All: Just returned from a second trip to Biloxi. We flew from Ft Laud to New Orleans on Southwest Airlines, as Air Tran discontinued direct flights from Ft Laud to Gulfport. Grabbed $116.00 round trip tickets on Southwest%26#39;s website back in January.We hadn%26#39;t flown on Southwest since 2001 and were very happy. In fact, I think Southwest got to New Orleans faster than Air Tran got us to Gulfport.
Naturally the last bags on the carousel were ours, so that cut out any time gain we made on a 3/4 empty flight. Proceeded to the transportation center and got our shuttle to Alamo. We had prepaid for a mid-size SUV for the price of a Cobalt on a nice Hotwire sale back in February. Hopped in our Kia Rondo and headed to Biloxi.
Got off I-10 at Gulfport, more for a bathroom break than the McDonald%26#39;s food that we got. Drove along the I-90/Beach Blvd the rest of the way, got to the Grand at noon, checked in and were in our room tout-de-suite. Room 850, facing the Gulf with a view of the pool and the defunct Margaritaville construction site. Waited for the refrigerator needed for prescription medicine to be delivered, got the girl that was cleaning rooms to give us extra ashtrays and kleenex, and we were off to the casino.
As others on this forum have noted, the casino is on the smaller side , but serves well as a 3 night comped homebase.No big wins to report that afternoon, but you can%26#39;t win on the first day every gambling trip. Penny slots are fickle lol. Ate a quick dinner at the Lobby Bar and hit the room fairly early due to getting up at 2am lol.
Woke up at 1am, couldn%26#39;t get back to sleep so I went back downstairs to play. Took some coffee up to the room at 6am and called the cat-sitter to find out how the cat with the twice a day antibiotic habit was doing. Grabbed the buffet ( $6.99 ) for breakfast and started the tour of the places that we had not gotten to on our first trip.We went to Hard Rock, got our $10 in freeplay, and stayed for an hour or so. Frankly, I was not impressed. Very weird public restroom with co-ed sink area and seperate lavatory rooms. We were supposed to return the following day if we earned 50 points on our initial visit to receive another $10 in freeplay. Got the 50 points, but never went back.
Hit the liquor store behind the Grand for in room libations and went to collect a $20 freeplay offer sent in the mail from Boomtown. Won qite a bit on my initial $20 and went back to the Grand for a buffet lunch ($8.99 ).
We decided to drive to Gulfport as I had seen a billboard on I-10 saying that Island View would double any freeplay coupon from a competitor%26#39;s casino. We had a $110.00 freeplay coupon for the Grand, so as we were new players, they gave us $220.00 in freeplay and somehow the machine let us cash out over a $100 of the freeplay. Played for 90 minutes on their money, and cashed out about half of it and drove back to the Grand. Very windy on I-90, lot of sand on the road. Ordered some food at the Lobby Bar and hit the room quite a bit richer than I had been at the beginning of the day lol. Ate a club sandwich laying on my bed, now that%26#39;s called being on vacation lol.
Managed to sleep til 4am, went down to visit my new favorite barrista at the Grand Cafe, played slots for an hour or so and took some coffee up to the room. After breakfast at the buffet, we hit the Palace. Won about $30 on the new player freeplay and proceeded to the IP. Very impressed; had a preconceived, ill-founded suspiscion that it was going to be like Imperial Palace in Vegas. WRONG lol. It puts the Beau Rivage and the Hard Rock to shame. No free play for new players here, but stayed for a few hours, stopping for lunch at High Tide. Again dinner at the Lobby bar and early to bed as tomorrow is going home day :-(. Printed boarding passes at the self service $5 for 5 minutes internet kiosk before retiring.
Had no intention in getting up early, as I was kind of gambled out by now. Snoring woke me up and fortuitously went downstairs for pre-breakfast gambling. Luckily I decided to play a Glinda the Good Witch Wizard of Oz reel- type machine. Glad I did. Hit a random progressive jackpot for $236.00. Just sitting there minding my own business, had decided I was going to move to a different machine when the meter said $20.00. Played the last 40 cents, didn%26#39;t get anything and was about to hit cash-out when the whole screen went black. Then I heard Glinda%26#39;s voice telling me to pick a barn. Nine gray barns appeared out of the black and I managed to pick the one that said 120+bonus. Then Glinda at 330am said '; Oh Dear ; look up to see what you%26#39;ve won.'; A cyclone then appeared om the top signage and amounts started disappearing until only the $236 was left. I was in shock. Nice way to end the trip, Eh? Random bonus, gotta love it. This got longer than I planned, so will end it there and answer any questions anyone has. Thanks for reading. Mark
Trip Report: 4/26 thru 4/29 at the Grand
Thanks for the report. It was a good read. Flying into New Orleans is not that bad. Even if it%26#39;s 1.5 hr drive, by taking the morning flight, you are sitting in front of a machine before lunch.
Haven%26#39;t been to the Grand in a while. Was getting about $10 freeplay but that has stopped and they haven%26#39;t mail me any offers to make me stop in. The Grand was that bad, small but not crowded.
Trip Report: 4/26 thru 4/29 at the Grand
Enjoyed reading your report. Good win to end your trip. Makes you want to return. IP is our favorite. Always have good room and food comps. We do visit the Grand and others for the freeplay although like you the Beau and Hard Rock are not our favorites although a lot of folks think they%26#39;re the best.
You are looking at the one that thinks Beau is the best. I do like to visit IP and it is a nice big casino; but I don%26#39;t think that it puts Beau to shame by a long shot.....no way....LOL! Just a ';little'; prejudiced here....sorry ;o).
This old world would be a boring place if everyone had the same taste in everything, though.
Forgot to mention, Oakland.....thoroughly enjoyed your TR....love reading other people%26#39;s outlook on things. Thanks taking your time to do a TR.
All; A few postscripts: The drive from New Orleans to Biloxi is a good hour and a half, however the return trip from Biloxi to New Orleans is closer to at least two hours due to construction on the west bound lanes over Lake Ponchatrain.
I don%26#39;t think it is worth the extra time entailed to do that scenario again; hopefully some research or a TA contributor can inform me of an airline that flies direct from Ft Laud to Mobile? The car rental rates in New Orleans are very prohibitively high, thus eating up any savings on the Southwest fares over the Air Tran fares. The girl at the Grand, that checked us out on Wednesday morning, said they are urging Air Tran or another airline to pick up a direct So. Florida-Gulfport route.
I had promised our waitress at the High Tide at IP to give her a special shout-out. Her name was Deborah. She was fast and efficient; two wise traits in a turn-your-tables-quickly type restaurant. ( I used to be a waiter, so I know of what I speak ). Most servers in 24 hr restaurants in Biloxi and especially Las Vegas, seem to not want to turn their tables. We ordered, ate, and paid the check in 45 minutes. Sometimes you wait 45 minutes after being seated for your food to be served in casino cafes.Just a thought lol. People want to get back to gambling, not admire the non-ambience in a 24 hour cafe.
For those of you expecting free printing of boarding passes, that is a thing of the past at the Grand. So is Starbucks; replaced by a JavaCoast type of coffee/sandwich establishment. The new hours at The Grand Cafe are 24/7; Starbucks used to close up at 10 or 11pm and reopen at 600am.
Blown away by the slot selection at Island View; blown away by the sheer size of IP; froze my butt off for three days at the Grand, struggling with a cold; self-park at the Grand on weekdays, we only walked maybe a few hundred feet further than if we had valeted the car.
Thanks to all who responded; until next trip; hopefully soon :-) Mark
Hi Mark,
I have been watching flights into Mobile for years. There are no reasonable price flights. It would be great with only an hour drive.
I agree about the 90 miles from New Orleans to Biloxi but I am used to it.
Surprised you did not get a good car deal from Alamo. I go up about 5 to 6 times a year (from Tampa) and my car will average from $15 to $20 per day for a compact or midsize. Last two trips they had a $10 a day for any car. One trip had a Charger and on my last a Toyota Avalon. I thing I do not do is ';prepay';. I have found that the closer I get to my travel dates, the better chance of getting a lower rate by using and combining ID %26amp; coupon codes.
Enjoyed your TR and the thing which makes the Gulf Coast great is the people, which you appear to have experienced.
PS I meant in my prior post that the Grand is NOT that bad, just small.
Enjoyed your TR! I also love the casino at IP. The slot selection is phenominal. Each casino has something to offer, I think. The Beau for it%26#39;s beauty, Hard Rock for it%26#39;s entertainment (evenings mainly) and IP for the slots.
It%26#39;s too bad they stopped the Margaritaville project. I was really looking for to it opening.
Agree with you totally, Animul....just like in Vegas...every casino/hotel has something different to offer.
I was excited about the Margaritaville also.....maybe if the economy picks up, we will eventually see it.
Wonderful TR. I agree about the co-ed bathroom wash area at the Hard Rock. My first time there, I walked in, saw a man washing his hands and said ';oh S***';, I walked in the men%26#39;s room';. I walked out...looked at the ';ladies'; room sign %26amp; went back in. Strange indeed! It%26#39;s a hoot to look at people%26#39;s expressions when it%26#39;s their first time.
Also Love the Island View %26amp; IP...so many slots to choose from.
Glad you had a great time, congrats on your winnings and looking forward to your next TR.
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