Trip Report – May 22-27, 2016 – Downtown Stay @ Mainstreet Station

Another yearly visit to Vegas is now in the books. I will break down this years highlights in related categories. Overall, was a great 5 days of meeting good friends, drinking, eating, gambling, people watching, etc. Everything that I enjoy about Vegas.


Flight: Westjet flight from YEG-LAS. When I did the online check in the night before, I saw that they still had the 'Plus' seats available for an additional $100 pp (cdn) so decided to try it for the flight down. Bit more leg room, had a Cold Sandwich box lunch, and 4-5 Rum and Cokes on the flight down which was all included. I had to pay for the extra bag fee ($25.00 cdn) as well. I don't know if it was just luck of the draw, but my luggage was one of the first down the chute at the luggage pickup area in LAS, or if it was related to the 'Plus' option. Nothing on the baggage tags that I could see indicated 'Plus'. A friend that I usually travel to Vegas with was actually doing a road-trip down there, was able to meet me at the airport to provide transportation to the hotel.


Hotel: Main Street Station (just off Fremont Street). Had another great stay here. Front counter staff very friendly. Had a non-smoking room on 4th floor facing the Plaza/Fremont Street direction. Room was clean, comfortable, and no smoke smell what-so-ever. If interested, I did a quick review on TA here - https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g45963-d91885-r380626837-Main_Street_Station_Hotel_Casino-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT


Food/ Drink: Ate a number of meals within MSS. Couple at Triple 7 Brewpub, and a couple breakfast buffets in the Garden Court buffet. Everything we had was good, and reasonably priced. Really liked the 'off-the menu' Onion Rings in Triple 7. Other eats downtown were at Chicago Brewing @ 4 Queens and Big Ern's BBQ @ the Container Park. Brief review for Big Ern's can be found here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g45963-d5262664-r380631166-Big_Ern_s_BBQ-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html#REVIEWS


Since we had a vehicle available, we visited a few off-strip places for meals as well. Sunset Station and Red Rock Hotel/Casino resort. Used MyVegas promotions for both of their buffets, and enjoyed them.


One other evening, some good friends from Canada recently moved to Vegas for work opportunities. They came by MSS one evening to hook up with me, and we went to the Gold Coast, and tried Ping Pang Pong there. Really enjoyed the meal there, which consisted of a couple Dim Sum items, Hot and Sour soup, and a couple other sharable items. Was a fun visit.


We managed to visit Frankies Tiki room 2 times for cocktails. Really…REALLY enjoy their Rum Drinks there. Very dark inside, but love the VIBE here. Old, strange Hawaiian videos playing… love it!!!!! A couple of the friends I was with ordered some of the 'Tiki-mugs' they have available for sale as well. Be warned….drinks are strong, so recommend having a DD or taxi it if having more than one.


Gambling: Mostly slotted around at different casinos. Did play some $3.00 Blackjack at Sunset Station for a while. Also did play at numerous electronic CRAP games (Shoot to Wins) at different casinos. Had some GREAT experiences at some, and not so great at others. The really fun experience was sitting with a couple friends at the one in Binions. We fed in our $20.00's, and hoped to at least be able to stick around for a few cocktails. Dice shooter was making its way around the table and nothing much happening. The usual Point… different point…Seven out…. My turn comes up… and..yup… same thing. Then my friend 'J' has her turn… and…she goes on a 45-50min heater. She was hitting 7/11's when needed.. Hard Ways… and Points when needed too. Lots of hooting and hollering… people filling up the empty spots… people gathering around behind…hollering as well. Once 'J' sevened out, looked at the tally and saw a total of $207.00 showing. Hit that Cash-Out button real fast. A bad experience was when we visited the East-side Cannery Hotel. I decided to sit and try the 'Bubble-Craps' game there. Well the VIBE was just plain Bad. A couple of other players were just getting rude/nasty. Arguing amongst each other… one trying to tell the other how to play… etc. Came to F-bombs being thrown… and almost fists…until one of them moved off elsewhere. Like I said… just a bad-vibe, that hung around, until we moved on.


Overall, I didn't bring back all my gambling budget brought down with me, but I didn't spend as much as I could have, so I call that a win.


Oh, just wanted to mention for the fellow Canadian folks that like bringing their CDN cash down, and exchanging it in Vegas. We found the best exchange rate to be at 'The D' hotel on Fremont, with Sunset Station a close second. During our week there, the D was around the .74 US cents to the $1.00 CDN for exchange. As comparison, when we asked at the El Cortez cashier what kind of exchange they had the same day, they offered .69 US cents to the CDN $1.00.


On the Thursday evening prior to turning in, I popped by the B-Connected rewards desk to have a quick chat with the Host on duty and see if any of the additional charges could be taken off based on our "Extreme Low-Roller" base of play. Brenda was kind enough to knock off one of the remaining 3 nights that were still needing to be paid for. Another WIN!!!


All in all…great trip. Really enjoyed our stay at MSS again, and we'll be back. Downtown still remains a favorite, just for the good food, reasonable prices that can be found, and the people-watching factor. I'm already looking forward to next years visit.


Thanks for reading.

 

Nice summary of your downtown stay - nice cash out at craps shoot to win, always nice when a friend goes on a heater at !just the right time!
Thanks for taking us along!

 

Thanks for posting. This is helpful info. I'll be downtown tomorrow.

 

Great report, thanks for posting.

Tim

 

Nice trip. I like MSS - never stayed, but it's a cool place.

 

Glad you had a good time and were able to meet up with your friends!