Visitreno

SeahawkSiren · Joined: 14 Sep 2015 Posts: 137

Settle in Reno fans, it’s time for a trip report! This was a much needed solo trip for me. In my 20+ years of going to Reno there have been many, many trips to Reno I have taken with other family members or friends. And then there are trips I have taken alone. I would be lying if I said I haven’t enjoyed the alone trips just as much, if not more, than the trips with others. I can do my own thing, on my own timeframe, don’t have to worry about what others want to do (especially the non-gamblers), when others want to eat – you get my drift.

My Reno adventure started on Saturday, February 25. I think this might be the first time I have ever arrived in Reno on a Saturday, and a good portion of the year the Silver Legacy does not even allow Saturday check-ins. But we are talking about late February in Reno, so the hotel does allow Saturday check-ins during parts of the winter season. I had gotten an outstanding deal on airfare with Alaska Airlines back in November on Cyber Monday with $79.00 flights to and from Seattle! Score! How could I pass that up? Well, I didn’t!

I had a very early flight from Seattle to Reno which departed at 7:30 a.m. Now, as a diehard Washington Huskies fan, for those that read my February 2016 trip report from last year, I had to fly down to Reno on an Oregon Ducks plane. Painful. Well, for this trip, I had to fly down on this plane, which was definitely the second worst option after Oregon.

What is the deal Alaska Airlines? Are you trying to torture me?

WSU Cougars plane aside, I arrived in Reno around 9:15. Made it out to the airport shuttle area in time to catch the 9:45 shuttle so I was at my beloved Silver Legacy by 10:00!

I was leery about a Saturday check-in as I figured the room selection would not be too good since I was not getting there on a usual Thursday or Friday check-in. I am particular about room location. But it was no problem. I gotta say my host really did an extra nice thing for me. She comped me all 3 nights (my monthly mailer offers are always for 2 nights), but what she really did was ended up arranging a room for 4 nights even though I was only staying 3 nights. She had put in the notes when I checked in that I would be arriving in the morning so they had essentially “held the room” so I could check in right away instead of having to wait until 3:00 (not that it would have been a big deal to just store my bag for a few hours). Very nice touch. Now I realize they would not normally hold rooms that would sit vacant all night if the hotel is full, but I thought that was really nice of her to do that for me since the hotel was not sold out. I even asked for a complimentary upgrade to a Panoramic room at the end of the hall with the double windows which face 2 different directions, and got that as well (my monthly offers are always for the Luxury category rooms).

View from Room 2380

After dropping off the luggage and getting settled in the room it was time to head down to the casino and get my new player’s card. As many of you already know, Silver Legacy, Eldorado and Circus Circus have merged their separate players clubs into one club. And they went way out on a limb here with great creativity with this new name. It’s now known as One Club.

Surprisingly enough, they did not start me at the lowest card level (Bronze), but instead started me at Silver.

They did honor the comps I had on my card from the old system, so the $70.00 or so in comps I had remaining on my old card did transfer to this new card. But it was a little funny to me that they had reduced my free play amounts the last few months! For years I was getting $40.00 in free play every month. In January it dropped to $35.00 and in February it dropped to $20.00. So I was already losing and I hadn’t even started gambling yet! Ha ha! Whatev. But they did also give me $40.00 in Reward Dollars which is the new equivalent to resort credit. So I spent that in the gift shop on a few items including the incredibly marked up price of a bottle of the Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc wine that I like to drink when in Reno.

Did a little gambling at SL then headed for lunch at Café Central. They’ve added some new menu items so I enjoyed this awesome antipasto salad.

Yum!

After lunch I went over to Eldorado to play more slots. Had a really good hit on a Vibrant 7’s machine.

It’s Saturday night in Reno! What to do. How about a concert? Time to head over to the Reno Ballroom where I had never been before. It is just across the street from SL. I got a comped ticket to the Experience Hendrix show. What a great show! Loved it! Performances by Buddy Guy, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Zakk Wylde, Dweezil Zappa, The Slide Brothers, and many more. A great night celebrating the music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix!

Loved these shots I got of SL and Eldo after the concert. Love seeing everything all lit up!

Woke up Sunday morning to enjoy coffee while looking at this beautiful view from my room of the snow-capped mountains.

Spent Sunday just playing more slots and drinking free mimosas and free wine. I ventured over to Circus Circus too and dropped some cash in their slot machines. So I did play at all 3 places on this trip, SL, Eldo and Circus. Will see if my offers change at all.

A couple of observations about new restaurants: The Triple Play Sports Grill on the casino level at SL was closed down. So weird as that place hadn’t even been open for 2 years. They are in the process of putting in a new deli which should be open in May. There was also a great new pizza place, Hidden Pizza, at Eldo on the upper level across from Brew Brothers. Great for a late night slice of pizza to help soak up all those drinks before going to bed!

Here are a couple more nice hits I had:

Sunday night’s dinner was Spaghetti Bolognese

After Monday’s yummy breakfast

just spent the day playing more slots and enjoying more free drinks. I also placed a $100 bet that the Seahawks will win the Super Bowl next year. At 12/1 odds, that would be a nice payout. Go Hawks!

I was fighting a bad, bad cold on this trip so was not feeling too great with very little energy. So I did not venture out to any of the other casinos (besides these 3) so sorry, no reports for other places this time around.

Tuesday I was on the 9:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport for my 11:15 flight back to Seattle. Hmmm, what plane will I get to fly home on this time? Well, look at this! What are the odds?

Now I get to fly home in real style. Go Dawgs!

I had such a great time in Reno, as always! A nice late winter break. I did not earn enough points to reach Gold level. Oh well. Gold level will be hard for me to reach. I don’t know what the future holds for me with this new points/comp system, but so far I still have a host and am still getting offers. If all that disappears or gets further reduced at some point, so be it. It will not stop me from going to Reno.

I did not pay one dime for my room, meals or drinks on this trip. No complaints here.

Well Reno lovers, I will leave you with this photo I took from my room on my last night in Reno. Gorgeous sunset!

See you again in September, Reno! You stole a piece of my heart 20+ years ago, and I don’t want it back. Ever.

JD · Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 956

Oh man....i am jealous. I just love those Panorama rooms...well except for the hike from the elevators.

I last flew to Reno many years ago since I hate the PDX parking issue. PLUS I do love having the car to zoom up to VC .

Did you play any at the Silver Baron Lounge... under the mining machine? That's my favorite bar. But it's also where I won too much to get upgrades and comps . Mary says, "But we are way upside down on you...." (LOL).

Since I burned my bridges at Atlantis...I guess I'm going to have to do some butt kissin next trip.

Nice report.

Question: Did you use your card at ELDO at all? Under the old cards, it was easy to check your comp balance at any machine with the SL card. The ELDO CARD, NOT SO MUCH....had to find a special kiosk to check comp balance.

alison · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 1152

Great trip report! I would have been bummed too to see that stupid cougars plane...WTH!! GO DAWGS!! BOW DOWN.....

Who is your host there? I reached out to a lady named Sharon to see about getting three nights comped since my offers are for 2 nights and so are my friends. Typically do the comped nights include weekends? Did comps seem to accumulate as quickly as they did before? Haven't decided if we will stay 2 or 3 nights there yet. The host said she would bump us up to a deluxe room not that it looks very deluxe to me... Just a higher floor im guessing?

Where did you have you spaghetti dinner at?

Have you ever ate at Blues Brothers? Curious if its any good.

Dave · Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 212

What a great trip Report! I loved the pictures and sounds like you had a ball. Wondering what you thought of the Silver Legacy Sportsbook? I have seen a few pictures and it sure looks nice but then again I liked it before. We have a group going down in a couple of weeks for March Madness. Sadly I won't be able to root for the Husky Hoop Team once again this year! I would love to see that Seahawk bet pay off for you. Did you play any cards at all or just stick with slots?
Thanks for taking the time to post a great trip report I really enjoyed it.

JD · Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 956

After further review....on your SeaHawks bet. Would it have been better to make THREE $ 30 bets that pay $ 390 each than ONE to pay a taxable W-2G for $ 1,300?

Isn't the threshold for a W-2G in the sports book $ 600?

spdmrcht · Joined: 12 Oct 2012 Posts: 498

Great Report, I've been staying a SL for the last yr. and the check in folks are
very accommodating. Between the three property's there are a bunch of good
eatery's. I used to go alone quite a bit, till my wife retired, now not so much!
Did you happen to ask the card desk if there is any way we can check our offers online,
since they changed I haven't been able to do it. Were going at the end of the month with offers for weekends also,. Thanks again.

SeahawkSiren · Joined: 14 Sep 2015 Posts: 137

Wolfdog · Joined: 13 Dec 2013 Posts: 43

Nice report.
After more than 20 years, the "new" Eldorado doesn't give me the offers I always got. I'm branching out from downtown. Got a free PDXtoRNO Peppermill trip coming up. More play at Atlantis; re-start a relationship with the GS.

SeahawkSiren · Joined: 14 Sep 2015 Posts: 137

SeahawkSiren · Joined: 14 Sep 2015 Posts: 137

SeahawkSiren · Joined: 14 Sep 2015 Posts: 137

spdmrcht · Joined: 12 Oct 2012 Posts: 498

When I started checking my offers online I found out they were giving me a
lot of free tickets to most shows, would of never known if I hadn't looked.

CaSwede · Joined: 28 Feb 2006 Posts: 866

I can tell you had a good time in Reno. Don't we all? I thought that first plane was the best - WSU (my brother went to school there).

I am amused about the One card. I have a very old one somewhere. I used to play the One card at the Luxor in Las Vegas and the Colorado Belle/Edgewater in Laughlin. Of course I used it at the Circus Circus. For awhile the only casino was the CC in Reno. How things change. Smile

I wonder if I am in the data base still?

Great slot hits. It sure looks like you must have come home with more money than you left....but you don't say.

$100 on the Seahawks? Good luck. I always buy about 4-8 baseball future tickets, but always just $10. My best hit was a few years back, coming through with a long shot of Tampa winning the American League at 75-1.

No trip till September? Do you realize how far away that is? Smile

BC Dave · Site Admin Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 1599

Thanks very much for the really great trip report! Love the pictures! Hard to believe the old Sundowner's poster "Best Rest In The West" is still there.

Zydeco · Joined: 03 Sep 2008 Posts: 302

An EXCELLENT report and I love the photos! My note from my trip in January? That Hidden Pizza was really good, like surprisingly good.

Sounds like the show was super and I know how much you were looking forward to going.

That room? I just loved that they knew which side of the tower I like and what floor (a little Big Brother-ish, but I loved it). I've never had that two window room. I dig that.

Thanks again for the wonderful report, I really enjoyed it.