Originally Posted by
redietz
I stayed in the Rio when it first "soft opened" and everything was brand spanking new. The soft opening window was really very cheap considering the size of the rooms. The Rio pools, at the time, were genuine hot spots, and occasionally you could look up from the pool and see some couples doing James Bond silhouette stuff against the windows of the rooms facing the pool.
I stayed in the Rio about once a year for the next decade or so. The buffet was, I believe, the first mega-buffet in Las Vegas.
I remember being offended when Harrah's wouldn't comp me a burger and fries for a 5K-and-change wager, so I pulled a Todd. Still standing at the window, I requested a refund (you can do that) due to "my error." I then went to the Rio, with identical numbers, and got the buffet comped for the same wager.
My late friend, Johnny Mucha, and I stayed there a few times. The sports book manager, after they were CET, clued me in to some inner workings of the limits and comps for CET properties. That info was not public knowledge. Over the years, the place wore out. They wound up getting Legionnaires Disease (or something similar) a couple of times, which is usually a plumbing problem. The air quality got worse as they cheaped the running of the air purifying system.
I hope they get it together and make a comeback. The rooftop nightclub was one of the few in LV that catered to an older crowd.