Bills Gambling Hall Getting Cleaned Up

Bill's Gambling Hall & Saloon, formerly Barbary Coast, is getting cleaned up and rebranded by Harrah's or maybe even another company. I’m (Robin Leach) hearing exclusively from very reliable sources…

Seven Stars Insider – July

Here’s the latest edition of Seven Stars Insider.  This is an easy read and an excellent resource for Harrah’s players.  Head over to Seven Stars Insider to sign up for the newsletter.  There is lots of information in this edition, so read on for all the goods.

Seven Stars Insider – July 2010

NOTE: While this newsletter was originally designed exclusively for Seven Stars members, there is useful information for anyone who has a Total Rewards® player’s card and/or plays/stays at a Harrah’s property.  Please feel free to pass this on to your friends.  Back issues of the Seven Stars Insider newsletter are available online at http://sites.google.com/site/sevenstarsinsider/.  You will need Adobe Acrobat to view them, but this is a free program available at www.adobe.com.

Fall Signature Event

The fall Signature Event has been confirmed for September 10-12 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.  September 10, however, is the last day of Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar, and many players are not happy about the scheduling.

Harrah’s Plans Las Vegas Retail, Entertainment Complex

Harrah’s Entertainment plans to develop a retail and entertainment center in a short thoroughfare that runs from the Las Vegas Strip to Audrie Street, between the Flamingo and O’Sheas.  “Project Linq” will include 20 restaurants and bars, and 20 individual retailers along a promenade that leads to a 550-foot observation wheel in the back of the property.  Construction is expected to begin next year.  Here’s a link to a Las Vegas Review-Journal article which appeared July 1.

Cashback Back – Sort Of

It’s now official.  No need to look in your mailbox for those Reel Rewards coupons that replaced the actual cash cashback from Atlantic City casinos.  While you still won’t get cold hard cash, you now will be able to retrieve a coupon through the kiosks.  Simply print the voucher – minimum $5, in increments of $5 – and take it to the cashier.  In the future, the only thing you’ll get in the mail is a postcard telling you how much you’ve earned, and you’ll probably receive at least one last Reel Rewards coupon in the mail for all cashback earned prior to the conversion.  If you have any cashback balances prior to April 6, you can still get the cash up until July 15.  After that, you won’t get the cash, just Reel Rewards coupons available through the kiosks.  All existing cashback offers that were sent through the mail as Reel Rewards coupons will continue to be valid through their expiration date.  Finally, don’t cash out more coupons than you can use during your visit because they expire sometimes within a day or two after you receive them.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I received a survey from Harrah’s asking my thoughts on the “new” – now “old” – cashback program the day after the revised program was announced.  Some department wasted a lot of money, and a lot of our time, by polling us after the decision was made.

Seven Stars Insider – June

Here is the Seven Stars Insider newsletter for June.  Go to Seven Stars Insider to sign up for the newsletter.  Enjoy the Insider.  Congrats on the column with the Examiner!…

Harrahs Has A Blog

Sometimes I'm not the smartest beer in the 6 pack.  I was (am) going to post info that Harrah's Total Rewards Magazine is now available online.  While, I was looking…

Planet Hollywood – A Tale of Two Rooms (Part 1)

In addition to my stay at Palazzo, I took a night to explore Planet Hollywood.  I love the casino, but haven’t stayed there in a few years.  I had similar offers to stay at each casino but after your votes I decided to make my home at Palazzo.

My stay at Planet Hollywood was a tale of two rooms.  Check in was packed.  It’s a small area, but there seemed to be hundreds of people.  Luckily for me there was a fast quiet room for diamond total rewards members to check in.

In minutes I received my keys to my first room.  I’m going to guess I had a basic “Hollywood Hip” room, but I’m not sure so I’ll just call it “Room 1.”

Room one wasn’t cleaned from the previous guests and the TV didn’t work.  Additionally, the room was one of the smallest I’ve seen in Vegas.  I can’t imagine how two queen beds could fit in this space and I don’t know that I want to find out.  Of course, I love the casino so I’ll fight with myself about this in the future.

My trusty iPhone charger was the only item that made the trip down the strip with me.  I figured that I’d wake up and head right over to Palazzo whenever I woke up the next day.

Unfortunately, the way the room was laid out there was no obvious place to set my phone for a charge outside of the bathroom.  The work space was a little tight and just about up against the bed.  It’s not easy to see, but there’s a half finished iced coffee by the lamp.

One nice feature is that each room had a newspaper delivered each morning.  The night/morning I stayed at Planet Hollywood I ran into delivery.

The bed itself looked nice.  The bed had cream coverings with dark trim.  I didn’t bother trying out the mattress or coverings, but at least it looked good.

I was standing next to an awkwardly placed chair when I took the picture above.  This was pretty much the only place there was room for a sitting area in the room.  This was the only place someone could sit and watch TV if the TV worked.  The TV didn’t work.  Leftover item #2, a Mountain Dew bottle, is to the left of the TV.

Looking the other direction from the chair was the view outside.  The room had a nice view of the pool.  The pool area isn’t very big, but it looks nice.

More pictures and room information after the jump