East Coast Gambler

There’s a lot of talk about the amount of hotel rooms in Las Vegas with the poor economy and lack of occupancy.  I never did the math to even guestimate the answer.  The Associated Press was kind enough to share the information, when reporting on the Marriot/Cosmopolitan deal.

The Cosmopolitan’s opening will push Las Vegas to more than 151,000 hotel rooms, and before the Marriott deal, it was starting from scratch on customers.

When I started going on my annual December trip years ago, I was told that the week before Christmas was one of the most quiet weeks in Las Vegas and that room occupancy was about 23%.  That would mean just under 35,000 hotel guests at that time.

That’s still nice and quiet as there will be more places to spread the people out.   It also means that there will continue to be bargains for a while, as long as you don’t have to stay at the hot new joint.

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It has to be difficult being an independent casino is Las Vegas as there aren’t partner casinos to share customers with.  Because of that it’s no surprise to see the Cosmopolitan team up with a partner, Marriot, with a large database of customers

The partnership gives the nearly 3,000-room Cosmopolitan access to Marriott’s vast customer database, and gives its 33 million members their first Las Vegas Strip option to stay and win rewards points.

“A lot of those customers are going to Las Vegas every year and not staying in a Marriott product,” J.W. Marriott, Marriott International’s CEO, told The Associated Press. “Now they can go and stay in a Marriott product.”

As important, if not more, the Cosmopolitan will still have a separate gaming club.  The two will likely act similarly to how Planet Hollywood and Starwood worked together before Harrah’s took over.

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This was my first time staying at the Venetian and I still like it as a casino, but probably not as a place I’d like to stay.

The vibe in the casino is nice and relaxed but fun and the crowd is in the middle of the age types – somewhere between younger people and older people.

One of my favorite places in the casino was the sportsbook.  It’s pretty big and since it wasn’t NFL season it felt like a respite from the rest of the casino.

One great thing is that the Venetian sportsbook still gives out drink tickets with bets.  I received a few with my losing bet, but at least I was able to cash them in for a few awesome glasses of Blue Moon.

While I was at the sportsbook bar I cashed on 4 aces in Double Double Bonus Poker!  I was only playing $1 since I threw it in waiting for my beer.  Too bad.

I found the Venetian pretty crowded all day and night as there were a lot of tourists and families with children.  I’m a single dude and screaming kids are not what I want in Vegas.

The Grand Canal Shops were crowded with browsers, shoppers, eaters and drinkers.  I tried to avoid the shops during operating hours because of all of the people, but was happy to sneak in to grab some coffee at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  Also, during regular hours the shops also had this CREEPY live statue.

The Venetian has done a great job branding themselves as a semi upper class family hotel without being stuffy.  It’s taken years to get that kind of equity.

On the other hand the Palazzo, which is relatively new, has not yet reached a similar critical mass.  The Shoppes were dead like they were on my other two visits.  However, for the first time in three visits the casino floor was PACKED on a weeknight.  Maybe there is a turnaround slowly happening at the Palazzo.

Food options are another thing I liked at the Venetian.  There is both quantity and quality.

The food court by the casino is easy to get to and has a nice variety of food as well as free wifi.  The full service restaurants are good as well and Delmonico is one of my favorite steakhouses in Las Vegas.

I tried First Food and Bar, which is hidden between the two hotels, and it was excellent.  It wasn’t too crowded and had interesting food such as cheese steak dumplings and ahi tuna nachos.

One negative for me as a solo traveler this trip was that there was no iphone reception inside of the Venetian Grand Lux Cafe.  I hate eating alone and keeping my head buried in my phone is usually a good trick to pass the time.  Unfortunately I couldn’t do that while eating lunch inside the restaurant.  So I scarfed down this BBQ pork sandwich and headed out ASAP.

On a better note, I was able to sit “outside” the following morning and grab some steak and eggs.  My favorite hangover remedy.

Overall, I enjoyed the Venetian and will likely continue to make it a place to visit when I’m in Vegas, but I don’t see myself staying there again. There are a lot of positives about the casino, but the wear on the rooms and the hordes of families and tourists give me reason to go elsewhere.

However, the Palazzo is both empty enough for me most of the day, but crowded enough at night in the casino to feel alive.  If given the chance to return, I would highly consider the Palazzo.

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I’m sure this “Camp Vegas” commercial has been running all summer, but I’ve only really noticed it for the past few weeks and a lot since I returned from Las Vegas.  To be frank I’m not so happy about it.  The song “Animal” by Neon Trees has been played way more than I could like.

I get the idea for the campaign – we’re adults, let’s go to Vegas and rage this summer.  Woo Hoo!  We can party with models from the TV !

Judging from the youtube comments, I’m not the only one that feels cynical about this commercial.  I get the idea of the commercial, but I’m not sure it really makes a connection with potential travelers.  I’m not even sure the entire campaign will resonate with their target of low 20′s pool partiers.

We’ll find out if the campaign was successful or not when the tourism traffic is released at the end of the summer, but I can’t see this campaign having a strong effect either way.

I can’t wait to see what the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has planned for winter.  What happens in Vegas…

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I’ve had some time at home recently and have been treated to two hours of the TV show “Las Vegas” every day on TNT.

The show was fun and campy and I it’s pretty easy to watch a show set in Las Vegas with good looking girls.  The show went through various cast members, but one who was on the show throughout was Nikki Cox.

Much like the cast, Nikki Cox went through some changes.  I haven’t thought about it much until I started watching the show again.  Evidently she went through some drastic weight loss and plastic surgery.  Like the show her character, Mary Connell, had a version 1 and version 2.

Neck Up

Neck Down

Personally, I prefer version 1.0 over 2.0 of the show Las Vegas and Nikki Cox. The show and actress didn’t seem to try to hard in the beginning.  After a couple of seasons on the air they both tried too hard, but were still acceptable.

Unfortunately, I won’t enjoy the show on TNT forever but if I ever get the craving I can buy the DVD’s.

Buy “Las Vegas” – Season One

Buy “Las Vegas” – Season 5

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I was chatting with some locals at the Diamond Lounge at Rio after I got knocked out of the poker tournament on my last trip to Las Vegas and they tipped me off that I could get my Grazie card upgraded at Venetian/Palazzo if I show them my Harrah’s Total Rewards Diamond card.

So, of course I upgraded my Grazie card from purple to gold, but it was a little late on the trip to have any real effect.

Unfortunately the upgrade is only for 3 months and my first impression was not good.  I could not get a later checkout than normal and the room rates I was given were higher than I have ever seen.

There are quite a few perks with the gold card, but most important to me is access to the 24 hour Gold Club and 50% increase in points for play.  Here are the extras you get with an upgrade.

•    Guaranteed suite availability 72 hours prior to arrival

•    Complimentary suite upgrade*

•    Invited guest check-in

•    Early check-in and noon late check-out*

•    Complimentary shuttle bus service to and from the McCarran International Airport (limit 2 guests)

•    Valet – Front-of-the-line priority service

•    Venetian Gold Club Lounge access

•    Slot Rewards points- Up to 50% more

•    Priority Concierge phone line

•    Priority show and restaurant reservations*

•    Phantom – Receive $25 off Orchestra or Golden Circle-level seats

•    10% off select non-sale items at Venetian & Palazzo-owned retail shops**

◦    Venetian: Apothecary, Baccarat, Emporio D’Gondola, International News II, Mercato III, Newstand 2, Ricordo, Venezia, and Pool Shop

◦    Palazzo: Apothecary, Café Presse, La Fortuna, Prosecco, Seasons and Pool Shop

•    Gondola Ride- 20% off tickets

•    Canyon Ranch SpaClub ® – 10% discount on services**

•    Azure – Complimentary entry for 2 (Thursday-Sunday)***

•    Tao Beach – Daybed rental with $100 F&B purchase (Monday-Friday)*

•    Tao Beach – Line pass and complimentary entry for 2 (Friday-Sunday)*

•    Tao & LAVO Nightclubs – Line pass and complimentary entry for 2*

There is a lot of *stuff* given to gold card member, but most of it doesn’t interest me.

I have to get 10,000 points on my next trip to keep the status.  I’m pretty sure I won’t, but it would be sweet if I did.  They count cash spending 2-1 for points, so I’ll earn a few bucks drinking wine and eating steak, so ya never know!

Beyonce…kick it.

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