Should get interesting if you are familiar with the Killer Termites.
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Should get interesting if you are familiar with the Killer Termites.
The Yelp review in question:
The rumor is that this hotel is about to be torn down. Staying here will make an ardent atheist pray that this is true. You can even see it in the eyes of the employees. As friendly as they are, you can tell that nobody wants to be here.
The Rio is like being in 1986. By that I mean it's like you were still driving your 1986 Ford Tempo 33 years later, held together with gaffer's tape and surgical mesh, riding on the rusted rims. Vegas isn't what it used to be, anyone who's come here over the last two or three decades can attest. The Rio isn't even what it was when they last updated their Expedia page.
You have more than too many options when it comes to finding a hotel in Vegas. What finally sold me on the Rio, aside from having regular decent stays here in the past, was this from Expedia.
"Dining options include a seafood buffet, a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar, a wine cellar and tasting room, a New England-style seafood restaurant, an American grill, a South American café, an Indian restaurant, and room service."
There is no seafood buffet. It has long since been discontinued. As has the South American cafe. You find all this out piecemeal by asking everyone and anyone who has worked here long enough to remember. There used to be a Japanese restaurant. The folks at the American grille told me that it didn't exist. It had in fact closed eons ago. Yet I kept passing signs across the casino floor saying Sushi at Club 172. When I would call the front desk, they were unaware of this place. After eating there, I kept asking any employee in any department where sushi could be found. Turns out this was a new sushi place and they rent the spot no differently than a nail salon in a strip mall. The property itself doesn't know or care who may be in or out of business. They just gaze into an unknown future, waiting for the wrecking ball to swing.
There is a poster in the elevator for a celebrity host on a limited run at Chippendales's. It was from last year. I wouldn't doubt that they didn't put it up until after he was long gone. The casino floor is littered with barkers outside of every shop or passageway, hustling everything from haircuts to time-share, like beggars who ask for investments rather than pocket change. The ATM fee is 9.99 to take out a twenty, onerous even by Las Vegas standards. Thankful, and rightfully, my hometown bank treated this charge as an illegal transaction and declined it.
On the first of my six days here, I called down with a litany of these complaints from the 1986 phone in the room. But I could barely hear the front desk because the phone was so old. That simply added one more complaint.
On the second night at midnight, my manager showed up drunk at my door like Oscar Madison from the Odd Couple after having a tiff with his galpal. I didn't wake to his repeated calls and banging at my door (Thanks, Xanax!) so he simply slept like a homeless person outside of my suite in the hallway for almost six hours. Like so many piles of garbage or room service trays during my stay here, he wasn't noticed or removed.
In defense of the Rio, the suite I stayed in was a full 1600 square feet that averaged less than 200 dollars a night, with a full view of the Strip. Despite the colors of beige-on-brown-on-cream - the vibrant spectrum that brings to mind Rio de Janeiro - and the highway salvage living room furniture that is currently spitting feathers from every tear and crack, it's still a pretty decent price. So long as you avoid gambling. Go to a Station casino for that.
I won't say how much I lost gambling here but I'd estimate that my Rewards/Players Club card paid me about one penny for every twenty bucks. I've gambled less at other casinos and been offered free rooms, my own private concierge and amenities too numerous to count. Here I got half-off a buffet.
The hallway reeks of cigarettes and now-legalized recreational weed. This is a positive. Penn & Teller, as well as The Comedy Cellar with Mark Cohen and Guests are also a bonus. Pet-friendly another plus.
Still, I give it one-star. Because who reads a two-star review? It's just business.
I mean when you get a 1,600 square foot suite for under $200 a night, I mean what do you want? Years ago, like 2005, I stayed at the Hooters Casino, it was $74 a night. I was bitching about my room, this and that. My buddy got sick of hearing about it and said the room is $74 a night deal with it. He was 100% right and I went about my business and all of a sudden the room got a lot less important. Unless you are some type of honeymoon or anniversary, just deal with the room or check out. To stay in a hotel for a week you hate is really on you, you are only committed the first night and can cancel the rest of the stay unless you did something totally ridiculous like pay in advance for all the nights.
As far as complaining about ATM fees, outdated posters on elevators or cigarette smoke I really don't what to say about that. I mean that is everywhere in life.
Interesting. I would love to know more about this.
Is it possible he did something else to get banned and is blaming it on the bad review?
You never know the truth with this stuff unless you know the guy really well.
Remember the guy "mugged" in the parking lot a few years ago, who ended up actually being beaten up during a drug deal gone bad? (I'm not talking about the mugging THIS year, which appears to be real.)
How did they identify him as the reviewer?
Here is a link to the review itself: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rio-all-sui...EYsrKKr4KbSPIA
He's listed as "Doug S."
I'm very suspicious here.
His reviews tend to get a lot of eyeballs. Something he started doing a few years back. Anyone familiar with him would know who it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Not sure if maybe one of his buddies did something. Who knows.
Being a fan of his stand up and following for a few years he doesnt strike me as someone who would just make things up. Almost honest to a fault. Who else would admit he assisted suicide on his terminally ill mother during an nfl party at his house for her? He wrote a book about it as well.
He’s a stand up comedian?
Oops, Caesars
Maybe he will invite you on his podcast GBCP
This is really interesting, and I can't wait to see how it plays out.
On one hand, the guy is a comedian with somewhat of a following (327,000 Twitter followers, too), so he's less likely to make up BS than the average customer.
However, at the same time, a few things smell fishy:
1) Why would Caesars/Rio ban him for a bad review, knowing that it would likely come back at them twentyfold by the fallout from the ban?
2) Why was he banned on June 27 when the review was on February 19? Perhaps that's when they found out about it, but still, that raises questions.
3) The letter said that he "engaged in inappropriate conduct", which could mean a lot of things. Is it possible the had an incident at a different Caesars property in June, and then decided to blame the ban on the February 19th review of the Rio?
Of course, with Caesars, anything stupid is possible, so it wouldn't be shocking if they got wind of the bad review recently and decided to punish him with a ban, perhaps figuring that it would prevent him from posting further bad high profile reviews. But that would be really, really dumb... kind of like cutting off a reviewer's feet so he can't walk your property and give you a bad review.
Anyway, perhaps more details will come out, given that this is getting some play on social media, and the mainstream media may pick it up given Stanhope's B-level fame.
he had performed on their properties in the past iirc so there are rules of conduct at bar.
We might have our answer here.Quote:
Originally Posted by sonatine
Perhaps they were mad that he worked at their properties before and now is trashing them on Yelp and Tripadvisor.
Still dumb to ban him, but they may feel that he bit the hand that fed him, and this might be the punishment they're placing upon him.
In the same fashion that casino hosts steal whales from other properties ... this guy is gonna be in high demand with Strip entertainment managers
It’s just a really funny piece. Sometimes an artist is just compelled to create. His new fortune is just luck.
The Caesars manager who made the decision was prolly gonna get downsized anyway.
One other thing to consider:
Stanhope is an admitted drunk.
I still think it's possible he was there in June, drunkenly misbehaved, and they barred him after the fact. I think it's even possible he doesn't remember much of it, and honestly believes it was because of the review.
there's actually a whole Louie episode about working vegas, and it actually is kinda similar to this situation around the edges.
honestly its monumentally stupid of stanhope to bite the hand that feeds but as druff pointed out, he's a drinker and this might have just been him showing drunkenly poor judgement on a subject to riff on.
i.m.o. he violated a paper all Emp.s sign saying we will not talk to media or social outlets..etcetc....maybe.
druff you know the answer to this one...fucking shocking that with the rampant incompetence that they found it this quickly...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
GOOD JOB CAEARS!!! WAY TO HAVE YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!!!
:lol2
I hope efforts are made to get the man on radio.
I have reached out to him on Twitter, but he has gotten hundreds of responses to this, so I'm guessing I will be ignored.Quote:
Originally Posted by klinz
Doug could care less about his status
This is simply retaliation and calls for a complaint to be filed with the Nevada Gaming Commision.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kazoey
Case closed. Looks like Caesars was in the right (sorry GBCP).
Here's a show he did from February 16, three days before the review.
He talked about getting blackout drunk, skipped out on money he owed (his assistant ended up paying), his assistant sleeping in the hallway drunk outside his door, and smoked pot in his room.
Obviously someone brought Caesars attention to this in June, and they banned him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnGCOzDdaeI
It's funny... ordinary people complaining about the Rio seem to be a lot more credible than celebrities. Natalie Maines once complained on Twtter that she had to sleep on the couch in her Rio room because her bed was so gross, but apparently she made no effort to switch rooms or call customer service. Instead, she just took to Twitter, posted a picture of her "couch bed" (but interestingly not any pics of the bed which was supposedly so filthy), and bitched.
this whole ordeal casts kind of a weird light on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_(Louie)
well after all the fail and incompetence over the years, they were bound to get one right eventually...
guess the perfect game is over...
It's always hard to figure out what the truth is in these situations, because you're dealing with potential Caesars fail and potentially drunk degen gamblers, and trying to decipher which one (or both) is at fault.
The majority of comedians have their issues and mind altering substances goes with that. You say Stanhope is an admitted drunk, like that is relegating him to the unwashed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Everyone has their vices. Some people lie and cheat people out of money, but they don't drink Some people can't help stuffing their faces because it gives them the dopamine rush we all relate to.
You are no better that Doug Stanhope in fact considering what you stand for, which is money in your pocket, you are lower than Doug Stanhope the drunk.
Kinda strange that he didn’t edit out his address...not that he’s hard to find.
You have to realize that comedians being barred from clubs etc. is not that uncommon. Many comedians do not always "play to the room". The room in question, a Vegas hotel casino nightclub where Americans from all walks of life like to congregate. Stanhope and others like him are going to say what they thinks is funny and I would not be surprised if his act contained a fair bit of Trump material.
This does not go down with all audiences, especially in the melting pot of Vegas. People are there not just to see Stanhope, in fact I'm sure most don't even know him.
So you get enough complaints from people who are paying the bills and it adios
Caesars/Harrah's/Rio/Eldorado Resorts is ALWAYS AT FAULT!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Also many WSOP employees and Phil Hellmuth for being a complete tool, fool and clueless idiot.
https://i.imgur.com/yMa47vX.jpg
https://www.cardschat.com/news/wp-co...ce-7-4-18.jpeg
https://terezowens.com/wp-content/up..._n-613x558.jpg
Little Caesars bringing back that stuffed crust hitter is literally the jolt this summer needed
Has always posted his address. People send him bibles from hotel rooms. They used to have a big superbowl party but I guess they shut it down when too many randoms were flying in and messing everything up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Texter
I took a trip to Tombstone and went down to Bisbee to check out the massive copper mine. It is a really cool place with half the town built on the side of a hill which includes some old hotels. His place consists of several lots and he has built it up pretty nice with a few bars, etc. As for the people it seems like a lot of drifters and people on disability. Not much money there aside from Stanhope and the hotels.
I see the documented rep delete bug is still with us.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheXFactorCaesars/Harrah's/Rio/Eldorado Resorts is ALWAYS AT FAULT!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Also many WSOP employees and Phil Hellmuth for being a complete tool, fool and clueless idiot.
https://i.imgur.com/yMa47vX.jpg
https://www.cardschat.com/news/wp-co...ce-7-4-18.jpeg
https://terezowens.com/wp-content/up..._n-613x558.jpg
Only Phil could make 20 women wearing next to nothing look gay.
That's it, I'm writing a bad Yelp review for Doug Stanhope
He's far from a struggling comedian so your chances of getting him on are literally zero but it's always cool to take these moonshots bc you never know what will happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan DruffI have reached out to him on Twitter, but he has gotten hundreds of responses to this, so I'm guessing I will be ignored.Quote:
Originally Posted by klinz
Yeah, exactly what I thought, which is why I took the shot, but never had the delusion that he was coming on.Quote:
Originally Posted by SidewinderHe's far from a struggling comedian so your chances of getting him on are literally zero but it's always cool to take these moonshots bc you never know what will happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Hey asshole, I'm not defending a drunk I'm defending a comedian. So many people don't understand comedians who say what they want to say for the laugh. The fact that he was barred from a room is not because he was blind drunk but he said things that people take too seriously. A comedian takes any subject and puts a twist on it for the laugh.
I just watched another Stanhope video and I like him more than ever. Guy was in deep as a kid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z8W5yQyzk8
Just to be sure, can you write up a negative review of the Rio at post it on Yelp?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
:lol3
I listened to Druff’s radio segment too.
What Druff entirely misses with this story is the comedy. From the jump this was all done for laughs (and the attention good comedy brings).
The chronology of when he wrote the review is immaterial. It was a funny review. You get he’s a comedian, right?
A comedian tells requisite Vegas blackout drunk stories. We don’t give a fuck. He doesn’t give a fuck. We all have fun.
Druff treats this with all the seriousness of a colonoscopy.
You’ve been had son. Lighten up.
If you're really interested in the Stanhope story don't give up on trying to get him on the radio show.
The fact that he hasn't responded to your request has nothing to do with him being too good for the request.
Keep contacting him and mention you also have a long list of Rio stories
Do you think he wasn't reporting the truth in his review, or at least what he believed to be the truth?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
Yes it was written in a comedic style, but it wasn't a joke.
He responded to a message by John Mehaffey, which I then responded to, and offered to give Doug advice on how to get unbanned from the Rio.
He "liked" my response but didn't answer me.