Can you smoke your own at Casa Fuente in Vegas if you're drinking?

[shopkins82]

I'm heading out to Vegas with my wife and a few other couples next month... first time there since I started smoking cigars. The wives will likely want to do some shopping at the Forum, so I thought we would sit and BS at Casa Fuente over some drinks and cigars. Is it acceptable there to smoke your own cigars if you're buying drinks? I'm not one to pay $10+ per stick and my tastes stray toward the mild and often sweet/infused, so I'm guessing there won't be much in my price or taste range in-house. Will they let me light up a CI Legend Copper with one of their Tangerine Mojitos? Is there a "lighting fee"? Or are outside sticks forbidden?

Otherwise I think the Sports Book is the only place on the floor at Caeser's that you can smoke, correct?

Thanks in advance!

[czerbe]

Best bet is to ask when you get there, but they may have a smoke in your price range and taste. Good luck

[Ashcan Bill]

I don't know what their official policy is, but more than once I've strolled in, sat down, ordered a drink and fired up my own. My impression is as long as you're ordering drinks, you're okay.

Oh, and in Vegas you can smoke on any casino floor.

[bonjing]

Not a problem smoking your own. They have a good mojito, coming from a guy who doesn't drink. Sometimes they charge you for refills of sodas, that happened once to me, I didn't complain though. No "light up fee" or anything. I sit enjoy my own sticks and drink sodas while the gf is shopping.

You can still smoke in casino floors. You'll see signs in some casinos that say smoke free zone though; Palazzo is the only one that comes to mind right now, maybe Aria. I've kind of noticed that there is no smoking in restaurants though.

[Adriftpanda]

You sure can, we've had big groups take over the front of the shop smoking our own, but of course we bought drinks from them and took good care of the girls there.

[shopkins82]

Great news. Thanks for the heads-up! When I was at Caesar's back in September was told by a pit boss that the Sports Book the only place on the floor you could smoke... hopefully that was a mistake. I know from that trip that the SW Steakhouse (the one with the animatronic water show outside) is no-smoking except for a small smoking area on the patio, and that area is no cigars!

[FUEL]

FYI smoking at Casa Fuente has been banned due to other merchants in proximity to it complaining about the smell. Cigar Aficionado has an article on it.

Last update stated they are redoing the entire ventilation system which would allow them to have patrons herf in there again. Fuente stated the hope to have it completed in time for Big Smoke in November.

Grab a Opus BBMF there!

[ironchefscott]

Originally Posted by FUEL

FYI smoking at Casa Fuente has been banned due to other merchants in proximity to it complaining about the smell. Cigar Aficionado has an article on it.

Last update stated they are redoing the entire ventilation system which would allow them to have patrons herf in there again. Fuente stated the hope to have it completed in time for Big Smoke in November.

Grab a Opus BBMF there!

I was there less than a month ago. And the smoking ban was on the porch area only. You could smoke inside. Was this a more recent thing?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by ironchefscott

I was there less than a month ago. And the smoking ban was on the porch area only. You could smoke inside. Was this a more recent thing?

I suspect that you are correct, Scott.

The referenced article is from April, and it clearly states the issue is with the patio only.

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfe.../show/id/17004

"The main sitting area is on the patio, which seats 65 and is located outside the confines of the store. While smoke inside the store is ventilated by a store filtration system, smoke on the patio vents into the mall. Casa Fuente was forced to stop the smoke on the patio after a retailer complained about the smell. Michael Frey, one of the store's owners, is working to fix the problem."

[OLS]

Boy you don't think I would pull every inch of paneling off the walls and box up my display cases and GTFO of there?
Man if I was Carlito, I would show them what I think of that. They knew what cigars were going to bring to the game
before they set that deal up. I'd take my ball and go where I was appreciated. Hell, open a Fuente Casino where you
HAVE to smoke.

[pektel]

Originally Posted by OLS

Hell, open a Fuente Casino where you
HAVE to smoke.

TWO smoking sections: ULTRA and regular.

[bonjing]

That sucks, there isn't much room in the front of the store let alone in the store; it gets pretty cramped in there. Even if they decide to enclose the patio area, i'm thinking it's going to suck for people watching.

[czerbe]

Well that's a first... a place you HAVE to smoke indoors and CAN'T smoke outdoors!

[php007]

The Rum bar in at the Mirage allows smoking. Small area inside and a very large patio area. This place is also owned by the Fry brothers who won Casa Fuente.

[Don Fernando]

Originally Posted by php007

The Rum bar in at the Mirage allows smoking. Small area inside and a very large patio area. This place is also owned by the Fry brothers who won Casa Fuente.

Wow, now they must have been very lucky the day they won Casa Fuente

[php007]

Originally Posted by Don Fernando

Wow, now they must have been very lucky the day they won Casa Fuente

They also own a part of Ashton as well.

[shopkins82]

Had a great trip to Vegas but was less than impressed with my first experience at Casa Fuente.

The first visit was Friday morning around 10am. There was no one at the tables inside and only 2-3 groups seated outside with 10-12 empty tables... regardless, the waitress refused to seat my friend and I at a table inside and would only seat us at a table in the front corner cramped against the potted plants and standing signs. When I asked why we couldn't sit at any of the other empty tables she would only say "my manager says we have to keep the other tables open". When asked to speak to him he was not very pleasant and gave excuses about keep other tables open because they were expecting a large crowd because of the ongoing cigar convention. He didn't have a coherent answer when I asked "why are you inconveniencing the business you have now in anticipation of business you might have later?". He begrudgingly offered to move us to a table inside, but we declined as we had already been served our French Press and didn't want to deal with the logistics of moving at that point. During the hour or so we were there, the outside seating didn't fill beyond 50% capacity and no one sat inside.

The French Press coffee was extremely good and probably the only reason we went back on Sunday morning. Things went more smoothly this time and we were seated at a less cramped table. The coffee was just as good as well. I will probably go back again on subsequent visits, but my first impression was not a good one and another similar experience would likely see me not return again.

[Blueface]

French Press Coffee seems to be the only positive.
That's it?
Ambience, exclusive cigars, cocktails?

[shopkins82]

The ambiance wasn't anything to write home about. The patio is cramped (even when you're not in a corner) between a wall and an escalator. If you did smoke at one of the tables inside, it would feel more like smoking in a gift shop than a lounge. Smoking at the bar probably wouldn't be bad, but I can see it possibly being hard to get a seat there in the evening.

I'm too cheap to try the house-label Casa Fuente cigars, though the other sticks weren't quite as overpriced as I had been lead to believe (Chateau Fuente was $10, same stick is $6 at my local shop). If you're looking to drop $35 on an Opus X or $120-$150 on a Lost City, I guess this would be as a good a place to do so as any and they seemed to have the full lines of both.

Based on the time of day we were there (~10am both times) we didn't try the Mojitos, though they did look good.

I'd say the two biggest positives were the coffee and having a place to smoke while your wife shops... but in Vegas, it's not like there's a shortage of places to smoke.

[markem]

Originally Posted by shopkins82

I'm too cheap

well, there ya go.