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July TR: Wynn, Aria, Celine, Carrot Top and some great meals!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by DK528, Aug 1, 2012.

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  1. DK528

    DK528 Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2010
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    Location:
    NYC
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    7

    My Trip Report

    A no-so-quick report on my recent trip to LV. Went July 23rd - 28th after a weekend in Acadia and Bar Harbor Maine (which are gorgeous, by the way). Stayed at Wynn for the first three nights and then at Aria for two. I’ll break it up by subjects.

    Hotels:
    Wynn:
    • Stayed on a 3 free nights, $300 freeplay offer. Last time I was there (back in December) I got a room on the 6th floor overlooking buildings. Luckily that didn’t happen this time! 31st floor overlooking the strip. Wonderful view, great room as usual.
    • Couple interesting things -- was approached by a couple homeless people during my stay -- that hasn’t happened before and for a second, I thought I was in AC. One sorta cornered me and I felt uncomfortable but nothing happened after I (hopefully) politely ended the conversation.
    • Lucky 8 drawing (earn 150 slot points get a ticket, they draw 8 numbers and if you get 5, you share in $1000 freecredit, if you get 6 numbers, you share in $5000 freecredit) really brought people to Encore’s casino. I’m curious if they actually get more slotplayers between 5 and 6:30 because of the drawing. The employee announcing the numbers is a hoot.
    Aria:
    • Stayed on a 3 free nights, $250 freeplay offer. I think I feel most comfortable at Aria (of the hotels I’ve stayed at) -- I like the restaurants, the casino style, the smell.
    • What’s the point of MLife platinum? Have had it for my last two trips and no upgrade is available. Check-in agents even looked at me blankly both times when I mentioned it.

    Restaurant highlights:

    • Bouchon vs. Tableau: I think I like Bouchon more. First, its cheaper. Second, I like the selection better. The sourdough waffle is wonderful -- crispy and light. And the vanilla salted butter is delicious. Tableau’s nothing to sneeze at but I didn’t feel satisfied after a $40 breakfast.
    • L’Atelier: did the seasonal tasting menu. Amazing. Favorite meal of the trip. Started with a foie gras custard with a parmigiana foam and port. Then an heirloom tomato salad. And ugh, the menu’s not online. So from memory, the langoustines with curry was my favorite dish, the onion tart was delicious and the famous quail with foie gras and butter with a little bit of potatoes was too rich for me. Desserts were refreshing -- a yogurt sorbet and a raspberry dessert. Drank two glasses of champagne. Servers were very friendly and I really appreciated that as a solo diner. Finally, watching the cooks precisely plate everything using triceps and other scientific tools is a fun show in itself. Can’t recommend this highly enough.
    • Gordon Ramsey Steak: I thought it was fine. Granted I didn’t have steak. I also may be the one person not to like the bread basket -- give me good simple bread and butter and I’m a happy girl. Back to the food and drinks -- had a Pimms Cup which was refreshing, an heirloom tomato salad which was good, and the famous fish and chips, which were fine. The best part of the meal was the sticky toffee pudding.
    • Sage: my favorite restaurant on the strip. The bartenders are great (and remember me, which is a nice gesture since I come once or twice a year) and I had my two favorites -- the foie gras brulee and the oysters with tabasco sorbet. Didn’t have room for dessert but the caramel hot chocolate they brought out was a great sweet end to the meal.
    • Julian Serrano: quick dinner on Friday. The gazpacho was one of the best I’ve had. Didn’t care that much for my other two tapas -- the serrano ham and the dates.
    • Scarpetta: seated with a gorgeous view of the Bellagio fountains. Had the heirloom tomato salad and the famous spaghetti. Both great. I tried to make the spaghetti once and that sauce is very labor intensive! And of course didn’t taste anything like the restaurant’s version.
     
  2. DK528

    DK528 Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Messages:
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    Location:
    NYC
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    7
    Shows

    • Celine: on a whim, bought a ticket for Celine on Wednesday. What a show! What a voice! Half of the songs she performs aren’t her own -- which made me sad that she feels like she needed to pull so much from outside her catalogue. But maybe its a conscious decision to do that. She sang Adele’s Rolling in the Deep and I had chills. She also adds personal touches to the show, which was nice.
    • Carrot Top: not gonna lie -- didn’t expect much from the show. But he’s pretty funny! His props are great and he incorporated very recent events (like the Olympics) into his show. However, watching him and thinking about what plastic surgery he’s had done was distracting. Was floored when I looked later that night and found out he’s 47!
    • Phoenix: headed over to MB after Carrot Top and Phoenix was playing at the Japanese place. I love cover bands and these guys were great! On my list for my next visit.


    Gambling

    I play mostly slots, especially when craps minimums were $15 at night (when I usually like to play). I had a few large hits, cycled through coin-in well, and left with about ⅓ of my bankroll.
    • Disappointed with WWIII on this trip. Played it in AC and had a few good hits but in LV, I played through hundreds without getting more than $5-20 hits at most.
    • WWII -- there’s a few new WWII games at Aria, including one near the Papillon store. I had a few decent hits on that one and the she-devils came out a bunch.
    • Buffalo: I didn’t realize before this trip that Buffalo is different here than in AC -- am I correct that you can only get 1 buffalo on the first reel? Had a few good runs but also had many bonuses (when I was playing $2/pull) for less than $5 total.
    • Electrifying Riches: played a few times. Once got 100 free spins playing at $1.50/pull and got about $150 at the end of the bonus. Not gonna lie, a little disappointed. Second major free-spin spin, got 90 free spins and got about $490 total - nice! That multiplying reel has real potential!
    • WOZ: played both the original version and Ruby Slippers. Had a handful of times where Glinda gave me great wild reels.
    • The handful of times I tried the more expensive reels, I never got any bonuses or large hits.

    I dislike that MLife changes the point values for “specialty” machines. First, they’re not consistent between properties. Second, it just seems cheap. Third, it actually disincentivizes me from playing on those themed slots at MLife properties and I instead spend that money at Wynn or Cosmo or wherever.

    Happy to answer any questions!
     
  3. CaptainJack

    CaptainJack Low-Roller

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    Nice report, I like your taste in dining.
     
  4. DK528

    DK528 Low-Roller

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    Thanks, Captain -- I certainly don't eat like that in my normal day-to-day life but I'm on vacation!
     
  5. sam_marques

    sam_marques Vegas Vlogs Youtube / TeamClareVlogs

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    Thank you for a great trip report, love all the slot info as they are slots i like to play. I am looking forward to playing WWIII in november, am i right in thinking you don't get the 15 spin bonus?
     
  6. Slick

    Slick Tourist

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    "Disincentivizes" will be my word of the day! Thanks for the report!
     
  7. DK528

    DK528 Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Sam, that's right -- only the respins. And of the maybe 8 respins I got, at least 4 turned out to give me nothing between the two spins with the wilds :cry:
     
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