The budget vegas trip at the Encore?

This is my first trip report, so I'm not sure how this will turn out. Some times were a blur as we had 3 1/2 days to get in ALL of Vegas. Here we go...

Sunday (Easter):
I flew in to Denver, had a few Sam Adams and a burger at a bar. Met a girl who was a preschool teacher, and worked at a microbrew in Jackson Hole, WY, we discussed beer for a while. It was time to fly to Vegas. I met up with my buddy who is in the Marines. Taxi to the Encore, didn't need to say no tunnel, as he could hear from what I was talking about, that I'm not a virgin to this town.

Upon entering the Encore, the staff opened doors for us, everyone was very helpful, really felt like royalty. We had a king suite non-view booked. We were asked to upgrade to a strip view (south), and two queens for $25 more a night. I paid $350 dollars for 4 nights. Make that $450 for two queen strip view at the Encore, not bad.

The view was amazing (58th floor), as were the beds, and everything in the room. I now have to go out and buy better linens and down comforters for my personal bed, just because I was now a "bed snob". I loved the view of the Wynn, pools, golf course, TI, and the Mirage. We could see the fireworks from the TI. I also enjoyed having the higher set of elevators so we wouldn't need to wait through the 1-30 floors.

Next we wanted to check out the strip, as my buddy had never been to Vegas before. We went to try to eat at the Fashion Show Mall, but they were closed for Easter. We found ourselves at Kahunaville at the TI for lunch/dinner. We decided to try the large 44oz Monstrous Drinks with energy drink, and all types of liquor. They were expensive but equivalent to 3 drinks, topped with dry ice, which made the drinks crackle and smoke, which was very cool. Dinner was good. We went to 7-11 to get a few cheap beers and a Four Loko. We went to relax in the room. Then my buddy went to play poker at the TI. I spent a little more time up in the room, then went to meet him, then decided to watch the TI show instead. It was postponed because of the wind, and I decided to walk up the street, high fiving people. I ended up at the Circus Circus, playing some VP. Had a discussion with a Red Sox fan, about how the Yankees suck. Walked to the Riviera, just to walk in, and went back to the hotel room to pass out. This was 8pm.

Monday:
I woke up at 1:30pm not feeling so hot and still in a dress shirt and jeans. I put off eating as I was tired, finally got out and got something to eat at the Fashion Show Mall. This food court was great as we could eat for 10 bucks a pop. I relaxed and watched some TV in the shower (which is a great thing about the Encore). We went to Lagasse’s Stadium for second lunch at the Palazzo, it was the best BBQ chicken pizza I’ve ever had, with an Abita’s Turbo Dog. Minus 5 was next, we walked to Mandalay Bay, from the Encore. Had 3 drinks at the Minus 5 lounge, which is always a fun time. Because of the walk we took a taxi back to the hotel. I was hungry so I headed to Dennys, which is also near the hotel. My buddy was passed out at this time, and I eventually got him up, and out to venture to find a club or to find something to do. This is about 11:00pm. We walked up and down, saw Caesars, and ended up at the RockHouse as it was getting late. We saw they had beer pong. We played beer pong and didn’t lose a game from about midnight until 3am. It was a fun night.

Tuesday:
My buddy wanted to sleep in so, I went down to the pool and had a beer. They charged 7 dollars for a Heineken, not too bad. Relaxed by the pool for an hour or so, but it was getting cloudy, so I headed in. We went out to get dinner at Ellis Island for the Steak special. The people at Ellis Island seem to be all addicts and drunks, we waited an hour to get a table. The steak was good, but not as good as I had talked it up to being. We both didn’t feel like beer so we had some Ellis Island Rootbeers. We were just excited to get back to the Wynn/Encore for that luxury. At 10 we had Four Loko’s again. We headed out to check out Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar. I’m a country fan, and my buddy isn’t, but we both enjoyed the live music, and I expect to come back here again in June. We ended up at the RockHouse again, and played beer pong from 11:30 or so until 5am, as they were closing. We lost the final game, although we did play against two kids from a neighboring town in Baltimore, which was pretty cool. I had nearly nothing to drink that evening, so I knew Wednesday would be a decent day.

Wednesday:
I woke up early to get some fast food at the Fashion Show Mall, and then I headed to the pool. Talked to some people, everyone seemed nice and happy to be at the pool. It was a sunnier and warmer day. I ordered a pineapple mojito. It was 14 dollars, that was steep I thought, but it was the cost of having it in paradise. I headed up to the room, and we head out for some lunch/dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel to relax again. My buddy hadn’t seen the Bellagio fountains yet, so we walked down to get a good view of them. We wanted to see the TI show so we headed out there to catch the 7pm showing, after that we ate again and then we relaxed in the room, and I packed up my stuff. My buddy was flying out that evening at 11, so I said goodbye and headed out myself. This is when I got crazy seeing everything. It was my last night and I wanted to see everything I had set myself to see. I rushed from the Encore at 8:40 to the Mirage to catch the 9pm volcano blast. I then stopped at Bellagio to catch two fountain shows. I then went to City Center, lost a few dollars in the new slots at Aria. I checked out the other buildings, most of which aren’t open yet. Then I walked up to Bellagio to catch half of another show. I also caught one final show while enjoying a gelato ice cream inside. I decided to walk through the outside of Caesar’s Palace, and inadvertently caught another showing of the Mirage volcano. I went back to relax and sleep.

Thursday:

Had Breakfast at Denny's again. I took a cab from the Encore to the airport, with an odd cabbie. He took me on route 15 which was actually a good route, but he mentioned if I wanted to check out a brothel before I left. I assumed it was a joke, but I wasn’t sure, either way I was coming from the Encore, not Imperial Palace. I didn’t go in case you are wondering. It was time to leave, and I scored my trip as a success. I had the list made up for the last night, and I hit everything I wanted to.

Great trip, and I’ll be back from June 26-July 5th, staying at the Wyndham Grand Desert

 

Way to get it rolling with that first TR. Nothing wrong with short and to the point.

 

Nice report....thank you for sharing with us.

 

still did quite a lot :evillaugh

can't wait to go back

 

Nice report, but where the hell is a brothel between the Encore and the airport? Vegas cab drivers can be nut jobs.

 

Nice report, Encore on a budget done very well.

 

What did you think of the Root beer at Ellis Island?

 

Four Loko sounds interesting. Might have to give those a try.

 

is that the same type of beverage as say Sparks?

 

Thanks for posting your TR.

later, GVJ

 

root beer was pretty good I thought, not the best I ever had, but for a locally brewed root beer, it was tasty


also, four loko is 12% alcohol and energy, so like a sparks, but a lot more heavier in alcohol, sparks is either 6 or 7 percent.

I tried two more flavors, they suck generally, but for 3 bucks, it is good to get a buzz on. Tried grape, lemonade, blue rasberry, and fruit punch. Could only find grape and fruit punch in vegas though.



Also I do think we did a pretty good job on a budget at the encore, some people specifically on Trip Advisor, said it couldn't be done:Þ