Stayed at Bellagio from 2/19 through 2/22. I nornally stay at Paris, and was expecting snotty attitude from Bellagio staff. Not the case. Staff met us at the limo, and took our bags directly to our room. The check in line was well staffed, and we were in our room in a matter of minutes. Headed downstairs to casino to grab a beer for the treck to Bartollota (Sp?) for dinner at the Wynn. We had an early reservation. The service at this place is the best I have ever seen anywhere in the world. That being said, the food was definately not worth the price. On the way out, wife won $150.00 playing roulette at Palazzo. After dinner, headed to Anthony Cools show at Paris. Anthony Cools is a comedy hypnotist. I had participated in these types of shows before, and ended up being a participant in this show. My pregnant wife was mortified, but my co-workers apparently thought it was the highlight of the trip. Left show and headed to Bellagio for craps. Amazingly found several $10.00 minimum tables. Played craps for nearly 4 hours and broke even, even while putting out bets for dealers on nearly every roll. Wife played roulette for the same four hours and broke even. The highlight from another co-worker was an $18,000.00 win on one pull of a high limit $100.00 slot. He was so stunned, he didn't even seem happy. Went to O'Shea's for late night poker tournament. Made the final table and was knocked out 5th, with only the top 3 cashing out. Didn't play well, so I was lucky that I made it that far out of a field of about 40. Woke up early the next morning and made our usual trip to the Paris buffet, which was good as usual. However, still being exhausted from the night before, went back to the room for a three hour nap. After walking around for a bit, went to Rio. Did some modest gambling. Spent a great portion of the afternoon at Blondie's drinking and listening to music. After finishing a table mini-keg ($30.00) with our group, headed to Planet Hollywood for some gambling. Won $100.00 playing black-jack for two hours in the pleasure pit. Atmosphere was great. Wife broke even playing roulette. Went to the 5:30 PM Fab Four Mania show. I see this show each time I go to Vegas, which is about twice a year. I will not miss it. It is incredible how much attention they pay to detail. I am a huge Beatles fan, and this show does not disappoint. The band looks amazingly like the actual Beatles with the exception of Ringo. It is great to see live songs like A Day in the Life, Here Comes the Sun, Help, Day Tripper, etc. Ate dinner at Olives. The food was great, but the service was awful. Our waiter seemed to be more interested in posing for pictures than bring us drinks or taking our order. Olives overlooks the fountains, so we did enjoy watching the shows from the balcony. After dinner, it was back to the craps tables. Didn't do nearly as well. Lost $1,000.00. Played some black jack and broke even. Next morning ate breakfast at Bellagio buffet. Buffet was great. I enjoyed the Bellagio buffet. My wife preferred the buffet at Paris. It was nice having steak for breakfast, and the service was excellent for a buffet. After breakfast headed to South end of strip. Played roulette at Mandalay Bay and won $200.00. Left Mandalay Bay and headed to back to Bellagio so wife could go to Spa. Three of us ventured on in search of a convienent poker tournament. Just missed the 2:00 PM tournament at Planet Hollywood. Grabbed a beer at the Heart Bar and ran into Michael Bisping of the UFC. Said hello, and he said hello back while apparently being interviewed; probably about his gig as the new coach in the Ultimate Fighter reality show. Ate lunch at Burger place in Paris, and missed the Bally's poker tournament. Left and went to Bill's Gambing Hall for their poker tournament. Not enough players, so made the treck to Harrah's for the 6:00 PM tournament. Stopped on the way at Mirage, and bought some Beatles clothing for my wife and little boy. Although I am not a fan of Harrah's after staying there for a bachelor party last Summer, I have always been impressed that the poker tournament is well run. Had a pretty large field. One of our friends was knocked out on first hand with pocket queens, and lost to trip jacks on the river. He was pretty disappointed after walking around for hours looking for a poker tournament. I managed to make it to the final 16 and was knocked out with pocket eights vs. pocket jacks after being the chip leader at the table for some time. Headed back to Bellagio to shower and change for dinner. After showering, played black jack at $25.00 a hand and was up $200.00 within less than an hour. Took cab to Palazzo for dinner at Cut. I was a little disappointed. Service was good, but ambiance was nothing spectacular. Food was good, but I had built up expectations that were not met. After dinner, played roulette with wife and left up another $75.00. Took cab to Bellagio to see O. I have always enjoyed Love and other Cirque shows that I have seen. However, this show did nothing for me. I ended up falling asleep several times. My wife, who is a huge cirque fan was really disappointed. We were both so exhausted and disappointed, we crawled back to our room and went to bed early. Good thing was that I managed to hang out to my $1,200.00 gambling bankroll for the night. Got up the next morning and headed to Ceasar's. Placed a $100.00 future bet on UGA to win the college football national championship at 50/1. If my dream comes true and they pull it off, I'll be able to head back to Vegas for an extra trip next year. Check out was fast. Bellagio comped all of our food charges, but did not reduce the casino room rate that we booked. Thoughts: I was really impressed with Bellagio. Paris has always been my favorite property, but Bellagio blew them away. That being said, I usually get my rooms at Paris comped for up to 5 nights through total rewards program. Bellagio only offered me casino rate of $129.00 per night. I have found that the Harrahs properties offer great room comps, but little else; while MGM/Mirage properties do not give great room offers, but do offer nice food, entertainment, etc. comps. After returning home, I noticed that I continued to get great room offers from the Harrahs properties. I have only received reduced room rate offers from Mandalay Bay, Mirage and Bellagio. I am headed back to Vegas on April 24th. I thought I would give the MGM/Mirage properties another try. I called each casino. Amazingly, I got better room rate offers from Mandalay Bay, Mirage and Bellagio than I got from Luxor, MGM, NY/NY or TI. I am assuming that this is because I played at the former casinos, and not the latter. In any event, headed to Mandalay Bay on the 24th solo, to meet some friends. Friday: Planning on playing in poker tournament at Luxor, and then checking out Peepshow at PH on Friday. Possibly going to LV Hilton to check out Sportsbook to see if it is as impressive as everyone says. Saturday: Planning on playing in poker tournament at Mandalay Bay, then watch NFL draft. After draft, will go see Danny Gans while friends head off to see Kenny Cheasney. May also see Nathan Burton earlier in the day. Trying to decide which later poker tournament to play in between TI, Monte Carlo and Mandalay Bay. Sunday: Playing in afternoon poker tournament at Luxor. Making my usual trip to see Fab Four Mania that afternoon. Debating seeing Fantasy at Luxor that night. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for my upcoming trip in less than three weeks, I would love to hear em.
I enjoyed your trip report and am so glad that I am not the only person who has fallen asleep during O......it was a complete snoozefest in my opinion; I probably would have left if the tickets hadn't been so expensive, lol I've seen Danny Gans several times and have always enjoyed his show. We are going to see Gordie Brown at the Nugget on our May trip, also an impersonator but more of a comedien/impersonator. I have wondered what the Fab Four show is like and it sounds like it is very enjoyable for Beatles fans, which we are. We have 3 shows already booked for our 5 night trip, so may try to sneak that one in there!
Thanks for the great TR. I agree - The Fab Four is a great show. They are so talented & love that they do they own music. Hubby & I are baby boomers & grew up in the 60's...he began taking music lessons when he was a small child & plays more instruments than I can list on both hands. Being the music snob that he is & a big Beatles fan - he loved the show too. Hope you next trip is a good one!
Nice report. I'd love to be able to see the Fab Four show sometime. A Day In The Life is my favorite Beatles song by far.
Great report. You sure got a lot of ground covered. Sounds like the bankroll held up nicely too. Thanks for posting.
Excellent TR my friend.....one thing I will say is that do not bother playing those poker tourneys at Luxor....after 2 levels they become an all-in shove fest....go to Ceasars for their deep stack tourney...the blind levels are longer than most tourneys and the entry fee is a bit higher which gets rid of the players just looking to "try" it.
I'm becoming very interested in seeing this Fab Four Show. I can honestly say - I saw "Love" at Mirage + was totally BORED ! So, I'm hoping "live" Beatle tunes will be more fun.
Thanks for the TR. I've seen Mystere and Love, and I'd like to see another Cirque show in August...from the sounds of it I'll scratch O off the list. I've always done Harrah's, too, because the room offers have been better, but I'd really like to stay at some of the MGM properties, too.
i will be interested in hearing your thoughts on staying at mandalay bay. we we will be going out the end of may and staying there for the 1st time. we always stay at mgm/mirage properties and have always had success. please post another trip report when you get back.