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12/25-12/29-Mirage

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by sarmcl, Dec 30, 2005.

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  1. sarmcl

    sarmcl Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Location:
    N Ridgeville, OH

    My Trip Report

    Well here goes my trip report---

    We arrived in Vegas about 2:15. It was me, my husband and my best friend. My husband's birthday is on Christmas so I hooked us up with a limo from Presidential Limo. The nice gentleman(who's name I cant remember) was right at our baggage carousel when we arrived. Bags arrived safely and we are off to the limo.

    Our driver was awesome. Very friendly and cordial. They gave us ladies 2 roses and then a bottle of champagne for us 3 to share. I asked the driver to simply take us from Mandalay Bay to the Mirage. We had the limo for an hour but we wanted to get to our room and of course start partying---so we got about 30 minutes out of the limo which was fine. Limo was $56 and we tipped him $20.

    Arrived at Mirage. First thing I noticed was--damn its crowded in here. As I stated in an earlier pot--a friend of mine works at The Wynn. She told me it was a great time to come to Vegas because it wouldnt be busy. Well she was wrong. Got to check in....waited about 20-25 minutes to check in. No big deal..I just wanted to drop off our bags and go.

    Got to our room. Having stayed at Mirage many times I knew what to expect. A nice-clean room. Nice view of strip and volcano. Thats all we needed. I couldnt complain...room was only $85 a night.

    Out we go and hubby wants to go watch football. We decided to check out Aladdin because use to always watch football at Sinbads bar. But with the change over--we werent sure if it was still going on. Well it was. Grabbed some nice seats and some beers. Buy one get one free of Bud Light until 6 PM. After 6 they were $6 each. We stayed there after about 6 beers each.

    After Aladdin, we headed over to Margaritaville. Now this is my husbands FAVORITE place because he loves their drinks. Mind you when we were there in July we spent $100 there just on booze in 2 hours. Very scary.

    We had about 3 margaritas each(I am not sure--at this point the night is VERY hazy.). We also order nachos, quesadillas, & wings. We end up calling it a night about midnight. Well my night isnt over because as soon as my head hits the pillow---I am praying to the porcelain god. I will spare you the details but it wasnt pretty.

    Monday we wake up early. Still on east coast time and I am hurting. I shower and go down to play some video poker while the others get ready. I hit four of a kind twice on the same machine. I put $20 in & was up something like $60 or something. One thing I did notice on this trip was that when I hit something good I was always really down to nothing at the time. Hence, why I was never really making any money.

    Breakfast consisted of Cheeseburger at the Oasis. I thought maybe some grease would help my stomach. usually with a hangover it does but in this case it wasnt helping. After "breakfast", we walked through the Dessert Passage shops. By then it was about noon and we headed over to Bellagio to catch some of the Akron football game. We met a nice bartender in the sportsbook named Cedric. This man knows how to pour a drink. Play some video poker, tip him a $1 a drink and hes putty in your hand. I have never seen drinks come so fast in my life. I think my hsuband had about 7 drinks there in an hour and a half. Super bartenders at the Bellagio. We found the Mirage bartenders horrible. Crappy service and bad drinks. We ALWAYS tip. I know many others dont but you shouldnt have to suffer for other peoples ignorance.

    For dinner MOnday, I still felt like crap at 5:00. Thought more food would help so we just went to California Pizza Kitchen at The Mirage. I ate--but still didnt feel right. By 6:45 I called it a night. My stomach was in knots. I dont know if I came down with something or what. But I have never had a hangover last that long. Regardless, my husband and best friend went to Margaritaville all night long. They proceeded to wake me up at 12:30 AM because the drunken idiots couldnt open the door with the key card. They spent $100 on drinks alone--no food. They proceeded to tell me how one of the waitresses slides into the big margarita during "Volcano". I thought they were both crazy and/or hallucinating from too much tequila.

    Tuesday we went to Paris breakfast buffet. YUMMY. Love this place. Its been talked about 1000 times on this board so I wont bore you. After breakfast, we headed to Harrah's. My boss gave me $50 and her gaming card to play slots. I was told to play max credits on any machine. I went to Wheel of Fortune first. Which by the way kicked my ass. I swear I spent $200 of my own money on this damn game and won NOTHING. I put the $50 in....couldnt get ANYTHING. No free spin--nothing. Cashed out with $35 and went to a 5 cent Cleopatra machine. Got some HUGE bonus thing and was up to $125. I made the decision to just cash out. Figured she would be happy I turned her $50 into $126.

    After Harrahs, we went back to Bellagio to see our pal Cedric. My best friend drank SEVEN Baileys & Coffee's. Needless to say by 3 PM she was wasted. My husband & I had beers so we were buzzed but okay. We decided to go back to our room because dinner was at 6 PM at Mesa Grill. My friend was waaay to drunk to go to dinner. She was praying to the porcelain god too by 5 PM. My husband and I decided to see if Mesa could take us earlier which they did.

    We were seated about an hour earlier than our reservations. Our server was very friendly and told us about the specials. For appetizers, my husband got the tiger shrimp tamale and I got the goat cheese queso fundido. Just awesome. We should have shared it though. I did not think it would be as much food as it was. For appetizers, I got the 16 spice chicken & mashed potatoes. My husband got the grilled tuna. Both entress were impeccable. Dessert was ordered as well. My husband got one of their margaritas and I got peanut butter creme brulee. It was fantatsic. Our meal was $150 plus tip. Highly recommend Mesa Grille.

    We called it an early night Tuesday. My friend was suffering from a major hangover from the afternoon of drinking. My husband and I did some gambling after dinner and then we were in by 10. We had been on the go since 7 AM so it was a LONG day.

    Wednesday was our last full day in Vegas. We decided to slip breakfast and hit Starbucks. We wanted to go to Carnegie Deli in the Mirage for lunch so we wanted to make sure we were hungry. Essentially we walked the strip and did shopping Wednesday morning until about 11. Went to Carnegie Deli and were astounded by the sheer size of the sandwiches. Hubby and I shared the corned beef as it was massive. For us 3 it was $40 plus tip. Not too bad. Plus he got a piece of cheesecake to take back to the the room.

    Dropped off our bags and walked to Fashion Sqaure Mall. Then decided to go back to Margaritaville for some drinks. We made sure only to have a couple because we were eating at Delmonico at 5:00. A meal that NONE of us wanted to miss. My in laws gave us $200 of Venetian gift certificates for Xmas so it was going towards dinner. After Margaritaville, we headed back the rooom to relax and get ready.

    By review of Delmonico is in the Restaurant section so I wont rehash but this place is FANTASTIC. We were all so pleased with our service & our food. After dinner, we headed back to the room to change. It was our last night out in Vegas so where should we go? Margaritaville of course. We actually headed over to see the Bellagio fountian show first. Very nice as usual. We then headed to Jimmy's house of fun. Got some drinks & appetizers. We knew we had to be on a plane in the morning so couldnt get too crazy. I had about 6 beers--everyone else had about 4 margaritas. I swear we spent about $400 alone at this place. And I did see the waitress slide into the big margarita during "Volcano". I got pictures to prove it. ;)

    Thursday morning arrives and we head down to Cravings for breakfast. Nothign exciting. Typical breakfast food. It was convenient because it was in our hotel. We did some last minute gambling and I proceeded to blow $100 in about an hour. Easy come--easy go. Got to airport about 9:30 for our 11:17 flight and made it home all in one piece.

    So my thoughts on this trip:
    1) Vegas was packed on Christmas. I dont know when this place is ever "dead" anymore. If anyone knows, please share!
    2) Mesa Grille--highly recommended
    3)Delmonico--highly recommended
    4)Bellagio bartenders--GOOOOD
    5) Margaritaville-best margaritas in town

    All in all an awesome trip. I just need some time to recover!!
     
  2. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    Great TR! Sounds like from your post and a few others that the Mirage is going down hill in a few areas.....MGM just doesn't get it IMO.
     
  3. Jimbucc

    Jimbucc VIP Whale

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    Praying to the Porcelain God is not good. Sounds like you made a nice recovery. Glad you had an awesome trip.

    I like your signature line. I can relate to Sam from the Brian Sipe era. Good man.
     
  4. Coaster Kikky

    Coaster Kikky Tourist

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    We want pictures! :)
     
  5. vegasbound

    vegasbound VIP Whale

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    So happy to hear another great review for Delmonico. We have reservations next Sunday and I cannot wait to give it a try. Margaritas at Margaritaville are delish. I understand how easy it is to run up a hefty bar bill there. All in all, it sounds like a great time was had.
     
  6. RFT in Ohio

    RFT in Ohio Tourist

    Joined:
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    Green, Ohio (Just south of Akron)
    Is the "Porcelain God" where you were praying a new church in Vegas, I have never heard of it, there are soo many churches being built around the city.

    What denomination is it also???
     
  7. sarmcl

    sarmcl Low-Roller

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  8. Jimbucc

    Jimbucc VIP Whale

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    The link worked. Very nice pictures. I love the tree at Caesar's that changes colors.
     
  9. Coaster Kikky

    Coaster Kikky Tourist

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    Ditto - very nice indeed. That sky was gorgeous! And that chick in the margarita - seeing is believing! :blink:
     
  10. sarmcl

    sarmcl Low-Roller

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    Thanks all! The sunset shots are my favorite. The sky looked amazing
     
  11. vegasbound

    vegasbound VIP Whale

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    Great pictures! I adore Vegas sunsets... You captured the sunset beautifully in the photos.
     
  12. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    Really great photos! I'd love to go to Vegas for Christmas sometime.... I keep thinking more and more about a post retiremnt (3yrs) job and living there for a while:)
     
  13. sailor53

    sailor53 Tourist

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    I think we hit the slowest week in Vegas from 11-17 Dec. Everyone of the staff at Stardust and other places told us that the week before Christmas is the best time to come if you want to avoid the crowds. There were still plenty of people, but not like when we came in July years before.
     
  14. tarasgoodwin

    tarasgoodwin Tourist

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    Great pics. Glad you had fun around the 'worshipping'
     
  15. vegas vacation

    vegas vacation Tourist

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    Great trip report, I enjoyed reading it and your pictures were great! I guess the secret is out, it is dead at Christmas so everyone took advantage this year! In early November of 2004 we booked our March 2005 trip and our travel agent said that the week between Thanksgiving and X-mas and the week after we could have gone 5 nights air and hotel at Bellagio for $349.00! We were tempted but could not afford 2 trips that close. This past November (05) I told a co-worker to wait for that awesome deal for a cheap honeymoon, the travel agent said no deals this year, too many people traveling at that time, they don't have to offer it. I think that is a end to a good deal.
     
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