In October 2010 I visited Las Vegas NV for the second time in my life. The first time was in 1966 or 1967. During that first visit, which lasted only for a few hours, I felt as if I were in heaven. I immediately lost all the cash money I had with me. There were not as many hotels and casinos then. I think I went to the Sands then. I sat in the casino staring at the lights and the gambling tables. I wondered how I could get more money to win back what I lost. I called the airline to see if I could cash in my plane ticket. They asked how I paid and since it was by credit cards they told me I could not cash it in. Lucky me! Hertz had an offer for their credit card holders to advance $20 in cash. I drove back to the airport and got the $20 and went back to the casino. I lost that too. Again I sat and stared. Mesmerized is an appropriate word. In 1966 waitresses offered free drinks. Today they no longer give away free drinks to all players. Maybe to the whales but not to people like me. I no longer gamble anyway. Today the hotels in Las Vegas do not even have coffee makers in the rooms. They place bottles of water in the rooms, explaining that it was part of the hotel's effort to make the guest's visit perfect. They reveal that they will replace the bottles if used and that they cost $4 each. Nickle and diming visitors in Las Vegas? Or was it just how they treated me? When I arrived at the Las Vegas Hilton a man appeared next to me while I waited to check in. The front desk had places for about 25 clerks. About 15 were working, mostly women. The man next to me pointed out a VIP line for important people to use to check in. He told me, "I think I'm a VIP but no one else does." I smiled and didn't speak. I thought he was being friendly. Then he pointed out that some men were using the VIP line. I thought they would be directed to the ordinary person line but instead they did get served faster. Then the man next to me suggested, "Why don't you go into that line?" I realized he was patronizing me trying to get me to do something. Did he think he knew me? Was he trying to provoke an incident? I just stood there. He again suggested I use the VIP line. The man said to me, "I'm not so important now as I used to be." I suspected he thought he knew what I thought and was making fun of me. My thoughts were, "This guy is telling me that I am unimportant today. And I was so important to him, that he came to stand next to me to tell me how unimportant I was." I found the incident humorous. Then a man named Wes came out from a door and waved the man next to me to the front desk. He spoke for a few seconds and left. The man did not check in to the Hilton. Then Wes waved me to his line. He told me that he was giving me a "renovated room." I wondered what that meant. Wes gave me a sheet of discount coupons for the hotel's restaurants. I heard the other desk clerks asking the guests if they wanted to upgrade their stay. I noticed that there were options to upgrade on the Las Vegas Hilton web pages. Wes did not ask me if I wanted to upgrade. When I got to the room the button to open the curtains did not work. One lamp did not work, and did not have bulb in it. When I put a bulb from another lamp the lamp still did not work. There was no coffee maker and two 1 liter bottles of water for sale for $4 each. The chair for the desk was broken and the color did not match the room. A renovated room? I've been staying at Hiltons for three years. They usually treat me well and gave me great rooms. But in Las Vegas I was "unimportant?" The city was starved for visitors and the Hilton employees insulted me? What were these people thinking?
Jet Blue Boston MA To Las Vegas NV. Part 1 OF 5. Views of McCarran Int'l Airport, local bus, Las Vegas Hilton, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Riviera, tributes to Elvis Presley.
Jet Blue Boston MA To Las Vegas NV. Part 2 OF 5. Views of Fountainbleau (unfinished), Mono Rail, Bottled Water Peddlers, Motorcycles, Sahara, rainstorm,Circus Circus,Crazy Leroy's, tattoo parlor, Wedding Chapel of the Bells, Aztec Hotel, Bonanza Gift Shop.
Jet Blue All You Can Jet visit to Las Vegas. Part 3 of 5. Views of Las Vegas Strip, Deuce luxury local bus, Steve Wynn's Wynn and Encore, retail shops, restaurants, Clarion, Marriott, Hilton, Echelon (unfinished), Trump, Palazzo, Treasure Island, Mirage, Royal Resort, Somerset Gardens, Convention Center, Mono Rail, Riviera.
Jet Blue All You Can Jet visit to Las Vegas. Part 4 of 5. Views of Las Vegas Strip, MGM Grand, Las Vegas Hilton, Sahara, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Tropicana, New York, New York, Monte Carlo, Aria, retail shops, M&M Dancer, Elvis, Marilyn, Hard Rock Cafe, Cosmopolitan, Paris, Caesar's Palace, Bally's, Bellagio Fountain Light Show, Jockey Club.
Jet Blue All You Can Jet visit to Las Vegas. Part 5 of 5. Views of Las Vegas Strip, Flamingo Hotel, Tropicana, Bill's Gambling Hall, Retail shops, Exotic Dancer, Treasure Island Pirate Show, Harrah's, Imperial Palace, Mirage, Casino Royale, Venetian.
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