At Your Own Risk: Deerfield Dog Lodging Broke Our Dog!

The Good: Facility appeared clean and spacious
The Bad: Myah was returned to us with wounds, Owner of facility was unobservant/neglectful/failed to inform, Promised services were not provided.
The Basics: While my wife and I were on vacation, we left Myah at Deerfield Dog Lodging in Traverse City, Michigan . . . and when we recovered her, it was evident that she had not been treated well there.


For those who are unfamiliar with my reviews, I object entirely to the type of reviews that are a rant on a single experience with a product and service. I reject “reviews” that are essentially customer service complaints that clog up the Internet. When it comes to my pet reviews, I pride myself on offering authentic reviews from the perspective of a layperson. I am not the pet expert in my family, so I rely upon stated guidelines for a product in combination with the reactions of my animals to determine a product or service’s worth. Today, I find myself starting the travel reviews from my last vacation (my first in years!) with a review of the facility at which we left Myah, our Siberian Husky.

For those who might not follow my many pet product reviews, Myah is a Siberian Husky, who will turn seven years old on November 27th of this year. She has been in our family for almost three years and she and I have been virtually inseparable in that time. In fact, when my wife moved to Michigan and I stayed in New York, my job was changed so I could bring Myah into work with me, because she was so unused to being left alone.

So, when my wife and I decided to go on vacation for a little over a week, boarding Myah was a big concern for us. While my wife was happy to bring Myah along with us (which, given the volume of things we brought back from the trip would have been a bad idea with our small car!), I was concerned that if we left Myah in a hotel room while we went out and did stuff, she would scratch and damage the room. There was a compromise position; to take Myah with us and enroll her in day care while we were in Minneapolis, but the facilities we found there that did that (including a very cool one that had webcams in which we could see how wonderfully the animals were being treated) required registration in advance. So, we started calling around locally. That process was frustrating, especially when the facility that looked best and most like a resort for dogs was closed for the months between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. My wife found Deerfield Dog Lodging in Traverse City and it seemed like a godsend initially: the owner of the facility, Kevin Ramoie actually answered the telephone and answered all of her questions. It’s amazing how far simple responsiveness goes in forming a new relationship with a business. In retrospect, perhaps Mr. Ramoie was able to spend so much time on the phone with my wife because he was not actually actively taking care of the animals in his care!

Location

Deerfield Dog Lodging is a seemingly spacious facility located at 3435 Beitner Road on the outskirts of Traverse City, Michigan. The facility looks like a ranch-style house set on multiple acres of fields. There are at least six fenced-in kennels in what looked like a converted garage. Each of the kennels has a door to the outside, where the dogs have access to a private area and then a communal fenced-in area where dogs may (presumably) interact. In the main kennel area (the converted garage) there was obvious drainage and the facility looked very clean when we dropped Myah off.

Activity/Purpose

Deerfield Dog Lodging was billed as a clean and friendly dog and cat care facility. Their website boasts that “. . . your dog or cat's comfort and safety is our number one priority. When your pet checks in at Deerfield, you can leave with the peace of mind knowing that they will be well cared for and treated with kindness.” We were swayed by the positive reviews we read beforehand and the fact that for only $5 more per day, Myah would be given a daily Wilderness Walk. Despite the website advertising that pets boarded at Deerfield Dog Lodging get plenty of exercise and receive lots of love, we enthusiastically shelled out the additional five dollars a day for the Wilderness Walk so we could be certain that Myah was well-cared for while there and exercised more than just in the fenced-in yard we saw online.

We brought Myah to Deerfield Dog Lodging at 8 A.M. on Monday, September 15, 2014 having made an appointment with Mr. Ramoie for Myah to stay at the facility until Tuesday, September 23, 2014. With Myah, we brought two tubs of her dog food and a toy she enjoys playing with. After filling out paperwork and directing the worker at Deerfield Dog Lodging (who was not Mr. Ramoie) with feeding instructions for Myah, we left Myah at the facility.

At approximately 10:20 A.M. on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, we arrived back at Deerfield Dog Lodging to pick Myah up. We were greeted by Mr. Ramoie, who seemed to know we were there to pick Myah up (despite us being a bit early).

Effect On Myah

Nightmare.

Deerfield Dog Lodging had a profound effect on Myah and the results of her stay there are troubling. The way Mr. Ramoie runs Deerfield Dog Lodging is disturbing and it has left Myah (literally) scarred.

My first clue that something was wrong with Myah and her stay at Deerfield Dog Lodging came when we picked Myah up on Tuesday. Myah is an exceptionally enthusiastic dog and she is not a fan of being separated from me. For the last ten months of my last job, when I would return home, Myah would wait for me around the time I usually came home and my wife reported how Myah would come running to the top of our stairs the moment she heard our car pull into the driveway. We had been told that Myah would have access to her outdoor area adjacent to her personal kennel; I thought it was strange that when we pulled into Deerfield Dog Lodging on Tuesday morning that Myah did not come running outside to see us. After all, she knows what our car sounds like and we parked much closer to her when we arrived than I do at home, so she should have recognized that sound. When we got out of the car, my wife called to Myah and Myah did not come out of her kennel, nor did she make her customary bark or howl to greet us.

While I stood in the waiting room writing out the check, my wife went to recover Myah from the kennel area of Deerfield Dog Lodging. When she was released from the kennel, Myah exhibited little enthusiasm to see us; in fact, she cowered upon seeing my wife and I, which was entirely atypical behavior for her. Outside the first week we had Myah after rescuing her, she has not been handshy. She flinched from my wife when she tried to connect her to her leash.

While we walked Myah out to the front of Deerfield Dog Lodging, we noticed a large lesion on Myah's left forepaw. The open wound was immediately noticeable and my wife asked Mr. Ramoie what had happened to Myah. Mr. Ramoie claimed to have no idea what was wrong with Myah and stated that he had never seen the wound on Myah. Mr. Ramoie returned one tub of Myah's food (half empty) and the empty tub to us before we left.

We immediately took Myah back to our veterinarian. One of the most useful aspects of our boarding Myah was that before she went, we had to take her to the veterinarian to get her immunized and licensed. We took Myah to the veterinarian on September 9, 2014 for the immunizations she would need in order to have an extended stay at the Deerfield Dog Lodging. At that time, our Siberian Husky was deemed in good health and was weighed at 68.8 pounds. Between her first visit and when we dropped her off at Deerfield Dog Lodging on September 15, Myah was carefully monitored and lovingly cared for, as she normally is. Myah was brought to the same veterinarian on Tuesday, September 23, before we even went home. As a result of the veterinarian's examination, we have come to believe that Myah was, at best, neglected during her stay at Deerfield Dog Lodging and that it is entirely possible that she was the victim of abuse during her stay there.

1. Myah's injuries. Myah had an Acral Lick Granuloma on her left forepaw that was severe and infected. The Acral Lick Granuloma on the left forepaw was over 1/2" in diameter (that is a red and yellow, puss-filled open wound about the size and shape of a dime set against the otherwise white paw of the dog). Myah had three other, smaller, less-severe Acral Lick Granulomas on her right forepaw and both back feet. Our veterinarian and the technicians at the animal hospital were alarmed by the wounds and stated that: a. Such wounds did not happen fast (it would have taken Myah days to make the wounds, especially the primary one), b. Such wounds should have been immediately evident to any caregiver, and c. Such wounds would most likely have occurred in an environment where Myah was neglected (i.e. if she was active, engaged and well-monitored she would not have had time or impetus to make such wounds),



Can you imagine not noticing that if you had frequent, daily contact with your animal?!

2. Myah's feeding. Myah lost approximately eight pounds during the course of her seven day stay at Deerfield Dog Lodging. Weighed immediately upon reaching the veterinary office, Myah weighed 61 pounds on September 23, 2014. The veterinary technician and veterinarian were alarmed that Myah would lose more than 10% of her weight over the course of her stay at Deerfield Dog Lodging. Questioned on Wednesday, September 24, 2014, Mr. Ramoie provided inconsistent and contradictory information in regard to Myah's feeding. When asked if Myah was fed according the instructions we left her with (1 1/2 cups of her food, twice per day), Mr. Ramoie claimed that those directions were followed. Pressed with information that Myah had lost 7.8 pounds over the course of her stay, Mr. Ramoie revised his answer to say that Myah: a. Occasionally poured some of her food out of her bowl and b. Mostly ate her meals at night. Either way, Myah should not have lost so much weight. Moreover, if she alone was fed her food, there should have been quite a bit more of her food left (measuring her food at 1 1/2 cups, 2 such feedings per day, only ONE of the two tubs of food would have been consumed; there should have been no food missing from the second tub, much less half of the food missing from that tub),

3. Exercising Myah. One of the appeals of Deerfield Dog Lodging for us was that for $5/day, Myah would be given a walk each day of her stay. We paid for that service. When questioned on the telephone on Wednesday, September 24, Mr. Ramoie claimed that Myah had been given the promised walks. However, several red flags were immediately raised with his claim that Myah had been exercised daily during her stay. First, Mr. Ramoie claimed that Myah tugged a bit during her walks, implying that she was rushing ahead of whomever was walking her. Curious about that, because that is unlike her, I pressed for more information and Mr. Ramoie stated that Myah had to be pulled along during her walks because she was eager to stop and smell everything (which does sound like Myah's behavior during exercising). Mr. Ramoie was unable to elaborate on how Myah was motivated to move back to walking when she wanted to stop and smell everything around her. Either way, Mr. Ramoie asserted that Myah was walked each day for a half hour walk to a nearby pond and back. The reason this assertion is suspect is simple; on the morning of Wednesday, September 24, 2014, when I took Myah for a morning walk, she did not make it more than five minutes out our door before she started whining, limping, and refusing to walk farther (which is very atypical for her). If Myah was truly used to walking as she had been before we left her at Deerfield and during her stay, there is no reason she would have been unable to walk upon her return (especially without a limp!).

Myah has exhibited several signs of trauma, from being hoarse to the large Acral Lick Granuloma, since we picked her up from Deerfield Dog Lodging.

Overall

We paid Mr. Kevin Ramoie and Deerfield Dog Lodging $240 for her stay, with exercise, for a stay from Monday, September 15, 2014 to Tuesday, September 23, 2014. Following her stay, we had to spend an additional $86.71 for the veterinarian examination, antibiotics and steroids needed to diagnose and treat the wounds Myah inflicted upon herself while there.

Upon learning the severity of the wounds to Myah and that the most probable cause for such wounds was severe neglect by Deerfield Dog Lodging, I called Mr. Ramoie on the morning of Wednesday, September 24, 2014. Mr. Ramoie called back within a few minutes. After requesting that Mr. Ramoie mail back Myah's paperwork, which we neglected to take the prior day, I began to ask Mr. Ramoie about Myah's stay. Mr. Ramoie had no explanation for: a. not noticing the large Acral Lick Granuloma, b. how Myah had lost 7.8 pounds over the course of her stay, c. how so much more of Myah's food was missing than would have been appropriate if it had been properly measured out for her, d. why Myah would be unable to walk more than five minutes comfortably after her stay (while asserting that she had effortlessly walked half an hour each day while under his care). The “insult to injury” aspect of this is the way Mr. Ramoie approached the problems we were able to clearly and methodically illustrate to him. He claimed not to notice the Acral Lick Granuloma, which seems virtually impossible given its size and placement. His blasé retort that “dogs will lick, what am I supposed to do about it?!” is especially horrifying considering that Myah does not lick excessively when she is given attention and that I had to sign a form making me liable for any veterinary treatment Myah might require during her stay. In other words, if Mr. Ramoie and his staff had paid adequate attention to Myah and noticed her licking excessively and the formation of the Acral Lick Granulomas, they could have (and should have!) taken her to a vet to learn exactly what needed to be done to prevent her from making the wounds more severe!

With all of the contradictory information being given to us by our veterinarian and Deerfield Dog Lodging, it is hard for us to not feel like Deerfield Dog Lodging and Mr. Ramoie are more interested in protecting their business than actually caring for animals. Our veterinarian stated fairly emphatically that the weight loss and wounds Myah exhibited could not have occurred in an environment where she was properly cared for. Our veterinarian said that the only way Myah could have lost the weight she did while being properly fed was if she exercised (paced) constantly during her stay with Deerfield Dog Lodging. The assertion that Myah lost weight from constant exercise was directly contradicted by the presence of the Acral Lick Granulomas. The Acral Lick Granulomas could only have been formed by Myah’s near-constant licking.

Basic logic, then follows: We have the severe Acral Lick Granuloma (and three minor ones). Acral Lick Granulomas are caused by constant licking. If Myah was licking that constantly, then she was not eating, running around or active. The only logical conclusion (considering that Myah was not infested with any parasite) is that Myah lost more than 10% of her body weight over the course of her stay at Deerfield Dog Lodging because she was not adequately fed while there.

Regardless of our veterinarian being unwilling to make a statement alleging neglect or abuse, our veterinarian, the veterinary technicians and other workers at our animal hospital were all very interested in where Myah had been to incur such injuries and all seemed eager to make certain that none of their animal patients were ever sent there. That indicates a de facto understanding that Deerfield Dog Lodging was responsible for the weight loss and development of severe acral lick granulomas. Moreover, Mr. Ramoie and his staff were negligent for neither noticing nor contacting us about such wounds (if they were competently observing that Myah was agitated, she would have been treated and we would have been notified long before the primary Acral Lick Granuloma was formed).

Such neglect and/or mistreatment of animals should not go unpunished. I pride myself on giving fair ratings and I tend to reserve a zero out of ten rating for the worst possible, most unredeemable products or services (like a movie that was not just bad, but caused physical discomfort to watch). While Deerfield Dog Lodging might seem to have a facility that is adequate (or better) for pets, the service one is paying for at such a facility is actual care. None was evident (and, in fact, the opposite is more evident!) from Myah’s stay at Deerfield Dog Lodging. No one should pay a facility for such a lack of proper care when proper feeding, lodging, exercise and monitoring is what Deerfield Dog Lodging was commissioned to provide.

For other products that Myah has helped to review, please be sure to check out our reviews of:
Meaty Bone Dog Treats
American Kennel Club Pet Bed
Cesar Canine Cuisine Filet Mignon Dog Food

0/10

For other Pet or Travel reviews, please check out my Pet Review Index Page and my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Great Place To Visit, Las Vegas, Nevada Is An Oasis In The Desert!

Click here to order a helicopter tour of Las Vegas!
The Good: Lots to do, Inexpensive food/lodging
The Bad: Well, there's truly just one thing to do (with a lot of variations).
The Basics: A lot of fun with a lot of affordable dining and hotel options, Las Vegas is a great place to visit!


For those who might not read my many travel reviews, the last few years, I have made an annual pilgrimage to a place that is rapidly becoming one of my favorite places on Earth. Yes, I've discovered Las Vegas, Nevada and I love it. Truth be told, it is not a perfect city by any means, but it is a place I would recommend traveling to and enjoying, even if I could not see living there. The thing about Las Vegas is that it truly is exciting, awake all night and there is a ton to do; the flipsides are that it’s in the desert and it doesn’t take long before one realizes that there is only so much time they may spend awake before they actually get tired.

So, the short of it is that Las Vegas might well be the perfect vacation spot, but as an overall city, it is not the best in the world. It is fun, but it lacks a sense of substance and reality to it that makes one tire of it either after they run out of money or spend about a week seeing the sights and sounds of it. That said, it is a fun place and for a week each year, I now regularly return to it to enjoy all it has to offer: cheap food, exciting games and shows, and heat enough to kill the blues. This is not a great center of education or culture, but it has a lot going on constantly, it is easy to get around and everywhere is air conditioned!

Location

Las Vegas, Nevada is located in the southeastern corner of Nevada, just over the Arizona/Nevada border. This is in the Southwestern United States in the middle of the desert. It is basically set in a valley surrounded by mountains and the sun pounds down on it like a lab light onto a petri dish! It has a very dry heat, though. Fortunately, virtually everywhere in Las Vegas has air conditioning to compensate for the arid, hot climate.

Las Vegas is located next to nothing else. It is very much its own city in the middle of nowhere and over the years, it has sprawled out so it has effectively merged with or overrun Henderson, Nevada. Because it is very much in the middle of nowhere, those driving have very few options for how to get into and out of the city. Las Vegas, Nevada is accessible via the Interstate 15 from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City (it makes an odd turn in Las Vegas), Interstate 515 and 93 which enter Las Vegas from the south, and 95, which is the northeastern access road into the city.

Las Vegas has a blistering desert climate and as one who loathes the heat, it is somewhat astonishing that I have only visited it in the summer. In five years of visiting Las Vegas, I have only seen it cloudy (it did not actually rain) once. The rest of the time it is hot, open and dry. Las Vegas has impressive mountains visible from almost any vantage point in the city, but otherwise is flat and sandy . . . where it is not crowded with manmade structures. And Las Vegas packs the buildings in; in addition to being sprawled out, the hotel and resort structures rise high above the desert floor.

Ease Of Local Transport/Parking

Las Vegas is easy for drivers to get around, though there is little rhyme or reason to the arrangement of the city. To its credit, street signs are almost all labeled with compass directions (i.e. EAST Las Vegas Blvd.) and there are portions which are arranged in an ideal grid pattern that city developers used to love. However, as one who once got lost for over an hour looking for the Barnes & Noble in Las Vegas, I can write with some authority that the grid system breaks down on the outskirts and visitors are left in a confusing mishmash of strip malls and residential areas. To be fair to most visitors, this is very much on the outskirts and most people visiting Las Vegas for fun will not end up in the confusing area of the city unless they purposely want to get lost.

That said, the streets are wide enough to make transit easy. There are very easy to see traffic signals and plenty of crosswalks so pedestrians are hardly ever running out randomly into traffic. Street signs are generally marked well and there are several large casinos downtown which act as wonderful markers for those coming off the Interstates to help them connect with the Strip. Much of the excitement and attractions is located within three parallel streets in downtown Las Vegas (The Strip and the two adjacent parallel streets).

On-street parking is almost impossible to find, but virtually every hotel and casino in Las Vegas has free parking, so parking is actually surprisingly easy to find in Las Vegas. Las Vegas’s many casinos want people to come in and lose money gambling, so most have free parking without any strings attached. This is a great big city in the U.S. where it is very easy to go and not pay for parking anywhere!

Accommodations

By and large, Las Vegas is a gambling city and it is built on the gimmicks of hotels and casinos. The casinos tend to be how everywhere in Las Vegas makes truckloads of money, so hotels are often very inexpensive. At the same time, there are also a plethora of luxury hotels in Las Vegas which are insanely expensive and quite elegant. The differences are very much based on where one stays and what type of experience they want to have in Las Vegas.

As for me, I tend to like to stay cheap and spend my money in other ways. Over the last five years, I’ve stayed at:
Comfort Inn Las Vegas (near Strip)
Terrible’s Hotel
Comfort Inn North Las Vegas
Palace Station Hotel
Rather than rehash my entire, thorough reviews, it is worth noting that I’ve had rooms for less than $20 a night at both Terrible’s and Palace Station and they were adequate accommodations for a business traveler. Las Vegas is a great place to find deals on hotels as there are ALWAYS deals because no matter what is going on in the city, there are rooms available (that’s how many hotels there are in this city!).

Attractions

Las Vegas is a one-horse town in many ways, but it has a great horse. The way visitors get easily confused or convinced it has more to offer than casinos is that the casinos are dressed up different, each and every one. Before I started going to Las Vegas, I thought it would be like giant, simple buildings inside which were the casinos and each one would be the same. Not so! The Strip is slathered in casinos, but almost no two are identical. There is a giant castle (the Excalibur), one where serving staff puts on shows of dancing or karaoke at unscheduled intervals (The Rio), another where they trade on their movie memorabilia, another on the exclusive Playboy club and so forth. Virtually every casino has shows – theater and comedy shows, “theater” in Las Vegas usually being a dance revue of one sort or another – and each casino has a “gimmick.”

But largely, Las Vegas derives its entertainment and originality from the casinos and as such, those who do not gamble (most of Las Vegas is now on video slot machines) are likely to find it hard to find things to do in obvious ways. For sure, there are movie theaters, but most of the ones in Las Vegas proper are embedded in the casinos!

Because I continue going back, it seems like I keep finding different casinos and to have a decent hub for those (and my future reviews of casinos), there’s no place more appropriate than this. To read about each casino’s gimmick and the overall experience at them, please check out:
The Rio
The Excalibur
Palace Station
The Stratosphere
Terrible's Casino
Eureka Casino
Las Vegas Hilton
Hard Rock Café Casino
The MGM Grand Casino
The Tuscany
New York New York Casino
The Sahara

For those not looking for casino experiences, Las Vegas is often the home to big events; I go there each year for the biggest Star Trek convention of the year. There is also a huge toy show and DVD/Blu-Ray convention each year in the convention center. Las Vegas makes an ideal place for things like conventions because of the accommodation options as well as the entertainment options. If you want to see Cirque du Solie, after whatever event you’re there for there is likely a show you could get tickets for!

Dining

I’ve never been one for trendy places to eat, so when it comes to Las Vegas, all I can truly speak to is the delightful and inexpensive buffets that are virtually everywhere. A week in Las Vegas would cause me to gain at least ten pounds, were it not for the fact that I am constantly drinking water and exerting myself (my part at the convention means lugging heavy boxes under the desert sun into buildings and out of them). That said, Terrible’s has an inexpensive buffet and there are often coupons around which make it even less expensive.

But every casino in Las Vegas has at least two dining options and those looking for upscale can even find upscale buffets (the one at the Las Vegas Hilton, for example, is more expensive and higher quality). But for those coming to spend time in Las Vegas, there’s no reason to go hungry. Last summer, my partner and I spent a week in Las Vegas and we spent $93.28. $93.28 for seven days of gorging ourselves silly (and that includes tips!). One need only look around for good deals on buffets, but truth be told, they are everywhere, so it is easy to get inexpensive (and tasty) meals in Las Vegas.

I tend to steer clear of the expensive cafes when I go (two years ago, I paid almost $5.00 for a bag of M&M’s at one such café and that encouraged me to avoid them in the future). For the thrifty traveler, every style and type of cuisine is available, inexpensively, if one just knows where to look (so, for example, there is always a casino buffet that is having a seafood night, no matter what night of the week one is in Las Vegas).

Shopping

Las Vegas is a very expensive place to shop, at least in the city proper. The casinos which have their own malls tend to be trading more on the style and reputation of the places they are trying to emulate. Prices on the Miracle Mile – a mile of shops on the Strip – are drastically overpriced, like some sadistic interpretation of New York City shopping. In fact, it was only when I left the city proper I found good deals. The short of shopping in Las Vegas is, if you want overpriced and stylish, stay in Las Vegas to shop. If you want affordable, leave the main city. That said, there is at least one massive souvenir (and liquor) store at the top of The Strip which offers cheap knickknack souvenirs and t-shirts.

Overall

Las Vegas, Nevada is a fun place to visit if you don’t mind heat, have money to gamble and like options. This is arguably one of the most fun places for adults to visit and my only real gripe with it (other than never seeming to leave as a multimillion dollar James Bond-like winner) is that it does seem to be targeting family travel more and there are just some places (like when you’re watching dancers at the Rio) where you just don’t want to see children at all. That said, this is a great place for couples and a wonderful place to get away from life and always find something to do.

For other cities reviewed by me, please check out my takes on:
New York City, NY
Rochester, NY
Salem, MA

8/10

For other travel reviews, be sure to visit my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Click here for a tour of Las Vegas!

10 Things You Should Know About Visiting New York City

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The Good: This is one of the biggest cities on Earth . . .
The Bad: . . . that’s not always the best thing.
The Basics: An amazing place to visit, New York City is a lot of fun when you can afford to do it right!


What could I possibly write about New York City that hasn’t been written before? The truth is, there are books – full, huge, small text, pages packed in every way books – written on New York City and with almost thousands of reviews of New York City online, I figured my review should do something both different for me and from them. So, this is intended to be a very basic guide to New York City and what sets it apart from every other city in the world. I am foregoing my usual structure for Travel reviews and focusing very much on the essentials because, frankly, if you’re planning a trip to New York City and you don’t know where in the world it is, you’re pretty much out of luck already!

As such, here are Ten Things Every Traveler Should Know When Visiting New York City!

10. Bring money. New York City is a massive city and there are a ton of things to do. Most of them cost money. In fact, virtually all of them cost money and the experience of being poor in New York City is not as romantic as it might sound. It’s every bit as depressing as seeing about seven million people eating when you can’t afford a hot dog. Not cool. New York City is a very expensive city and what most people forget to tell you is that it costs money to get into the city via car! The bridges and tunnels from New Jersey and Upstate New York cost money (last time I visited $6 - $8 per), probably because New Jersey figures people leaving it will never return and they want your money if that’s the case. While many travel guides say don’t bring cash, I highly recommend having cash on you. At least one hundred dollars. Just be smart about where you put it on you.

With all of the dining, shopping, museum, entertainment options in New York City, it is hard to get around the City for less than $100 per day, so plan accordingly. New York City eats money up exceptionally quickly.

9. Go in winter. Seriously. If you hate crowds, go in the winter. It is easier to get around the City and the whole place doesn’t smell. In the summer, it smells in many places and the people are much more agitated. The only thing one misses out on by going to New York City in the winter is Central Park and, frankly, Central Park is beautiful in the winter, too.

8. Lodge outside the City, if you can. New York City hotels are almost never less than $200 a night. It takes a real bargain hunter to find good lodging details on the island (did I mention, New York City is an island?) and what might seem like a good price might not take into account the stifling hotel tax rates (over 15% at the time I wrote this). There are plenty of good places right outside the City which are far more affordable, like the Quality Inn & Suites Maspeth and the Comfort Inn Edgewater. If you have reliable transportation, stay outside New York City and drive in each day, park (it’ll cost you) and walk around.


7. Getting around New York City is every bit the pain in the butt you’ve heard it is: don’t drive more than you have to! I have a pretty hard and fast rule: I don’t drive in New York City any time between the hours of 5 A.M. and 9 P.M. If you try, you’ll meet a lot of car traffic. Even taking a taxi around is ridiculous (and expensive). The last three visits I took to New York City, I bent my own rule and after waiting ridiculous amounts of time in traffic (the things I’ll do for a movie preview!), I parked as quickly as I could at a lot and hoofed it the rest of the way. Running through New York City is one of the fastest ways to get around.

Hint: If visiting New York City, arrive in the City as early in the day as possible and stay late. Most garages have “Early Bird Specials” and when I took my partner to the City last year for her birthday, we took advantage of these and parking was only $10/day (I had budgeted $50!).

6. Take in a show. It took me years to actually do this, but theater is alive and well in New York City and you might as well check it out. I’ve seen The Phantom Of The Opera and Spamalot and I know now, I’ll see more. If you don’t think you like theater, there’s no better city in the world (except, maybe, London, from what I hear) to see it in than New York City.

5. Try some local (international) cuisine. Almost every time I’ve gone to New York City, I’ve eaten at Chipotle Grill or Dunkin' Donuts because they are familiar. Three trips ago, I discovered the Europa Café chain, which is basically like Panera Bread in the City. The last trip, I actually went to the Hard Rock Cafe! After that, there was nothing I wouldn’t try. My partner and I went to a little Japanese restaurant and we went to a wonderful Thai restaurant called Room Service. The food in New York City is amazing and it’s from all over the world.

4. Go to historic or cultural places. New York City is full of them. In fact, some places in New York City that I’ve reviewed are:

Castle Clinton
American Museum Of Natural History
Museum Of Modern Art
Lincoln Center For the Performing Arts
Times Square
Hayden Planetarium

The City is full of cultural and historical landmarks and visitors will find plenty to do. I, however, tend to recommend walk arounds of the big tourist traps. Why? The Statue of Liberty is cool to see. The view from the top of it is not terribly extraordinary or even very different from what one gets from a good ferry ride out to Staten Island. Most of the buildings are tall and impressive, but they’re just buildings.

3. Watch your shopping in New York City. Prices and sales tax are ridiculous. Most everything you can buy in New York City is not unique to there and can be found less expensive elsewhere (like the internet). For some, it might be a badge of honor to go shopping in New York City, for the thrifty shopper, it seldom is.

2. Manhattan is exceptionally easy to get around. Yes, I know what I said. But if you’re on foot, Manhattan is basically twelve main avenues which crisscross the island with numbered streets. Getting around is as easy as figuring out where you are, knowing where you want to go and turning in the right direction (the sun doesn’t lie!). Within two blocks in any direction, one ought to be able to figure out if they are headed where they want to go. Most of New York City is laid out in a grid-pattern with numbered streets that follow very regular intervals (i.e. if you’re on 42nd Street now, you make a right onto Broadway, the next cross street will be either 41st Street or 43rd Street).

1. Bring a camera. Gawk. You’re in New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, not just the United States. You’ve seen it on television or heard about it, but nothing can prepare you for most of the sights; you just have to experience them.

For other cities, please check out my reviews of:
Salem, Massachussetts
Syracuse, NY
Rochester, NY

8/10

For other travel reviews, please visit my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the travel reviews I have written.

© 2012, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


Click here to order a New York City pass!

It May Top Off The Strip, But The Stratosphere Is A Dud In My Book!

Click here to reserve a room at the Stratosphere Casino & Resort
through Hotels.com!
The Good: Good burgers at their obnoxious diner, Decent entertainment options (for those into them)
The Bad: Dull slots, Loud, Expensive shopping/food, Rides
The Basics: Musty and dank, the Stratosphere may try to trade on being family friendly, but it wasn't friendly: it was loud, boring and gaudy.


As I have begun reviewing my various casino experiences from my latest trip to Las Vegas, I've discovered a new and interesting writing challenge for myself: panning casinos. It is so easy to gush and write all of the good things about the better casinos, but when I hit one that is a surprise disappointment, I've discovered that I am at a strange loss for words and writing up a review of such a casino is like chewing through a roll of quarters (it takes forever and it is not at all fun).

That is the distinct feeling I have as I sit tonight typing my thoughts about my experience at the Stratosphere Casino in Las Vegas. This is one of those casinos virtually everyone tells you you must go to when in Las Vegas and I'm sure if you're a kid sick of being dragged to casinos you can't do anything in, the Stratosphere might be nice. After all, there's some form of amusement rides at the top of the giant spire of the Stratosphere that kids can ride in (I didn't even go that far), but for adults looking to gamble or be entertained, the Stratosphere is a loud, annoying, unimpressive casino not worth the hype granted to it.

The Stratosphere: came in with $5.00, left with $0.00 (after fifteen minutes of slots).

Location

The Stratosphere is located at 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South. This casino defines one end of The Strip, the monument to gaudy entertainment and gambling for which Las Vegas is pretty much known. Internet direction sites like MapQuest have no trouble finding the Stratosphere, but when in Las Vegas, this is one of the landmarks that is almost impossible to miss. From almost every vantage point, the Stratosphere Casino is the highest building in Vegas, so all one needs to do to find it at any given moment is look around and up.

Parking at the Stratosphere is available at an adjacent parking garage and it was easily one of the least clean places I was while in Las Vegas. That said, it did seem to be relatively secure and it was free.

Size/Atmosphere/"Atmosphere"

The Stratosphere Casino is not one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas, at least as far as gaming goes. It is bigger in the entertainment sector and in that regard it is, admittedly, one of the casinos that offers visitors the most options. I made my sojourn to the Stratosphere on a Friday night in the summer and the place, despite being fairly large, was packed.

However, the Stratosphere Casino is fairly poorly ventilated and as someone who is generally sensitive to cigarette smoke, this was one of the casinos I enjoyed least for actual atmosphere. With all of the people in the casino, it was hot, smelly, and I was glad to leave the gaming floor as quickly as possible. This, fortunately, did not take long (see gaming below).

As far as the "atmosphere" of the Stratosphere, I honestly cannot recall what the servers were wearing anywhere, save the '50's style diner I had dinner in. In Roxy's Diner, the women were in poodle skirts and the guys were decked out like greasers. Actually, this is very much germane to the discussion of atmosphere: if anyone from Roxy's Diner happens to be reading this, please do your patrons a favor and shut the hell up! I get that casinos are not necessarily the best place in the "civilized" world to try to have a conversation, but when dining, it's nice to be able to hear whomever you are dining with. As it was, I was having a perfectly nice dinner, talking with a companion about racism, sexism and prostitution in the fine state of Nevada and almost constantly our conversation was interrupted by the annoying singing waitstaff. It's a cute gimmick, save that those of us stuck next to a speaker get both deafened and constantly interrupted.

It's probably cute to the children. For those unfamiliar with my reviews, I pretty much loathe children (though I am told I was one once). I have a particular distaste for Las Vegas being made over into a "family destination" and the Stratosphere seems to be a part of that whole phenomenon. As a result, in addition to them popping up while gambling, I encountered children at the restaurant and I can only hope at some point some enterprising parent sues their parents for child abuse for taking them to places like casinos that are ridiculously high in second hand smoke. Such a lawsuit would either keep kids out of casinos or push Nevada to go nonsmoking in public places and either way I'd be happier in Vegas.

Gaming Options/Player's Club

The Stratosphere does not seem to be all that big on the slot machines for a casino. They were appropriately proud of their new slot machine based on eBay (reviewed here!), but while my mother was playing it there was a technical difficulty that led to her and two other people being locked out of their rightful bonuses (it's a community game in some phases and the machines broke down for which my mother and the others locked out were given no recompense).

But for my money, I found the slot machines at the Stratosphere largely boring. The Stratosphere advertises 1200 slot machines and I found two to play. They had Mermaid's Gold (one of my favorites) and the only instance of the Alien Vs. Predator slot machine I could find in Las Vegas! Yes, that's a machine based on the b-movie (reviewed here!) from a few years back and it makes a slightly better slot machine than it did a film. I turned my $5.00 into ten playing Mermaid's Gold, but lost it all on Alien Vs. Predator, hoping to see a bonus game. Fortunately, as soon as I was done, another player came on and hit it after a single spin, so I got to see it.

For those who might be into games of chance and card games over the delightful, the Stratosphere has some fifty tables including blackjack, roulette wheels, craps and (I kid not) crapless craps tables. There is also a pretty standard sports betting area as well as a poker room, but I became hungry and didn't explore those very much.

There is a player's club at the Stratosphere, called the Ultimate Rewards program. It is anything but ultimate and after betting (and losing most of) a hundred dollars, my mother was able to cash her points in for a t-shirt. Given that she had to wait an hour and a half for her dispute to be resolved - and it was resolved in a fairly unsatisfactory manner - one might have thought the casino could give her a t-shirt, especially considering she wanted a t-shirt from the casino she was rapidly coming to hate. For my $10s in bets, my points did not add up to much and I was happy to leave to get into an oxygen environment as soon as possible. In addition to earning points to get the free t-shirt, we were given a coupon book (called the Funbook) for signing up. At least this player's club point system was pretty transparent. Betting accrued points at a rate of $1 to a single point. Of course on slot machines where one is betting only a quarter each time, this means one has to make 400 bets to get a t-shirt, but the Stratosphere pretty much expects people in Las Vegas to either be stupid or crazy.


Entertainment Options

The Stratosphere Casino in all about the entertainment options, many nauseatingly family friendly. There are roller coaster type rides at the peak of the needle at the top of the Stratosphere. There is a show involving celebrity impersonators (American Superstars), as well as a vampire revue (Bite) and an all-male strip show (American Storm). As well, there is dancing at a disco. Only the disco has a discount in the book and with shows like Bite running $45.99, I looked at the signs and spent my evening elsewhere. The American Superstar show was $51.50 and American Storm was $50, which I suppose means the glass ceiling is alive and well in the stripper industry.

Dining Options

Because of the mall-like nature of the Stratosphere, there are a fair number of places to eat on premise. The '50's diner, Roxy's Diner, had prices one would expect for dining out in a big city and were it not for the loud atmosphere, it might have helped redeem the Stratosphere in my mind. As it was, it was loud, annoying and the staff seemed to care about little other than singing to the patrons. To be fair, the bacon cheeseburger I had was good and the onion rings were actually the best I had on this trip.

In addition to Roxy's Diner, there is a gourmet option, the Top Of The World (fancy dress up food). As well, there is a Chinese restaurant, cafe, buffet and Italian restaurant option all on premise. Somewhere in the Stratosphere, there is a Ben and Jerry's as well, according to the coupon book.

Shopping Options

The Stratosphere has - essentially - a mall inside with shops that are pretty much what one would expect: jewelry, souvenir, clothing stores. The mall type experience is less developed than the malls at the Rio and MGM Grand, but it is clear that shopping is one of the things people go to the Stratosphere for. Sadly, they did not have a Barnes and Noble there, but I suppose most people do not go to Las Vegas to get a lot of reading done. The Funbook offered minor discounts at a few stores (like the crystal emporium), but nothing significant enough to get one to rush right out to the Stratosphere on a shopping endeavor.

Overall

I had heard wonderful things about the Stratosphere, but all of them (save good onion rings and burgers) turned out to be overblown. The atmosphere was smoggy (the mall did have an oxygen bar, but I resented that on principle), the slot machines were all of the dullest ones (save one!), and the staff was not accommodating when their machines failed. I did my time at the Stratosphere and I was happy when I moved on from it.

That's right, because after I was done having a miserable time at the Stratosphere, I went to the Sahara next door . . . You need not make my mistake; you can skip this one.

For other casino reviews, please check out my takes on:
MGM Grand Casino - Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas Hilton Casino
Fallsview Casino - Ontario

4/10

For other casino reviews, please be sure to check out my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the destinations I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


Click here to reserve a room at the Stratosphere Casino & Resort
through Hotels.com!

Irony In My Expressions: Star Trek: The Exhibit Fails To Impress With Its Reproductions!

The Good: Interesting costumes, Entertainment value
The Bad: Not that big, Expensive for what one gets, WAY too many prop replicas!
The Basics: Disappointing for fans who have had access to more, Star Trek: The Exhibit provides fans with few set pieces or props they've not had access to before.


This review was originally written when the Exhibit had just begun! Enjoy it as a look at what you – probably – missed!

Last year, when I left my annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, I found myself considering the Star Trek: The Experience (reviewed here!) which was being taken down from the Las Vegas Hilton. I had attempted to coin the phrase "Once you've been to Mecca, Dearborn just won't do," as a result because having seen thousands of props and costumes from all five incarnations of Star Trek and the films, the hundreds of props in the Star Trek: The Experience seem much less impressive. The irony in my making that phrase last year is that this year, I found myself in Detroit, Michigan (of which Dearborn is a suburb) after Valentine's Day for Star Trek: The Exhibit, a roving exhibit of Star Trek sets and props that is hitting several major cities in the United States.

Having seen the real things, as part of an auction of "cultural artifacts" of Star Trek props and set pieces, replicas will just not do. Unfortunately, as I explored the Detroit Science Center and Star Trek: The Exhibit, I found myself woefully unimpressed. Indeed, it was only in the fine print that many of the pieces in The Exhibit were noted to be "prop replicas" as opposed to actual props. And having seen some of the actual props, some of these were poor replicas indeed.

Location

Star Trek: The Exhibit is located - currently - at the Detroit Science Center in downtown Detroit. The center is part of the museum district, located at 5020 John R Street, in Detroit proper. As one who is relatively unfamiliar with Detroit, I had to use MapQuest directions and I had no problem locating the science center using them. It is worth noting, though, that the Exhibit will only be in Detroit for a few more months, before heading to Philadelphia, Boston and a few other major cities. The setup in each city is intended to be as identical as possible and the content will be the same in all cities, even if there are slight variations in the arrangement of it.

Star Trek: The Exhibit occupies the entire fourth floor of the Detroit Science Center and is accessible only via an elevator. In fact, leaving the exhibit, one has to go down several stairs so while it is handicapped accessible getting in, getting out is a little more problematic for the wheelchair bound.

Ease Of Local Transport/Parking

Again, Mapquest provides adequate directions for the Detroit stop of Star Trek: The Exhibit and there is metered parking right on the street. However, for those who want their exercise, I discovered that two blocks over there was free on-street parking for more than two hours, which is more than enough time to experience Star Trek: The Exhibit!

Activity/Purpose

Star Trek: The Exhibit is a remarkably simple exhibit composed of one floor of activities (though there is a prop of the starship Enterprise-A from some of the films in the lobby) which are essentially displays. Access to the fourth floor for the Exhibit is $18.95 and this price is pretty steep for what one sees when there. In fact, the most original and interesting aspect of The Exhibit for me was the painting in the elevator. In black light, the starships on the wall become a three-dimensional mural and riding up the elevator was pretty trippy, even with the uniformed escort droning on about how we were not to take pictures in the Exhibit.

The exhibit itself flows with little sense of rhyme or reason, though it generally tracks in a chronological way for the Star Trek universe, with a few costumes and props from Star Trek: Enterprise preceding those from Star Trek. Costumes like jumpsuits from Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed are draped on mannequins in glass boxes before all of the main cast of the original Star Trek has uniforms provided in similar boxes. Next to each uniform is a placard with information on the uniform and some, like McCoy's short sleeve medical uniform, have video clips featuring the onscreen appearance of the uniform.

As one wanders through the corridors, facts and behind-the-scenes information on the costumes, props and set pieces is written on the walls and the display has over a hundred pieces that are from all of the franchise elements of Star Trek. So, as one progresses deeper into the display, one finds the starship model that was both the Stargazer and Hathaway (close up one can see where the lettering for the Hathaway was removed to make the current incarnation of it!) as well as shuttlepods from the movies and shuttles used in only a single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are uniforms from Captain Sisko and Major Kira from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as well as Captain Janeway, Seven Of Nine and Kes from Star Trek: Voyager. There is a first or second season jumpsuit of Captain Picard's as well.

Amidst the displays and timelines of the Star Trek universe, there are much larger set recreations. The Star Trek: The Exhibit includes set recreations of the U.S.S. Enterprise (1701) bridge from Star Trek, a brightly lit Guardian Of Forever set recreation (not the actual set in any way, I discovered upon inquiry), a transporter room recreation (which at least has floor light panels from the actual set) and the Riker and Troi's quarters from Star Trek: Nemesis (which appears to be an actual set piece with the props from the film intact! With only one set piece being an actual on-screen piece - and the only one visitors cannot have their picture taken in by the staff - the Exhibit is far less intriguing or overwhelming than The Experience even was.

But what sunk The Exhibit for me was the sheer number of prop replicas. None of the original Star Trek props were actually props from the show. Instead, they were carefully noted in footnotes as "prop replicas." Prop replicas have been circulating since the 1970s and are available increasingly cheaply at Star Trek conventions. Once one has seen an actual tricorder or phaser prop, it is hard to get excited about seeing prop replicas like these and it pains me to think that this might be the best some Star Trek fans might ever experience as a result of the major artifacts being sold off years ago.

Nowhere is the poor performance of prop replicas realized than with the Cardassian phaser rifle that is on display at Star Trek: The Exhibit. This replica might have been cast from the original mold, but having seen several of the rifles used on the sets, this bears almost no resemblance in the paint job to those actually used on the set.

The Exhibit makes a few passing references to the science behind Star Trek, but most of the exhibit is in-universe explorations of the technology and props of the beloved television and movie franchise. It is underwhelming for anyone who has seen . . . well, anything more than this and those who experienced even Star Trek: The Experience will likely be disappointed by this.

Dining

Given that this is a museum, there were no real dining options, at least at the Detroit venue.

Shopping

The Detroit Science Center has a gift shop, though it does not appear to be actively capitalizing on the Star Trek: The Exhibit, which is actually somewhat decent. In fact, outside of a single table which was mixed with space exploration and a few books, the only Star Trek collectibles at the store seemed to be the new two-packs of Star Trek action figures.

Overall

Star Trek: The Exhibit may be moving on from Detroit by the end of summer, but wherever it ends up, seasoned Trekkers will not need to flock to it. Any fan devoted enough to want to see The Exhibit is going to be devoted enough to be disappointed by this. They will go in with the information that is on the walls in their heads and outside seeing some of the matte paintings up close, there was nothing so extraordinary as to justify the expense. Casual fans of Star Trek who are in the area and decide to go to "The Exhibit" are likely to enjoy it more, though they will also likely leave shaking their heads and mocking the geeks who genuinely enjoy the exhibit.

For CBS/Paramount, it is a no-win scenario and considering the way the timeline includes a place for the forthcoming film Star Trek, one suspects this is just a terribly lame publicity stunt.

For other exhibits, museums and live performances, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Monty Python’s Spamalot
American Museum Of Natural History
The House Of The Seven Gables

4/10

For other travel reviews, be sure to check out my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the travel-related reviews I have written!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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You Can Go Home Again: Rochester, NY Is A Decent Place To Live.

| | |
The Good: Weather outside winter, Decent shopping, Easy to get around, Generally clean and safe, Affordable
The Bad: Winter weather, Not exactly chock full of interesting stuff to do!
The Basics: With a decent standard-of-living, clean roads and walkways, generally friendly people, good shopping and food, Rochester, New York is a great place to raise a family.


If you ever want a real writing challenge, sit down and try to write about the city you grew up in objectively, especially if it is middle class America. After all, if one lives in the suburbs of a midsized city in the United States, what is the appeal of leaving the suburb you live in for the suburb of another city? The truth is, it is tough to look at places that one takes for granted and see them through the fresh eyes of a traveler. Still, I recently had the opportunity to do this when I took a friend of mine to my old stomping grounds, Rochester, New York.

I grew up on the border between Rochester and its suburb, Brighton, and as a result, I was able to get a great education in the Brighton Central School system while still having some of the flavor and diversity of the city. Rochester is a big enough city that there are things to do there, film companies test market movies there, and new products appear there, but not so large that it is packed with people constantly and there is no way to get around. This might have to do with there being little to do there. Forgive me; I love Rochester, but it is not like it is a major metropolis like New York City nor a place with a rich, quaint New England feel like Salem, Massachusetts (reviewed here!). Instead, Rochester, NY is an average, United States blue-state city where the people are middle class, friendly and largely do their own thing. It was a good place to grow up, though, and when I visit it now, there is quite a bit I appreciate about it.

Location

Rochester, New York is located in upstate New York (yes, there is more to the state than The City!). Located in the eastern portion of what is considered western New York, Rochester is a decent-sized city with about a dozen suburbs just south of Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes of North America. This, rather problematically, means that Rochester gets dumped upon with extreme amounts of lake effect snow in the winter (not as bad as Buffalo, which gets it from two great lakes!), though it also tends not to get Southern hot in the summer, either. It has a temperate climate and outside high annual snowfall, it is a pretty moderate place to live in terms of weather.

Located in Monroe County, Rochester has two major exits off of the New York State Thruway and holds approximately two hundred thousand people within the city limits. The city is categorized more by sprawl than skyscrapers and despite a few waterways in the area - most notably the Genesee River which cuts through downtown Rochester - there is room to expand and the city has expanded outward like cities do. However, it is fairly well-contained now and the suburbs of Rochester have established cultures of their own and while Rochester flows off into its suburbs, there are untouched natural areas, like Highland Park, which persist and are not being industrialized. As a result, Rochester has a decent mix of technology and development and natural beauty, though most of the nature is now outside the city proper.

Ease Of Local Transport/Parking

Rochester, New York has two exits off the main arterial through New York State, the New York State Thruway. Getting to the city is easy as either exit 45 or 46 off Route 90 takes one to Rochester. I tend to recommend exit 45, as that puts visitors on 490, the main arterial through the outskirts and right into downtown Rochester. For those not driving, there is an international airport in Rochester and every few months they start up a ferry to Toronto (crossing Lake Ontario) that inevitably fails because Rochester is not a big deal the way it wants to be.

In Rochester, most of the streets are two way roads with one or two lanes in each direction. There are very few one-way streets in the city, so getting round is actually remarkably easy. Still, I always recommend having a map when looking for specific places. 490 is the major expressway that runs around Rochester and it is easily accessible from the Thruway. 490 bisects most of the major roads in Rochester and connects to the Inner Loop downtown for ease of getting around in the more gridlike downtown.

Parking in downtown Rochester has become more of an issue in recent years than it was when I was growing up. Many of the taller buildings in the city have their own subterranean parking garages and there are several open air lots now (parking seems to be relatively inexpensive in the $10/day range). Many of the major streets in the city proper have parking meters now as well, like outside the Little Theatre. However, the meters stop charging visitors after six p.m. on most days. In many of the areas where shopping is a priority, there is free on-street parking or parking lots near the establishments.

Growing up in Rochester, I had two working parents and I cycled almost everywhere. Rochester is a great city for cycling around in: everything is close enough for those with an average cycling ability, it's good for the environment, and it's a great way to stay in shape!


Accommodations

Rochester, New York is filled with hotels in the city and on the outskirts. Honestly, I've never stayed at one (well, there was one time, but . . .) because I still have family in Rochester and I am able to stay with them whenever I journey there. That said, every major hotel chain has a hotel in Rochester or its suburbs and finding accommodations is not usually a problem, save perhaps the weekend the Lilac Festival opens or graduation weekend when all of the schools manage to schedule their graduations on the same weekends.

There are no shortages of places to stay in Rochester (I know some people . . .).

Attractions

Rochester has pretty much all of the typical things any big city has: parks, a zoo, movie theaters, hospitals, museums and restaurants and clubs. There are a few things that are uniquely Rochester and if one is visiting Rochester, NY, here are some of the best things I can recall that are worth visiting:

The Strasenburgh Planetarium - located in a very nice area of Rochester filled with museums and good shopping, the Planetarium provides information on the stars and is both affordable and educational. This planetarium has simulated night skies as the city lights do drown out natural starlight. Still, it is fun, educational and affordable. I am putting this on here because Rochester seems to be promoting the Strong Museum Of Play pretty heavily now and I loathe that. When I was a kid, the Strong Museum was a legitimate museum that took in roving exhibitions from big museums worldwide, though there was a standing collection of dolls and old toys (which were so infrequently traveled they made for great nooks and crannies to go into while on class trips and make out with . . . um, anyway). Now, it seems to focus on children and holds no interest for adults without children. The planetarium, though, that's a great place.

The Memorial Art Gallery - near the Strasenburgh, this is a modern art gallery that has a decent standing collection of artwork and receives exhibitions from other, more well-known art galleries.

The Eastman House - George Eastman, the founder of Kodak had a decent-sized house in downtown Rochester, which is now a film museum. The neat thing about this is that because of this, Rochester will occasionally get famous movie directors to visit when their films are made a part of the permanent collection at the Eastman House. So, for example, I had the privilege of attending a screening and meet and greet with writer/director P.T. Anderson when his film Punch-Drunk Love (reviewed here!) was inducted into the permanent collection of the Eastman House. There is a lot of information on the history of the physical development of the film industry here and that is very cool.

Highland Park - I lived right near Highland Park growing up, home of the annual Lilac Festival. Here's a hint for you: whatever the week the lilac festival is scheduled for, come two weeks early. In my youth, the joke was always that the Lilac Festival never hit when the lilacs actually bloomed. Thus, we would get inundated with people from all around the world (many who wanted to pay money to park on our lawn or just parked there and cheesed off my father) who were looking at a bunch of dying lilacs or (some years) lilac buds. Highland Park has an amazing collection of flowers, most notably the lilacs.

Mount Hope Cemetery - In picking the five essential places to visit when visiting Rochester, it might seem weird that I would say "come visit our Cemetery," but hey, come visit our Cemetery! Mount Hope Cemetery, in addition to being a wonderful place for kinky people to have safe sex in the outdoors, includes the graves of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas (there's a Black History Month theme to this!), as well as several people I knew growing up. Seriously, in Rochester, there is a beautiful mix of old headstones and mausoleums, though to be fair you can probably do everything at this Cemetery in a single day, maybe even squeeze it in the same day you visit Highland Park (they are proximate).

Downtown Rochester also has the High Falls, a theater, the Rochester Philharmonic, and nearby there is the Seabreeze Amusement Park.

Dining

Having standards in my travel reviews is nice because it allows me to set some things straight from time to time. There are many, many places to eat in Rochester, New York and despite the city's reputation, not everyone goes for the local custom of the "garbage plate." The "garbage plate" is available at one restaurant (and, I suppose, a few imitator now that they see crap sells) and if one does not want to be subjected to the foul mess that is the garbage plate (it is EXACTLY what it sounds like), simply do not go to Nick Tahou's. Despite the publicity the place gets for its gross specialty and the invention of white hot hot dogs, one may safely avoid both and still have an authentic Rochester experience. Sure, I can probably never run for Senator in New York now, but there is nothing missing from visiting Rochester, New York and not eating a garbage plate.

Sadly, that means that there is no real local cuisine unique to Rochester. But given the choice between an exceptional array of ethnic foods from around the world and eating whatever slop they throw on the garbage plate, I'll take the worldwide selection. A few places I recommend are:

Wegmans - Yes, the local grocery store chain. The Pittsford Wegmans is a citadel of food so large and with such a significant selection of prepared gourmet foods that they actually added an upscale restaurant to it. And yes, it is truly that good!

The Bagel Bin - In Brighton, it's a wonderful place to get bagels first thing in the morning.

The Imperial Chinese Restaurant - Near the intersection of Highland and Clinton, this is a family-owned Chinese Restaurant where food is cooked by master Chinese chefs . . . who are actually Chinese! Seriously, some of the best food one might ever eat.

Highland Park Diner - Near the Imperial, there is a decent little diner with good diner food. It's diner food, it's universal Americana!

The Ethiopian Restaurant On Alexander - Okay, that's not the actual name of it, but if you want great food at a wonderful price, hop on Alexander Street and look around for the Ethiopian Restaurant. It is right near the building that used to be Genesee Hospital and it has amazing food!

Unfortunately, the other places I would recommend have all gone out of business in recent years. Still, the suburbs of Rochester have some amazing dining choices from Mediterranean to Chinese to Mexican. There's also a confectioner, Steever's Chocolates, in Rochester that is absolutely amazing.

Shopping

Rochester, New York is a great place for reasonably priced shopping, especially in the suburbs. There are at least three malls in the area - when I was growing up, Eastview was a dump, but now it is one of the greatest malls in the world, catering to a real up-scale clientele! - and they have their ebbs and flows. Creative people who like all of the things that cannot be found in malls will find Park Avenue to be the ideal shopping environment. For those looking for more the headshop type shopping, a huge tract of Monroe Avenue has that sort of thing right out in the open. Everyone has their own personal shopping bents, but for me the gems of Rochester shopping are:

Craft Service - This is a small, family owned art supply store (they do not accept credit cards!) that is absolutely amazing. If you have an artistic bone in your body and you want the tools and materials to create with, Craft Service on University Avenue is THE best place in the world to shop. They have everything from wax to make your own molded candles to oil paints and kilns! In fact, the store might be old fashioned, but it has books on every form of art and supplies for making everything from paintings to jewelry. Just bring cash.

Comics, Etc. - This is the local hangout for geeks and the owner of the store is friendly and has an amazing selection of comic books, toys (action figures) and trading cards. It's amazing he hasn't had to expand. Comics, Etc. is in a little quirky, artsy mall downtown called the Village Gate and it is a wonderful place to spend some time and money.

Lumiere Photo - An archival framing shop, Lumiere on Monroe Avenue has an amazingly friendly and artistically inclined staff that knows how to preserve photographs and artwork. I drive over a hundred miles just to do business with them!

Wegmans - Seriously, it's a citadel of food, you could get lost there for days.

As well, there are the usual wonderful chains like Barnes & Noble, Panera Bread (now), and all of the major clothiers.


Overall

Rochester, New York might not be a great place to visit, packed with all sorts of things to do or a history that changed the world, but it is an old canal town that burgeoned into a thriving city and continues to adapt to meet the needs of modern families. Ultimately, it is clean, increasingly diverse and the tax base is strong enough that the public schools are amazing here.

It might be tough for me to recommend Rochester, New York as a travel destination (outside shopping and having a great selection of places to eat and getting all of the latest things pretty quickly) but it is a great place to live in the United States.

For other places in New York, please check out my reviews of:
Turning Stone Casino
Syracuse, NY
Sylvan Beach Amusement Park

8.5/10

For other travel reviews, please check out my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the travel reviews I have written!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


Book a hotel in Rochester, NY by clicking here!

The Biggest Is Not Always The Best: MGM Grand Casino Bores Visitors (My 100th Travel Review!)

Book a room at the MGM Grand!
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The Good: Big, Lots to do
The Bad: Very standard, Very boring, Nothing terribly distinctive.
The Basics: Nothing terribly wrong with the MGM Grand Casino, save being one of the least distinctive and most boring casinos in Las Vegas I went to.


Despite my rather rigid rating system and my deep-seated belief that the majority of our experiences will ultimately average out, I can understand some why the "average" (4-6.5/10) reviews are not the staple of most reviewers' repertoire. It's boring to write about places and things that are adequate, but not much more than that. It's tough to get interested in writing a review where you're willing to flip a coin to determining the "recommend" or "not recommend" at the end.

I've been having that problem each and every time I sat down to write my review of the MGM Grand Casino. I was there a month ago and it was the least distinctive casino I gambled at. Was it terrible? No. Was it boring? Yes. Is it anything I can clearly define? Not so much. The best analogy I can give is this: if you've been shopping at a mall for two days back to back, the stores near the end, with their shiny lights and the same brands as everywhere else pale in comparison to the stores that still have a gimmick. The MGM is just big and it's kind of dull, especially in comparison to the other Las Vegas casinos I went to.

MGM Grand Casino: came in with $5.00, left with $15.00.

Location

The MGM Grand is a massive hotel and casino located at 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South in Las Vegas, Nevada. For those unfamiliar with Las Vegas, Las Vegas Boulevard is more commonly referred to as The Strip, the highest concentration of the most famous casinos in Las Vegas. The MGM Grand is one of the largest casinos on the Strip, dwarfing many others near it.

The MGM Grand has an equally huge parking garage next door with walkways extending from the multileveled parking structure to the casino. "Immense" would not be an inappropriate description of the MGM Grand. It is, by a fair amount, the largest casino I went in (to my knowledge or perception) while in Las Vegas. The MGM Grand boasts several thousand video slot machines and that boast is not an idle one; there were easily three thousand (if not, over five!) video slot machines on the floor of the MGM Grand casino.

Size/Atmosphere/"Atmosphere"

The MGM Grand Casino is a fairly large casinos in Las Vegas and it feels like it is capitalizing on the space it has. All of the ceilings are high, all of the carpets are clean and the place feels like one massive hotel lobby, save the lighting. The casino is spaced and dressed up like a hotel lobby, but the lighting is surprisingly dark. The lights from the video slot machine appear more pronounced because the ceiling lights are either so far away or so inadequate that the general feel of the casino is dark, yet spacious. There is, in some ways, a movie theater feeling to the MGM Grand as a result. The main gaming floor is huge and situated with massive numbers of video slot machines headed in different directions to make traveling through them difficult; no matter how fast you want to get through this casino, you'll be obstructed by a bank of video slot machines if you keep moving forward. Believe me, I know; I went through all of the video slot machines looking for a game my mother played at the MGM Grand last year!

The high ceilings should help dissipate the cigarette and cigar smoke that is prevalent in the casino, but for some reason the place still has a rather pungent tobacco scent. For those sensitive to such things, this remains a drawback to the MGM Grand. There is at least one nonsmoking poker room, but to my knowledge, there was no nonsmoking video slot room. One wonders if there is a Las Vegas casino that would try that; if they were able to clean out any space sufficiently, I am certain there would be a market for a nonsmoking slot area, if not an entirely nonsmoking casino!

As for the "atmosphere" of the MGM Grand, I swear, I don't recall seeing a serving woman in the casino on any of my trips to the MGM Grand. In fact, the only people I saw on the floor were two information/help people wearing a suit and a pantsuit each. They were strolling around the floor, directing people where they wanted to go, observing, etc. They were the ones who informed my poor mother that the MGM Grand no longer had the lone "Spooky Match And Win" game she played the year prior.

As far as other aspects of "atmosphere," this is a relatively nondescript casino, especially on the casino floor.

Gaming Options/Player's Club

I have a very simple gambling philosophy: I sit down at a slot machine with $5.00. I work it up to $10 or down to zero. I know my limits: I can afford to lose $5.00. So, when I am above that, I'll usually work it up or whittle it down to the next even $5.00. Have a strategy, know your limits: the MGM Grand Casino worked quite well for me. I arrived, failed to find the video slot machine my mother had been waiting all year to return to and I sat down at Mermaid's Gold and won fifteen dollars. I cashed out then and walked around the rest of the time; my mother was pretty sullen.

I'm primarily a slot machine player and I have no shame in admitting, I tend to like the ones that are more girly themed or video game-like. The MGM Grand had a very standard selection of video slot machines, including Enchanted Unicorn, the new Goldfish Gold, "Alien," Wheel of Fortune, Deal Or No Deal, and hundreds of others. The MGM Grand had a pretty decent selection and I recall when looking around upon first entering that there were several banks of virtually every game they had. The MGM Grand is especially proud of its progressive slots, which offer a huge jackpot when they hit, but those are not truly my thing. This was also the casino where I saw that they had the highest limit video slots and those were pretty terrifying for a person like me who plays the penny machines!

For those who might be into games of chance and card games instead of the fun and controlled reinforcement of video slot machines, there are several tables with table games, including a twenty-two table nonsmoking poker room! As well, they have the standard tables of blackjack, roulette wheels, seven card stud, Texas Hold-em, and Omaha. This is definitely a place not only trading on slot/video poker play as they devote a fair amount of space to the card/table games. There is also a sports betting segment, but that's not truly my thing.

There is a player's club at the MGM Grand, which is the MGM Mirage Players Club. Signing up is easy and there was no line when I went to sign up. There was nothing free for signing up when I went and for a casino so large, that seemed awfully chintzy to me.

Points here are accrued based upon how much money one bets in combination with time spent at a machine. The points accrue through some mystery formula and by the time I left, I did not have many at all.

Entertainment Options

The MGM Grand Casino boasts entertainment and in the casino there was a lion cage exhibit (habitat) in the casino itself! This was pretty cool, especially after I became bored with the same old video slot machines. As well, they have a pretty impressive bevy of shows in the MGM Grand theater. In addition to being the Las Vegas home of Cirque Du Soleil, there are regular concerts by the likes of Wayne Newton, Chicago, David Copperfield, and Tom Jones!

As well, there is a Paris-themes cabaret act and a dance club at the MGM Grand.

Dining Options

The MGM Grand was part of a three casino day for me, on the first day I went there (the other nights I came to it after dinner), so I did not dine at this casino. However, the MGM Grand has at least twenty dining options, though most of them are fine dining establishments.

For those who aren't just planning to drink their way through the MGM Grand, there is a sushi bar, a chinese restaurant, a steakhouse, a seafood restaurant, as well as a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and Joel Robuchon. For cheapskates like me, there is also a casual Emeril's and a buffet. There's even a Starbucks at the MGM Grand!

Shopping Options

The MGM Grand has a few big names to shop at outside the hotel gift shop. There was a florist, a Harley Davidson clothier, as well as jewelers, men's and women's clothing (Armani, Versace), and souvenirs of the MGM Grand itself.

Like most shopping at a casino in Las Vegas, it's ridiculously expensive to shop at the MGM Grand.

Overall

The MGM Grand might well be incredible for casino enthusiasts, but after hitting several casinos in Las Vegas, each and every one had something more distinctive to it than the MGM Grand (even if what it has was negative!). The MGM Grand was huge, but the video slot machines were pretty much the typical ones everyone else had and it was, overall, a pretty bland place.

For other casino reviews, please check out my takes on:
Las Vegas Hilton Casino
Fallsview Casino - Ontario
Vernon Downs Casino

3/10

For other destination reviews, please be sure to check out my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing of all I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Book a room at the MGM Grand!
Click here for the Hotels.com listing!