Q: Just had my first experience at Gus's. We ordered an 18" half pineapple, half pepperoni pizza, 20 mild wings and a free 2-liter soda (with coupon). All of that for about $20 -- pretty good price! The pizza was alright, the wings were very good. Not sure why, but even the 2-liter cherry Pepsi from Gus's tasted better than soda from the grocery store. The restaurant overall looked like a decent little place to dine. However, it may not be the best for quiet dining because of the loud music and TV going on.

A: positive

Q: Its an ok, clean hotel...but the location kind of sucks and not quite up to some of the standards I've expereinced at other Westins. I mean, who goes to vegas to stay at the westin? Unless you've stayed at every other hotel in town before (I have), I wouldn't recommend staying here on vacation. For saving money, its fine....but I'd still prefer a strip hotel.

A: negative

Q: Okay, I'm not usually a 5-star critic, since every dining experience can be improved a bit somewhere. But with the return of Trader Vic's special Chefs dinners the chef Justin Pfeilsticker (had to look that one up), outdid himself. Incredible. Last night's dinner showcased Cruzan Rum drinks and the chef's challenge, working with the sponsoring mixologist, is to coordinate the 4 courses with the 4 special drinks. Dinner and drinks where $65 plus we could keep tabs on the Suns in playoffs in the bar. In the end, I was kicking myself for not gathering all of my foodie friends to join me - they would have been in heaven. Lobster, crab and grouper cocktail to start, paired with a classic daiquiri that was perfectly balanced. Second course; chicken and morel mushrooms (amazing) with black-eyed peas - matched with an amazing black raspberry rum cocktail. Okay, I admit, I had to lick the plate. There was no way I was letting that reduction sauce go to waste. Third course was absolutely prefect, fresh scallops and a sweet potato polenta with another incredible pineapple/butter sauce. Paired with a spiced rum mango cocktail that was smooth, not too sweet and really interesting. Dessert was a crisp bread pudding with a bit of rum gelato and matching sauce. Not too much and not heavy, but just enough sweet to finish the meal. The cocktail was a whipped coconut creme. Delightful. Now my experience with Trader Vic's Chef's dinners is that they aren't planned that far in advance (whereas the Hotel Valley Ho's Zu Zu dinners are more consistent - and also very good). So getting a seat at the next dinner may require a bit of research. According to the manager, they would like to host one monthly through the summer and they try to limit the seating to about 60 to keep the food quality as high (and I suppose the drinks as cold). Since I recognized a number of faces from last year's chef's dinners - there seems to be a good following of insiders. And at this price for incredible, interesting and very special food (you should have seen the morels and fresh scallops) with all the drinks - it's a wonder there isn't a waiting list a mile long. So 5-stars. No question.

A: positive

Q: After reading reviews we thought we would give it a try and it was horrible. The bussers were more attentive than the server , asked her several times for a side of chili never received anything. The worst I have had here in Phoenix.

A:
negative