I’m sure you have all heard the Las Vegas ad campaign, “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!” Personally, I think it should have been “What Plays in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Isn’t that much more clever? WJJ says, “What stays in Vegas, is your money.”
Anyway, WJJ and I just returned from a week there, partly pleasure and partly business. We arrived last Wednesday evening at 11:00 PM. My first indication of the trip was that our three bags of luggage were literally the last three to arrive on the carousel.
There’s a whole long story about the hotel. I thought we were staying at the Venetian. As it turned out, we were staying at the Palazzo, which is the sister hotel of the Venetian. I thought we had a suite with a separate dining room and living room. We did have a one-bedroom, two-bathroom (the key to a successful marriage) suite that had a separate living room/dining room table with three seats. So, needless to say, it was not exactly what I had anticipated.
Upon arrival to the hotel, according to “the brochure”, we were to receive a champagne greeting.
Nope.
When we got to the room, there was no welcome note, fruit basket or anything for that matter. Plus, while the room was certainly large, it was stark. No flowers, no knick-knacks, just the suite. There were other minor things as well. But by the time we got to our room it was well past midnight and WJJ and I just wanted to go to sleep.
Thursday was a really good day. WJJ and I went to the Concierge lounge for breakfast. It was lovely. Then we toured the Palazzo hotel and the Venetian and had a great lunch together. That evening we went to see The Jersey Boys with our two friends Bob and Terri. The Show was exceptional. We were seated in Row 2 --there were only five seats in our row. That’s where I met Lona. Before the show began she and I chatted. She is from Kentucky. She is married and is a school administrator. This was her 9th time seeing Jersey Boys. Her husband was off seeing the Elvis Show. Lona has one married daughter and one little granddaughter.
She also had a son who committed suicide two years ago due to a drug overdose. During the play, the one, and only really sad moment, is when Frankie Valle’s daughter dies of a drug overdose. You can only imagine during that part, I held her hand and the two of us cried like babies. Jamie wanted to know how in a theatre of 2,000 people, I can find the one woman who needed my support. That’s just the way it is.
Anyway, after the play WJJ, Terri, Bob and I went to dinner; the perfect ending to a perfect day.
Friday -- WJJ and Bob had gone golfing. Terri wanted to “relax” and I had the day to myself, except for one business appointment at 3:30 PM. I decided to address some of the challenges and confusion about the room and the hotel. I spoke to three different people, none of whom wanted to listen. At one point, I actually said, “OK now listen carefully, I am the customer.” “Further, you are not making me feel “warm and fuzzy.””
I briefly left my frustrations behind and went to the casino. While I never normally play the slots, I just wanted to breathe and relax. Well, I hit on one of the machines that gives you an additional four spins to make more money. My machine wouldn’t spin. I pressed the damn spin button five times, no spin. I pressed the service button, no service. Finally after waiting about fifteen minutes I got someone’s attention. It took another forty-five minutes to get the machine fixed and get my free spins. I only got two spins, not four I was suppose to. When I said to the Manager that I was supposed to get four spins not two, she sweetly said, “Oh, I’m sorry” and walked away. I actually contemplated addressing it further, but frankly, I was not going to allow this day to go downhill. So instead I decided to try and address my other challenges with the hotel -- again.
Enter Jason Arnold, Assistant Manager of the “Prestige” Lounge. This young man from Michigan did just about everything correctly. He listened, he nodded, and he addressed my concerns and assured me that I was a valued customer.
My day was getting better. Time to leave for my appointment. I had checked on my meeting, it was to take place about fifteen minutes away from the hotel. As I got to the taxi stand, the doorman actually looked up the address for the driver and gave her directions. The driver was from Ethiopia and kept insisting he knew exactly where the building was located. I left the hotel at 3:10 for a 3:30 appointment.
I cannot describe my taxi ride.
It was filled with circles, dead ends, going down one way streets, did I mention the wrong way? And series of me saying “You don’t know where you’re going, call someone.” I don’t want to elaborate any longer because it would simply ruin this day, but I can exemplify the degree of frustration by sharing the following:
I arrived at my destination at 4:45. One hour and thirty-five minutes, for what should have been a fifteen-minute ride. Yes, I missed my appointment. The driver wanted to drive me back. Needless to say, I declined. So I got out of the cab, walked into the building and called another cab. I waited fifteen minutes for it to arrive and drove back to the hotel. What a waste of time!
So thus far, my Las Vegas trip was not going as planned. Way too much angst and annoyance. But better things were to come! Terri and I were going to see “The Men of Chippendales” WAHOOO!
(To be continued)
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