Belatedly I offer up a trip report for our LV visit 4/24-4/30. A
little passage of time distills what otherwise could have been a 10K+
word saga to something likely running just a couple thou or so 
路路路
------
This trip was courtesy of Bev's employer. She had a conference at
Caesars, with regional rep meetings in advance. (She works in
pharmaceutical marketing analysis.) So six nights at Caesars along
with her food and beverage (plus a finesse of mine that wasn't
otherwise casino comped) were handled without being on the hook for
any play.
In all honesty, it's sad to say that without a certain compulsion to
play to earn our keep each day I was actually at a loss for what to do
a couple of times during the week (Trust me, a tad of exaggeration
there.)
Despite coming in on a non-rated basis, we took a stab at check-in
using the Diamond Lounge at Caesars. They welcomed us with open arms
and we were given the most accommodating reception I can ever recall.
The assisted us in securing a room in Augustus on the end away from
the Octavian Tower/pool construction.
While a Bellagio fountain view wasn't available that day, we were
later transferred into a high floor room that had the most wonderful
view of the fountains. While working at the desk in the room I mused
just how much my formerly prized Philly office view overlooking the
fountains on the BF Parkway paled by comparison The only thing
missing was a pirated feed from the Bellagio hotel TV audio of the
lake music.
------
The week was simply wonderful (how could it fail to be). Now,
obviously just because there wasn't a compulsion to play didn't mean I
didn't. But I largely sat back and took it easy.
I did succumb to a desire to rate Bev and myself in LV with the
Harrah's properties, decidedly sub par play choices not withstanding.
I made out ok on $35K play on my card, ending with a $200 win.
Dabbling a couple of days later on Bev's card, I bailed after $16K
play with a $1000 loss. I'm not expecting great things in the way of
offers, but I had a fun time.
We met up with Jean & Brad Scott over at Southpoint for a fine buffet;
got in some satisfying NSUD play -- AC is a desert when it comes to
good deuces. Bev hit the ducks and we came away with $100 after
playing 90 min ea. Scored an armload of inexpensive promo gifts --
wished we had offered most of them up to Jean/Brad when we found there
was no way of getting them home (there was originally room in the
luggage/carryons, but we wound up overweight in checked baggage and
the carryons wound up stuffed to capacity!)
Sat in on a taping of Oprah, with guests Cher and Tina Turner, in the
Caesars Colosseum (thanks to a heads up provided by Lolly Fergey in
the yahoo! harrahscasinos forum). It was great fun! Later in the
week, splurged on premium tickets for Le Reve -- VIP Circle, with
champagne service and video of what was going "behind the scenes"
under water. Absolutely decadent 
The full circle of seating in the Le Reve theater means that even with
something like 1/3 of the rows of the "O" theater, the room has the
same capacity but lends a sense of intimacy. Efforts to direct the
performance in all directions means that there really isn't a poor
seat in the house. Our top tier seating still meant a great bird's
eye view of the action -- particularly of the aerial stuff.
------
I rated myself at Wynn the day before the show, putting through $18K.
You'd think that would get you nothing. However, as has been
discussed here, for a first-time rating at $9 a point, you get a
buffet after 25 points, another after 50 points, and two more at 500
points. After playing through the 500 points ($9k) I checked at the
card desk to claim the buffets and see what kind of comps I might
otherwise be earning. She called a host up, who was amazingly
receptive. She actually said she was impressed by the 500 points
earned over the course of 2 hours (go figure).
On the comp question, she asked what we'd like. I told her I planned
to stick around to round out the play at 1000 points and that
something toward the coffee shop would be nice. She entered a dinner
comp for 2 in the coffee shop into the system, including a round of
drinks. I finished out the play that day with a mild $300 loss and
called Bev over for dinner. The comp handled a $110 check. We did 2
buffets the next day before the show (absolutely the most impressive
I've encountered, beating Bellagio hands down), and banked the other
two for a return trip. All in, well over a 1% comp rate on the play.
------
We went pretty easy on the dining front in general -- a reason we
could slide my meals into Bev's expense report ... the 3 comped
dinners for 2 (Southpoint courtesy of Jean/Brad) helped
One unique value was the early evening "pre fix" (their spelling) bar
menu at Mesa Grill. It offers up a good taste of the restaurant, with
salad, entree and dessert at an attractive price. And the Margarita's
were to die for. We scored window seating looking out onto the Forum
casino and enjoyed the tide of humanity.
I closed out the trip with a run at the one NSUD at McCarran, burning
a c-note over the course of a half hour's $.25 play (the machine has
$.25/$.50/$1 NSUD -- specific location details provided in this group
some time ago, but generally speaking it's the right-most machine in a
multigame bank located right before the terminal gate split.
I'll spare other trip minutia and simply say it was a great week and a
satisfying return after an eighteen month hiatus.
- Harry