Fun and profitable trip!

I probably should have taken some notes during the trip because some of the details are a little fuzzy but I was having such a good time.

Saturday, October 4th
Had a 9:20 am flight from Newark on a Continental non-stop. We were lucky enough to have an empty seat between us, which made the flight a bit more comfortable. I had some drink coupons so we had a few cocktails. The movie was Legally Blond II, which I thought was one of the stupidest movies I have ever seen and it made the flight feel that much longer. We arrived in Vegas around 11:45 am. We decided not to check any luggage so as soon as we got off the plane, we headed for a taxi. Got to Mandalay Bay around 12:15 and checked in with no problem. We were able to get a room with a strip view in the Fiji Wing. After dropping off our luggage, we headed downstairs to pick up our tickets for the Holyfield/Toney fight. The seats weren’t the best but they were decent. After that, we grabbed a sandwich at the Kona Café and gambled for a few hours. The doors for the fight opened up at 4:00 but we went at 5:00. I had never been to a boxing match before and I really didn’t want to go but hubby is a big fan so I went to keep him company. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. I was surprised that they didn’t have music playing in the background. The guys in the immediate area laughed but some of the ladies thought it was a good idea. I was bored most of the time but it wasn’t unbearable. After that, we ran up to our hotel room to change and then we took the tram to Excalibur and walked over the MGM Grand for the Agassi Grand Slam Event. There was an auction happening on the floor when we arrived. The item they were auctioning off was a chance to play golf with Bill Clinton and Andre Agassi. That went for $45,000. Since we didn’t have time to grab dinner and the show seemed to be running late, we grabbed a quick bite at the snack bar before heading back up to our seats. The show was phenomenal! Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLoughlin (sp?), Tears for Fears, Dennis Miller, Robin Williams, Billy Joel and Elton John. Dennis Miller did a comedy piece and bashed several other countries and at the end, Elton John came on and bashed Dennis Miller because of it. I’m sure it was probably pretty ugly backstage. We left before the show ended because at that point, we were awake for about 22 – 23 hours and we wanted to beat the crowd. We made it back to Mandalay Bay, had a quick drink and headed up to bed.

Sunday, October 5th
We went to Raffles Café for breakfast. After that, we decided to gamble for a bit. Hubby and I split up and when he came back, he found that I was drinking Long Island Iced Teas at 9:30 am. He seemed a tad surprised but I got a Corona for him, which made it ok. I had a blast playing Hot Properties Monopoly and hubby played some Video Poker. He managed to hit a Royal Flush in Clubs for $1,000. At that point, we were down about $500 so it was a really nice win. We decided to go down to the pool. I was too impatient to wait for a waitress so I went into the Bar and got two drinks, which were about $19.00 with tip. That seemed a bit pricey for such small drinks in my opinion. I wanted to go up to soak in the tub so we went back to the room to rest. I feel asleep for a bit. We had a room at the Venetian for both Sunday and Monday so we checked out of Mandalay Bay around 7:00 pm and headed over to the Venetian. There was no line at the invited check-in desk so we were able to get a room quickly. The person behind the desk pulled up our reservation and said that we were pre-assigned a room and there was a note that we weren’t to be moved. He thought that was odd and did some investigating and found that the manager of rooms placed the hold on the room. (Last week, I spoke to a business contact in San Diego and mentioned that I was going to Vegas and he asked where I was staying and I told him and he said that one of his close buddies was the manager of rooms over at the Venetian so he made a call to this guy on our behalf) We went up to the room. The room itself was a regular Venetian Suite but it had a great view of the strip and the pools. He also sent up a bottle of champagne and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. We forgot to have lunch so we basically devoured the strawberries. My cousin and her friend were also in Vegas and we called them to find out if they wanted to meet us for dinner. They were staying at MGM Grand. I told her we had coupons for the Harrah’s buffet and they met us over there. We went to the buffet and then we went to the 10:30 Improv show there. One of the comedians used to play Skippy in Family Ties and was really funny. The other comedian was pretty good too. After the show, my cousin and her friend went back to their hotel. We gambled a little at Harrah’s and the headed back to the Venetian for a little gambling there before heading to bed.

Monday, October 6th
Hubby woke up with a killer hangover. I felt kind of bad since I was the one forcing him to drink so much on Sunday. I ran down to the food court and grabbed a few pastries, a coke for me and a coffee for him. After breakfast, I tried to talk him into coming down for a Bloody Mary to take the edge off. We relaxed for a while and then went to gamble. We cashed out for a little bit here and there but nothing substantial. We had a 1:00 pm reservation at Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse. The Venetian gave us $50 in dining credits and we figured that $50 should be do-able for lunch. I was wrong. We each had a soda and some mixed baby greens with vinaigrette. I had a steak (no potatoes or veggies) and hubby had pasta with shrimp and tomatoes. Total bill with tip was $93.00. The food was excellent. We ate at the Delmonico in New Orleans a few years ago and I really don’t remember the food being that pricey. I guess the rent at the Venetian must be pretty high. After lunch, we went back to gambling. I sat down at a quarter poker bank that was over $1,340. I played there on Sunday night and was convinced it was going off soon but it never did. The machine had multi game options and kept switching back and forth between games. The only way to win the progressive was to play Bonus Poker so I finally decided to just play Bonus Poker. About 10 minutes after I switched to Bonus Poker, I held three cards to the Royal Flush and pulled the other two. Unfortunately, I had to give my info. and got a tax form but at least I can claim losses against the win. I called my cousin to see if they wanted to have dinner with us again and they agreed. They really didn’t like MGM so they said they would take a taxi to the Venetian. While we were waiting for them to get their stuff together, we went over to Harrah’s for a bit because they have a pretty nice selection of Video Poker machines. We were only there for about 45 minutes. I was playing Deuces Wild and got four Deuces dealt to me and won another $250. We went back to the Venetian and met my cousin. They weren’t hungry yet but they wanted to watch the baseball game in the sports book. After the game was over, I went up to the room with my cousin and her friend and hubby was going to meet us up there. I had been drinking all day and wanted to pawn the bottle of champagne off on my cousin because I really don’t like champagne and hubby didn’t want to drink it either. We get up to the room on the 24th floor and I can’t get the key to work. I figured it demagnetized so I went back to the front desk to have it recoded. I went back up to the room and the new key didn’t work either. I was pretty tired and really didn’t want to run all the way back down again so I went to the house phone and called the front desk. My cousin overheard me on the phone telling them my room number 23-116. I hung up and she pointed to the number on the door 23-316! Drunken idiot that I am I was trying to get into the wrong room. We finally went to the right room and I called the front desk to apologize. They just have forgotten to call security because someone showed up and I had to explain what a moron I am. After the champagne, we went downstairs to grab dinner. My cousin decided she really wasn’t hungry yet but it was getting late so they went to gamble and I went to the Grand Luxe Café with hubby. Food was really good. I was much too tired and drunk to do anymore gambling but hubby still wanted to so he walked me to the room. Let me say, at Mandalay Bay, our room was on the 23rd floor. Hubby must have been drunk too because he pressed 23 instead of 24 and we found ourselves in the hall trying to get into 23-116. I gave my cousin one of our room keys in case she wanted to hang out there while we were at dinner. When the key didn’t work, I stared knocking on the door and then we realized that we were on the wrong floor and ran down the hall. The person in the room came out and we were too embarrassed to even look back or apologize. I went back to the right room and counted all the money before bed. We left with about $2,200. (We came with about $600 so we were up $1,600)

Tuesday, October 7th
Got up at 6:30 am and headed to the airport at 7:15. There wasn’t any traffic and I made sure I specified that we did not want to take the freeway. The cab driver laughed. The airport was empty and we breezed right through security. Grabbed some Ethel M Chocolate for my daughter and some Burger King for breakfast. Flight departed around 9:30 and we arrived a little after 5:00 pm East Coast time. The sound system on the plane wasn’t working too well and you could barely hear the movie so I slept as much as possible. We were thankful we ate before we left because the sandwiches they served were really nasty. We couldn’t even deal with the smell around us. It looked worse than pet food! They should be ashamed.

All in all, we had a fantastic and fun filled trip and I can’t wait to go back again!

 

Congrats on the wins! Sounds like a great trip. I know exactly what you mean about the details being too fuzzy to remember

Kitty

 

LV Dawn - sounds like you had a great and profitable time! I remember having problems with my room key too. Fortunately for me I knew I didn't know which room I was in before I went upstairs (make sense?). The people at the front desk laughed but said it happens all the time.

Delmonicos is definitely my favorite steak place in Vegas, but as you experienced, is pricey. When you go back they give you a free "welcome back" appetizer.

Glad you had a great time.

 

Great trip report and congrats on your $$$ winnings. It feels good to leave Vegas winning more than you lost. I bet you're already planning that next trip.

T-65 (I think)

 

Thanks for the great trip report! I'm debating right now between the Venetian and Mandalay Bay for a December trip. Could you give me some pros and cons for each? Interested in knowing about quality of rooms/bathrooms, service, overall atmosphere, convenience of location, etc.

Thanks!

 

Cruiser - Yes, I am definitely planning another trip. Actually, I am attending a conference in Vegas in mid-March but I don't know if I can wait until then. I'm thinking about sneaking away for another long weekend in December. I'm so bad!

SDB - Both Mandalay Bay and the Venetian are wonderful. There are definitely pros and cons of both places though.

Mandalay Bay
Pros
Nice pool area
Friendly people
Nice size bathroom with large tub and glass enclosed shower
Room service prices are reasonable
Slot club is pretty generous
Generous bathroom amenities (shampoo, conditioner, mouth wash, lotion, sea salt soap, glycerin soap, bath salts, cotton balls, q-tips)

Cons
Location could be better
Bedroom size is average

Venetian
Pros
Great Location
Best hotel room size in Vegas
Nice size bathroom with large tub and glass enclosed shower
Two tvs
Friendly people

Cons
Slot club isn't very generous although we did receive a free room offer in the mail (After playing there for two days using one card we only got $16 in cash back vs. $35 at MB for less play)
Pool area isn't anything special
Room services is quite expensive

Hope that helps!

Dawn

 

Dawn,
Yup, we have all been in that stupor and lost our way to our rooms Vegas is always better when we win Fun report.

sunni

T-43

 

Despite my best efforts while in Vegas to be in a relatively constant alcohol induced stupor, I actually managed to always find the room at the Aladdin. Finding the elevator bank wasn't as easy, but once I found the south tower bank, I could find the room.

Once, I knew I was well impaired, and actually got into the room and said outloud "holy (crap)! I found the room!"

Kitty