'companion'

Friday to Sunday trip in November. Which would you choose Wynn or Venetian?

Did you stay there?

It's only gotten worse. The only thing that hasn't changed is the bad location.

Wynn, if it were me.

Stayed at Treasure Island and booked their TV add special with no resort fees. Got upgraded to a strip view room without asking, so I didn't have to pull the 20$ trick at the desk. Room was clean, bed was ok and I had a fridge. All in all nice enough hotel and well worth the price. It's a 5 min walk to the Venetian poker room and maybe 10 to Wynn/Encore.
Had a room at the Orleans too b/c my flight got delayed and the place was a dump. If they charge resort fees (which I don't know b/c the airline paid) it will be the same price as TI...

Were you one of those German guys?

Yes I am. It was like two weeks ago. How do you know about that? Orleans poker room?

Pool money with a couple of friends and get one room at the Rio. That’s pretty convenient especially when you’re staying at a house that’s not close to the Strip.

I am "him" LOL but what Pig has told you is accurate. The smash burger place is fine. and the two eateries by the sports book are surprisingly good with large portions served. All American was so so and definitely a lousy breakfast but Hash House A go go was fine with some good staff. The Mexican restaurant was also fine. All costs are standard Vegas (somewhat overpriced) but not outlandish. I did NOT eat at the Carnival Buffet at all. I am NOT a picky eater and you will find some good (cheap) food options at both the Palms and Gold Coast from what I am told but did not try them.

Yes the Casino itself is dreary and dark and in major need of upgrade. The shops in the Rio are "okay" but definitely lower tier. The Gym is nothing special either but doable. I did not utilize the spa. Pool area is Okay but don't expect to see a LV postcard of beautiful young ladies in skimpy outfits.

Again I would NOT stay there for the ambience and would not stay there unless the WSOP was there. But the convenience of being able to go to your room at dinner breaks, hit the sit n go's, not pay for parking, being able to just walk downstairs and play poker and quit when you want is tough to beat. I played in 3 non WSOP tourneys at the Wynn, Aria, and Planet Hollywood during my trip (as well as 4 WSOP events) and the difference in the resorts is SIGNIFICANT but grinding at a different house is just not as convenient even if the atmosphere is far superior.

I went to play POKER not to vacation. So for POKER it is fine. For most everything else there are better options available to you.

Forbes article on the Palms renovation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryol.../#198c1bc65bf7

Because at the end of an 8 hour drive, I arrived there at 1 am, only to find a registration line that literally went out the door onto the sidewalk. Fun.

Years ago that was not the case. They had a "Sapphire" pool, where strippers from the club were sort of "props" for the pool. They were supposed to be eye candy, and also advertise for the strip club. There was a hub-bub when it was found that some of the strippers were hookers and picking up johns at the pool. Sadly, the Sapphire pool operation was shut down.

The Sapphire Dayclub is topless since early June. Open Fri/Sat/Sun, admission is $20 which is actually cheaper than the $30 men had to pay at the Rio one on weekends.

Stayed at Harrah's June 26th through June 30. Stayed here because friends received free rooms.
Room was clean and renovated. No fridge that I could find.

Only thing I have nice to say is that the poker room staff was on top of every issue and were very pleasant to deal with. Rest of the hotel could use a good cleaning from top to bottom. So much "air freshner" blasted at you when you walked in from outside that it burnt the inside of your nose.
Hotel is for a younger, cheaper crowd.

nope. I have a trip booked for there next week, and my booking is non-refundable, but only $72 for all three nights (because they don't hit you with the resort fees before you arrive), and am considering cancelling because literally every review is negative. Only bonus is i'm going to be checking out some NBA Summer League, and they're a very short lyft ride from where that's happening.

Haha... I was in that line... my bus arrived at like 12:30... I was thinking about giving my bags to the luggage storage but it went quite fast... like 45 min....

Typically go every June, however, went three times last year and 2.5 times this year so far.

Wife is a slots player primarily via Total Rewards and Caesars properties. She qualified for Diamond status late last year and most likely will qualify again this year due to frequency of visits as well as utilization of the TR promos and TR credit card.

Last June we stayed at the Linq for the first time. Room was great, check-in was great, but to be honest the amount of traffic and “young” people (I’m only 46 ), coupled with elevator wait time, was a little tough.

Historically with TR we’ve stayed at Harrahs or Bally’s and gun to head if I had to choose one over the other I’d take Bally’s. Ballys is just so centrally located to other TR properties (Cromwell, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo, Caesars & Harrahs), that I don’t think it can be beat.

This year we stayed at Bally’s in February and June, each time in the Jubilee tower. Each room was newly renovated and in February they put us in a suite (thanks Mrs.), which was very nice.

PS: playing primary poker tournaments just doesn’t add-up like the slots do.

This past June we stayed again in the Jubilee tower and the room was what I’d call ‘better thank above average’ and yes fridges were in the rooms...

We went home the last Wednesday of June and I alone flew back out last Friday for a weekend trip. Using her Diamond card I “Diamond” checked in ahead of 20+ folks Friday night. Not sure if it was the $tip or her Diamond status, but they put me in a suite at the Linq. It was very nice and frankly I was surprised.

The bad news: I left my room only twice. Once Saturday around 10 and spent the next 12-14 hours at the Rio for the WSOP. The second time was Sunday when checking out. At 10:50 I pushed the down elevator button and waited 8 minutes for the first elevator. It was going down and was of course packed full. I pushed the down button again and after 6 more minutes (and no down elevator), I jumped on one going ‘up’ in order to ride it up then down to the lobby. Last June I don’t recall it being that bad, however, that was enough for me to never stay there again.

To summarize: want comp’d rooms and no resort fee; travel with or be the one who hammers the slots, takes advantage of email offers and uses any/all TR credit card perks.

Isn't the NBA Summer League playing at Thomas Mack? If so, then the other end of the strip from the Strat is closer to the venue.

it is, and i'm now even more annoyed with my buddy who chose the place.

I've gone ahead and canceled.

Find better friends while you’re at it

I can understand the mistake in booking the Strat because on paper it may not look that bad. But it is probably one of the worst casinos on the strip and it's location is the worst. There are some reasonably priced casinos at the other end of the strip that are a much better choice if you want to be near Thomas Mack so I think you made a good decision.

Maybe the wrong spot to ask but is there a review thread for the flamingo poker room? i searched and couldn't find it

yeah, we snagged a spot at the Linq for a decent last minute rate. I hear it is much improved over its Imperial days.

Looks fine, but don't see them ever overcoming that location. Also, trying to be Cosmo 2.0 seems like a losing strategy.