The Las Vegas Courtesan

So before I got sick and had company in from out of town, one of the last nights I worked (I guess the friday before last) I got a surprising call! Since Las Vegas is known for it’s tourism and I don’t get to depend on regulars, I am always surprised and happy when people call me back. So I got a call from one of the couples I mentioned tipping me well in this entry a few weeks ago. Since it was so soon after the original booking I distinctly remembered how much I got and what all was involved. Awesome… a decent call to look forward to! We planned to meet up the next night around 11pm after they went to dinner and a show.

I verified their room at the Venetian, made a point to tell my services that I had a booking and waited to hear from them when they got out at 11. The hour came and I called the cell phone and room phone. No answer. I call 20 min later and the man answered to say that the show STARTED around 11 and they would call me as soon as they got out. Damn… okay. So 12:30 rolls around and I call. No answer… but 10 min later I get a call back. Hooray! They said they are in a cab line on the way back to their hotel. I head that direction and get a call in 10 minutes saying they got to the Venetian but the wife is deciding to postpone now until the following night. Ugh. I had already mentioned when booking that this was the ONLY night I could do something since I had out of town guests the following night. He said, “well let me call you back in 10 while we talk about this”. Time goes by, nothing heard back and no answer from phones yet again.

I texted the man that I was upset that my friday night prime time was wasted on miscommunication of appointment time and an eventual cancellation. The next day I get a text back saying they were sorry and wanted to take me to dinner and a show. I, of course replied, thanks but I don’t have the time. Only enough time for a small private party since I had guests coming in and didn’t want to be rude to them. They insisted on dinner and a show still and I just said again, I really can’t. Tried calling? No answer or replies.

Ok so I took forever to tell that story but it really ticked me. This is when I wish I could take credit card deposits! heh. The first meeting went well and it just is a huge let down that the second meeting was as bad as it gets for a time waster.

So the hotel’s opening was pushed back not once, not twice but three or more times to New Years Eve. Even then it was only opened really for Jay-Z’s new club 40/40 to have its New Year’s event (and suddenly I realize I didn’t even see this club when walking through). The rooms were rumored to not be available until mid-January or later but hey! Come see our casino! And… well that’s about it.

The “grand opening” was last weekend (January 17-19th) and included a star studded event with Diana Ross, Seal and hosted by the Venetian’s Wayne Brady. The rooms (still not all of them) were available for booking and Barney’s New York opened the 19th.

Sometime in the past week I finally got a call to the Palazzo and I was excited! I drove into their underground garage totally forgetting the laws of cells phones and that they don’t work underground. “Ah well”, I thought, “I’ll just go to the casino”. Still no service. I had to walk practically out to the Strip by the lovely statue that looks like three women carved out of ice to make a call and get the information on the clients. That’s annoying. Me and another girl meet the customers to go upstairs and we walk by where an under construction gift shop is being put in… jackhammers pounding away and everything. We go up and both notice how nice the hallways are with etched mirrored glass and had cool blues and browns for the colors. When we were let in the door we both said, “wow looks almost the same as the Venetian main tower remodeled rooms”. The call doesn’t work out for me so I leave and went to wandering around the rest of the place.

So here are the pros to the place:
-The casino is nice and open instead of squished looking like the Venetian. The style is like the Wynn meets the cheaper local’s South Point Casino (which is not a compliment, by the way) but with a different color scheme.
-Love the colors and the original looking chandeliers
-I like how the garage escalators dump you out into the middle of the casino floor but isn’t obtrusive
-Liked the indoor waterfall and how it connects you to the Grand Canal Shops of the Venetian
-Liked the look of the lounge where they have live acts perform at night.

What I didn’t care for:
-Out of 50+ shops there are only about 3 open: Coach, Barney’s, and Farragamo. The rest is empty and … sad. Only the Grand Lux Café and Morel’s Steakhouse are open. It made the place look pathetic and half assed. Hall after hall of shops were closed, half done, or not done at all. When Steve Wynn opened his casino across the road every single high end shop and restaurant that was announced was open the first day the rest of the hotel was open. That’s classy. A half opened hotel just seems cheap.
-Jersey Boys the musical isn’t opening until April and the area around the theater looks like a disaster (which is by the main casino floor)
-The faux sky ceiling is overdone in Las Vegas. Caesars started it in the 90’s and every other casino has done it since… so… move on major resorts. Find something else original and not so cheesy looking.

-I sadly think it’s one of the worst looking buildings to come to the Strip. It looks like a big hospital to me. A big huge monolith with some faux cement blocks that make up the exterior to cover up the huge steel beams that they constructed the building from.

Ok I am done with my rant.

So the conclusion? Save some $ and stay at the Venetian sister property. The rooms are the same and the Palazzo is just a short walk away.