Visitreno

[alison]

Ok, here i go. As always, i am not the best writer. I am gonna break this up into catagories i guess. I will thow in some pictures to spice it up. I am spicy ya know....

THE DRIVE DOWN:
So we decided to head down a day earlier then planned. I still don't knnow how we made it. I had gotten up at 6:00 a.m. for work that day. My BFF (hopefully you old farts know the lingo )Dawn and i decided that instead of leaving friday morning, why not get a jump on it and leave Thursday night after work. See my husband and his friend were flying it and were due to aririve at noon. We could not let them beat us there. No Way! So we hit the road at 7:00'ish p.m. The plan was to either drive till we could not drive any longer and take a break for a bit, or B drive all the way till we arrived. We choose option B.

On the way down i was having some pains in my side. No biggie. More on this later.

Below is a pretty pic of my friends new VW SportWagen with the sun coming up in the a.m. This was somwhere around the Mt Shasta area. We were going to try and stop and take a rest, but just could not do it. So on we go....



We finally arrived in Reno around 10:00'ish a.m. It took us much longer then normal. Probably because we were so darn tired we werent driving quite as crazy and all of our bathroom/stretch breaks.



THE ROOM
So luckily we were able to check in then. We were given a Tuscan Suite on the 14th floor. Room 81405. All the Tuscan rooms have 8 in front of them. The room does have a safe which is nice. Also they gie you bath robes...eww so fancy...lol We had a microwave, coffee maker and fridge sent up as well. Tip ...The items on top of the table ie nuts candys arent in an elclosed casing. if you pick them up, you get charged. i know normally in a mini bar you take something out it charges you, but at least its out of site out of mind. If you had kids, this could be spendy. $7.50 for a tiny container of gumi bears. They also had a disposable camera for $16.00...what deal

We got settled in. Here are our room pics:

First is our personal bar we brought down. I took this one with my camera phone. not the best:



Heres the room:










The room was great! The beds were so cozy. I hated the remote and the tv. It was a pain to switch the chanels. Also, there was a slight delay when you turned it. You could not just flip through and see what was on. For you sports lovers, there were 3, yes 3 different ESPN Channels. Why?? We had a great view of the pool area. Came in handy to spy on hubby and friend while they were down there...lol




So my husband and friend arrived at 12:00 and got to the hotel. They paid $20.00 a night extra to get a remodeled tower room. Room was nice. They made friends with the VIP check in person. So good of friends that by the end of the trip, they got their room uprade fee refunded and all of their mini bar charges. They wiped out the mini bar too, btw. Also, she ended up putting them in a Tuscan Suite.

I am not sure how, but Dawn and i managed to make it to 1:00 a.m that first day there. No sleep! Still amazes me.

I will say that i missed being in the old tower. I liked the fact that the old tower dropped you into the casino. No walking thru the herds of people. I really thought it was poor design to have a escalator that you have to drag your luggage up. For me it was not that bad, but for some it could be a hastle. That section of the facilty where the new tower is and biscottis just does not feel like the Peppermill to me. i feel as if i am in a vegas resort. I just dont like it. I would rather stay over in the other section and avoid that completely. As nice as the rooms are. Also, i hate how there is no window that opens in the new tower. Especially if you have a smoking room. Its nice to be able to allow some fresh air in.



Gambling
Not much to say here except it SUCKED!! I could not win anything. Not even enough to keep playing. Dawn did pretty well though the first few days. managed to stay up. So that was great for her. The Peppermill really needs to get some new games. They have all the same old games. Time for a change! Not to mention they have gotten rid of the statewide progressive such as Wheel Of Fortune, and replaced them all with their own progressives. So mammoth, my last night there i did see someone playing your 10x pay. She had just hit a 10x pay 7 7, for a nice $1000.00 hit. Thought of you when i saw that. Oh wait, i lied. i did have one decent hit. I was betting .80 on a penny machine.



Food
We ate at The buffett, Steakhouse, Romanza, Coffee Shop, Sports Bar, Biscotti's, And the Biscott's cafe. I had some yummy crepes at the cafe with fresh berries. Really good. for you night owls, the Coffee Shop has a special that runs i believe from midnight to 6 am. Anything on the breakfast menu is $6.99. this includes Steak and Eggs which normally would run you $15.99. Good deal! Steakhouse and Romanza were excellent as always. I do have a gripe about the Sports Bar. the way they have that set up is a joke. You order, adn wait in a huge a** line to go pay. Now while you are waiting, if you are someone who has ordered the Clam Chowder, they sit it up there waiting, gettign cold while you wait 10 min to pay. Not an efficient system. We weren't the only ones complaining about this. Why you don't order and pay at teh same time i just dont get. It would make more sense. I never did try Smoky's. There always were lots of people eating there though.

Tahoe
So Tues and Wed's we went to tahoe. We had a Premium Lake Tower room. The room was so muggy when we got in it. The a/c was cranked and not cooling the room down at all. We called down and they sent someone up to look at it. when they opened up the unit it was so gross. The filter was caked with dust and lint. Yuck! No wonder it did not work. They replaced it and we were good to go.

I don't know how they call those rooms premium though. They are in dire need of an upgrade. the fruniture is this old 80's looking wood. The vanity and bath area is in this hideous mauve marble. i did like how they had the toilet are seperate. you did not have to walk into the bath/shower area to get to it so that was nice.

Here is the view from our room:

Here you can see the stage in the corner of the photo where they have the bands play:



Sunset taken w/ camera phone:



Gambling here also sucked. I will give harrahs some props though. The drink service was excellent. Even if you werent playing, they offered you drinks.

So Thursday we were to leave and go back to the Pep for what ended up being 2 more night. Now heres where the side pain comes into play again. All that week i had been have the slight pain. thursday morning i woke up out of a sleep as it was so bad. I knew what it was....KIDNEY STONES!! I have a history of getting them. In fact the last time i had them, they told me i had numerous stones in both kidneys. I knew they would strike again. Unfortunately, it was again on vacation. Why i dont know. I waited about 30 min to see if the pain would go away, but it wasn't. I looked in the phone book and there was a hospital close by. So i had to awake my friend at 5:30 a.m. and she took me to Barton Hospital in Tahoe. I was so glad there was a hospital close by. Had i not needed something for the pain, i probably would not have gone. The probelm with me and Kidney Stones is the pain gets so bad, i throw up. I had to go for pain meds before i got to that point. I knew what it was. I was pretty excited though when i walked in and there was no one waiting. I again had another CT scan that showed the biggest kidney stone i have to pass so far. They said it may or may not pass on its on. So they gave me meds and off i went. Back to my merry self.

We did eat at Harrahs buffet. The view from up there is great. As you can see, there is some new construction going on.



This is a pic we took at the beach. There were alot of clouds so not really and great photo ops.




We then went back to the Peppermill. So many people were in town for HAN. I don't think i will be back during HAN for quite some time. Just too many people to deal with. Long lines and what not.

So all in all, it was still fun. Despite the trip to the hospital. I definetely plan on only staying a few nights from now on at the Pep. I just dont feel like you are rewarded for you play there. There also seems to be alot of rude/unhappy employees. One good tip i have is this. Go upstairs to nickel haven and order drinks. Dawn and i ordered margaritas and they asked what kind of alcohol we anted in them. We had no preference and expected just whatever they gave. The waitress suggested patrone (sp?). Now that never happens downstairs. All the drinks we had up there were great. I think its just because its so tiny up there and there arent lots of waitresses trying to get drinks. Its worth heading up there.


I can't think of anything else at the moment. i was sad John and Jerry never came by to spank me.... Sorry mammoth i forgot your number at home. One of these times we all will meet.

[hawk]

My hands are LARGE but GENTLE...

Thanks for taking the time to write. I much enjoyed the report.
Sorry to hear about your physical problems. Seems we have all been having a few of those this year.

The pics added a special touch.
I agree about the Pep's comp program. Anytime I do an evaluation I complain. But they dont care.

I seriously think I will be going less because of lack of room offers.
This has never happened to me before.
This, at a time when I really have been trying to go more.

Great job on the Rainbow Riches. That is a fantastic hit.

[jerry]

I am all about "missed opportunities".
But sometime we just may hit Reno at the same time.

John sends his kindest regards also. And also said to tell you that he has the same regrets as I. His computer is sorta "on the fritz" for a few days so he can't communicate.

[alison]

One more thing that was a bummer. As you can see, they are still dong construction near the pool. It was not a relaxing enviroment. Especially with the foam pieces floating around sticking to you.

It was great seeing the guy laying on his belly, with is boy shorts hiked up his butt, dry humping the lounge chair. Weird and gross. Dawn and i were laughing and almost vomiting at the same time.

Tell john i say hi...he still is not getting any pictures. Only for you Jerry, only for You......

I will say i am impressed with Harrahs. Even though i was not showing any comped rooms, i was able to log in online, put in my dates, and they came up comped. I just happened to go on there yesterday, inquiring about some dates in Jan, and they were showing as comped for reno as well. While the fitz rooms probably aren't the nicest, i get those e-mail offers and mailers for free rooms all the time.

Hawk, You know what they say about large hands.....

[Mammothgambler]

Hey Alison,

Thanks for the awesome trip report...despite the trip to Barton (I had to go there when that out of control skier plowed me from behind and ripped my outer ear nearly off at Heavenly...sure is in a convenient location!) The photos are way cool...those new suites really are something (although the old tower decor will be forever missed...)

I had no idea the pool was even open. I guess I didn't bother checking last time. I'm trying to figure out if that's the new pool or is it the old one?

Nice hit on the Rainbow Riches. Hey, how come you weren't playing all lines and credits? You could've had... (never mind, done and heard that too much!) : )

Yeah usually on a long road trip like that it's kinda hard to sleep the first day or so. Especially in a casino. I was wondering if the location of the new tower was really a far walk...I can see your point about being able to drop right down into the dollar area (especially from room 1602!)

So, in that new suite, was the shower a steam shower or just a regular one? It's crazy, all the marble in there really reminds me of the rooms at Montbleu, it's everywhere. Would you say the new hot tubs are better than the old ones? Definitely a nice setup you all got!

I'm trying to figure out what that design is in the bottom of the pool. Is it a vine of some type?

Glad to see you all made it to Tahoe as well. I was wondering how those Lake Tower rooms were and if they were worth the upgrade but they haven't been remodeled yet. At one time, the mountain tower rooms looked just like 'em before they got all oriental style. It's really something how they're coming along with the convention center construction, you all had an awesome view. Hard to believe that whole area was filled with little rat-trap motels just a couple years ago.

And the kidney stones, bummer that had to happen during your vacation! I know how it goes though, I've had a few myself (too much energy drink)

Were you all able to get any of those buy one get one free coupons? I totally agree about the games needing an update. The past 4 trips have all been redundant almost it seems, in a good way of course. But, it's good the Double 10 x Pay kicked out a grand for someone, I swear those two machines have been good for a few bucks on every one of my trips. I'm still trying to figure out the comp system and how to go about getting some of those big spin tickets.

Sounds like you all had a blast. I can only imagine how crowded it must have been for Hot August Nights...sometimes too many people around can spoil it.

So, when's your next trip?

Mammothgambler

[alison]

Mammoth,
The larger pool you see in the sun is the new one. There also is a old pool behind it but its shaded at the time i took that pic. There is a flower type design on the bottom of it.

For the rainbow Riches, i was playing all lines. I just was betting big. Only due to the fact that i had been, loosing and loosing, so i wanted my money to last a bit. Oh well. What can you do.

The shower we had was not a steam shower... Yes there is lots of marble, but at least it Marble.

We did go into Montbleu to see it one night when in tahoe. It had that same smell as the Circus Circus. Very odd. We signed up for Players cards and they gave us $15.00 free play. Normally you have to run some money thru before you get the free play, but because the person working was the only one, he just gave it to us so that peopel did not have to come back and wait in a big line.

I did get some of the coupons. We did not use many of them. Nothing really applied to what we needed, besides the buffet.

I think the hot tubs are nicer. They seem to be deeper. They arent quite as big, but you can still fit 2 people in them. The whirlpool is really powerfull too.

Sorry to hear you have had kidney stones too. You feel my pain then. It sucks! The worse pain ever!

Next trip will probably be in january for my husbands 40th. Now that he has a hook up there....lol...He thinks he's cool. Before i had the hook up, so he pretty much thinks he's the s@#t now.

[RenoLady]

Nice report, thanks for the pics! Sorry for your "owies", nice to know it won't ruin a trip and you can get the meds and keep going.

After my drunken trip with my daughter to Tahoe last Spring, and the high roller playing from her wins, they're sending me comped offers galore now. We're taking them up on a premium Harvey's room, overlooking the lake, top floor, windows for walls -juicy room. Whew, that was hard to get out. Anyway, a question, Harrah's is offered too, but just not as often, so I assumed they were a better room, two baths and all that, but you describe it as not remodeled. Any reason to choose it over Harvey's?

[alison]

Renolady,
I have stayed in both Harrahs Rooms and Harveys.

The rooms at Harrahs are much, much nicer. Being that i now have stayed in both, i would stay at Harrahs, definetely! The only better thing about Harveys is you closer to the lake being that you are across the street, in front of Harrahs.

They have those slanted rooms though that still face the lake at Harrahs so you should still get a good view.

Also the one cool thing with the rooms at Harrahs, is there is a seperate door outside your main door that you can close off, to add an extra barrier from the hallway. Helps keep noise out! The elevators at Harveys are very slow. You wait forever! I guess you may be used to that being that you stay at the Fitz...

Also, even though you may not show an actuall offer for Harrahs, still log in with your rewards card online and do a reservation search. I come up with comped rooms all the time that way. Even though i dont necessaraly show any offers.

[RenoLady]

I got a flyer in the mail last week with 3 coupons for 4 free nights ANYTIME at Reno's Harrahs, Harvey's and Harrah's in Tahoe, also, $125 Reel play (never saw that before) two coupons, one for Sept and the other for Oct. + two show tickets anywhere.

So...I went to the offer on-line, and there was all this availability on comped rooms, mostly Harvey's, so we hooked up Sun/Mon Labor Day weekend at Harvey's Harrah's wasn't comped.

You steered me to Harrah's last year, and now I have this. Thanks! Fitz may be a distant memory!

[CaSwede]

Nice report, and the pictures came out great. Boy, you travel with a complete bar setup...... you do know they have liquor in the casino ? I didn't get a coffee maker, robes or microwave in my Tuscany room last month. You must have got a little upgrade?

Bummer about the stones. ouch and bad timing.

Get used to that view of the construction at Lake Tahoe. They ran out of money, can not get financing and stopped about 6 months ago. It will probably become an eyesore.

[alison]

Caswede,
We had to ask for the microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. Those did not come in the room.

The robes were there though.

Yeah Dawn wanted us to be able to have drinks in the room when ever we wanted so thats why we brought the alcohol.

So that project has been stopped? it was supposed to be a huge convention center, shops, ect. I wonder if it will continue in the future?

Ali

[garyandsharon]

Good report and great pictures. I wish you would have been able to play on their money most of the trip. Sorry to hear about the stones and the pain. You;re really a trooper to keep on truckin. Good Job!

We are heading out for four nights end of August. We requested a refurbed room in the old tower.

I agree about the Pep needing to bring in some new machines. I suspect their money is tied to the expansion.

Thanks Ali for the report. I read it twice and will probably read it again


Sharon

[alison]

Thanks Sharon. Good Luck on your upcoming trip. Look forward to reading your report. The refurbished rooms are nice. Next trip i plan on staying there. I dont get though why they have white down comforters with no duvet covers on them???? Seems silly to me.

Yeah i pretty much have a high pain tolerance. I could probably go thorough child birth natural, but i dont plan on having any!!

Don't the casino's rent/lease machines from the manufacturers? I thought they did not own them? Am i wrong. Just curious.

[Ryder]

[alison]

Yeah they call them Suites but they are only about 550sq feet. Alot of the exta space is probably in the bath area. Being it is huge.

I did not try out the beds in the new renovated rooms....

If they are the same beds as in the Tuscan Suite then i would be more then happy. They were so cozy!

I just think the old tower is more convenient.

So you like our mini bar?? It came in handy!