Stardust Hotel

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:32 pm

Glad to see they're going to tear it down. I know Greg liked it because he got a good deal there.

But overall it was a crappy place to stay by Las Vegas standards. I called for room service at 5:30am to order coffee. Sorry sir theres no room service til 6. No room service in Las Vegas til 6 ??? For that reason alone I'd say the Stardust needs to go. Greg, Where to next???

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:59 pm

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Glad to see they're going to tear it down. I know Greg liked it because he got a good deal there.

But overall it was a crappy place to stay by Las Vegas standards. I called for room service at 5:30am to order coffee. Sorry sir theres no room service til 6. No room service in Las Vegas til 6 ??? For that reason alone I'd say the Stardust needs to go. Greg, Where to next??? Glad you had fun, John. I don't pick hotels based on room service and I don't pick them based on price. Right now with so many hotels being imploded and the higher-scale hotels asking for a minimum of $30,000 a day in food and beverage, my options get more limited each year.

The Stardust rooms were old, but I had no problem with mine for the 5-6 hours a night I slept. The meeting room space was ideal and their staff was the best I've ever worked with. Every room setup was perfect and they saved us so much money by bypassing the Business Center with all of our shipments. I LOVED working with the Stardust and look forward to going back there in September for football.

I stayed on Monday and went to a list of hotels and hopefully have a deal done for 2007. Harrah's owns a lot of properties and the Flamingo has space. It's a great location on the Strip and we've been there before. 20,000 square feet will hold me all the leagues I could want for the main event, which is ideal. We'll see if we go there in 2007 once we start negotiating on the contract, but I think we'll be at one of the Harrah's properties. They own the Rio and I'd love to return there, but unless you guys can drink $90,000 worth of beer in three days and allow me to charge you for it, it's no longer feasible. They don't want small shows like me anymore, nor do any of the other high-scale hotels there.

Stay where you want in Vegas. Just come to my drafts on time!

cfolson · Post by **cfolson** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:08 pm

$90,000 worth of beer? No problem.

I vote for the Flamingo or the Rio.

DiamondKing · Post by **DiamondKing** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:27 am

John,if no coffee at 0530 upsets you,let me tell you a few horror stories about the Rio last year.I would camp beside lake mead before I stayed in that place again.And for me camping requires A/C and cable.Dave

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 5:32 pm

Greg, Flamingo would work. I stayed there for football two years ago. No complaints. Rio was also nice but understand the problem. To tell the truth I'd stay at the P. Station rather than the Stardust. Greg, Don't get upset when you get this feedback. A Vegas trip cost's alot for most of us. Plane tickets, Hotels, and trying to book ahead. From your standpoint the Stardirt fit your needs. But for those of us that try to book the same hotel it does matter about the rooms and service. Booking the same hotel makes it easy to get to the drafts. I think thats one of the reasons you make room deals?? But hey I enjoyed the drafts. I'd enjoy them if they were in Seattle too!

Red Sox Nation · Post by **Red Sox Nation** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:10 pm

Why do you have to stay at the same hotel? I stayed at the Mirage and took the $7 cab ride to the Stardust. As long as the draft stays in vegas you have numerous options of places to stay.

bowlingfool · Post by **bowlingfool** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:20 pm

Originally posted by Dave Clum:

...And for me camping requires A/C and cable... OUTSTANDING post!!

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:52 pm

Red Sox Nation, So why didn't you draft in New York? If your looking for the top level service you go to Las Vegas. If your signing up for the top baseball draft you expect the best hotel service also. I've seen some feed back about NY that sounds pretty crappy. Bag a lunch as an answer while Las Vegas had food the whole time.

So I guess in Las Vegas you expect better. But I guess looking at NY asking about getting a soda and getting a response of bring your own bottle

of coke I can't complain. They paid the same as those in Las Vegas but got crap compared to Las Vegas. The rules weren't enforced like Las Vegas either. God Forbid I ask these questions!!!

Sack · Post by **Sack** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 4:39 am

Walla, sure wont argue with you about the Stardust "services" or lack of services to be more precise. Each time I passed you in the Casino was probably because the darn line was to long at Coco Palms or Tony Roma's hostess was getting an earful from an unhappy patron.

However, I really enjoyed being able to access the draftrooms right off the elevators for all four drafts I took part in. The staff was helpful and check in/ check out went off w/o a problem. The Sportsbook was solid in order to place a hoops wager and I liked the "horsey" corner to play the ponies.

Lesson learned to me is that WHEREVER Greg lands next year having the BEST access for the drafts are paramount to me. Stardust more than fit the bill and I was real happy with the whole experience.

Nice thread John - good job.

[ March 25, 2006, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: Sack ]

Red Sox Nation · Post by **Red Sox Nation** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 5:39 am

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Red Sox Nation, So why didn't you draft in New York? If your looking for the top level service you go to Las Vegas. If your signing up for the top baseball draft you expect the best hotel service also. I've seen some feed back about NY that sounds pretty crappy. Bag a lunch as an answer while Las Vegas had food the whole time.

So I guess in Las Vegas you expect better. But I guess looking at NY asking about getting a soda and getting a response of bring your own bottle

of coke I can't complain. They paid the same as those in Las Vegas but got crap compared to Las Vegas. The rules weren't enforced like Las Vegas either. God Forbid I ask these questions!!!

Walla Walla,

I did get top level service at the Mirage! To me a $7 cab ride, isn't a big deal.

Red Sox Nation

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:18 am

You got a Cab for $7.00. Good for you.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:35 am

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Greg, Flamingo would work. I stayed there for football two years ago. No complaints. Rio was also nice but understand the problem. To tell the truth I'd stay at the P. Station rather than the Stardust. Greg, Don't get upset when you get this feedback. A Vegas trip cost's alot for most of us. Plane tickets, Hotels, and trying to book ahead. From your standpoint the Stardirt fit your needs. But for those of us that try to book the same hotel it does matter about the rooms and service. Booking the same hotel makes it easy to get to the drafts. I think thats one of the reasons you make room deals?? But hey I enjoyed the drafts. I'd enjoy them if they were in Seattle too!

John, no problem on the feedback on the host hotel. I don't take it personally as that's beyond my control. But I do agree with Sack that the beauty of the Stardust in my opinion was that the convention rooms were right off the elevator, there was no other convention going on and the space we had for each and every draft or auction was perfect. We'll have the same space for football, so it should work well.

I know that people loved the hotel rooms at the Rio, but I heard plenty of complaints about the convention center being so far away and the hotel being overcrowded. Now if I could combine the Rio hotel rooms with the costs and sportsbook and meeting room space at the Stardust, I'd be set.

My eventual goal is to find one host hotel where a manager sees the benefit of being associated as the "host hotel of the premiere high-stakes fantasy baseball and football events in the country." I haven't found that hotel manager yet, but I'm looking. Two NFBC owners have contacts in Vegas that I'm hoping will help me out in 2007 and beyond, so we'll see. But for now I do my best to grab a host hotel that suits everyone's needs....or at least suits the majority of our guys' needs.

Red Sox Nation · Post by **Red Sox Nation** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:21 am

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

You got a Cab for $7.00. Good for you. Hey Walla Walla,

I wasn't bragging about a $7 cab ride. I was just trying to make the point that you have options in Vegas.

Liquidhippo · Post by **Liquidhippo** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:26 am

Greg -

Good call on the Stardust, wish we'd stayed there. We stayed at the Bellagio, and to be honest, I don't understand all the hype surrounding these 'so-called' fancier hotels. Rooms were ok, but nothing special. Maybe being surrounded by Zsa Zsa Gabor clones is appealing for some, i dunno.

Of the sportsbooks I visited(about 8-10), the Stardust was the best. And although I had heard it was, supposedly, very smoky, I found it to be well ventilated and the smoke was very mild.

My vote for Vegas '07 would be whatever is the most convenient, functional, and practical. The flamingo sounds great!

[ March 25, 2006, 02:33 PM: Message edited by: Liquidhippo ]

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:53 am

Red Sox Nation, I don't know. You sounded pretty proud of that $7.00 cab ride.

Red Sox Nation · Post by **Red Sox Nation** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:26 am

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Red Sox Nation, I don't know. You sounded pretty proud of that $7.00 cab ride.

Walla Walla,

No, you just sounded pretty cheap about the whole deal.

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:00 pm

Red Sox Nation, Yeah I can see where I spent $3150.00 on three leagues, where you could call me cheap. I'm not on your level throwing those $7.00 cab rides around.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:39 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

My eventual goal is to find one host hotel where a manager sees the benefit of being associated as the "host hotel of the premiere high-stakes fantasy baseball and football events in the country." I haven't found that hotel manager yet, but I'm looking.Greg, have you checked with the Palms hotel? The Malouf family are very active in the sports world (owners of the Sacramento Kings), and could very well be interested in this.

Just a suggestion.

Spyhunter · Post by **Spyhunter** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 5:00 am

I went to his brothers b-day party a while ago. Great scene. Huge ice bars with shots, this guy knows how to party!! And the pool scene is great. If it is warm enough, would be a blast

Spy

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 1:34 pm

The Stardust certainly can't compare to a place like the Rio in terms of ... ambiance

... but I agree with Greg that it gave us everything we could have asked for in terms of location within the hotel for our events as well as space and other accomodations. For what we're looking to do with both the trade conference and the NFBC (and NFFC) I'd say it's an ideal place. You're not that far off the strip so if you're looking to go out and have some fun you're just a short cab ride away.

Top Dawg · Post by **Top Dawg** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:05 am

I stayed at The Hotel (new section of the Mandalay Bay). Great service, great room, not cheap; but, I like it there.

I'm not sure why anyone doing the draft in Vegas feels compelled to stay in the same hotel we draft at.... Anywhere along the strip is easy to get to by cab, foot or even monorail.

Things I liked about the Stardust:

1) Beer and snacks were CHEAP as can be. Heck, I paid $11 for 2 beers and a bag of snacks. Most places along the strip charged $7-$8 a beer.

2) Draft room was perfect for our needs.

What more can anyone ask? Personally, I'm sorry to see the Stardust will be taken down and replaced by yet another condo/high rise development. There goes more Las Vegas history...

On a side note; I stayed with the wife at the Flamingo in 1978 on our way back from Hawaii as the last leg of our honeymoon. It will be nice to draft there in 2007 if that's the way it goes down.

Pete

Acid Cowboys · Post by **Acid Cowboys** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:42 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Greg, have you checked with the Palms hotel? The Malouf family are very active in the sports world (owners of the Sacramento Kings), and could very well be interested in this.

Just a suggestion. Yea, this crowd is exactly what the 'Beautiful People' at the Palms are looking for...

"He's rich, I guess, but old, fat AND bald???!!!"