Grand Gulfport
We arrived at the Grand in Gulfport from N.O on Monday 4/18 for 6 nights. Our
host Tazz had called on Sat to say we were prebooked into a Jacuzzi room
(they call it a suite) and an adjoining room at the Oasis Tower, comped up
front.
I thought this was a nice touch, I had never had a host do this before.
Both rooms had a nice view overlooking their fabulous pools and lazy river.
The pool area defiantly has a resort feel to it. If you plan to swim or have
kids, the Oasis Hotel is where you want to stay. Kids Quest is also great for
kids. My daughter said it was even better this year with several new games.
The inventory was unchanged from last year at the $1 level. All machines are
multi denom with TITO. On the 3rd Fl all of the machines at the $1 level are
FP 9/6 JOB and 8/5 BP,( I'm not sure about NSU) with the exception of the
bar
which is short pay. The (4) 3/5 machines are still there.
Here's where I saw the worst hit I've ever seen. The guy next to me cashes
out and I see that he has a royal on the bottom line. The I noticed he's
playing nickels and only had 1 nickel in and won $12.50. Imagine that,
hitting a
royal and not even winning enough for the freaken buffet.
On the first floor by the escalator there are several rows of short pay
machines. The bar is also short pay. The only FP on the first floor are in
the high
limit room and the room across from the high limit room which has FP JB, BP
at the $1 and $2 level, The high limit room has FP $5 and in the back corner
FP
$1, $2 and (2) 3/5 plays with FP BP but Short pay 8/6 JOB.
The only FP $1 bar is on the 2nd FlL across for the NO Bistro. This has a .25
progressive with 9/5 JOB and 7/5 BP.
We enjoyed all of our meals there at Skipper Jack's, the Bistro and the Steak
House. The best meal was at the Steak House. They were mobbed and sold out
for the night, so definitely make reservations.
I hit a royal our first hour there and then preceded to give it back the rest
of the week ending up down $1800 for the week.
My birthday is in April so I was able to take advantage of the 2X point bonus
for 1 day again this year. This is really like earning triple points for the
day because you earn your normal points and when they post the bonus points
they post 2X what you earned to your account for a net of 3X points.
The one thing that was different this year was that I barely earned any
comps. Someway, my account was set to accrue comps at what I figured was
approx .01
percent. I didn't receive a clear answer why this was the case but a few of
them were, I was -350 (over comped last year), Harrahs tightening of Comps,
Comp dollars that came off for the rooms and something about hanging comps.
The
bottom line is that I had enough comps to cover the meals but they were my AC
comps.
We love this place and plan to make it an annual trip and are already
discussing next year. The only thing that could screw it up is when Harrahs
takes
over. This time down we also took my mother in law and the four of us all
had a
great time.
Copa
Went up the road to the Copa. The only $1 machines are the multi denoms at
the bar on the first floor. These machines have FP 9/6 JOB but are shorted to
7/5 BP. There are no $ progressives at the Copa. I made a few hundred here
hitting several 4K and a SF. The bar was the extremely smokey and my eyes
were
burning when I left.
Palace
Wednesday was overcast, so I dropped the ladies at the mall and headed over
to the Palace.
Wed is 3X points at the Palace and being a new sign-up I was able to get
double cash on a $50 Copa coupon for $100.
There are tons of FP $1 machines in the 2nd room. They are at the bar and
these unique square tables that each had 4 machines. I have never seen
machines
set up like this but they were fun to play at.
The Palace was a fun play to play. Good VP, 3X points and the best looking
cocktail waitresses in the Gulf. I also received a nice serving platter and
the
buffet coupon when I collected my cash back.
There was a group of about 100 machines shut down. I'm not sure what they
were doing but none of the machines were VP.
Beau Rivage
I had called the Beau Rivage a few weeks before we arrived and spoke with a
host Carl. He agreed to comp us (4) tickets to Erzuzu, dinner for (4) at
Cuchina and a room for the night. This was the night out for my birthday.
When we
got there, no reservations and Carl was off.
They quickly set-up there reservations but told me the show and dinner wasn't
comped. They were going to bring me in at RFL instead of RFB which Carl said
he would do. After another phone call, they said it would all be comped.
The show was similar to Mystere or 'O' but on a smaller scale. The performers
were just as talented and the show was amazing. What was unbelievable is that
ticket price was only $30 and the place was half empty. In you go to the
Gulf, definitely catch this show.
The Beau has the worst VP of any place we visited on the coast. The Database
is correct with the only FP being a group of 12 $1 machines in the center of
the Casino. Lots of $1 and $2 short pay. The (1) progressive bank was 7/5
JOB.
The next best play were some 100 plays that were 9/5 JOB at the .25 level. I
got lucky and was dealt a few 3K and got a Royal to win back all of my losses
and leave there up $1100
When I went to check out, the show was comped bit the meal was on the bill.
I spoke with marketing services and a host receptionist and they were both a
no go. She finally went and got a host and after a few minutes she agreed to
comp the meal.
I have never really pushed for a comp before but I expect that the hotel
honor what I was promised coming in. I doubt we'll be back there.
Treasure Bay
I played the FP $1 and a little $5 progressives. I also played the coin only
progressives at the bar. These are antiques but if you get up a little you
don't have to deal with the coins.
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