Often lovingly referred to as "Prop Stu" on the show, Stuart Poyner is a listener who I've had the pleasure of vicariously enjoying his multiple adventures in Vegas and various casinos around the world. His latest updates were too tempting to not share with the rest of the audience. So with Stuart's permission, we are adding his pictures to our Flickr page and trip updates to our Vicarious Vegas section on the blog.
In his first installment, Stuart shares with us his experience staying at Cromwell as well as his thoughts on dinner at Giada's.
Cromwell
It is just like being at the Cosmo. Uncanny. The rooms are quite dark and I imagine would be oppressive to some people. I thought they were well laid out with some unusual but none too practical touches.
I love me a mirage
The gift shop is nice if you can block out the drilling noise. They are clearly still building something!
Why does my room have a backgammon set?
And how long are all the pieces going to stay there?
The security guy said all the rooms are different. So I imagine they each have a slightly different added extra. I would have preferred monopoly to backgammon...
My room key did not work at first so rather than trek all the way back to the front desk the housekeeping woman who let me into my room said someone would come up with a new key. They didn't and I had to phone down. Not a great first impression.
It takes ages to walk to the lift as you have to read the carpet on the way.....
It is noisy here from the nightclub. I am on the lowest hotel floor but the noise here is about the same as from the Bellagio fountain view rooms. To me, this hotel and club will cause a serious problem with wanting to stay center strip. I don't stay at Wynn because all you hear is the nightclub noise at night. Now all the hotels on this corner are affected. It must be hell on this side of the Flamingo.
I bought earplugs for my one night at The Cromwell as I assumed it would be noisy. What I did not count on was the fact that the bass beats vibrate through the building, so even though my earplugs block out most of the noise, I can actually still feel it in bed. (It's not the good kind of vibrations in bed that I can live with...). And it is now well after 4am!
Does this just make me an old fart or has Vegas abandoned its 'traditional' market so much (or rather tried to embrace the club crowd without enough thought of the knock on effects to the non club crowd) that it is in danger of losing out?
I am running out of options for nightclub noise free hotels. And if Vegas does not want me then I have plenty of equivalent options around the world.
Mark's Thoughts
It's clear they took detailed notes at Cosmopolitan when it comes to decor and vibe. Let's see if they have learned what not to do with the casino as well.
I imagine that's the next evolution in Vegas hospitality, sound proof rooms. I can see a block of rooms setup that way. However I don't know how sound proofing works with bass thumping. I can see a property attempting to cater specifically to the more old school Vegas visitor...once they are done with the nightclub wars, if that ever happens.
Notes on Giada's
Very well laid out room, on two levels with lots of different areas with different seating styles. Bright and fresh looking, as a contrast to the rest of the hotel. Had a nice feel
. When walking you to your table you are taken across the open kitchen food preparation area where they point out all the starters and pasta being made, plus pizza oven etc.
They clearly have a few opening problems. I had just finished my pasta dish when they came to apologize that they had brought me the wrong pasta. So they took away my now empty plate and gave me a fresh plate of what I had ordered. The fact that I had not noticed the difference may tell you something
With a soft G, as in Jihad...
The food was nice but nothing special. The steak was very tender but not very tasty. They only brought the sides after we had finished eating it, despite me reminding them. Staff are very friendly.
We had dinner for three, two cocktails, no wine, a shared starter and three mains, no other starters. One dessert and two special coffees. The bill was $260.
