Please ADD your own Las Vegas Trip Report. Date of Trip: February 25, 2007 to February 28, 2007 Hotel Stayed At: ALADDIN Report by: KTINCA <> From: CALIFORNIA

BIRTHDAY TR—CLOSING OF BARBARY COAST
FEBRUARY 2007

I never get to go anywhere for my birthday!
Having a birthday in February really stinks, its cold everywhere.
I used to blame my parents for this. After all with a little consideration and family planning, I could have had a decent birthday like most people. But eventually I realized that in my parent’s day (pre Ozzie and Harriet) “family planning” was another term for abstinence. So while I still don’t like my birthday, I’m at least a little more understanding.

My wife decided that this year we were going to celebrate my birthday. She wanted me to finally experience the joy of inserting my Wynn Red Card into a machine and seeing the magic phrase “Happy Birthday Ken”.
So with the help of a DING from Southwest and the winter offer from Aladdin, it was off to Las Vegas for a very rare winter trip.

Sunday 25th Our flight was a little later than usual, so we arrived at the Aladdin around 4pm. Aladdin/PH has been an ongoing project for some time, but the registration lobby is finished, and is beautiful as befitting a Las Vegas hotel.

A $20 tip to the desk clerk resulted in an offer of a Fountain View room or a Resort Vista Room with a strip view. We chose the strip view, as the room is important to us. Our room on the 21st floor had a southern strip view including MGM, Monte Carlo, NYNY, with MB in the background. The room was fairly good sized (about the same as Bellagio) with a sofa and 2 large windows across from the bed. This meant the armoire with TV was on the left and not directly in front of the bed. The bath was fairly large with jetted tub and separate shower. It had 2 vanities, one on each side of the room, and a separate room for the toilet.
The only thing missing was a safe. Most of the rooms have them but ours didn’t. This was kind of a pain because we had to go downstairs to use a safe deposit box.
Overall we were pleased with the room, although I probably wouldn’t stay there in the summer as the AC wasn’t very strong.

There are still changes going on in the casino. While we were there they finished laying the carpet where the PH restaurant will be. But the major work is being done to the outside façade facing the strip. They did not have permanent walls on that side of the casino, just sheetrock. So that side of the casino was freezing, especially at night and in the morning. This is supposed to be corrected Mid-March.

When possible, we never plan anything for the 1st day of a trip. We just rest and acclimate ourselves, this trip was no exception. Normally we would have just grabbed a bite at the coffee shop for dinner, but unfortunately Aladdin doesn’t have one, having closed the Zanzibar Café.
So we decided to walk to Paris and have dinner at Café St. Louis, but as we exited the hotel to the strip we found ourselves on the south side and staring at the Harley Davidson Café sign. We’ve sent many people there, but never actually eaten there ourselves. So it was a chance to try something new. Pretty much what we expected, fun atmosphere, decent food, but slightly over-priced. Wife had a Harley Hog Sandwich with an extra side of Cole Slaw and I had Country Fry Steak. With 2 Iced Teas the bill was $37. This was one of those places you want to try once, but won’t rush back to.
We hung around Aladdin as it was too cold to go exploring. Nothing exceptional on the gambling front, I think I lost around $100.

Our room was near the end of the hall and reasonably quiet, but we could hear the construction between MC & Bellagio. Yes, it does go on all night! There are the trucks, and at least for a while yet there are pile drivers. Be aware that if you stay at Aladdin the Fountain View rooms get the worse noise.

Monday 26th—My Birthday.
I decided this day should start out special, so breakfast was at Tableau. For those who haven’t been there, in Las Vegas this is as good as it gets. Next time you go to Vegas for a birthday or anniversary, make it really special by having breakfast at Tableau. Before being seated you are asked for your name, and for the rest of your meal you are addressed by name by all the employees. The room is beautiful in the morning and the ambience serene.
My wife passed on her favorite peach/pecan pancakes and tried the short ribs and eggs. I know this sounds weird for breakfast, but it works well. There is a potato pancake on the bottom, short rib (no bone) infused with melted cheese is in the middle, with scrambled eggs on top. I decided to try the duck hash with poached eggs. When my hash arrived I realized I wanted toast or something, so I asked for an English muffin. Within 2 minutes I had my muffin---before my meal could get cold. What this means is that the waitress took my order and then waited for my muffin. She didn’t go help someone else or go do some side work. I was her top priority. As a matter of fact, for most of our meal she stood on the other side of the room in case we needed anything. At no point during our meal did she have more than 2 tables.
The total for our meal, with coffee was $47, possibly the best value on the strip.
I know this sounds like a commercial, but seeing as I’m not getting paid nor have any interest in Wynn or Tableau, consider this a public service message.

After breakfast we played VP at Wynn for a while. I got to see my birthday message and made a small profit on the 9/6 JOB machines.
Then we went to play my wife’s favorite machines, the nickel video WOF. I don’t play slots, but usually once a trip I will play these machines to keep my wife company, so I think what happened was pretty amazing. I was playing 1 coin with maximum lines and got 5 wheels. I chose to determine number of spins and ended up with 6. Took 5 spins with nothing exceptional then on the last spin the wheel hit “free spin” which gave me another 6 spins. Again nothing really big for 5 spins and the last spin hits “free spin” so I receive 6 more. So I ended up with 18 spins! Because I didn’t land on any large amounts I only ended up with 465 credits, but my wife really enjoyed it.

We then decided to walk to Bellagio to see the conservatory. Because we never go this time of the year it was our first chance to see the Chinese New Year motif. We enjoyed both the lobby decorations and the conservatory and it was nice to catch a different display.
BTW: During this stay we didn’t see one fountain show. Most of the time it was too windy and we were just never able to time it right.

Next stop Barbary Coast, and a chance to say goodbye. We found out the BC was closing at 1AM Tuesday morning (or Monday night depending on your point of view) but when we got there about 1pm we were surprised that almost no one knew this. We expected the casino to be mobbed on the last day but that wasn’t the case. There were no signs posted and the employees were obviously instructed not to say anything.
We sat down at a $10 Pai Gow Poker table (this is the 1st time I have ever been in BC that they did not have at least one $5 table). This gave us a chance to talk to quite a few people as PGP is a very sociable game. Most didn’t know the hotel was closing, but a few hotel guests were being kicked out. One guy told us he was informed last week, and offered a room at Orleans for $79 a night, but he chose to take the red-eye home and cut his trip by one day. Another told us he didn’t know until he checked in and needed to find a room for that night!
We also got to talk to a few dealers, most of whom were kind of in shock. They literally didn’t know what was going to happen. They were only given a few days notice, and were all scheduled for orientation with Harrah’s the next day. They knew they had to switch to Harrah’s benefits program, but didn’t have any real details. One dealer was particularly concerned with the medical plan as she had an existing condition and hadn’t been able to get any real info from Harrah’s human resources department yet. We stayed for a couple of hours and then went back to Aladdin to get ready for our evening.

MY BIRTHDAY---MY FAVORITE SHOW---FAB FOUR.
Our Aladdin offer came with free tickets, but we would have seen this show anyway. If you haven’t seen this show please see it soon. The performers are getting older and you want to see it while they are still in their prime. Everything is live. They play their own music and sing all the vocals.
We didn’t have VIP tickets but tipped appropriately and received the center table we wanted. In front of us were a couple of ladies from Rhode Island visiting LV for the first time. They were both in their 50’s, met at a group for cancer survivors, and this trip was a celebration of their victory. We shared a drink, the show, and hopefully helped make their celebration a joyous one. I know they loved the show!
The first segment of this show (the early Beatles) is very interactive with a lot of singing along and clapping to the music. It was really kind of funny, the ladies in front of us kept glancing back to see if we were joining in. This was their permission to participate and have a good time. And of course when they get to “Twist and Shout” some serious dancing is taking place. I can’t imagine what this would look like from above, a bunch of people, predominately in their 50’s and 60’s doing a 40 year old dance. The guy running the lights is probably laughing uncontrollably, but we really don’t care.
Personally I think the Sgt. Pepper segment is now the best, as the performers are a little older now and have grown into it, especially George who is now amazing.
Because it is live performing everything isn’t always perfect, and this wasn’t one of John’s best days. But there were still some tears when he sang “Imagine”.
Don’t wait, see this show on your next trip. You can thank me later.
Consider this my 2nd public service message.

Continuing our theme of spending this day in the 1970’s dinner tonight was at Casa Di Amore. The restaurant limo picked us up at Aladdin at 8:15 for our 8:30 reservations. I must say the limo has never been late, and my wife likes that they send a full stretch limo and not just a town-car. Casa Di Amore doesn’t change much, the pictures are still of the strip hotels and celebrities of the 60’s. They still have the big comfy booths and nightly entertainment. This night the lounge singer playing the keyboards was accompanied by a saxophonist. Even his music doesn’t change much, still old standards.
We had a hot appetizer tray, my wife had a chicken dish and I had Shrimp Lamonica. We were not charged for Iced Tea or a “birthday dessert”, so the total was $62 before our $25 restaurant.com certificate.
And, of course, they sang a song for my birthday. You know you’ve reached a certain plateau when the band’s birthday selection is “Young at Heart”, complete with Durante impersonation.

We had the limo driver drop us off at Barbary Coast around 10pm. There is now official recognition of the closing. Signs are posted and security guards are everywhere, including all the doors. There are notices stating that any uncashed casino chips may be redeemed for the next 30 days at Orleans.
We sat down at a Pai Gow Poker table, as my wife decided she wanted to play right up to closing. Amazingly enough there were still people playing who were unaware that they were going to be kicked out at 1am.
We enjoyed ourselves playing and watching them shut everything down. Around 11pm they started closing down the tables that weren’t being used, boxing all the chips, and carting things away. Supposedly there were a lot of Gaming Commission people observing this process. The roulette tables took a long time as all the different color chips had to be accounted for, and the wheel itself removed. Around 11:30 as a player left a slot machine it was turned off and marked out of order. My wife started thinking about souvenirs and asked the dealer for some cards. The pit boss said the gift shop would sell them cheap, so she went to the gift shop and bought some cards for 25 cents each. She was also given some old Barbary Coast Fun Club cards as remembrances.
My plan was to play until around 12:30 and then hit the cage, as I had a pretty good idea of what the line would be like after 1am. I wasn’t getting very good cards, and even realizing this and betting the table minimum had to re-buy just before 12am. Fortunately the dealer hit a real bad streak and I got most of my money back.
But just before 12:30 I got a hand I can always remember! I was dealt the lowest possible hand in the game. For those who don’t play Pai Gow Poker this hand is 2-3-4-5-7-8-9, and is incredibly hard to get. Many people NEVER get this hand.
I got the VERY LAST worst hand at Barbary Coast.
For a mere $10 I have a story I can tell for the rest of my life.
So I took my chips and grabbed most of my wife’s (leaving her $40-$50) to the cage to beat the rush.
My wife insisted on playing to the very end, and she made it. Right before 1am the Pit Boss came by and announced “Last Hand”. My wife had $20 left, so she bet $15 and $5 for the dealer. And, as it should be, the casino won the last hand.
Actually, we’re lucky it wasn’t a push and we didn’t have to wait in line for $15.
And then it was over. No fireworks or celebrations. There were probably more employees than customers in the place at the end. We picked up some beads from the tables for our granddaughters, said goodbye and was let out by a guard.

All things considered a fairly full birthday.

Tuesday 27th. Wasn’t hungry enough for the buffet for breakfast and there is no coffee shop. But PF Changs offered an “Express Breakfast” for $6.95 for hotel guests, that was in effect a mini-buffet, so we gave it a try. It was nothing to get excited about, but fine for our needs.
Walked to Tickets4tonite and decided on Howie Mandel ($83) for this evening.

My wife was planning to spend this afternoon at the Aladdin spa. But after checking it out, she was not impressed and decided on a soak in the tub and a nap instead.

This left me with a few hours, so I walked over to Bellagio for some poker. I was seated in a $4-$8 game fairly quickly. This table was a little easier than your typical Bellagio game, some tourists, one decent player and one fairly good one. There were 2 players of note, one who liked to play every hand and called with bad hands and a 23 year old who thought he could play.
Both were losing, but the 23 year old was throwing a party. But, he was making everybody pay for it. He was obviously not sober and talking constantly. He was a self-proclaimed stud who was working at Light and regaled us with his exploits. This irritated many at our table and there were a couple of outbursts. One player left the game, and one new player sat down for one hand and decided this game wasn’t for him and left. A woman even joined the table and this didn’t slow him down, but she was a good player and saw the opportunity in this game. I of course have seen his kind before and didn’t let it bother me. He lost all his money, went out for a couple hundred more and lost that too.
The game went pretty much as it was supposed to for me. I won when I was supposed to and lost when I should. I got enough playable cards to build up a stack, but after a few hours I started to get a few bad breaks. Including one hand in which I had pocket 9’s and the flop came 9-J-J, the woman across from me bet a little too strongly after the flop and turn. I knew she had a strong opinion of my play and was willing to bet anyway. So I was able to save a couple of bets as she turned over her pocket jacks. Sometimes all you can do is limit your losses.
With the 23 year old expert already gone it was obviously time to leave. Ended up with a $261 profit and my wife had the chance for a nice nap.

Stopped by the concierge to print out our boarding passes for the next day, and went to the front desk to ask for a late check-out. This was our 1st stay at Aladdin so I wasn’t sure how strict they were with check-out times. Our flight left at 5:20pm, so I wanted to check out around 3pm and go right to the airport. This was a quiet Wednesday so I was going to try and push for this. The clerk I talked to offered 1pm and I asked to speak to her supervisor. After a short wait the supervisor listened and granted my request.
This is a big deal to me. I know that we are only talking about a couple of hours here, on a day when the hotel certainly isn’t full. But the fact that my request was granted without a hassle leaves me with a very favorable impression of this hotel.

Because we were going to see Howie at MGM dinner was at Studio Café. I don’t recall if we had eaten there before, but I was definitely not impressed. I was only expecting a typical coffee shop, but I didn’t think the food was worth the price. I had a house salad $6.99 and Chicken BLT $13.79 and my wife had a BBQ Chicken Sandwich $12.99. With 2 Iced Teas $6.50, the bill came to $43. We will not be back.

Howie Mandel is playing in the Hollywood Theatre and we had seats assigned to a small table for 4 in the back. We were seated and met the other couple at our table. Amazingly enough they were from Rhode Island. Two shows in two nights and we sit next to people from Rhode Island both times. I thought it was small state.

Howie has been playing Las Vegas for a number of years but of course this is his moment in the sun. He’s not really my type of comedian, but his show was all right. My wife enjoyed him more than I. I thought his opening act was actually funnier than he was.

We played a little VP at MGM, just to put a few points on our cards, without any success, and decided to call it a night.

Wednesday 28th No real plans for the last day. Starbucks for breakfast and a last chance for some Pai Gow Poker. The PGP tables are on the side of the casino without permanent walls, and it was absolutely freezing there this morning. We went up to our room and got coats but the poor dealers were really suffering. We played until around 1pm and I’m pretty sure it didn’t hit 50 degrees. Of course, it wasn’t any warmer outside either. And, as you can imagine, there was very little action on the tables this morning, so most of the dealers were just sitting there.

We went to the Spice Market Buffet for lunch. I know I’m in the minority, but I’ve never rated this buffet that highly, although I think it is slightly improved. In all fairness, we’re not big buffet people and I have a fairly restrictive diet. To me this is still a mid-level buffet and not in the class of Bellagio, Wynn, or Paris. The new room and furniture however, is definitely an improvement.

Time to return to the real world.

Final Thoughts and Impressions:
We were pleased with the Aladdin, and under the right conditions will consider staying there in the future.

I think I may make seeing the Fab Four an annual event.

Being at the Barbary Coast when it closed was a unique experience. The last couple of hours were part fun and part nostalgia, almost like a wake. I can’t describe it---you had to be there.

We took a number of short cab rides due to the weather and never heard a complaint from any driver.

I can’t remember the last time I went to Las Vegas and didn’t wear my sunglasses.
To us Las Vegas means lounging by the pool in the morning and walking on the strip late at night. We enjoyed ourselves but this wasn’t really Las Vegas.
Very simply, the desert just gets too cold for us in the winter. We’ll just have to
find another way to celebrate my birthday.

We’re skipping our May trip this year to attend the Preakness, so it’s almost time to start planning for October.

KTINCA <> - CALIFORNIA    3835

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