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Reno TR - Peppermill + Silver Legacy

Drove up from the SF area to Reno on Friday afternoon after leaving
very early from work, was on the road at 2:30pm which wasn't enough to
avoid being slowed down by traffic, got in Reno at 7:45pm. My little
wife started to feel a cold brewing while on the way up.

Checked in at the Pepp, 2 nights from Hotwire in the "Montego Wing"
(i.e. in my case the G building at the top of the parking lot) (I had
an offer for a comped room but I preferred to keep it for the other
week-end when it's valid, i.e. the last week-end of june). The front
desk employee was quick and polite. Room was newly renovated,
pleasantly decorated, colorful without being over the top, very clean,
in fact in a better shape than the tower rooms I have stayed in in the
past. Just like in the tower, windows in the G building can be opened
to let in some fresh air. The big flat-screen TV was a plus, even
though the image quality didn't do the TV justice. We asked for a
fridge while checking in, and it was brought to the room within half
an hour.

Food at the Pepp: we ate at the coffee shop on Friday night (weekday
specials), I went to get some hot sandwiches at the food court for
Saturday lunch (high sierra, very tasty, and food court melt, a bit
more bland but pretty good). In the evening I went for some Sushi at
the Oceano (fresh and tasty as usual) while my wife, still feeling
ill, ate lightly in the room. On Sunday we had lunch at the Oceano, I
liked the crab pan roast a lot (though it was pretty heavy on the
stomach) and my wife enjoyed her crab-stuffed jumbo prawns.

Checkout at the Pepp was as painless and pleasant as checkin, the
front desk employee had no problem deducing the meals I had charged to
my room from my comp account (and on the way told me my comp balance,
so that I now know where I stand).

We drove to the SL, and in the hot weather being able to park in the
shade of the parking garage was actually a nice plus. Checkin at the
SL was less pleasant than the Pepp, the employee was cold, and there
was no way to get a fridge in the room. I was 2 days on a comped room
after only playing a single trip (20K coin-in). The 31st floor tower
room felt somewhat uninviting, with a sad golden theme.

Food at the SL: we went for the buffet on Sunday night, where they
were serving leftover seafood from lunch (a good surprise). We liked
the quality and variety of the food. On Monday I went skiing in the
morning (my last ski trip of the season), and my wife ordered a room
service sandwich for lunch - which was brought in quickly and
courteously, at a price not much higher than that of the coffee shop.
We went to the buffet again for dinner, and again the next morning for
breakfast. I'd say that from my limited experience the SL buffet is
better for dinner than the Pepp or the Atlantis, but that for
breakfast the Atlantis is better. It seemed to me that the price of
the buffet was very reasonable.

Checkout at the SL was fast, but I still didn't feel the warmth that I
got used to at the Pepp (I would go as far as saying that's an overall
impression, not just at the front desk, and that the Pepp's emphasis
on friendliness and customer service and satisfaction is real and
visible).

As my little wife likes to share everything with me, she shared her
cold. She was lovely enough to wait until the very last day, though. I
was starting to feel my nose running when we left late in the morning
on Tuesday, and by the time we were back in the SF less than 4 hours
later I was feeling miserable and the last 40 hours of my life have
been some of the most unpleasant ones in a while.

Gaming: I played almost uniquely 100-play JoB in pennies and 50-play
JoB in nickels. Got a bit over $40K coin-in overall, split 50-50
between Pepp and SL. Hit 7 royals (1 in pennies and 6 in nickels) and
quite a few dealt FH, no dealt quads though. Overall, ended up down
$185 (about 0.4%), which is within range of what I'm willing to lose
during a 4-day trip (given the free rooms and the free food). Note
that the Pepp upgraded my slot card to a gold level even though I was
more than $10K short of the required points (they had also upgraded me
to Bronze before I got the required points, both times without me
actually asking for it).

As far as slot clubs are concerned, I'm torn between the Pepp system
(annual total, which makes it hard for non-locals to reach the higher
levels) and the SL system (daily average midnight-to-midnight, which
requires to be careful to not play on the first and/or last partial
day of a trip). Another trip should give me Sterling level at the SL,
and depending on how I'm treated at that level I will decide how I
later want to spread my play between the Pepp, the Atlantis and the
SL.

JBQ