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[LBoyd]

I haven't stayed at Southpoint yet either, but will based on Babe's report. I have heard good things about M Resort from others, but found the place slightly depressing and have no desire to stay there. I just don't like staying in ultra-modern looking rooms with a lot of glass and chrome. Find the rooms to be cold looking. Really disliked the half hour wait in a long line to get a slot card and mostly the downgrading of VP schedules. They do have 8/5 BP and 9/6 JOB, but I get bored with only the two to choose from--if they had either NSUD or FPDW I could survive. Mostly, yanking the buffet was not good and a $2 discount on a $25 buffet is almost insulting. I know others like the place so I guess different strokes for different folks. It was kind of funny to find a free buffet coupon in the mail from M Resort after I gave them almost no play. (Note that I didn't stay there, but checked them out.) If it wasn't so far from the beaten path I might stay a night or two. Linda

[CasinoCamper]

Thanks Linda, I love to read Babe's TR's too!

I'm glad to see the report because we're planning to visit Southpoint this coming spring for the first time and may consider becoming established there as locals. Whether we do that depends on how the Stations treat us, but we'll at least visit once.
_________________
Mac McClellan
www.CasinoCamper.com
www.MacAndChris.com

[LBoyd]

I'm posting this for Babe--she had a computer problem after going on a gambling forum. No problems whatsoever on our forum. I consider her trip reports way too good to not have posted here. Really informative and well-written so they are much appreciated! Linda
The following are my highly subjective thoughts of a first stay at South Point.

Arriving At The South Point:

My first impression of the casino floor, was of a large, rectangular, brightly lit Video Poker
factory. As I Dragged my wheelie to the Front Desk, I stopped to look at games and pay tables on various machines. I was gratified to find 16/10 NSUD in every denom. on most boxes. I knew immediately, that I would enjoy staying and playing here.

There was no one else waiting to check-in when I reached the Front Desk. Initially, I had been slightly disappointed at the the lack of a VIP check-in area, as I have found this type
of facility to be a great, time saving convenience in other casinos. At this time it was not
at all necessary.

An efficient desk clerk inquired as to my room type preference, found a suitable room,
and gave me the key. When I inquired where the card club was located, so I could have player cards printed, he volunteered to make the cards for me. He then pointed me towards the hotel elevators. Ten minutes after arriving, I was in my room.

The Hotel Room:

Upon entering the room, which was three doors from the elevator, as requested, I was pleased to note the spacious size, the light streaming through the wall-to-wall draperies, and the general brightness and cleanliness of the accommodation.

Peeking through the drapes, I was gazing down on a lovely pool area, with tasteful and abundant landscaping.

The room was accessed through an entrance hall, which contained a gold framed, full length mirror.

A nice bathroom was comprised of a good sized, single sink vanity area, and a separate bath and toilet room, containing a phone extension. All of the usual toiletry amenities were there, in addition to an adequate supply of very ordinary towels, which I found to be thin and lacking in softness. Also missing was a bathroom TV and make-up mirror. The bathroom lighting was excellent.

The bedroom area contained two Queen beds (as requested) with a night table and lamp
between them. Additionally, there were excellent overhead reading lights, over each bed, which could be operated while remaining in bed. A large flat screen, HD TV set faced the bed, over a wide dresser. There was also a desk and chair, with a wifi port, two lounge
chairs flanking an occasional table, and a small round table and two chairs for snacking in the room. The furniture was fresh looking and in subdued good taste, as were the draperies and bed linens. The desert colors palette was mostly done in beiges, golds and pale orange. But the room really shone in the number of light fixtures provided.
(Forgive the word play, please!) I counted NINE in the bedroom. Very desirable and
unusual, particularly in a mid-range priced hotel.

Using my arbitrary room rating system for "locals casinos", I would assign the South
Point rooms 4 points on a scale of 1 to 5. For comparison purposes, I would rate the
M rooms a 5, and the old Silverton rooms, prior to remodeling, a 3.

The Card Club:


At the card club I perused a brochure which explained the club rules.

I learned that one point was earned for each dollar wagered, regardless of the type of machine. VP play earned at the same rate as Reel or Video Slot play. This unusual feature both surprised and pleased me.

The points were valued, at the same rate of redemption, for use as casino comps, free play or cash back, at the rate of 4,000 points = $12.00 in cash back.

Free Play could be accessed without leaving a machine, by enabling the "Bonus Credits" feature in the card reader. Handy (I guess) for those who lose all the money in their wallet and wish to continue playing.

I knew ahead of time that Michael Gaughan, owner of SP, does not believe in "elite tiers"
for bigger players. Each player is in the same tier and is issued the same card, whether
they play through $100 or $10,000 per day. Of course, comps, mailers and other offers
are still based on coin-in, theo etc. From the point of view of the casino, I disagree with the concept. I believe that when management recognizes the loyalty of a heavier player by granting additional perks, that it encourages the player to continue play that is commensurate with retaining elite status. I also believe that most players appreciate being recognized as valued patrons.

The card club promotion on that Tuesday was a card swipe (after a small minimum amount of play) for various prizes. My card swipe resulted in an additional 500 points being added to my daily total. The second time that I swiped, on the following Thursday, I scored a $10.00 off coupon, good in any SP restaurant.

On a less pleasant note, I was not happy with a conversation I had with a card club employee and her supervisor, regarding approximately 4,000 points which mysteriously disappeared from my account.

I discovered the missing points some time after playing next to two friends, one of whom glanced at my card reader and commented that I had accumulated over 12,000 points on my first day in Las Vegas. An hour later, after leaving that machine, and putting the player's card in a different machine, only 8.000 points were recorded. When I called this to attention of the card club booth person, after waiting in a LONG line, I was informed that "points can't disappear". Asking for her supervisor netted me the explanation, that "I had possibly read the total wrong initially."

When I related this experience to my two friends who had also seen the 12,000 points registered, they verified that I was not delusional. The card reader had said exactly that.

Because my host was extremely gracious to me, I choose to drop the matter, and not mention it to her. I didn't believe that pursuing the equivilant of $12.00 in cash back, was
a good exchange for possibly alienating a very good host.

The VP Inventory:

South Point has an excellent selection of VP. Most games were offered in denoms. from .25c to $2.00. Though none of the base games is over 100% EV, most are full pay. As of Mid-January, they include:

NSUD, BDLX, DDB, Single-line & Multi-play JOB & BP plus MS. STP, QQ & SP. However, the best Joker game that I could find was a bank of .25c single-line 5/7/18/4700 boxes.


The Restaurants:


The only South Point restaurants which I tried were the Deli, The Buffet. The Coffee Shop and Primarily Prime Rib.

In the Deli I ordered a Hot Dog. It was a NY style, colorless (and in this case flavorless) anemic looking sausage. I took a few bites, just enough to stop my tummy rumbles, and discarded the rest. I also wrote off the Deli for any future snacking. Though this was not
a fair sampling of their menu items, I did not give them another chance

The SP brunch was good, though my guests and I all agreed that M had no need to worry about the competition. We were dismayed that only non-diary creamer was served with coffee. We overcame this by putting whipped cream from the buffet, in our coffee. YUM! Even better than half and half.

The weekend brunch buffet had all the usual ingredients, in addition to really good smoked salmon and a variety of sushi and sashimi.

The food was fresh looking, of good quality, and offered a fairly wide selection of brunch
items. It was priced fairly at $13.95. I considered it to be very satisfactory and awarded 4 of my arbitrary 5 stars.

I sampled both breakfast and dinner in the coffee shop, where they had real half and half and not the awful non-diary creamer stuff.

For breakfast I ordered my favorite casino breakfast food; a BLT. South Point

gets very high marks from me for their BLT preparation. LOTS of really crispy bacon,
sliced, ripe, red tomatoes and dark green lettuce, heaped on toasted white bread, with a little pot of mayo on the side. Very good eatin'! An enjoyable morning meal, which, including coffee, was priced under $10.00.

At dinner, my friends ordered from the Chinese Menu. They said that the dishes were
well prepared, and tasty. I ordered a Porterhouse steak, which was flavorful, presented
very rare, as requested, but was also a bit "chewy".

The coffee shop earned 3 1/2 points.

I enjoyed treating some family members to dinner at "Primarily Prime Rib" Restaurant. 0ne of them had inquired had about dining at Michael's, but I told him that the only way that was going to happen was if I received a personal comped invitation from Mr. Gaughan!

We found the PPR prices to be reasonable, the service pleasant and the food quite good.
Because we dined there on the same day that we had eaten at the M buffet, we were all lacking much tummy space. We ordered only one appetizer (Hot spinach and Cheese Dip $6.95), one large baked potato ($5.95) and three orders of the South Point Prime Rib, thick cut ($14.95). All the food was very good. The beef was presented to the table very rare, as ordered. I awarded PPR 4 out of 5 stars.

Though, IMO, the good features of South Point far outweighed the bad, I am listing my highly subjective overall opinions about the casino. Suffice it to say, I intend to return again, which is a recommendation in itself.

What I LOVED About The South Point:

The SUPER VP inventory, headed by the largest number of 16/10 NSUD games, that I've
seen in any casino.

The friendly employees

The spacious, nicely appointed, very clean rooms

The reasonably priced restaurants, offering good food and value

My very gracious host

Being able to track daily coin-in on the card reader

It is only about a 5 minute drive from the M buffet.

What I Disliked About The South Point:

No "elite" tiers in the card club.

No line passes

Long waits at the card club

No VIP check-in

No 1/2 & 1/2 or cream in the buffet

Some "double talk" from card club employees regarding "disappearing earned points"

The casino was INUDATED with young kids on Friday night. The crowds and the kid's
shrill voices as they raced around the casino drove me to my room at 7:30pm.