20 thoughts on “Five Hundy by Midnight 182: All Together Now”

1. PER THE ORLEANS BEDBUG QUESTION:

   On our last trip in May, we checked into a free 700 sq ft suite at IP (based on a Diamond status offer), and immediately checked out in disgust. Fingers crossed, we drove to the Orleans. They were happy to give us a $29.99 room rate based previous limited play.

   Unlike the larger free suite at IP our smaller room at Orleans was clean and bright, And it was bedbug-free (yes, we check. I’m not sure if the bed in the IP “suite” had bedbugs or not. We never made it past the stains in the Luv Tub or the multiple cigarette burns on the sofa and bedspread. It was supposedly a non-smoking room!) The room’s decor can’t be considered “Vegasy” by any means (more “New Orleans”, obviously), but it’s very pleasant, and the little sitting area was a nice touch. Overall, we’d say the room was at least as nice or better than the standard rooms at Harrahs and the Flamingo. And, the associates are much friendlier.

   We would definitely stay there again. Enjoy your stay! – newpherchris@yahoo.com

2. Can agree with all that Chris has said in the email above. We have stayed at The Orleans five times now and found the rooms comfortable, quiet and spacious. Bargin for the price.

   In fact have to say we prefered them to TI which were a disapointment to us.

   Although the next trip is half at Orleans and half in a Flamingo Go Room, so that may well change our allegience based on the glowing reports of those Go rooms.

3. For hotel deals I check out Travelzoo for deals and shows, and hotel’s websites directly. If price is a concern there’s always Bill’s aka Barbary Coast, we are paying $40/night mid week on the strip.

   For buffets I second having breakfast at Paris, I can’t speak for Planet Ho. But Mirage had a great dinner buffet.

   Only 4 or 5 more Five Hundys till we take off to LV. 🙂

   Kire

4. CheapoVegas gave a very good review to the Orleans. The only thing I disagree with is that the pool area at Orleans is better than some of the strip pools, particularly Harrahs, Imperial Palace, Bally’s, and even Treasure Island and P Ho.

   http://cheapovegas.com/vegas_casino_full.php?hotel_id=1069

5. Point Break Live Info

   http://jwz.livejournal.com/863900.html

6. Hey, thanks a ton Chris and Darran for responding to my call! Like I mentioned in my call, I have stayed at the Orleans many times in the past and was just worried about that call on Episode (I think it was) 179 about the “bites”.

   You guys have boosted my Orleans confidence once again!

   On a side note, while I still love the place, I feel that they have tightened their comps and machines significantly over the past year. I used to get $100/day food and beverage comp on top of the free room and now they are saying, we’ll give you $50 off the top, but you have to call in at the end of your stay and we’ll see what we can do about the rest. I’m sure it will get taken care of, but now I have to sort of beg for it. My play level has not changed and I’m sure they are just controlling costs, but it was just so much easier before.

   Thanks again for your reassurances on the Orleans and thanks to Tim for providing such a great forum!

7. Scott: it was I who called in regarding the nocturnal insect feast at the Orleans a few shows back. Likewise were the beds hard and did the pillows seem to be cast-offs from the county jail. However, these (oh yeah, and the breakfast buffet bacon wasn’t so good) were the only negative marks against the Orleans. Were they not so full that weekend — rooms had sold out on the Orleans website, we were only able to score ours through Hotels.com — the $20 trick would have no doubt worked, and we would have been spared the ignominy of such issues (except the buffet bacon, no way around that one).

   Were it not that we live in a log cabin in the woods, bug bites may have been a bigger deal, enough that we would’ve requested another room; instead, however, we’re fairly accustomed to them. Considering the things that could have gone wrong on the trip, this was nothing more than a minor irritation.

   There was more than enough at the Orleans for us to easily overlook the flaws. We loved the 5-hand video poker with the good paytables, and the drink service while playing was phenomenal — no more than ten minutes ever passed without the comforting cry of “cocktails.” The little bars interspersed throughout the casino floor were great. Loved Big Al’s Oyster Bar and Brendan’s Irish Pub. Everyone who worked at the Orleans was courteous and helpful. Plus, there weren’t many kids present, which always makes for a pleasant Vegas trip.

   In short, we had a blast staying there. While the LV Hilton is our favorite place to stay (couldn’t stay there our last trip because the Star Trek convention had prices through the roof), we’d stay at the Orleans again with no compunction.

   Sorry to have alarmed you, and hope you have a great trip!

   BHBH

8. I think that an “impression-off” is a good idea.

   In fact, let’s make an evening of it. Get Gordie Brown, Wayne Brady, and Danny Gans one one stage to do their acts. Also, have Celine Dion, Barry Manilow, and Elton John doing music for the show. Is Clint Holmes available? Get him, too. During intermission get Rita Rudner, Louie Anderson, Roseanne Barr, and Carrot Top to do their comedy.

   Did I mention that this should also be the night when the Russians do a nuclear first strike on Vegas, making a sheet of glass out of everything within 150 miles? Even though I’d be killed and everything I know and love would also be destroyed, it would absolutely be worth it.

9. New Mexican restaurant in Luxor 🙂 might be worth checking out….

   http://www.lvrj.com/business/29274149.html

10. you know, a man who had his picture taken with carrot top has some gall to bitch about the doushe bag criss angel

11. Unless, of course, you’re ironically wearing an “I (heart) Carrot Top” t-shirt in the picture.

12. Can we get an MP3 of Michele talking about her need for meat. I would love that as a ring tone.

13. Truly amazing that Michele is salivating for steak. It wasn’t that long ago that she was asking about beginner steaks.

14. Listening to the drunk dials, whenI hear a second voice kibbitzing from the background, it makes me think of the ad that ran during the Superbowl that featured a talking stain:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgtfC5LBAW4
    Try it! Picture a talking stain doing the background commentaries during the drunk dials and you’re pretty much guaranteed to laugh.

15. Have you been to the Double Down Saloon and if so what did you think.
    They claim to have originated the bacon martini. A quick report from my last trip Bellagio= Excellent as for restaurants Olives= Excellent Mesa=Excellent and Enoteca San Marco= Excellent I can not say enough good things about those 3. Unfortunately the one big disappointment was Knob Hill at the MGM it was overpriced for uninspired dishes. The service was very slow even though we were one of only 3-4 tables. They got my order wrong and to top it off they started clearing and prepping the tables next to us for the next days service. I would advise anyone thinking of eating there to try one of the many far better restaurants in that fine dining category.

    Bed bugs are a problem around the world right now not just at the Orleans. The BBC just ran a story about them.

    I love your podcast thanks for the great show.
    JM

16. Here’s a show including audio from our trip to Double Down Saloon:

    http://www.fivehundybymidnight.com/fhbm/2007/01/01/las-vegas-podcast-98/

17. It’s nice to see Shawn McClain getting a vegas restaurant. I’ve been to Custom House and Green Zebra in chicago recently, and they are both excellent. I’m also a big fan of Vongerichten’s Vong restaurant in Chicago (now VTK/Vong Thai Kitchen), although it sounds like he doesn’t have much to do with any of his restaurants any more.

    Buffets: I wouldn’t recommend P-Ho or Paris any more, at least for breakfast. Paris buffet was awesome a few years back, but it’s not much better than school cafeteria food at this point. Sure, the crepes station is pretty cool, but most of the side things are weak – they used to have things like great fresh fruit, now it’s peaches from a can. Spice Market is probably a bit better, but not much.

    I’m sure there are much better buffets out there, and it’s probably worth paying a bit more. Those are OK if you can get them comped (we stayed at P-Ho and had a coupon for the buffet), but that’s about it.

    If you are in either of those two hotels and want to eat (especially breakfast), I’d recommend going to Planet Daily at P-Ho or grab breakfast at the crepe restaurant in Paris instead of either buffet.

    I agree with Jack on Enoteca San Marco in Venetian – we had great thin crust pizza, authentic like the stuff we ate in Rome, which you rarely find in the USA.

18. I assume your talking about La Creperie? But can they make crepes and fix our bacon addiction?

19. Celebrity sighting:

    Friday, 9/26/08 at 8 pm, in the drive-thru of the “famous roast beef” restaurant where I work…Louie Anderson. He was very nice and cool, even when the back line cook was backed up and couldn’t get his grilled chicken out on time.

    Name-dropping: Just one of the many advantages of working in fast-food in Vegas. In fact, probably the only one.

20. (WCCO) A Wisconsin company is flushing convention down the toilet. Not content with simply two-ply toilet paper, Quilted Northern has launched three-ply “Ultra Plush” toilet paper. But do we really need a third ply?

    “I don’t see the big hoopla about an extra ply. It’s not like I’m wiping my nose,” said one woman in a downtown Minneapolis department store.

    Hey Michele, what is she implying? That wasn’t you was it?