I think I narrowed the issue I'm having down to it being caused by the area I'm in. I'm wondering if anyone can replicate it on their game to find out if its just me or what.

I was on the "Beyond the Beef" quest at the ultra-luxe prior to the patch and had saved my game waiting in the steam room. What I had thought was being caused by talking to my companion (Arcade) actually seems to be related to the area instead. Once I'm in the bath house area, it seems the game will freeze without fail after being in the area for a short time. (15 seconds - 1 min). Since both my auto save and my current save game are in this area, and I can't get to a door before the game freezes, it has pretty much rendered my game unplayable right now.

Loading a older save, i was able to wander and play around and experienced no issues, and was able to talk to my companion without freezing. But once I go back into the bath house/steam room save it freezes. Not sure why. I was able to play in this area prior to the patch with no problems. I really wish there were a way to disable this patch. That older save could of been weeks/months ago.

Could anyone else test it for me?

Other (possibly useless) info: My companions are Rex and Arcade. I'm level 30. No mods installed. Game patched up to date. :/
This is extremely frustrating for me. Especially since this is my first play through and I've invested a lot of time in it already. The issues prior to the patch were minimal for me.

There are several issues in the Ultra-Luxe that causes crashes and lockups.

I beleive it's the character Chauncey. If you talk to him, usually about 15 - 30 seconds after you do so, the game will freeze. If you talk to him, then quickly save the game, wait for it to freeze, and then re-load, the savegame will freeze again.

I had read about this problem with this mission before I actually got the mission, so when I started this mission, I made a savegame OUTSIDE the Ultra-Luxe and remembered the save game #, incase anything really bad happened

Also, being in the bathhouse seems to sometimes get the game to crash/freeze. I avoided the bathhouse to avoid the crashes.

Of all the strip casinos, the ultra-Luxe is the most bugged. Not that the others are much better mind you, but the Ultra-Luxe is just messed up.

and of course, this new patch seems to do nothing to fix any of this.

You might have to start over. If your current game began pre-patch then don't even bother posting for any technical support

I guess it was just my timing that I happened to be on this quest when the patch came out. I wasn't aware of this area being so buggy. I think you are right about it being Chauncey though, I managed to get out of my rut by making a mad dash to the door before the game could freeze again. I'm assuming Chauncey was on his way or already in the area. Made a save outside, then went back in to find him there. After dealing with him, I didn't get the freeze problem - had enough time to loot him and the assassin and mosey'd on out with no problem. I see there are other posts on this now too. :3

I'm just relieved that I don't have to start over. Too bad the patch didn't seem to fix any of the irregular CTDs and unexpected minimizing issues that I've had with both this and Fallout 3. Now that I'm out of the bath house, back to the normal routine of it.

Thanks for the replies.