Back from Vegas (VERY long drama thread)
 

So I went to Vegas for a week for my girlfriend's 21st birthday..let's outline the fun that occured starting from point A...

The Flight
---------

Flew with: Continental
First class going to Vegas, coach on the way back due to no availability.

Was promised many things with my first class ticket:

1. We'd be "spoiled"
2. Internet service, 6 hours on a plane, figured we'd get some sub'ing in
3. Power connections for electronics
4. Non-stop service, whenever desired
5. Lavish meals, non-stop eating


Let's start with the easy points:

2. Internet service

NO internet service, the plane was antiquated as all hell. Bigger seats sure, but raggedy and torn up quite a bit, not what you'd expect for a first-class flight. I asked about 4 times when I got the flight about internet service and was assured it'd be available with no issues at all.

3. Power connections

From above, you can gather I'm sure, no power connections.

4. Non-stop service

How about calling over a stuardess and her waving her hand no, and to wait while she's just standing around, and we were clearly above 15k feet, seatbelt sign was off, so no reason to say no.

1. We'd be spoiled

Yeah, sure if spoiled as in spoiled eggs. We asked for a second helping of peanuts to go along with the shitty mixed drinks they made, were told "sorry, we don't have any more, only one serving per customer". Since when the fuck did *first class* run out of *peanuts*? The oldest damned snack known to man to be served on a frigging airplane?

5. Lavish meals

More like, tv dinners served on silver plastic trays with silverware

To sum it up about the flight, I called Continental and lodged a formal complaint with promise to have something snail-mailed to me. We'll see what comes of it if anything. This was the WORST flight I've EVER had in my life. Jet Blue was even better than this garbage. I was disgusted completely. I couldn't believe what transpired. The stuardesses were not in the least bit friendly at all, if anything they were very on-edge and pissy towards us. We just wanted some damned peanuts, lady, christ.

That's the flight, on to the stay at our hotel. We stayed with Bellagio for the entire trip. Happy stay? Read on.

It was her 21st birthday, we're going to Vegas, I'm not going to skimp. Got a suite in the "new tower" which I was told was incredible, much better than the old tower, and only penthouse and apartment were the next upgrades in rooms. Got there, the room was a standard room with the only difference being a corner room, so two views, partial lake view (if anyone's been to the Bellagio or walked past it, you know about the spectacular fountains there). View was "ok", s'bout all. Woman told me on the phone we'd have a his and her bathroom, separate with a steam room/shower for him, vanity and whirlpool euro-style tub for her, and two people could easily fit in this, maybe even three. Well, one bathroom, two mirrors, small walk-in shower, even smaller tub with a few jets in it. I'm a big guy, I can't fit in this thing comfortably, let alone me and my girl. Incredibly standard room. So let's move onto other issues shan't we?

We all know these days, internet service is pretty damned standard with hotels with business being the way it is, and everything virtually thriving on the presence of the internet. You'd think it'd come with such an expensive room free-of-charge, think again. I paid mid 4-figures up-front cash when I checked in for this room. Internet would require I put a credit card on file with a hold of $959 placed on it for "incidentals" or, 1400 in cash for the entire stay. "Incidentals" as they explained were for the "mini bar" which was a wooden try with some overpriced garbage in it, and oh, the infamous $11.00 ethernet cable for connection. On top of these charges, $11.00/day for internet service, which was incredibly slow. I explained I wouldn't be placing a finger on the mini bar, I don't want their overpriced crap and they explained to me even when I checked in, it was motion-sensitive so if I moved something even if I didn't consume it, I bought it. Why the hell the "incidentals" coverage then? Incredibly silly in my opinion. Enough about this rant, let's get to the good part.

We go out for the day at 10AM on Wednesday, put the privacy sign up, had our laptops out, a few personal items, etc. Come back around 9PM or so, guess what? The housekeepers broke into the room. Removed the privacy sign, re-arranged all of our shit to the point where we had to hunt it down, re-made the bed, re-stocked the mini-bar with a fresh ethernet cable, rolled up my underwear and wife-beaters and put them on the coffee table, and put the air on full-blast. Not to mention, re-arranged our bath items. I didn't appreciate this AT ALL as I'm sure noone would. Why the fuck would they enter unless they had unpure intentions? I called up the front-desk manager who assured me noone had entered, I told him I knew for a fact they had. He said he'd check the key log and call me back. I get a call back "I'm terribly sorry sir, I don't know WHY but it seems someone from our staff DID enter your room. I've sent this over to the housekeeping manager. He offered $150 off of my bill. Now before this, I had explained I'd be flying out at 10PM that night, check-out was at 12PM, and they had offered to give me a half-day rate which I think is ridiculous, but maybe that's just me. I told this joker that, he said in trade, he'd give me the room until 10. I said fine, that was that. The food at their "cafe" was disgusting, don't even waste your time if you go there. The waitresses for the most part were very bitchy. I was at a slot with my girl, two other people next to us. She comes over, asks for our order, I say I'll take 4 vodka/cranberry's...she says "Who's going to drink those?" I say, two for me two for my girl so you don't have to come over twice..." she says "I can't do that, one drink per person per time", I turn to the other two ladies "Ladies, would you care for a .." and before I could finish, she storms off pissed off "No, I will NOT do that, I'll be back with your TWO drinks". WTF, she wanted extra tip? Give me a break, lucky if I tip ya at all now. Table play was horrible there, was playing $100 minimum for a good part of the time there, shitty play if you ask me, slots tight as all hell. Venetian on the other hand, treated me very very well. :-)

So, onto the last rant, sorry for the long-winded thread here...we have our luggage, check out, there's a HUGE line of course on a Friday night for a cab there winding down to half of the damned property, mostly people coming off of the streets looking for an easy cab. I ask the bellman "I'm going to be late for a flight, can ya grab me a cab for the airport?" He says "Sure thing sir", gives me a cab, puts my luggage in the trunk, and follows me. I'm thinking "You're kidding me right?" I get in the cab, he holds the door open, looks at me, "sir, I just put you in front of all these people sir?" I stare blankly back at him "Sir, I put you in front of the line". So I give the begger $5 just because it's not that much to me, but if it is to him, let it be. I'll be calling Bellagio today on account of their employees behavior, that's just unacceptable. What was he going to do, throw me out of the cab? Christ. So here's a fun story that's not so much a rant at all to finish this damned book up.

We headed down to Freemont (old Vegas strip basically). Do our thing, visit The Golden Nugget, check out some vendors, etc. We're leaving, 6' 300lb I'd guess guy walks up to me "Hey man, I'm Italian like you, I'm a vet, can you help me out?" I look at him, say "no" simply, keep walking. He doesn't take the hint...screams "You'd help a fucking hahahahahaha but you won't help me?!" I tell him "Keep fucking walking", he screams "You wouldn't say that to a hahahahahaha, you'd be dead by now!" I turn around and tell 'em "You've got a big fucking mouth brother, just shut it." He says to my girl "Shorty would YOU help a hahahahahaha out?" I turn to 'em and start walking a bit towards him and decide it's not worth it and turn around. He screams "You're 5'8 and FAT"..I only heard "Your" and "fat", I thought he was talking shit to my girl, so I turn around "what the FUCK did you just say?" he backs down "Are you 5'8?" I tell 'em "yeah, that's what I thought, go have another drink". Figured I'd let some of the native brothers handle 'em, why get my hands dirty I'm there for fun. :-) So, 25 mins later, we get a cab, and head out for fun. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Feel free to comment. Hope this helped some in their choices of flight/hotel out there.

Cheers,

JM

damn dude.. note to self: dont ever go away with JM ;)

Viva Las Vegas. Not surprised at any part of the story. Most airlines blow and for some reason people arrive by the full plane load to drop all their cash and pay for things that should be comped. Las Vegas on average has some of the worst customer service you'll find ANYWHERE. I'm not just talking about the tourist spots. Head to the suburbs. It's even worse. And people still can't stay away.

Please tell me you guys at least won some money.

sig spot!

Won? Eh eh, ups and downs, the trip was worth whatever money spent, she's my jewel, so as long as she had a good time it was all worth it.

We headed down to Freemont (old Vegas strip basically). Do our thing, visit The Golden Nugget, check out some vendors, etc. We're leaving, 6' 300lb I'd guess guy walks up to me "Hey man, I'm Italian like you, I'm a vet, can you help me out?" I look at him, say "no" simply, keep walking. He doesn't take the hint...screams "You'd help a fucking hahahahahaha but you won't help me?!" I tell him "Keep fucking walking", he screams "You wouldn't say that to a hahahahahaha, you'd be dead by now!" I turn around and tell 'em "You've got a big fucking mouth brother, just shut it." He says to my girl "Shorty would YOU help a hahahahahaha out?" I turn to 'em and start walking a bit towards him and decide it's not worth it and turn around. He screams "You're 5'8 and FAT"..I only heard "Your" and "fat", I thought he was talking shit to my girl, so I turn around "what the FUCK did you just say?" he backs down "Are you 5'8?" I tell 'em "yeah, that's what I thought, go have another drink". Figured I'd let some of the native brothers handle 'em, why get my hands dirty I'm there for fun. :-) So, 25 mins later, we get a cab, and head out for fun. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Feel free to comment. Hope this helped some in their choices of flight/hotel out there.

Cheers,

JM



I won't got to Vegas thanks to The Golden Nugget, we went for the weekend and that has to be the bigest shit whole in Vegas the maids stole my pain pills, I had a broken finger and then they told me " Just call your Dr. and get more", yea like I'm going to call and say " The maid stole my pills could you send me more." LMFAO

Sorry you had a bad time.

heh - there's no way in hell I would have given that guy $5 for getting me a cab - jesus if i was paid $5 for 30seconds work i'd only work an hour a day!

This post just made me feel better about my own day.

Sorry for you and your girl. Hope you were able to enjoy some of your time. :)

Interesting read JM. Thanks for the info and I hope your next trip will be better.

Wow JM Sorry to hear about all that shit. Thanks for the heads up. Was thinking about staying at the Ballagio next time I went. Glad You were able to help save me a migraine from having to deal with half wits.

Hopefully your next trip will be better!

sunshyne,

Glad my ranting could help, really was a big letdown about the hotel more than anything I think. I'm going to stay with the Venetian next time.

Vegas blows.
it's all fake, over-priced, and there's nothing to go out there for except the buffet at the Rio.

Didn't go to Rio, tried just about every other damned buffet though, Treasure Island's was nice. MGM Grand's sucked big time, Bellagio's was pretty good.

I'll stick to watching Vegas on CSI.

Vegas used to be a fun place, but I haven't been there ina while. I can't believe your gf's 21st birthday had to go so bad.

I hope you managed to have at least SOME fun! And I hope she gambled and won a little since she is old enough to play now

toolong for me to read it !!!

friday nite, long line up and the bellman let u pass over everyone. You don't think you should tip him for that?

If you dont want to tip, wait in line like everyone else.

I thought it was common knowledge, especially since you are on the strip on a friday nite.

And internet is around that price wherever you go and you still have to pay for it. Best chance is to get it compted when you are checking out.

Of course I can see it that way, and I would have tipped had he not fucking begged me for it. Regardless dude, for what I spent while I was there, I should have been in front of all of those street-walking kiddies waiting for a cab to the next club, people who didn't actually stay/play at the bellagio.

that might be true.. but for what you actually stay/play ... maybe they dont want you to leave just as fast. :winkwink:

OMG that was a good read! LOL... and I fully agree the Bellagio is the absolute WORST.. They will treat you like shit no matter how much money you have or throw around if you are under 50... One of the employees actually said that to me.

If you didn't tip in the cab line I'm surprised they didn't throw your luggage out into the street. lol

BTW, when you get caught up with you icq me? I tried to get you a few days ago...

damn.. sorry to hear that

first class out of peanuts ... hahaha

Next time - hit one of the other hotels up online ahead of time and set up a house account - usually $5k is a good amount if you are playing $100 min - and in most cases you wont be paying for your room when you leave

/disclaimer - wont work if you set up through a travel agent or if you do it though a booking agency have to do it yourself (like for Internext - wont work with Rose Travel)

tell us how you really feel

Sucks dude! Eh, but you gotta tip the dude for bumping you ahead of dozens of people in the cab line.

Yeah exactly, that's common, if you dont, you end up waiting forever.

.. i must say i loved reading this thread. It was very informative.... lol it does sound to me that you had a bad day to receive a service whichs sucks. And continental airlines is sure no no...

That's brutal. I've had bad flights before & bad hotel service, but never so much in one single trip. Vegas is awful for those little incidentals that anywhere else in the world would be included in your room rate. I had to pay $20/day to work-out at the hotel gym last summer. Compare that to staying at a chain hotel in some small city & you get totally pampered for a quarter of the price. Without asking, I had somebody bring up fancy bowls & pillows for my dogs last time I stayed at a Sheraton. Smart too...pamper my dogs & you've got a customer for life. :)