New Years Trip Reports

Post your NYE trip reports here.

At Caesars the party was much better than expected and the food was actually great starting with a delicious lobster appetizer then a delicious steak (filet) which was cooked perfectly and a great chocolate dessert. They had a very good local band and dancing.

The J.Lo show was very entertaing and went past midnight with a NYE countdiwn and balloon/confetti drop.

Hotel room surpises: they cut out sewing kit, vanity kit, shower gel, slippers, robes, chocolate coins, free bottles of water.

Next is the New Years brunch. Our time is 1pm.

We had a great time in New Orleans. If one did not know better s/he would have thought they were in Columbus, Ohio. Those guys were every where. We were told that SouthWest air charted something like six special flights for the Ohio State fans. Anyway, we got some nice crystal champagne glasses, the suite was very nice with free water, chocolates, and other little nice things. The meal was excellent, with very good roast beef, giant shrimp, good bread, salad, etc. Of course, the booze flowed freely. Music was provided by dual pianists, one of whom sang many of the oldies and goodies. Finally, the brunch was the best we have ever had. Anything one could want was waiting there, and very yummy. We got to meet up with some old friends and had probably the best New Year's Eve yet. Hope it bodes well for 2015.

Stayed at Caesars from Dec 28-Jan 1.

Ate at 3 restaurants owned by CET, and one outside.

Went to Mesa Grill Dec 28. Wasn't as good as it was in the past. Veal Chop was fatty. The rest of my party was not impressed with this place.

Went to Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris on Dec 29. Everyone really liked it, though they committed a huge gaffe on the bill and double charged my RCs somehow! I caught it yesterday and it was fixed the next day. They blamed it on Total Rewards, which I don't believe. It was a $390 error, so that was pretty bad.

Went to Twist (in Mandarin Oriental) on Dec 30. This is the restaurant owned by famous French chef Pierre Gagnaire. Pierre himself was there (only happens a few times a year), and the meal was great.

Went to Nobu on Dec 31. As usual, great meal. I used my $500 celebration dinner for this, and my bill came out to $501.

So the food on the trip was excellent.

I had to put a lot of effort into it in the days leading up to the trip, but I got a great room in Augustus overlooking the Bellagio & strip. Perfect location for fireworks-viewing. We stayed in the room and watched the show, which was pretty good. Temperatures outside at the time were in the 30s, though not as cold as originally forecasted (29-30). The snow did not pan out. It did snow a bit in the area on December 31, but not around the strip. We attempted to drive around and find the falling snow for my son's sake, but failed.

We did have a "snow day" on December 29th. We went to Mt. Charleston, and brought full snow gear, including a toboggan I purchased at a Vegas Big 5 for $17. Kids enjoyed it.

We went on the High Roller on December 30th. I had an extra free pass, which I tried to give away, but everyone in line either already had prepaid or had their own free passes, so no one needed it. I made a mistake in going at about 5:45, because it was very crowded due to people showing up for the substantially cheaper "daytime hours" (before 6pm) despite it already being pitch dark outside. I should have after 6. They stuffed 40 people into the pod, but it was actually okay. Believe it or not, there would have been room for more.

I did not get any offers for New Years parties or concerts, due to my "overcomped" status. Someone else in my party had a $450 food credit in their offers, so we used that on Dec 28/29, and we used my $500 annual dinner on the 31st. I wasn't disappointed about the lack of invitation to the party because I likely couldn't take my son anyway, who is only 4. I will say that he was allowed to go to all of the Seven Stars parties in October, though, despite the serving of alcohol.

Regarding the drive from LA, it was surprisingly heavy on Dec 28 (Sunday), and I had to take several detours to get there and avoid stopped traffic.

The drive back on the 1st was smooth. While there were a lot of cars, it never backed up, and I made good time.

Had a great time and saving the free play from the GGWU was good for us although thanks to a $15,000 fp surprise at the Flamingo drawing on the 27th, it was like icing on the cake. Had to use the fp at one property so we chose PH. Can't complain we were able to convert over 2/3 of it to cash.

Our New Years dinner at Harrah's was pretty much the same as it has been the last 8 years we've been going although there was no band and decorations were minimal. I heard from my host the following day that people tend to leave right after they eat and don't stick around for dancing. The food was pretty much the same as it has been in the past. I usually just look forward to the dessert anyway (see picture). Oh, one thing I was surprised about. We sat next to a couple from Canada who were neither Diamond or Seven Stars players. Couldn't figure out how they would have gotten the invite. Walked out on the srtip by the McDonald's to watch the fireworks over the Venetian. Stayed just close enough to the door to Harrah's to avoid being trampled on.
Didn't make the brunch on New Years Day because Davo and I had reservations to renew our wedding vows at the Little White Wedding Chapel drive thru. We were married there in 2012 on New Years Day so this has become a tradition for us.

We used our $500.00 Vegas folio. Didn't really splurge on the restaurants although we had a great dinner at Martorano's at Paris on New Years day. We actually had about $170.00 left on the folio so we returned with
some vodka and a few bottles of cabernet.

The lines at the Diamond Lounge at Harrahs were long. We did go to the Diamond Lounge with Aaron and friends at PH.

Left on Friday and decided to take a quick overnight trip to Laughlin. I had never been there before. Went th the Diamond Lounge there but it was very crowded and no wait staff to serve drinks so you had to go to the bar and get your own drinks. Davo
said the clam chowder was really good though.

Home on Saturday. Traffic wasn't bad till we hit Barstow.

Looking forward to our next road trip. Our host did tell us fp is limited to very few days the next 3 months.

Wait, you won $15,000 freeplay in a drawing???

Yes, in one of those drawings they have where you have to go to several properties, swipe your card and stand in huge crowds hoping they will call your name. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Wait, you won $15,000 freeplay in a drawing???

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Yes!! They won a drawing for $15k of free play. They called me and told me about it. This was the offer pre New Years and there were drawings at five of the Caesars casinos each with a $15k grand prize.

There were five properties with 10 drawings picked at each property. All prizes were given out in free play. There was a total of $300,000.00 over 3 days. $50K at the Cromwell, $50K at Flamingo, $75K at Paris, $100K at Caesars and $25K at the Rio. My name was called first for the top prize of $15K at the Flamingo.