I just flew into Vegas this evening. Now it’s 11:30 pm local time, New York time is three hours earlier. You could imagine how exhausted I am! And yet, I’m compelled to tell you about my first night in Las Vegas…
I decided to take a taxi. Whenever I usually come into Vegas for a conference I take the shuttle bus, but since it was so late and I was so tired, I decided to take a taxi. When I asked the attendant how much, he told me it would be around $12. So I decided to splurge.
I got into the cab and told the driver my destination, the Renaissance Hotel across from the Convention Center. It took longer then I expected and he was chatting with me, so I didn’t think much about anything. When we got to the Renaissance Hotel, the meter read $30. I decided to be a sport and gave him $35. When the bellman helped me unload and the cab driver drove away, the bellman said to me, “Miss, I hate to tell you but you just got taken!”
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
“You should have paid $12, not $35. That’s why the cabby drove away so fast….”
“I can’t believe it,” I said and went inside. I shook my head and stood on line to get my hotel room. As soon as I went up to the front desk, I was told that the hotel was sold out and that they were transferring me to the Embassy Suites, a few blocks away.
“But don’t worry,” the front desk person told me, “we will pay for the first night and give you $20 for a cab.”
Just great, I thought. I wasn’t the only one getting booted out of the hotel, there were dozens of others. (Bloggers no less, just like me… here for Blogworld.)
I went outside with my heavy backpack and rolling suitcase. “Let me get you a cab,” the bellman said to me.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I think I’ll walk. Just point me in the right direction….”
He did and I was on my way down the block, down a seedy looking block. I was a little scared but more mad than anything else…. A police car passed me by…. I was glad about that….
I got to the hotel and was checked in quickly. The front desk people were lovely and very accommodating. One of the women told me that this type of thing happens all the time. “Don’t feel singled out,” she said. “This happens every day…. We have to overbook because of the economy…”
I shook my head and went up to my room. The hotel was nice but I didn’t love the location. So, I called around to other hotels on the strip and decided to try out the MGM Grand…
I have show tickets tomorrow night anyway, so I might as well try it out…
