Stayed at the Palazzo earlier this week. I've been there a few times over the last year.

Front desk - They still have that useless person at the front of the line that you need to talk to that tells your name and reason for going to the desk to the person standing at the desk. I really do not get the point.

Housekeeping - I think it's a universal thing that housekeeping ignores the "do not disturb" sign on the door after a certain time (they need to get the rooms cleaned by a certain time). But you'd think that in a place where people might not even get to their rooms before 6am, they'd try to respect that :) No such luck here. Make sure you use the top lock on the door so that they don't surprise you when they walk in before 10am. I had the same issue the last time I was here. Not a big deal to me, since I ended up getting up pretty early most days this time, but a warning to others.

They seemed to be busier now than they were the last time I went back in Feb. They weren't really packed as far as I could tell though. Still plenty of empty tables and low minimums ($10) on most of them. The Canyon Ranch Spa seemed to have fewer customers too (1 other person in the shower), but that was at 8am mid-week, so it's probably not their busiest time.

I found that the frequency with which a cocktail waitress goes around offering "free" drinks has really gone down quite a bit. There were several other people around me at various times that made similar comments. I don't know if there are fewer waitresses covering a larger area or what, but it often took 20-30 minutes after placing an order before you'd see your drink. And it was probably 45+ minutes after that before she'd be around again.

To give you an idea how bad it was: In a 4 day/3 night trip, I didn't get drunk even 1x on free booze. :mad: On my last trip, I think I would just be finishing one drink before the waitress was going around taking orders again. I certainly don't go to Vegas just for the booze, but it was one of the areas where I noticed some big changes since my last trip.

I was mostly at slots for this trip (didn't seem to matter if they were 1c/5c/25c/$1). In the short amount of time I was at a table, a waitress never stopped by. So I don't know if the service there is better/worse than for slot players. I was tipping $3-6 per drink, which is the same as last time, and I think is more than reasonable. Maybe they're used to getting more now at Palazzo/Venetian? (BTW, service was equally poor on the Venetian side of things too.)

I see that the Grand Lux folks have made some changes to their menu. Most of the stuff I liked was still there, but if you're heading there, you might want to check out the menu online first to make sure your favorites aren't gone.

Lagasse's Stadium is open now, but I didn't get a chance to step in.

They're also having an auction in October for one of the most complete T-Rex skeletons ever found. Apparently they were showing it off in the Venetian earlier in the week. But I didn't find out about it until I was waiting for the airport shuttle :( Seems like that's something unique enough that you'd want to mention to someone at checkin.

I have to say, Lagasse's is amazing. Movie theater type seating, good TV's nice chairs and couches, great food, a private room with 3 BJ tables and 1 craps table. But SMALL.

The reason you probably didn't step in there is because it is virtually impossible to find without asking. It is not in the casino. Follow the signs to it and you end near the hotel concierge. From there, you must ask, only to discover that you need to take the escalator downstairs to the where the lambourghini dealership is, pull a 180 around the escalator, and then go into a room that is not marked so well. Palazzo needs to improve its visibility on this amazing sports book. Then again, it could just be our secret...

I should also add that after extensive research, Venetian/Palazzo offers way better odds on futures bets (e.g., Superbowl, Stanley Cup, etc...) that any other sports book in town. You can consistently get higher odds than any Harrah's or MGM property. I laid my bet on the Giants at 12-1 (not a fan but think they will have a good team) - other casinos were giving 10-1 or so. Long shots, the difference was even more profound, sometimes more than double the other casino's odds.

Nah, I knew where it was, I just didn't get a chance to stop there :)

I thought the signs were pretty good. Everything I saw said "lower level". I thought other signs reference that the restaurants are on the casino level, making it clear that they aren't the same.

A+ Time at The Palazzo
 

Just returned from The Palazzo and have a very very nice experience.

We skipped main reception and went right up to the 23rd floor for private checkin and a champaign welcome.

From there we took a private elevator to our room with a wonderful view of the strip (Oh TI, treasure island, ..I was wondering if that really stood for TIred and I grew pretty TIred of the Pirate ship performance to some super sad RAPish music and fireworks). We were on the concierge floor which provided a very nice continental breakfast, light lunch and dinner. From 5 to 9PM there are free drinks (Kettle 1 and other premium items were included)

Concierge was very good about arranging massages at The Canyon Ranch Spa as well as show tickets and airport transfers.

The room was very nice till I tried to sleep on the bed. Someone had broken the bed and I spent then night clinging onto the bed to keep from falling out. It was slanted so I spent the rest of my stay on the couch which was extremely nice! I actually think it was way better than the bed!

In the morning I advised the concierge of the issue with the bed and was told that they would have a new bed brought in ASAP. Well, 5PM came and went and the slanted bed was still there. At 6PM I called to the concierge to inquire. I was told that house keeping is working on this and would get back to me. Something didnt feel right about this so I went to the concierge on the 23rd floor and addressed the issue, again. After waiting there for about 10 minutes the concierge advised me that the request was addressed at 1pm and is now closed out. Funny, I said, as the slanted be is still in place. I told the concierge that I had enough and wanted a new room. That process took a good 15 minutes to process a new. I dont think that this process was the best customer services but we worked through the kinks here and all was well.

Carnevino is the Palazzo steak house and was very very good. The food was created with love and expert culinary skill. Even better than the food was the service. If you do decide to go ask to be seated in "MJ" table as he was one of the best waiters I have ever had in my life.

I enjoyed my stay at Palazzo and I will return again and again.
^

Palazzo Paiza Club

[mostly food porn photos]

Access to Paiza Club (gaming, dining and lounge) is tough to pin down exactly; but most definitely a consistent average bet far north of $1,000 and a large credit line should do the trick. ;)

Sure that wasn't just Woo restaurant? :D

The cognac and geoduck pretty much guarantees that it wasn't Woo. ;)

Actually, Simon To of Paiza Club now has his mark on Zine (which is something that occurred rather recently)

and a few more Paiza Club details :

Unfortunately, not a heck of a lot of public details about Paiza Club. Mostly the same PR clips reprinted by different sources. Not surprised, as many of the big money players tend to reveal very few details [of their perks and play].

I don't think anybody here is looking for "pubic details!" ;)

LOL, opps... corrected now.

BTW,

Here is a LINK to the Palazzo tours page (which is a bit buried). Choose the suite drop down to view tours and pics (5 pages worth) of almost all of the suites; including the Lago, Penthouse, and Hospitality Suites.

Where do you guys generally go for breakfast when staying here?

I'm going on a weekday, so no chance to try the chicken & waffles that many folks here rave about. The one time I've gotten up in time for breakfast when staying here :p, I just went to Grand Lux. I thought you guys might have some better suggestions.

Bouchon serves breakfast until 10.30AM, weekdays IIRC. (and they have a lovely outside patio, which is a great place to start your day)

Much later than that, and you have a multitude of options for lunch. :D

Yeah, I know there are plenty of lunch options :)

But I'm wondering if there are any good breakfast suggestions here for something unique/super-delicious, or if I should just hit Denny's (:eek:).

I saw a place called "Hash House a go go" on Man v Food last year, went to it when I was there, thought it was excellent. Original location that I went to is on Sahara west of the strip a ways, but their website says they have a location in the Imperial Palace as well. If it's anywhere near as good as the original, I would recommend it.

What? Bouchon not good enough? :p It's probably the best breakfast in Vegas, IMHO.

Monday-Friday 7am to 10.30AM

LINK

My remark, with regard to lunch; was if you couldn't make breakfast by 10.30am; in which case, I was 'trying to say' you might as well just move onto lunch (for a Monday-Friday midweek stay, where brunch options are more limited)