Visitreno

[jerry]

OK, I made it back to Reno after a long absence. since I have responded to others on several threads, I will not repeat most of it here.

I treated my wife to a Mother's Day special trip. She had a 3 hour spa treatment as the highlight.

Stayed at Siena. First thing, we had 4 free Sunday Brunch tickets. Guess what, sorry sir not good this Sunday - it's Mother's Day.
Secondly, many people had 5X points. Sorry sir, your name is not on the list.

Becoming a Gold Card member there was not good. My offers have nearly completely dried up.
Last trip, the Club Host was glad-handing me at every occasion. this time, no one from the Club even acknowledged me unless I walked up to the counter. There's a lot more but I won't belabor the point.

My wife has always hated the Fitz. I was losing a bunch of comps so insisted that we eat there to burn some up. Very surprisingly, we ordered Mexican food at the Coffee Shop and it was EXCELLENT. Whereas, the Siena coffee shop likewise has a Mexican cook, but the Mex food is not good.

Virtually no changes at Fitz in last 6 months. Except that the Coin Castle (or whatever it's called) with the 3 Random Jackpots has been reduced to one bank of quarter slots. Though 10 in number, they are still numbered from 21 to 29.
Well, one of these jackpots was at $91+ and must pay before $100. So I convinced my wife to sit there and try to win it. We each played two machines. It ground very slowly to $93+ as no one else was usually playing more than a minute or two at a time. After an hour or so, we left and within 15 minutes, someone had hit the $100.

But there is good news here. My wife tried to choose the most conservative machines. she thought she had chosen a 3X pay. All at once, it started dinging a bunch. I looked over and she had hit 2 double bars and a wild. It kept paying and I informed here that it was a 9 pay, not a 3 pay. Result was $90. About 5 minutes later, she hit the same thing for another $90. Within 10 more minutes, she hit it for $45. She now likes the Fitz.
While playing this, my machine started dinging. I looked up and had nothing. I looked overhead and it said that #25 had hit the mini jackpot for $19. Hey that's me. And #25 is my softball uni number.

On to Alison's Castle. (some of you may know it as the Pep)
Construction goes on. The jackhammers start at 0600. The A/C in the rooms doesn't even come back on until an hour later. So one has to lie there and sweat and listen to the jackhammers for an hour.

My wife was much looking forward to the pool. Alas, it is under construction. Looks ugly and far from being redone. Yet desk assured us that they were on schedule to open it on Memorial Day Weekend.
Even in NV, I don't think they can make it. They weren't even working on it and it is completely gutted, stripped, etc.

The new high roller 3d floor parking walkway to casino is poorly designed. Because we had to park on 4, it took us 3 different elevators to get to our room. And they were crowded and inadequate. Additionally, they did not line up their doorways to the escalator or the elevator. Bad bottlenecky.

(Why doesn't anyone hire me to design these things?

Virtually no new machines and no action for me. I can't win at the Pep.

Another downer and a real negative for idiots in management.
The Pep sent us a $50 voucher for food in any of their nine award winning restaurants. So we opted for the Steak House. We like to eat early so went at the opening 5:30 pm. We had to ask for the Early Bird Menu. We ordered two meals for $19-20. When the check came, we were told that the Early Bird prices were not good on the coupon. So they presented us with a b ill for $58 and change. We really battled over this as the coupon had no such disclaimer. They finally sent for Security and my wife said, "bring em on". I said this is not worth my time and energy.

I paid the $20 overcharge and stiffed the waitress for half of it.

Fabulous weather. Days in 80s, nites in 50s, sunny.

And a highlight was the usual Tuesday Nite Happy Hour at the Pep. A tradition for many of us.

I do appreciate the fact that Kevin and family took of their limited time to come meet me at the Fitz. That was special. First time that I have met Jessie. The second time with Grace, she warmed up to me. Colleen is a nice young lady. And, naturally, Kevin has a lovely bride. Nice family.

Overall, a good trip. the road construction on 89/44 is a downer. Long delays added an hour to the trip.

Next time through, we will come from Bend but still face the construction on 395 south of S'ville. I am starting to consider driving straight thru from Bend to Vegas (16 hours or so) and avoiding the Reno stuff, the traffic, and the heat.

I have bent your ears long enough. Thanks for listening. I will respond to questions and comments, though not timely as I have 7 ball games in 4 days and limited computer access.

But, I HAD to write a TR or Alison will bug me till I did.

Jerry

[alison]

Hey Jerry, quit picking on me!!!! LOL

Im glad to see you posted a trip report. Thanks!! Just for me!! (yeah right) We miss hearing ffrom you on a regular basis.

Sounds like you did well at the fitz. Gald to hear that. Especially glad to hear your wife did well. Bummer you couldn't use your coupons at Siennas Brunch. I guess i am not too suprised though since it was motherd day and all.

I like your name for the Pep....'alison's Castle" Bummed to hear baout the construction noise and lack of A/C. I certainly hope that i dont have to deal with that in July. What's up wiht the pool not being ready??? They said memorial Day Weekend. Did you ask anyone about it??? Your wife sounds like a fisty one. i can't believe they were threatning security on you. I would have to laugh in their faces at that. give me a break! I don;t recall any of my coupons saying anything either about not valid with any specials. I can't believe they would not honor that. How disapointing. I also checked the Pep's website and it does not mention a thing about any limitations with teh early bird special. Sorry you did not have the best of times at my Castle...

Do yo ukow how long that construction on 89/44 is supposed to last? It seems like the last few times i have driven to reno ther has been construction on the stretch right before Susanville. Will it ever end???

P.S. Vegas traffic is the pits. Stick w/ reno!! Reno Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miss ya!
Ali

[Dave]

Jerry,
Just good to hear from you period. I wish that you would have had a better trip and things would have went a little more smooth! I hope that the fact that your wife has that spark means she is feeling better. Did you and John hook up at all this trip? As far as Vegas goes with the price of gas and all stick with Reno pal! I hope you are doing well. Thanks again for the report.
Dave

[CaSwede]

Glad to hear you made it back to Reno. I was interested in the Pepp coupon deal. I went to look at the fine print on my coupon, but I used it two weeks ago (I only got $20 ) I did find another coupon, and on the back it says: "Not valid with any other offers, specials or discounts." I guess they are taking the position that the early bird specials fall under this category. ?? At any rate, this is just terrible customer relations. Why would they purposely dig in their heels over this $50 from a good customer over the years? Bad form Peppermill.

They are going to open the pool for Memorial Day? It does not seem possible when I saw it. I agree also with you about the parking garage. I took the elevator at the hotel to the 3rd floor, as the sign said "parking garage". There was no connection that I found to the parking garage, so I hauled my luggage down the stairs, and found myself in the middle of the construction area. I really like the parking garage though. I have a tall 4WD pickup, and they have enough head room for my truck.

[jerry]

a brief continuance responding to comments.

Miracles happen so the pool may be open but I would not bet my "Reno gambling money" on it making it for Memorial Day Weekend.

Actually, it was a fine trip in spite of "little people" encountered along the way. Hey, stay positive. I had some fun hours with friends from this message board. And, yes, I guess I only inferred it in my TR, but the "BoidMan" attended the Tuesday nite gig. We were joined by his "much too young" female friend and my "much too young" wife.

As to construction on 89/44/395: there were multiple spots. the highway is getting to be in bad shape. so I do expect construction to end in my lifetime. I used to drive at night to avoid this, but it will no longer work on some of these spots which must be manned 24-7 as they have: some one-lane road and some "no pavement at all" areas to drive through.

However, it has been so long since I have won anything that the lustre has work off for frequent trips.

I will be in LV in June but don't expect to gamble much. We'll see.

Thanks to all for reading my TR and for your kind comments.

[stan_allen]

It's always good to hear from you, Jerry - heck, you're like an institution on this board!

Now if only we could convince the authorities to de-institutionalize you...