Seven Stars Insider – March Edition

Here’s the latest edition of Seven Stars Insider.  This is an easy read and an excellent resource for Harrah’s Caesars players - especially in Atlantic City this month.  Head over…

Seven Stars Insider – January Edition

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 new and useful information in this edition, so read on for all the goods.

Seven Stars Insider – January 2011

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 Caesars property.  Please feel free to pass this on to your friends.

Review-Journal Back In Gift Shops
Not sure when it happened, but the Las Vegas Review-Journal is once again for sale in the gift shops at Caesars’ properties.  The paper had been banned when then-Harrah’s officials were unhappy with some of the newspaper’s reporting, according to anonymous sources in Gaming Today.

Review-Journal Slams KGB
After its not-so-favorable review of Kerry Simon’s KGB, the Review-Journal may be back off the shelves at Harrah’s in Las Vegas.  In her December 3 review, critic Heidi Knapp Rinella wrote, “the restaurant has some problems that could threaten its future.”  Whoever wrote the headline didn’t help much either – “Culinary Confusion: Sloppy Service, Average Dishes Dash High Hopes For KGB At Harrah’s.”  Read the full review online (For her review of Harrah’s Buffet of Buffets)

Keurigs Now In Forum Tower
Add the Forum Tower to Augustus and Palace if you’re staying at Caesars Palace and need that early morning coffee fix.  I’d be curious how sales of the expensive coffee pod packs are going.  Most people I’ve heard from either don’t use the machines, bring their own pods from home or, if they’re staying in the Augustus Tower, just wait until 8 a.m. and pour themselves a free cup either at Seven Stars or Diamond Registration.

Staffing Cutbacks Continue
The four Caesars-owned casinos in Atlantic City eliminated several hosts.  (Reports ranged from up to five at each property, at least one of whom had worked at Harrah’s Resort for more than 20 years.)  In addition, several managers were let go, leaving those remaining to take on additional responsibilities at another casino, as well.  [Trump’s casinos in Atlantic City made similar cuts.]  Meanwhile, out in Las Vegas, one reader reported that breakfast service two days at Harrah’s Café was “horrendous”.  “When I asked our nice waitress about it, she said Harrah’s had expanded the number of tables she covers from four to eight last month.  This is terrible.  It took us an hour for breakfast!  Further, on a trip in October it took a slot attendant almost 30 minutes to come to my friend’s aid.  The EZ-Pay ticket stock was depleted and he couldn’t cash out.  The attendant told us that he had half the casino.  This was around 9 p.m. on a Sunday night.”

Seven Stars Insider – December Edition

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 new and useful information in this edition (some of which I’m going to reference in future posts), so read on for all the goods.

Seven Stars Insider – December 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 Caesars 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.

Hail, Caesars Entertainment Corp.!
In the works for a while now, Harrah’s Entertainment is now officially Caesars Entertainment Corp.  Market research showed that, not only did Caesars have better name recognition as a brand, but the Caesars name connotes a more upscale, classy product – particular important, Harrah’s found, in the international marketplace where they are behind Wynn and MGM in developing properties outside the United States and Canada.  However, if you’re looking for Caesars Entertainment’s Web site, don’t go to www.caesarsentertainment.com – it’s the site for a Bangkok brothel!

Failed IPO
Owners of Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars, see above) shelved plans for an initial public offering last month, because investors weren’t buying into it – literally and figuratively.  The company’s revenues have shrunk in the first nine months, and Harrah’s/Caesars lost money.  According to one news report, “Harrah’s was too expensive for a company whose fortunes are so tied to the troubled American consumer.  At times, investors may be gullible and their memories can be limited.  But they are sufficiently aware to see through stories that don’t add up.”  Ouch!

Step Off…Step Off!

On my last trip to Las Vegas I was yelled at while I skipped a line of about 20 people at Starbucks at Planet Hollywood because I have a Diamond…

Seven Stars Insider – Sept Edition

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.

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.

Rio For Sale – Maybe
It’s been in the news for months, but several media reports – chiefly Bloomberg News, whose story August 20 was then picked up the following week by the Las Vegas Review-Journal – claim the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is for sale.  Harrah’s continues to deny it.  I know it’s popular with a lot of Seven Stars players who read this, but I like to be a little closer to the “action” on The Strip.  Plus, it’s just a little too noisy for me with all those “flair bartenders” and “bevertainers” (most of whom should stick to delivering beverages and stay away from microphones).  I guess I’m just getting too old!

Question Of The Month
I have a companion card and tried to go with a friend to the special Seven Stars weekly Sunday brunch at Showboat in Atlantic City.  I was told that the primary cardholder had to be present, and he/she could invite only one guest.  I thought I had all the privileges of the primary cardholder.  Well, yes, sort of.  Think of it in terms of other offers your husband gets, e.g., three complimentary nights at Paris.  Only he could claim it – you could accompany him, of course.  Same with a free coffeepot or blender.  The offer is for the cardholder, not the companion.  In terms of the brunch, do I think it’s fair?  Once again, Harrah’s is being short-sighted and causing unnecessary irritation for its best players (and their companions).  As long as the brunch is limited to two people per card, what difference does it make if you and a friend take advantage of the brunch, or you and your husband attend?  In the overall scheme of things, this is a very low-cost benefit that Harrah’s [Showboat] is offering.  What they might be gaining in loyalty and customer satisfaction for some, they are losing as much – or more – by alienating others.

Planet Hollywood Page Added To Seven Stars Insider Site
Thanks to a Planet Hollywood “veteran” who has stayed there on a number of occasions, there is now a page on the site with details about this latest addition to Harrah’s Total Rewards casinos in Las Vegas.  Some of the more interesting “highlights” are a rumored Seven Stars Club that may open there, and the fact that the staff hasn’t really grasped the Total Rewards concept, and isn’t sure what to do when they see a Seven Stars or even a Diamond card.  Check it out by clicking here.

Seven Stars Insider August Edition

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 new and useful information in this edition (some of which I’m going to reference in future posts), so read on for all the goods.

Seven Stars Insider – August 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.

Seven Stars Hotline
Since I started the Web site and this newsletter I’ve been surprised – but not really! – how many Seven Stars (and Diamond) players have contacted me with questions or problems that their local Total Rewards desk and/or host cannot (or will not) answer.  Wouldn’t it be a nice benefit if Harrah’s introduced a dedicated toll-free hotline and/or email address where Seven Stars members could turn for answers to their questions and solutions to their problems?

Harrah’s Reports Loss; Confirms Discussions Regarding New Philly Casino
Citing reduced customer spending in all of its U.S. regions and asset write-downs, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. has reported a second-quarter net loss of $274 million, compared with a profit of $2.29 billion a year earlier, Bloomberg News reports.  Sales fell 2.2 percent to $2.22 billion, the news service said.  Harrah’s said that, for the quarter ended June 30, it recorded a $52.3 million charge related to an investment in a Foxwoods casino project in South Philadelphia.  Last month Harrah’s confirmed that “discussions have opened up again” regarding its role to take over as a 33 percent investor, in addition to developing and managing the property; however, the company said it was not at liberty “to discuss the substance” of those talks at this time.  The statement was in response to an earlier report by the Philadelphia Inquirer.  According to the Inquirer, Harrah’s holds a promissory note of $67 million for the 16-acre parcel from a group of local investors.  Harrah’s said it acquired the note when it purchased Caesars Entertainment in 2005.  “Over the years we have had numerous discussions around different deal structures involving the note and other roles,” Harrah’s said.

Las Vegas Diamond Clubs
It’s official. . .you now can take out your favorite cocktail (in a plastic cup) from the four Diamond Clubs in Las Vegas.  The policy was quietly changed about a month ago.  Up until then, only beer and bottled water were allowed out of the clubs – unless, of course, you were able to sneak one past the employee at the door.  [Some folks were known to ask the bartenders to fill an empty Perrier or water bottle with gin or vodka, or decant their clear drinks themselves.]  It’s about time.  Most other Diamond Clubs allow drinks to be taken out; plus, it seems to me that Harrah’s would prefer their customers to be out on the casino floor rather than warming a seat in the club.

Sports Bar or Diamond Club?
It’s bad enough that nearly every television in the Vegas Diamond Clubs (and practically every other club in the country) is tuned to ESPN or some other sporting event, but, according to one of the bartenders at Caesars Palace, the TV over the bar must be tuned to sports.  The “policy” came to light recently when two customers sitting at the bar asked for the channel to be switched to CNN.  [The other two sitting at the bar didn’t care which channel was on.]  Whatever happened to listening to the customer?

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!…