker, but it has no tray for the bags of coffee and there was no coffee left, just three bags of condiments.

So, I ask a fellow with a clip board in the hall.

So which do you need?” he asks me.

I need both. I need a tray to hold the coffee bags, and.......coffee.”

It seemed like a fairly silly question to me, but he was pleasant.

He went off to find something for me.

And I never heard from him or anyone again.

These sorts of details would not be missed at the Orleans.

The machine did work to make the tea I had packed along in my fine glass cup. So, I started my pack out morning with tea and peanut butter wraps and a few mixed nuts.



POOLS



I have always been attracted to the lazy river, and I found it was very nice. I did not bother with a tube. Without a tube, I traveled faster and had to swim a bit to keep my legs from brushing the water, so it was a water ride with exercise built in. Very nice. The water was heated and the pool was in the sun.

Tubes are just $5, but I think I like not being quite that lazy.

Another pool directly behind the lobby area was nice but a bit cooler. It is in the shade, and so the life guard explained that it does not retain the heat as well. It was fine for swimming around and getting exercise, small than the Orleans pool but deeper so it was easier while swimming to keep from touching.

I was there from three to almost five and had the shaded pool to myself. That seems a good time to swim.

The jacuzzi behind the pool was smaller than the Orleans, but the jets produced much better water massage, and that was a delight for my arthritic ankle. I liked it very much.

No personal ID other than a room key was needed for admittance. Towels were abundant and very large. However, don't leave one on lounge with nothing else there or they will pick it up.

Bathrooms are at the Lazy River.

There is also some great cold water there, iced for drinking and free in those small paper cups that make funny hats for little kids.



CHECK OUT TIME



Official check out time at MonteCarlo was eleven. I called and extended that to noon. Note that this is an hour earlier than I managed at the Orleans.

No comments: