Be Very Careful
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 3/27/09
I stayed at the Palazzo at the Venetian for a week and a couple of things left me wondering what ever happened to first class service. The hotel and room were gorgeous, but most days my room was not made up until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. The front of the drawers in the dresser were actually falling apart. Who wants to put their clothing in a drawer with no front and exposed nails? It was reported several times to both maintenance and the room maid, but no one ever came to fix it.
In the casino one day I was approached by a well dressed pan-handler who stated I looked like I had a little money and would I give him some. Being a middle aged woman sitting alone at a bank of slots, I was naturally very afraid. I gave him $5 and he took the money and disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. I went immediately to the security desk and reported what had happened. I gave a description of the man and what he was wearing. As I was doing this I saw the man across the casino and pointed him out to the security man. He said he could not leave the desk, and called someone on a radio. Unbelievably, it took about 10 or 15 minutes before any action was taken. Apparently it was change of shift time and all the security people were in a back room. Finally about 6 men came out and asked about the man. By then he was long gone. I proceeded to give another description and they said they would look on the security cameras and possible identify or find him. I left my name and room number and never heard another thing. Needless to say I didn't go back into the casino alone again. I have been to casinos all over the world and have never been afraid before. I would have to say security was almost non-existant at this particular time. The man obviously knew what he was doing. He could have very easily pulled a gun and taken not only my money, but my jewelry and no one would have been around to help me. The message I want to get across is to be careful, look for security people and don't sit alone - sit around other people. To their credit, the Palazzo did have a security man checking room keys near the elevator. At busy times though I did see some people get through without a key. On a positive note, the restaurants were very good. After a couple of days, the waiters even got to know me. I would go back again, but would not go into the casino alone.