The bank of three $1 3-play progressives (the one with a progressive for the dealt Royal, plus a progressive for each individual Royal, best game was 8/5 BP) has been removed from the floor. I was told by a slot manager that there are no plans to bring it back. The bank has been replaced with $1/$2 3/5-plays. No progressives, best game is 8/5 BP.

We stayed and played at GVR in December '03. Here's our admittedly subjective report: We noticed that internet room rates were relatively affordable ($119) and we had always wanted to check out the GVR property. We called a host and said that we played about $6,000 per day and she said she could bring us in at casino rate ($99 plus tax)and would check our play on departure. We arrived early and found our room ready and VERY NICE. Not as large as the Venetian, but every bit as nice. The staff were professional, courteous and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. It wasn't the down home hospitality of the BC, but it was what you would expect of a relatively small property that realizes that happy guests are the key to success. A truly luxurious hotel. It was a long walk to the casino which was surprising considering that the hotel has very few rooms. However, the layout is such that you have to walk past all the banquet areas to get to the casino. The casino is quite nice, but not spectacular. Much nicer than BC but certainly not the Bell. Nowhere near as smokey as the BC, but certainly not smoke-free. I would say that, smokewise, the GVR casino is similar to the LVH on an average night. There are two banks that have FPDW for quarters (our preferred game). One of the banks are slant-tops. The slant-tops were almost always busy. Even early in the morning. It was easier to find an open machine at the uprights, but even the uprights were often busy. One side of the uprights was VERY WARM especially when the casino was crowded. So warm, in fact, that they were virtually unplayable for any extended length of time. This was surprising to me because I am almost always cold in a casino. So, between the crowded conditions and the temperature, it was often difficult to find a bank of Deuces where both of us could comfortably play. This was our only complaint about the GVR experience. We often played the 50 cent 10/7 DB slant-tops when the Deuces were crowded but even those machines were sometimes crowded. We actually ended up playing some 8/5 bonus triple play! Our stay was in the last month before Stations cut their points in half for full-pay machines, so that may have had something to do with the crowds. In addition, all of the FPDW are on Optimum Play machines that also contain full-pay DB, DDB and LD. We often saw people playing one of these other games. So it may be that things have improved since GVR recently added a new bank of 10/6 DDB. The music in the casino was at the perfect volume - loud enough to hear but not so loud that you can't carry on a conversation in a normal tone of voice. We were there the week before Xmas and were surprised to hear all the Xmas music they were playing. The cocktail waitresses and restaurant staff was very friendly and service was good. The buffet was pretty good, but not great. Fatburgers has very good old-fashioned hamburgers. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is not as good as Starbucks but is better than the coffee joints in most casinos. Il Fornaio was very good - it's the same restaurant (although slightly different menu) than the Il Fornaio in NY NY. The quality is equal, if not better, than Il Fornaio in NY NY. The sushi bar was quite good but a bit overpriced. We used our points to pay. We didn't try Bullshrimp. The spa area and pool area are terrific. You walk by the pool area to get to the spa which is located in a separate building. The pool is not open in December. We had a car so I don't know anything about GVR's shuttle service. The car was handy and allowed us to visit Montelago and FH. Both are relatively close if you have a car. We played about $20,000 over three days. No Royals, no Deuces and no Aces in DB. Lost about $1,400. When we checked out, our host comped one night and we paid for two. This was what we expected based on what we had read and what our host had said to us over the phone when we booked the room in the first place. Before checking out, we asked our host for (and were given) a discretionary comp to the buffet. So, I would say that if you are looking for a relaxing and luxurious stay with good vp, you will not be disappointed. On the other hand, if our experience is typical, you will get far more comps elsewhere. That might change when the new hotel section is completed and they have more rooms to fill. In any event, the overall experience was so positive that we are thinking of returning. However, we would only do so if we could get an upfront room rate that we would be prepared to pay in case it wasn't comped.

GVR is a nice property. That said, as long as you would stay there anyway and pay to eat there, fine. From the experiences that friends of mine have had, it will take AT LEAST $30,000 coin-in a day on fullpay machines to get a room comp. The hotel is sold out most days during the weekends and they don't feel the need to give away rooms. There are people I know that play ten hours a day on dollars and have a hard time getting more than their room comped which has caused them to stay at other properties. They also used their slot points to pay for meals as discretionary comps are tough unless you're a whale.

Current policy at Stations seems to be that they won't give any discretionary food comps to people who play positive machines, but will comp their rooms. A discretionary room comp probably requires around $8,000 Coin-In per day (on average) now.

Rooms are top of the line. Service is first rate. The buffet is very good. Trophy's is good and Bullshrimp, although pricy is the best food I've ever eaten. China spice just opened this past week. Several of my gambling buddies have eaten there and now going to make it a twice a week event saying, "it's the best chinese that they've ever eaten." There's also a sushi bar if you like that sort of food.