Hi Gang:
The Seven Stars Signature event at Harrah's AC last weekend (the first one
we've attended, by the way) turned out to be a very nice four days of fun,
relaxation and pampering and gave us an opportunity to visit with a bunch
of out-of-town friends who flew in for the over-the-top extravaganza.
We received $50 in free play, two $50 food coupons, a $150 spa credit, a
$50 shopping credit, plus 7X rewards credits all weekend and a $25 Apple
gift card for every 1,500 base points we earned during our first three days of
play. Since we are locals, the free play, shopping credit and spa credits
paled in comparison to what others from out of town got, but since it was
on our home turf and no travel was necessary it was just fine with us.
Check-in Thursday at Harrah's was handled smoothly and efficiently with
employees handing out glasses of champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries
to those waiting to secure their rooms. When we got our bracelets for that
night's welcome party at the indoor pool we were given a pair of nice,
monogrammed champagne glasses as a gift.
The pool party, hosted by Robin Leach, was too crowded and too loud. The
food was good but the lines to get it were long and disorganized. The
highlight for us was a chocolate/dessert spread on the second level hosted by
Jacques Torres. The sweets were yummy and Hedy got a chance to pose for a
picture with the chocolate whiz himself.
On Friday, we attended the Dancing With the Stars Show at Showboat. We
watch the show on TV and Hedy is a big Derek Hough fan, so when we found out
that he was hosting this event at the Boat we booked it there. It was a fun
night as Derek played the guitar, sang with the band and danced with several
members of the audience as well answering some questions thrown his way.
He also was very gracious about signing autographs and taking pictures. Hedy
got a picture with him solo plus a personal autograph, then the three of
us posed for a picture on the way out. Another nice touch was that a
Harrah's photog was taking complimentary pictures of guests during the event that
could be picked up outside the ballroom afterwards.
The usual surf-and-turf sitdown dinner was just so-so (it's almost
impossible to mass produce hundreds of meals and make them palatable) but,
overall, we enjoyed this event and thought that it delivered pretty much what was
advertised.
Unfortunately, the Fashion Show/Dinner the next night at Caesars didn't.
Mario Lopez was supposed to "host" this event but he did little more than
address the crowd from a makeshift stage/runway twice during the night and
answer a couple of questions during a short Q & A session.
When he first came out he said he was going to mingle with the guests,
take pictures and sign autographs but that never happened. The only trace that
he was even there after the event were some stock modeling photos
scattered on some tables outside the ballroom. He was long gone like a phantom well
before the end of the dinner. Again, the food was just OK in a very crowded
ballroom that had little room to pass between tables. The fashion show
itself was merely a parade of about 20 models wearing designer goods and was
pretty boring.
The second part of the Saturday night schedule was an evening of comedy
with Jerry Seinfeld at Caesars and his show, as usual, was very funny. We've
seen him before so some of his material was familiar, but he's a real pro
and did over an hour of standup. The warmup comedian, a guy named Tom Papa,
was very, very funny and a lot of people afterward were saying that they
thought he was funnier than Seinfeld.
Our wrapup event on Sunday was a "Makeover Brunch" at Harrah's hosted by
super model Janice Dickinson. It was held in the Harrah's buffet and the
food offerings were excellent. Dickinson answered questions and mingled with
the crowd but was pretty much an afterthought to us. Four of our friends from
Phoenix chose to do the golf outing on Sunday instead and they were raving
about it. There was a luncheon before their round, a dinner afterward and
cash prizes given out during play. They loved it ... and won a little
money, too.
We've never been to another Seven Stars Signature Event, but all in all,
we thought this one was very organized and there were Harrah's reps
available every step of the way to offer guidance if you had any questions. Little
gifts (baskets of joy, chocolates etc.) were left in your room every night
as well as a letter keeping you abreast of what was on the agenda the next
day.
Anticipating an overcrowded situation in the Seven Stars Lounge, Harrah's
also opened the Marina Club on the second level as an additional lounge. We
visited it once and were impressed by the variety of food offered.
On the gambling side, it was another good trip for Hedy and me as I hit a
royal on Saturday for $4,000, Hedy got dealt aces and drew a kicker for
$2,000 the same day and I got aces for $1,600 on Friday (I was playing $2 9/6
DDB). We had a number of other hits in between but those were the
highlights.
Coming almost piggy-back with our sensational trip to New Orleans it was
most welcome and took a huge chunk out of our 2009 deficit.
The social aspect of the trip also was terrific as we got to see -- and
spend time with -- friends from Arizona, California and Las Vegas. It was
great to see them win as well ... one hitting $4,000 and $13,000 jackpots, and
another rocking the house with $16,000 and $40,000 royals!! Our friends
from Arizona also loved the Seven Stars Lounge at Harrah's (surprisingly, it
wasn't THAT crowded most days) and said that they definitely will be making
a return trip to AC in the future.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
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