There’s a first time for everything.  My last trip to Atlantic City had me in a Bayview Tower room at Harrah’s Resort for the first time.  I’ve read and heard good, but unspectacular, things about the rooms.  That just about sums up my thoughts on the rooms too.

The Bayview Tower is a newer tower at Harrah’s Resort, but not brand new like the Waterfront Tower.  The rooms feel bigger than the Waterfront counterparts, but the decor of the rooms is horribly out of date.  To give an idea, I’ve only seen a picture tube TV once in a hotel in the last few years.

You notice the 1980′s feeling wood in the photo above.  If the main room didn’t make you feel like you were in the 80′s the huge bathroom might give you a complex as you see the gold trim on the shower and tub.

When you look at the more modern granite counter top and marble floor you my get a little confused and think you’re in the 90′s.

The water closet brings you even closer to the 00′s with no phone (thankfully) and a super powerful toilet.

Backing out of the bathroom you get a good look at the large room.  The decor may be out of date, but the room is nice and big!

As always, the Harrah’s bed was super comfortable.

Unfortunately, the chairs in the sitting area were a 180 in comfort.  Ouch.

I had a pretty nice view of The Pool.  I could see inside the pool, and if I was a pervert with a zoom lens I could have done some sketchy photography.

Decor aside, the room was large and clean.  The sitting area chairs and tube TV were really disappointing, but the shower and tube and overall size of the bathroom were great.

The Waterfront and Bayview towers seemed to be overtaken with people that came to party at the pool.  While I have no problem with the people themselves, they may be a bit much for some people.

The elevators going to the two towers were in MAJOR disrepair and people had problems getting to their room all weekend because the keycard readers would only work when they wanted.  I rode up and down the elevator multiple times without being to access my floor.  It was annoying.  This problem must be fixed.

If you’d like to see more pictures from my trip to Harrah’s Resort check my flickr.

Share on Facebook

Related Posts

• March 8, 2010 -- Harrah’s Resort Waterfront Tower Handicapped Room
• October 26, 2009 -- Atlantic City October Report: Getting There
• August 9, 2009 -- ECG Week in Review
• August 6, 2009 -- Harrahs Trip Finale
• July 12, 2010 -- Nongaming Revenue Las Vegas vs. Atlantic City

It felt as if it was a slow news week in Las Vegas and looking back I can confirm that.  I’m slowly getting through notes from my trip to Vegas last month.  Dragging it out like this has me savoring the memory of the trip.  That’s a good thing. 

We’re getting down to the end of the NBA season as the baseball season is about a third of the way through.  At this point I feel like I have a good grip on the who’s and what’s of the game.  Follow me on twitter if you want to keep up with my picks.

• My Vegas Vacation – Eating at the Grand Lux Cafe
• It’s $3 More To Ride This Cab Baby
• 18 and Life
• Claridge Renovations Begin
• Andy Rooney is Old. Not Funny. Not Nice. Not Beavis.
• Dee Snider In Atlantic City
• Louis Theroux “Gambling In Las Vegas”
• Sammy Hagar Taking Over Bally’s Beach Bar

Share on Facebook

Related Posts

• May 21, 2010 -- My Vegas Vacation – Eating at the Grand Lux Cafe
• May 18, 2010 -- Andy Rooney is Old. Not Nice. Not Funny. Not Beavis.
• July 11, 2010 -- Week In Review
• January 31, 2010 -- Week In Review
• October 25, 2009 -- Week In Review

I love a good meal, but I like sharing good eats with friends.  As I mentioned last year in a guest blog at Solo Friendly when I travel alone I usually eat more casually.  If I’m hungry, I’ll eat what’s nearby as opposed to planning my meals.

The Palazzo was my home casino so I mostly ate there.  The restaurant with the best variety at the Palazzo/Venetian complex is easily the Grand Lux Cafe.

I had to catch up with a little work when I sat down for my first bite in Las Vegas.  I really just wanted a beer, but I knew I had a full night of drinking ahead of me so I made sure I had something in my stomach.

I was the only person in the bar area and the lone waitress was VERY attentive to me.  She came over about 5 times while I was on a call to take my order.  The fifth time she came over I felt bad for not ordering and just asked for the best burger on the menu because there were so many to choose from.  Of course, no tomatoes please.  Half a beer later this monster came out!

I don’t recall the name and don’t see it on the menu, but it was braised short rib on a bacon cheeseburger.  Whoowee!  This was overload, but it wasn’t bad.  It was very salty and I didn’t finish the whole thing.  Any more I would have gone to my room to nap.

I don’t think I’d ever order anything like this, but it wasn’t bad and I’m happy to have had something different.  Later that evening I started heavy drinking at BNBLV.

For years I’ve told friends that the Grand Lux Cafe at the Venetian has the best steak and eggs in Vegas.  I still haven’t found any better.  This is the best breakfast after a night of drinking.

The steak is seasoned pretty heavily with salt and pepper.  Most breakfast steaks are pretty bland.  I think that’s what makes it so good after a night of drinking too much.

After a night of less drinking I tried a more traditional breakfast at Grand Lux of bacon and eggs.  The bacon was nice and crisp and this made for another winner.  4 cups of coffee didn’t hurt.

Sitting “outside” at cafe at the Venetian Grand Lux is a nice place to people watch.  They sit most single diners outside, so it’s not awkward if you’re alone.

Sometimes in Vegas I’ll forget to eat if I don’t have plans.  My last night was a night like that.  I was having a good time at the sportsbook and lost track of time and after a losing session of blackjack I realized that it was late and I was hungry.  I rolled up to the bar at the Grand Lux once again and grabbed another quick bite.

The waiter recommended something that the restaurant was out of so I ended up trying the pot roast.  This was another experiment for me.  I can’t remember the last time I had pot roast.

The pot roast was ready for me in just a few minutes.  It was very pretty to look at and it wasn’t bad at all.  It probably isn’t something I’d order again, but it did the trick and I was back out for some more blackjack in no time.

The food at both the Venetian and the Palazzo Grand Lux Cafe’s were both good.  The breakfast was fantastic.  The service was excellent.  The only “complaint” I had was a waitress trying to serve me while I was on the phone.  That’s not a bad thing.

I ate more meals at the Grand Lux Cafe than anywhere else.  This is a good option to have at a casino in place of the traditional coffee shop.  The Atlantic City casinos could use a restaurant like this.

Share on Facebook

Related Posts

• May 23, 2010 -- Week In Review
• May 9, 2010 -- Week In Review
• September 27, 2009 -- Coffee At Venetian and Palazzo
• July 14, 2010 -- Solo Travel – Las Vegas
• May 6, 2010 -- Planet Hollywood – A Tale of Two Rooms (Part 2)

It was a fun week for ECG.  I was able to get to write up the hotels from my trip to Vegas.  This week I’ll tackle food, gambling and what it’s like traveling solo to Las Vegas.

I’m not sure what I did, but I deleted some things that seem to have the site running a little faster.  The next version of ECG, hopefully coming this summer, should be even faster.

There was a lot of action this week, enjoy the look back.

• Tweet of the Week (likely a new weekly thing)
• Harrah’s has a Blog
• Post Mortem: Mayweather Destroys Mosely
• Porn Peddlers First, Old People Next?
• Pennsylvania Casino Revenues Rise 30%
• Planet Hollywood – A Tale of Two Rooms (Part 2)
• Planet Hollywood – A Tale of Two Rooms (Part 1)
• Seven Stars Insider – May Edition
• Return to The Palazzo
• Burger Bar and Mandalay Bay
• Imperial Palace & Harrah’s High Returns

Wow, that was a busy week.  I didn’t realize how much action there was.

I started another fun aggregating site for East Coast Gambler – Flavors.  It’s nothing too fancy, it just has links to all of the East Coast Gambler pages.  It’s pretty, take a look.

Share on Facebook

Related Posts

• January 3, 2010 -- Week In Review
• May 2, 2010 -- Week In Review
• April 4, 2010 -- Week In Review
• June 6, 2010 -- Week In Review
• February 21, 2010 -- Week In Review

As I mentioned yesterday my stay at Planet Hollywood was a tale of two rooms.  After walking around and taking pictures of dirty room 1, I went back downstairs to check in to inform them about the room.  Without question and before I could list off all of the dirty items I had a new room.  I think the old man in the scooter yelling about his stay helped me get a nice room.

I’m pretty sure I was upgraded to a resort room, which I’ll call “Room 2.”  This room was MUCH larger and thankfully cleaner.  There was ample room and options for me to charge my iPhone.  I chose the work area as my charging station.

You can see how big the room is by turning around from the work area.  The TV and wall unit was on the opposite wall with the bed set to the right.  This was a slightly awkward angle to watch TV, but it wasn’t too bad.

There were two big comfy chairs and a table to the left side of the room.  I spent most of my time in the room in one of the chairs.

I may have passed out in the chair after my 3rd tall Grey Goose and Soda, which was proceeded by two drinks in the Diamond Lounge.

Pictures and more after the jump

At first I didn’t think the view was all that good, but that’s because I only looked to the left.  The strip was to the right.  Dummy.

Back inside the room I go to the awesome big bathroom. Decorations were similar to the Hollywood Hip room.  To the right was a water closet and vanity.

The left side of the room had the shower and another vanity.

Dead center once again was a bath tub with a rug in the middle of the tile floor.  I thought that was an odd touch.

In case you were wondering the throne was not a high rise.

The carpeting was almost as sweet as my kangaroos.

Room 2 (Resort room) at Planet Hollywood was fantastic.  The room was huge while the furnishings looked good and were very comfortable.  This was a far cry from the dirty and small Hollywood Hip room I started in.  I would gladly stay here any time I’m in Vegas.  However, I’m not sure I could say the same for the smaller, Hollywood Hip room.

Share on Facebook

Related Posts

• May 9, 2010 -- Week In Review
• May 5, 2010 -- Planet Hollywood – A Tale of Two Rooms (Part 1)
• July 11, 2010 -- Week In Review
• June 6, 2010 -- Week In Review
• February 21, 2010 -- Week In Review