I know you're going to be shocked, but the new Rio has been a fail so far

[Tasha]

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.

I lost my money in a Casino session years ago and the bar wouldn't even give me a free soda. WTF. :/

You have to be playing when you order your drink to get it comped.

Otherwise the casino might think you are a grifter that’s just trying get a free soda out of them ;-)

I told them I lost my money and just wanted a free soda to take the edge off. They DID say it would have been free if I were playing at a machine like you pointed out.

[jdog]

to be fair, Rio was a ghost town under Caesars, as well. The only exception was during WSOP time, when it ran there.

I think that's because Caesars had been looking to unload Rio for quite a while.

Only been to Rio a couple times way back in the day, never stayed there but I do remember the rooftop bar was pretty cool.

[Rob.Singer]

to be fair, Rio was a ghost town under Caesars, as well. The only exception was during WSOP time, when it ran there.

I think that's because Caesars had been looking to unload Rio for quite a while.

Only been to Rio a couple times way back in the day, never stayed there but I do remember the rooftop bar was pretty cool.

The Voodoo lounge.

The Wine Cellar was a must-visit, and the Martini Bar was the place to take a break from the machines. I tried the Friday Seafood Buffet only once because I generally stay away from buffets. But it was excellent. The Indian restaurant, the Italian place, the Seafood restaurant, their Steakhouse, and even the All American Grill were all places I'd been to multiple times.

[accountinquestion]

The seafood buffet was a well regarded thing at the time. Now they'd need a fried catfish buffet for various reasons.

[Advantageplay]

You just lie sooooooo unbelievably bad, there isn't a casino in your home state of Florida that won't give a free soda. You want attention so bad it's insane. You are full of shit you turd

[DGenBen]

By the way Tasha many states are home to casinos that actually have free self service soda dispensers on the properties.

Maybe you want to look into that & consider relocating to one of those states?

[MisterV]

By the way Tasha many states are home to casinos that actually have free self service soda dispensers on the properties.

Maybe you want to look into that & consider relocating to one of those states?

Move to Lincoln City and play all your favorite gambes at Chinook Winds tribal casino.

Not only do they have free soda but also juice, coffee, and all the Sweet 'n Low you can stuff into your hideous handbag.

[Tasha]

You just lie sooooooo unbelievably bad, there isn't a casino in your home state of Florida that won't give a free soda. You want attention so bad it's insane. You are full of shit you turd

It was Gulfstream Park years ago that denied me the free soda.

[MDawg]

A new Vegas hotel gets built in the 1990s. The rooms are large. It has a party "Mardi Gras" type atmosphere, with ongoing shows in the casino, and even an innovative floating "show in the sky" moving along the ceiling.

People like the concept. It's fun and interesting. They're willing to travel off-strip and over I-15 in order to visit or stay there.

Then the years pass by. It gets bought by Caesars, which neglects it, and lets the rooms get rundown and much of the facilities in disrepair.

I've stayed in both their largest suites in the newer (1997, Masquerade) 41 story tower, and in their "concierge butler" suites in the original 1990 tower.

My stays at the Rio were right around the turn of the New Millennium, and by then the older tower's suites had a musty sort of smell to them reminiscent of older ocean front California estates, which actually brought back Proustian memories that were nice for me, but might not be that endearing for most.

The newer suites I stayed in in the top floors of the new tower are large, but were similar to ones at the new Aladdin / Planet Hollywood with large carpeted vacant areas with no furniture which made them seem rather odd actually.

One thing I liked about the Rio was their high end high limit salon, which was both nice, and allowed anyone off the street to bet up to $100,000. at Baccarat - and this was at a time when the max on the Strip was $15,000. It wasn't right away after Harrah's (Harrah's bought the Rio, not Caesars - keep in mind that today's Caesars is not the original Caesars, but is merely Harrah's that bought out Caesars, and then changed ITS name from Harrah's Entertainment to Caesars' Entertainment) that posted limits were lowered, but sometime around 2000, the max bet was dropped to be in line with the rest of Vegas. No more $100K stated limits!

I haven't stayed at the Rio for well over two decades, although we would stop by occasionally for their Carnival World Buffet, which actually was quite good, at least up until the last time being at the very end of the 2000s - I don't know if the buffet remained solid after that, and of course it closed permanently during the Pandemic.

[mcap]

lol the story. I wonder how many customer service personnel contemplate suicide while or after interacting with druff.

[pinchingyourballs]

You just lie sooooooo unbelievably bad, there isn't a casino in your home state of Florida that won't give a free soda. You want attention so bad it's insane. You are full of shit you turd

It was Gulfstream Park years ago that denied me the free soda.

You should write a story about it. I would love to read it.

[Dan Druff]

lol the story. I wonder how many customer service personnel contemplate suicide while or after interacting with druff.

Only the bad ones.

I do the public a service by getting the awful/malicious/passive aggressive customer service employees fired.

I am very nice to the competent and semi-competent ones. In fact, I'm even nice to the incompetent-but-kind ones.

Anyone purposely generating me a dead key to fuck with me is going to earn a complaint to their direct manager.

[Rob.Singer]

lol the story. I wonder how many customer service personnel contemplate suicide while or after interacting with druff.

Only the bad ones.

I do the public a service by getting the awful/malicious/passive aggressive customer service employees fired.

I am very nice to the competent and semi-competent ones. In fact, I'm even nice to the incompetent-but-kind ones.

Anyone purposely generating me a dead key to fuck with me is going to earn a complaint to their direct manager.

Words of wisdom: regardless of the situation, NEVER try to take away another person's ability to make a living. There's more than enuf shit we all have to deal with these days, and you never know the capabilities and drive of your new enemy--and ESPECIALLY one who works in and may have certain departmental acquaintances within a casino hotel. The best policy is to always be nice.

I wouldn't be all that surprised if it were you who were the catalyst of the key event, and were looking for an opportunity to have the resort fee waived, or maybe get a small food comp. You seem to get easily irritated by various lower-level employees more than your share of the time. Bring a mirror next time.

[redietz]

A new Vegas hotel gets built in the 1990s. The rooms are large. It has a party "Mardi Gras" type atmosphere, with ongoing shows in the casino, and even an innovative floating "show in the sky" moving along the ceiling.

People like the concept. It's fun and interesting. They're willing to travel off-strip and over I-15 in order to visit or stay there.

Then the years pass by. It gets bought by Caesars, which neglects it, and lets the rooms get rundown and much of the facilities in disrepair.

I've stayed in both their largest suites in the newer (1997, Masquerade) 41 story tower, and in their "concierge butler" suites in the original 1990 tower.

My stays at the Rio were right around the turn of the New Millennium, and by then the older tower's suites had a musty sort of smell to them reminiscent of older ocean front California estates, which actually brought back Proustian memories that were nice for me, but might not be that endearing for most.

The newer suites I stayed in in the top floors of the new tower are large, but were similar to ones at the new Aladdin / Planet Hollywood with large carpeted vacant areas with no furniture which made them seem rather odd actually.

One thing I liked about the Rio was their high end high limit salon, which was both nice, and allowed anyone off the street to bet up to $100,000. at Baccarat - and this was at a time when the max on the Strip was $15,000. It wasn't right away after Harrah's (Harrah's bought the Rio, not Caesars - keep in mind that today's Caesars is not the original Caesars, but is merely Harrah's that bought out Caesars, and then changed ITS name from Harrah's Entertainment to Caesars' Entertainment) that posted limits were lowered, but sometime around 2000, the max bet was dropped to be in line with the rest of Vegas. No more $100K stated limits!

I haven't stayed at the Rio for well over two decades, although we would stop by occasionally for their Carnival World Buffet, which actually was quite good, at least up until the last time being at the very end of the 2000s - I don't know if the buffet remained solid after that, and of course it closed permanently during the Pandemic.

Dawg,

The last time I stayed in the Rio was with my significant other. The room was in my name, but while standing in line to check in, someone working registration recognized her and gave us a stealth upgrade to a multi-room suite. Very nice; very old-school. I think we were in the Masquerade Tower, but not absolutely sure. We did not have much dead space. The extra room was large and had a bar type area and was sort of retro-60's decor. Did you have a room like that? I was pleasantly surprised as I had not requested any upgrade and the desk personnel didn't announce any great upgrade. They may have mentioned something, but they didn't make a big deal of it, and I blew it off as maybe I got a recently refurbished room or something. But no, it was quite the multi-room suite.

[accountinquestion]

A new Vegas hotel gets built in the 1990s. The rooms are large. It has a party "Mardi Gras" type atmosphere, with ongoing shows in the casino, and even an innovative floating "show in the sky" moving along the ceiling.

People like the concept. It's fun and interesting. They're willing to travel off-strip and over I-15 in order to visit or stay there.

Then the years pass by. It gets bought by Caesars, which neglects it, and lets the rooms get rundown and much of the facilities in disrepair.

I've stayed in both their largest suites in the newer (1997, Masquerade) 41 story tower, and in their "concierge butler" suites in the original 1990 tower.

My stays at the Rio were right around the turn of the New Millennium, and by then the older tower's suites had a musty sort of smell to them reminiscent of older ocean front California estates, which actually brought back Proustian memories that were nice for me, but might not be that endearing for most.

The newer suites I stayed in in the top floors of the new tower are large, but were similar to ones at the new Aladdin / Planet Hollywood with large carpeted vacant areas with no furniture which made them seem rather odd actually.

One thing I liked about the Rio was their high end high limit salon, which was both nice, and allowed anyone off the street to bet up to $100,000. at Baccarat - and this was at a time when the max on the Strip was $15,000. It wasn't right away after Harrah's (Harrah's bought the Rio, not Caesars - keep in mind that today's Caesars is not the original Caesars, but is merely Harrah's that bought out Caesars, and then changed ITS name from Harrah's Entertainment to Caesars' Entertainment) that posted limits were lowered, but sometime around 2000, the max bet was dropped to be in line with the rest of Vegas. No more $100K stated limits!

I haven't stayed at the Rio for well over two decades, although we would stop by occasionally for their Carnival World Buffet, which actually was quite good, at least up until the last time being at the very end of the 2000s - I don't know if the buffet remained solid after that, and of course it closed permanently during the Pandemic.

Dawg,

The last time I stayed in the Rio was with my significant other. The room was in my name, but while standing in line to check in, someone working registration recognized her and gave us a stealth upgrade to a multi-room suite. Very nice; very old-school. I think we were in the Masquerade Tower, but not absolutely sure. We did not have much dead space. The extra room was large and had a bar type area and was sort of retro-60's decor. Did you have a room like that? I was pleasantly surprised as I had not requested any upgrade and the desk personnel didn't announce any great upgrade. They may have mentioned something, but they didn't make a big deal of it, and I blew it off as maybe I got a recently refurbished room or something. But no, it was quite the multi-room suite.

Did you tip her or were you your usual cheap ass self?

[pinchingyourballs]

I've stayed in both their largest suites in the newer (1997, Masquerade) 41 story tower, and in their "concierge butler" suites in the original 1990 tower.

My stays at the Rio were right around the turn of the New Millennium, and by then the older tower's suites had a musty sort of smell to them reminiscent of older ocean front California estates, which actually brought back Proustian memories that were nice for me, but might not be that endearing for most.

The newer suites I stayed in in the top floors of the new tower are large, but were similar to ones at the new Aladdin / Planet Hollywood with large carpeted vacant areas with no furniture which made them seem rather odd actually.

One thing I liked about the Rio was their high end high limit salon, which was both nice, and allowed anyone off the street to bet up to $100,000. at Baccarat - and this was at a time when the max on the Strip was $15,000. It wasn't right away after Harrah's (Harrah's bought the Rio, not Caesars - keep in mind that today's Caesars is not the original Caesars, but is merely Harrah's that bought out Caesars, and then changed ITS name from Harrah's Entertainment to Caesars' Entertainment) that posted limits were lowered, but sometime around 2000, the max bet was dropped to be in line with the rest of Vegas. No more $100K stated limits!

I haven't stayed at the Rio for well over two decades, although we would stop by occasionally for their Carnival World Buffet, which actually was quite good, at least up until the last time being at the very end of the 2000s - I don't know if the buffet remained solid after that, and of course it closed permanently during the Pandemic.

Dawg,

The last time I stayed in the Rio was with my significant other. The room was in my name, but while standing in line to check in, someone working registration recognized her and gave us a stealth upgrade to a multi-room suite. Very nice; very old-school. I think we were in the Masquerade Tower, but not absolutely sure. We did not have much dead space. The extra room was large and had a bar type area and was sort of retro-60's decor. Did you have a room like that? I was pleasantly surprised as I had not requested any upgrade and the desk personnel didn't announce any great upgrade. They may have mentioned something, but they didn't make a big deal of it, and I blew it off as maybe I got a recently refurbished room or something. But no, it was quite the multi-room suite.

Did you tip her or were you your usual cheap ass self?

Let's leave Kewl's mom out of this.

[redietz]

Dawg,

The last time I stayed in the Rio was with my significant other. The room was in my name, but while standing in line to check in, someone working registration recognized her and gave us a stealth upgrade to a multi-room suite. Very nice; very old-school. I think we were in the Masquerade Tower, but not absolutely sure. We did not have much dead space. The extra room was large and had a bar type area and was sort of retro-60's decor. Did you have a room like that? I was pleasantly surprised as I had not requested any upgrade and the desk personnel didn't announce any great upgrade. They may have mentioned something, but they didn't make a big deal of it, and I blew it off as maybe I got a recently refurbished room or something. But no, it was quite the multi-room suite.

Did you tip her or were you your usual cheap ass self?

Let's leave Kewl's mom out of this.

LOL. And KewlJ himself, according to rumors.

I didn't tip anybody. I didn't know we had a real upgrade. Besides, I doubt the desk worker was the facilitator. It's possible we showed up on eye-in-the-sky or something. Well, not really we so much as she.

And account, while I appreciate being called cheap, I'm wondering what adjectives you reserve for Todd, who is at least as cheap as me, and likely more obsessive about being cheap. (No offense, Todd.)

[accountinquestion]

A new Vegas hotel gets built in the 1990s. The rooms are large. It has a party "Mardi Gras" type atmosphere, with ongoing shows in the casino, and even an innovative floating "show in the sky" moving along the ceiling.

People like the concept. It's fun and interesting. They're willing to travel off-strip and over I-15 in order to visit or stay there.

Then the years pass by. It gets bought by Caesars, which neglects it, and lets the rooms get rundown and much of the facilities in disrepair.

I've stayed in both their largest suites in the newer (1997, Masquerade) 41 story tower, and in their "concierge butler" suites in the original 1990 tower.

My stays at the Rio were right around the turn of the New Millennium, and by then the older tower's suites had a musty sort of smell to them reminiscent of older ocean front California estates, which actually brought back Proustian memories that were nice for me, but might not be that endearing for most.

The newer suites I stayed in in the top floors of the new tower are large, but were similar to ones at the new Aladdin / Planet Hollywood with large carpeted vacant areas with no furniture which made them seem rather odd actually.

One thing I liked about the Rio was their high end high limit salon, which was both nice, and allowed anyone off the street to bet up to $100,000. at Baccarat - and this was at a time when the max on the Strip was $15,000. It wasn't right away after Harrah's (Harrah's bought the Rio, not Caesars - keep in mind that today's Caesars is not the original Caesars, but is merely Harrah's that bought out Caesars, and then changed ITS name from Harrah's Entertainment to Caesars' Entertainment) that posted limits were lowered, but sometime around 2000, the max bet was dropped to be in line with the rest of Vegas. No more $100K stated limits!

I haven't stayed at the Rio for well over two decades, although we would stop by occasionally for their Carnival World Buffet, which actually was quite good, at least up until the last time being at the very end of the 2000s - I don't know if the buffet remained solid after that, and of course it closed permanently during the Pandemic.

Dawg,

The last time I stayed in the Rio was with my significant other. The room was in my name, but while standing in line to check in, someone working registration recognized her and gave us a stealth upgrade to a multi-room suite. Very nice; very old-school. I think we were in the Masquerade Tower, but not absolutely sure. We did not have much dead space. The extra room was large and had a bar type area and was sort of retro-60's decor. Did you have a room like that? I was pleasantly surprised as I had not requested any upgrade and the desk personnel didn't announce any great upgrade. They may have mentioned something, but they didn't make a big deal of it, and I blew it off as maybe I got a recently refurbished room or something. But no, it was quite the multi-room suite.

Did you tip her or were you your usual cheap ass self?

[redietz]

I consider Todd at least my equal when it comes to cheap-ass-edness. I'm probably less consistent than Todd, however.

[MDawg]

A new Vegas hotel gets built in the 1990s. The rooms are large. It has a party "Mardi Gras" type atmosphere, with ongoing shows in the casino, and even an innovative floating "show in the sky" moving along the ceiling.

People like the concept. It's fun and interesting. They're willing to travel off-strip and over I-15 in order to visit or stay there.

Then the years pass by. It gets bought by Caesars, which neglects it, and lets the rooms get rundown and much of the facilities in disrepair.

I've stayed in both their largest suites in the newer (1997, Masquerade) 41 story tower, and in their "concierge butler" suites in the original 1990 tower.

My stays at the Rio were right around the turn of the New Millennium, and by then the older tower's suites had a musty sort of smell to them reminiscent of older ocean front California estates, which actually brought back Proustian memories that were nice for me, but might not be that endearing for most.

The newer suites I stayed in in the top floors of the new tower are large, but were similar to ones at the new Aladdin / Planet Hollywood with large carpeted vacant areas with no furniture which made them seem rather odd actually.

One thing I liked about the Rio was their high end high limit salon, which was both nice, and allowed anyone off the street to bet up to $100,000. at Baccarat - and this was at a time when the max on the Strip was $15,000. It wasn't right away after Harrah's (Harrah's bought the Rio, not Caesars - keep in mind that today's Caesars is not the original Caesars, but is merely Harrah's that bought out Caesars, and then changed ITS name from Harrah's Entertainment to Caesars' Entertainment) that posted limits were lowered, but sometime around 2000, the max bet was dropped to be in line with the rest of Vegas. No more $100K stated limits!

I haven't stayed at the Rio for well over two decades, although we would stop by occasionally for their Carnival World Buffet, which actually was quite good, at least up until the last time being at the very end of the 2000s - I don't know if the buffet remained solid after that, and of course it closed permanently during the Pandemic.

Dawg,

The last time I stayed in the Rio was with my significant other. The room was in my name, but while standing in line to check in, someone working registration recognized her and gave us a stealth upgrade to a multi-room suite. Very nice; very old-school. I think we were in the Masquerade Tower, but not absolutely sure. We did not have much dead space. The extra room was large and had a bar type area and was sort of retro-60's decor. Did you have a room like that? I was pleasantly surprised as I had not requested any upgrade and the desk personnel didn't announce any great upgrade. They may have mentioned something, but they didn't make a big deal of it, and I blew it off as maybe I got a recently refurbished room or something. But no, it was quite the multi-room suite.

What year was that? As mentioned, the last time I stayed at the Rio was over two decades ago. Multi room, do you mean beyond the usual living room - room, and bedroom room - of all one bedroom suites?

For example this suite I stayed in not long ago is pushing 2000 square feet:

https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/ques.../2/#post932673

but at the end of the day, it is still just one large room (living room / dining room combo, with the piano), plus a bedroom (plus a sort of a foyer entrance hall, powder, and master bathroom, and multiple closets).

Or do you just mean a typical one bedroom suite but that had a bar in the living room plus dining table in that same living room, etc.

Here's another suite I stayed at a lot (a villa, two bedroom, 2575 sq. ft.) that has a bar in it:

https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/ques.../2/#post872961

But still, basically other than the bedrooms, it has just one large additional room with a bar, dining table, pool table, lounge area, in it (and some nice extras like the outdoor small pool, lounge area, barbecue, etc.).


BTW one thing I look for in a hotel suite is a sauna, steam room or ideally...both.