A Vegas trip report in two parts. Part two, VEGAS!!!

Part one, the tease is here https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?110174-A-Vegas-trip-in-two-parts-Part-one-the-tease.

It was... a tease... An awful, awful tease.

Part two was short, but a lot of fun (with a couple of rough spots).

Here you go!

 

Day one

I flew in from Seattle on Sunday at 10AM on the dirtiest Delta plane I've ever been in. I'm not that picky but DAMN this plane was gross! We made it to LAS on time and my bass eventually made it's way over to the baggage counter (it's rare that an instrument comes out with regular baggage.)

Cat was pulling up just as I made it to the passenger pickup area. I loaded in and we headed to Harrahs. We took my bass and left the other stuff in the car. We didn't figure we could check in but my bass was too big for the trunk of the car so it was better off leaving with the bell desk instead of the back seat. We had a great woman attempt to check us in the diamond room (I'm platinum but you use the diamond room) the room type we booked (superior king, strip view) was ready, but if we wanted a petite suite we could wait. We could wait.

Back to the rental and off to the Downtown Grand. I double booked this room for two nights because they sent me $100 in airfare reimbursement and $40 in freeplay. I love this kind of thing! We check in and cool off in the room for a half hour before we head to the players club. I get my $140 (!) and Cat signs up and gets $5 in freeplay!

Sit down with Dolly and start playing at max bet ($2.50). Cat hits a nice bonus early on and she is up $150 in no time. I flounder around for a while around $130 before my freeplay is gone. I played it down to $100, earning a thousand points and we cashed out, got the car and headed back to Harrahs. The texting your valet ticket number to is a brilliant move by the Grand. Very easy!

The room still wasn't ready (there were many apologies and free cookies and water, so I was ok with it). We hit KGB for some grub. The veggie burger is just a double stack garden burger, nothing fancy, I eat them at home all the time and I like them. The bun and toppings were great! Cat had a "meat burger" and she liked it (as you will notice, I don't really pay attention to food that has meat in it. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years and it's just something I don't think about.) The best part of the meal was the shake! Tiramisu!!! Yeah, I could have that again, NOW!

Back to registration and the room is ready! Cat heads up and I head to the car to get our bags. The room is great! It's about 50% larger than the typical Carnival Court room and it has two sets of windows and a bunch of seating and table options. Seriously there are six different kinds of tables in the room. If you were hosting a family board game tournament, this would be your go to room.

We hit the casino. I get my freeplay vouchers and waste them on Hot Shot. It's such a good game when you are hitting and it's so awful when you don't. We slot around for a bit then head back to the room and get ready for Jabbawokeez at the Luxor. It was pretty bland... We should have known better when all the kids started piling in the room. Oh well it was free from myvegas so we can't bitch too much. After we snuck out early we parked at Harrahs and headed out to our big fancy dinner at Giada's.

We had reservations, but they still made us wait for a couple of minutes before going in. It was pretty funny listening to ALL of the people who came up the escalator expecting to get a table because it was a slow Sunday night. We booked this two months in advance and we had a 9:30 seating time. No way in hell a walk in is getting a table.

Quick aside here, at some point in the two hours we were in Giada's I went to the bathroom. As I walked in the door a guy was in the mirror working on his hair. And he was working the hell out of it. Moving individual hairs to either side then checking it from as many points of view as possible. You could tell he'd been there for a while. So I start to pee and he is still working away but by the time I head over to wash my hands he had finished. He literally looked in to his own eyes and nodded to himself... Yowza. I finish washing my hands and he busts through the door and gets right back in to his hair again. It was amazing. I don't spend that much time on my hair in a month!

Back to the story.

After a few minutes we got seated. We weren't at the window but we were very close and the fountains were jumping! We ordered the tasting menu. They had great Veg options for me and Cat really wanted to try a bunch of meaty stuff so the tasting menu was the perfect option. For the most part the meal and service was beautiful. Lots of people making sure our everything was going well. My food was amazing until the peas I ordered (without the added meat) came out with meat... I noticed after the second or third bite when I pulled a chunk of meat out of my teeth...

Everyone apologized and the offered to make some more without meat (this time) but I was done. After being a Veg for this long it makes you kinda sick to eat meat no matter how small it is. Especially when your picking it out of your teeth.

Anyway they roll the desert cart around (we get a choice of five each on the tasting menu) and I ask if we can have them to go and I was told that Giada wants them to be eaten when they are fresh. I point out that Giada wouldn't want me to eat the meat I just ate and didn't order and he kinda shrugs his shoulders... his hands are tied.

So we get our ten deserts and put all of them that aren't gonna get nasty in Cat's purse and I have a 1/4 bite of the others. I still feel like crap when we get our bill, over $300 after the tip... Not really worth it considering a Veg ate meat.

We head "home". It's raining! The sidewalks are clear and we get a little wet but it's fine. We play a little VP at the bar, but since I'm feeling like crap I head to the room after a half hour.

What a lame ending to the first night in town.

 

Too bad about the meat...I am a meat eater so I can only imagine how pulling a piece of meat out of your teeth being a 20 vegetarian. Pretty sickening I reckon. Hope the rest of your trip goes without meat incident.

 

Room 1749 at the end if the trip. Without housekeeping...
And the view

 

Good start! Sucks about meat thing.

 

Look forward to more. Have a great time.

 

Meats deliciooooous! You're def missing out!!!


I joke I joke. I cant imagine having any type of appetite after that happening.

I have a bad gag reflex to tomatoes and eating them at all costs. Ive had that happen where I take a bite of something I ordered WITHOUT tomato only to bite in and it be blahhhhh.

 

I say F' these celebrity chefs.

 

Yeah, it's nasty. It's also odd because they had a fair amount of Veg options on the menu, usually places that do that care enough to pay attention.

 

I'm with you.

We ate at two of the three Ramsey places in the past and they sucked.

Meanwhile we ate at Yusho on day two (I'm working on that one now) and it was amazing! No pictures of the chef on the wall. No high concept design in the dinning room, just bad ass food.

 

OMG ... I would have made Giada eat that meal - not literally you know what I mean .... I have a very big thing about food with bones - or bone like things like shells or gristle .... nothing makes a meal I'm really looking forward to turn to crap faster than get a bone - ever a tiny little sliver - I'm done .... I completely sympathize with you.

 

I don't think it's out of line to expect some sort of reduction in your bill. You asked that your food come without a certain ingredient, and they didn't serve it as you requested. What if you had had a bad allergic reaction to whatever this ingredient was that was to be excluded? They missed the ball on that one, and I think I probably would have made a bigger deal out of them not offering to buy you some wine or give you a discount off your final bill or something. Sorry for your experience. It would have left a bad taste in my mouth, also -- both literally and figuratively.

 

I'm with you on the reduction or offer, especially at a high end place.

 

Sorry about the meat incident at Giada's - that sucks. I agree they should have done more for you.

Truer words were never spoken!

 

Day two

Monday started out nice and slow. We didn't get out of bet till noon! Vacation! During the little PNY tour I was lucky to get three hours of sleep a night so I needed it. Cat was just joining in for the hell of it.

We got moving, grabbed some coffee and fruit while we headed to the Palms Place spa. We both booked Travelzoo deals, I went for the massage and Cat had a facial. Did the check in and headed off to our respective sides and planned to meet in the Hamm sauna. I grabbed a towel and jumped in the cold soak to wet down, jumped out (before SEVERE shrinkage came on) and headed to the Hamm. It's usually nice in there but this time there was an old dude coughing up a lung and wheezing like he was seconds from dying. Cat looked at me in a way that let me know she was gone and she said we would meet up after.

I left the Hamm, but the old guy was right behind me so I went back in and had it all to my self! I sat then showered (you are supposed to have at least a towel on because it's coed but I took full advantage of no one being there!) then I laid out on the bed in the middle, then took another shower. At the end I just walked around until I couldn't take the heat anymore. I was sweating like a pig, it was glorious.

After my half hour Hamm I went back to the cold dip pool and I jumped in long enough to go from over heated to cold and I'm back out again and take a real shower. A nice long one. Then I'm in my robe and relaxing in the lounge with twenty minutes to go before my massage. They had sports on (I'm not a sports fan other than women's beach volleyball) so I head outside and fall asleep on a lounger within a minute. I woke up a little while later because it started raining on me! What a nice day!

I got called up for the massage and it was great! Swedish so it was nice and relaxing. After dressing Cat and I met in the lobby, paid the tip ($50 for the two of us on top of the $75 each for the TZ voucher) and we head out to the (newly branded) Westgate resort. They sent me a free night and since we are trying to stay in every hotel/casino on the strip and downtown we took it.

Nice room with a great view! My only complaint is that they have a big desk in front of the window so you cant just sit in a chair and look out. We hung out for a bit then headed to TI to check in. That's right folks at this moment in our trip we are "staying" in four hotels! A new personal record!!!

TI sent me the room with $65 of freeplay. We check out the room then head to the Monte Carlo for dinner at Yusho. What a meal! It was so good. The eggplant buns and the tofu ramen were amazing. Damn! It was made even better because Cat (who had some kind of meat she loved) scored the myvegas $50 food voucher. But I am ready to pay full price for a meal there anytime. Seriously. Does anyone wanna fly me out tonight? I've got dinner!!!

After our meal we head to Hit so I can do my whiskey tasting. Four very generous pours from a really cool bartender and I am more than a little drunk! It wasn't supposed to happen this late in the trip, but last nights food screwed up my plan of drinking myself into oblivion. Cat drives us back home (Harrahs) and we park for the night.

We did a little bar VP and some slotting around for a bit before we went to the Linq and High Roller. We used my platinum 2-4-1 to ride it and the lady at the TR desk gave us a couple of free drink vouchers! It was $38 for the two of us with a drink each. Not bad. On our way over we saw the IP/Quad/Linq parking lot running like a river. I'd heard the driveway was a storm drain but I didn't really believe it! It would really suck to have a rental car trapped in that garage... Anyway we liked the Linq a lot! A bunch of cool shops (Cat was very happy to find Boba tea) and some great graffiti was going up everywhere! We wandered until it was time to ride, we made our way to the entrance and cashed in our free drink tickets! Then headed to the loading zone.

It's fun! You don't fly around fast and the only time you can tell it was moving is when they stopped it. And as you may have guessed the views are great. They were made even better by the weed cake I ate when we got on. Someone gave it to me in Seattle and by the time we got off the ride I was high as hell! Thank you Washington state for being so progressive!!!

We headed to the room and I can tell Cat is done for the night so we hang out for a bit then I grab some bankroll and head to TI! I busted some ghosts and broke even. Then I hit the bar for VP, drinks (I didn't get any at the slot) and freeplay. After a bit I head up to room #4 and smoke myself out. Then back down for more VP/Slot action. ZZ Top was kind, Slimer wasn't. Back and fourth for a few hours and I was still even!

At this point I wanted to head to Westgate to give them a little play so I hoofed it to the monorail. I got all the way to the top and the gate was down... Oh well back to the room to "recharge" (my brain, the bankroll was fine) then off to the Quad. TAG has Sam Smiths stout for free if you play VP! I stayed for two then headed to the Flamingo before I got too drunk.

On the way my one and only hooker interaction took place. I was wearing a pink shirt and she walked up to me and said "Nice shirt!" I knew what was up and I don't like being hassled so I adopted a femme stance and with a lilt in my voice said "Don't you know it!" She sighed, looked away and left me alone!

A little VP at the bar followed by some high limit $5 slot action. That machine was so good to me. $100 and $400 out. Then I'd blow $300 on some crappy slot on the floor, take the remaining $100 back to high limit and run it up to $400! I did this three times!!!!

After the third I cashed in and took $200 to roulette. I was betting $20-30 per spin with $10 on the zeros, they hit five times in the hour I was at the table! Cash in with $450 and I'm off to craps. $200 in and after another hour I have it up to $400!! What a night! I'm up about a grand at this point!!

I head back towards home but stop at a craps table in the Quad. $100 in and $60 out... Back to Harrahs and I put $200 in to a $5 slot and it's gone in seconds... By this time I'm trashed. Really trashed. So trashed I don't even play VP at the bar for one last drink. I get "smart" and head back to the room.

Turns out it's 6:30AM and the sun is coming up. According to Cat I was real giggly and goofy when I was undressing but I started snoring like a freight train seconds after I got in to bed.

Another near perfect day in Las Vegas!

 

Haha, great read so far! Thanks!

 

Westgate (Hilton) view. Nice!

 

Graffiti going up in the Linq!
This one is really cool!!!

 

Day three

I woke up with Cat around 9:30 AM and I would have felt like crap if I wasn't still drunk! We hung out in the room and told each other about our respective nights. Her's was pretty boring other than the idiot who woke her up three hours ago.

We get moving over to the Mirage for the breakfast buffet (myvegas) it wasn't great, but it helped soak up some alcohol and I got some coffee in me!

Back to home base and I spiritualize for a bit then back down stairs for some VP. Ouch, the VP was running bad today. $200 down in no time with no good hands to show for it. So I'm off to $5 slot land and another $200 down... Yuck. I think I'm done gambling for the trip.

Cat heads to the Linq for Boba and I get more coffee and go to the room for some yoga. She is back in the room about 45 minutes later and I am still working myself up in to a sweat! Yeah. I'm feeling great!!! I shower, finish my coffee and we head to eat at Sea in Bally's.

On the way over we slid by the Wynn to checkout Popeye. We loved it! I saw it in an art mag (or email or website) a while ago and I figured it would be another piece of cool and expensive art I'd never get to see. We spend $500-$1500 on a few paintings each year. We have our favorite artists and we both get a bunch of gallery emails so it's something we are way in to. On the way out I started thinking about the scale of things, we spend a maximum of $5000 a year and Mr Wynn spent $28M (or somewhere in there) on Popeye. We are definitely swimming in different waters.

Over to Sea, the food is always solid here. I had some Thai iced coffee and the Drunken Noodles with tofu, Cat had... some kind of meat. We were both happy with the food, but they really need to clean the fountain. There was a bunch of junk rolling around on the bottom of it... Gross! That made me remember that we could have eaten at Wazuzu in Encore and we wouldn't have been sitting by disgusting water while we ate... next time.

Back "home" by 5 and we start packing. The flight isn't until 8:30 but it's usually a mess to check an instrument on a plane and the case I use makes it and extra pain in the ass... We bum around a bit more then load up the car and head to the rental car return.

There is a huge line and only one lady working it so I head to the airport to check my bass while Cat waits. I get to the bus and I'm the only one. I hand the guy a dollar for helping with my bass and he says "Let's get you to the airport, NOW!" Yes Sir!

I make the airport in no time and there are zero people in front of me to check my bag! TSA didn't even want to do the extra (stupid) check on my bass!!!

Quick aside, on this trip I had to disassemble my entire traveling rig in Austin and Seattle so the TSA could check for bomb residue. At some level I get it, I don't want a bomb on my plane, but you should see how many guitars leave Austin every day! And every person dropping them off stands around to make sure they get back in the case safely so there is always a line at the oversize bag place... In Seattle the guy checking it wouldn't let me help him put it back together and it took him fifteen minutes to do it. I could have knocked it out in seconds, but I since I could be a terrorist who is also a slight of hand master I could slip a bomb in to my case at any moment and blow up the world...

Or maybe I just want my bass, that I play a LOT and really REALLY like, to make it home safe. The TSA will have to decide.

But they didn't do it in Vegas! My bass went right in to the regular luggage population. Like it belonged to a normal human!

Cat showed up to the airport about five minutes after and we headed to the gate.

The trip is over which is always bittersweet, but we will be back in December!

 

I enjoyed your report. So what hotel will you stay at on your next trip and how many to go before you stay at (was it) ALL of them?