Palms Station

I wanted to talk about the Palms a little bit since the new owners have taken over. So far... not as bad as I thought it would be. They took a few games out but put the same game on uprights instead of flat tops. They still have the game that I thought they would for sure shut down. They still offer a lot of free gift days. It seems they are still giving 10x/6x days on Thursdays but of course the card is not nearly as good as it was. They still kept a few playable reels that I know about but once again the card isn't as strong. The free play is still decent IMHO. It doesn't feel like the Stations just yet. I was in the Host Office the other day and it was still the same old same old but now they give out written comps. I expect a remodel of that area down the road. Some machines are marked incorrectly which is good for the player still. I have been testing the waters to see what happens. I put over 300k in December to see what happens. I figure that nobody will talk publicly about this and I am sure I have said too much but I don't mind sharing trivial information publicly and hope to see if anyone else shares.

Thursday's $5 senior buffet with free all-U-can-drink wine is totally out.

Quote: RoyalBJ

Thursday's $5 senior buffet with free all-U-can-drink wine is totally out.

I don't understand why they are putting all this money into renovations instead of better quality. First off the new carpet is one of the worst I have seen. I know... who cares about the carpet right? It seems silly but it is really annoying but I guess that is an old trick to get your head up to look at the machines which I understand the strategy.

Next... I went to get a written comp and since all the other places are under construction I had to go to the L---y Penny Cafe for dinner. The L word is a four letter word I do not like to use. I have had some of the pastries with some small comps and they are good. Coffee and Tea is fine but I prefer the Coffee Bean instead.

Dinner was a disaster. We waited over 10 mins for a server to greet us and take our drink order. After that another 10 mins to get the drinks and waited 30 mins total for the food to come out. The food was not very good. I will eat anything so it isn't that I couldn't eat the food but it just was not what I expected after they renovated that place. It does look nice on the outside but I would of rather they put the money into higher quality food and a better menu. The old menu was by far superior.

**They do have a new bank of full pay machines right next to it but I hardly see anyone playing them. I haven't tried but I figure you either get no points or cut points but they don't have anything posted. I did try to rip off free play on the DB but they don't allow it on that bank. Monkey See Monkey Do and I don't see any Monkeys playing that Bank. Not that Palms is fully Stationized just yet but I think we all know not to play FP games with Stations.**

We ordered two Potato Soups and one Chicken Noodle. My Chicken Noodle Soup was cold and the other soup was ridiculous. They put 1/4lb of french fires right in the middle of the soup. The old school french fries I used to get at lunch in the second grade. These are those french fries you can buy at the grocery in a big plastic bag. So you have a mound of french fries in the middle of your soup and you have a bunch of fried onions on top of that... kinda like french's onions.

I ordered a Salad and wanted Ranch instead of house dressing and they messed that up and the house dressing was very bland. Steak and Fries was the best. Steak was good enough but same fries as in the soup. My wife had the Fish and .... you guessed it... the same fries lol! The fish was huge but they let it sit too long and the breading was all soggy. I ordered the Salmon and it was over cooked and the smell was strong. I know what can I expect for ordering the Salmon in the coffee shop? The Elvis Milkshake was decent. Hot Tea good but only one cup and no hot pot or asked if we wanted any refills on drinks. The waitress wasn't very good and had a food runner so she didn't even have to worry about bringing the order.

Overall just a bad experience and I most likely will not attend again. I basically stiffed her on 115 dollar bill with only a 7 dollar tip.

They still have a decent selection of games to play so I can't really complain.

I appreciate the update on PALMS, it is one of, or at least was, one of my favorite places to play at.

Quote: monet0412

I basically stiffed her on 115 dollar bill with only a 7 dollar tip.

IMHO, that seems a bit harsh, even for mediocre service, unless she was plain out rude and nasty. C'est la vie, I guess. Was everything her fault ? Did you ask to see a manager to share your dis-satisfaction ?

Last trip into town we made a special trip over to PALM's for the breakfast buffet, only to find it closed with all the renovation going on. So we ended up at Gold Coast and it was more than adequate.

Quote: JohnnyQ

I appreciate the update on PALMS, it is one of, or at least was, one of my favorite places to play at.


IMHO, that seems a bit harsh, even for mediocre service, unless she was plain out rude and nasty. C'est la vie, I guess. Was everything her fault ? Did you ask to see a manager to share your dis-satisfaction ?

Last trip into town we made a special trip over to PALM's for the breakfast buffet, only to find it closed with all the renovation going on. So we ended up at Gold Coast and it was more than adequate.

I suppose it is all relative. There were many years where I didn't tip anyone at the palms because of a problem with the Palms giving me a counterfeit 100 dollar bill and taking it back with no compensation. I took that out on all employees for 5 years or so... even the buffet servers got stiffed every time from me. It upset a friend of mine and I guess he used to tip them behind my back. About a year or so ago they started running some amazing promotion and I was basically making 125 per hour per machine. I was playing 2 to 4 machines. You could play about 8 days per month. Many of the employees had changed and I started to tip again since the money was flowing.

When I was 18-24 I worked many jobs in F&B. I started in Room Service and waited tables at many places. I ended up working as a bartender after that so I kinda know the business. 10 mins to wait for a greeting and to have someone take a drink order when it isn't very busy is not acceptable. At the very least the hostess or manager should take the order. Over 30 mins at a coffee shop to get soup is difficult to swallow. Now the server has a food runner so she doesn't even have to worry about bringing the food out to the table. No request to refill a drink? Completely messing up the order! Food not cooked properly! The list goes on and on.

Seven Dollars is Huge. I've given bad service myself and been stiffed. I've also given bad service and tipped 100 dollars on a 20 dollar check. It all balances out. It honestly makes no difference at the end of the year. It is very difficult to get out of a certain yearly average when your a server no matter if you give good or bad service.

I am not the type to call the manager over. My play over there is pretty sick. My meal was comped so what am I going to ask the manager... give me another free meal?? Give me some to go order lol? Honestly I don't expect much. Even service that isn't mediocre I will tip 15%. I leave 100% tip if the server is amazing. One time at the 4 Queens Coffee Shop I had this older fella serving me. Everything was spot on. I mean it was like the guy knew me for 20 years and reading my mind. I like my check to come out when all the food is brought to the table. He did that without me having to ask. Needless to say that guy got a 20 dollar tip on a 20 dollar check.

A server has to do almost everything wrong to get completely stiffed. This server got a few things right I suppose. Seven Dollars was Huge IMHO. She was pretty busy yakking it up with the table next to us ignoring us for a long time so I am sure between the two checks she made 20%. I think the main point of the review was how unimpressed I am with the new coffee shop. I really expected it to be over the moon since they obviously put a lot into renovating it to make it look hip. Let us hope the New Buffet is something to brag about when it opens!

By the way... I still enjoy the Palms for gambling. Although I suspect it to get worse down the road when Stations take the time to count every coffee bean.