Flamingo 11/18 - 11/22

Tenth trip, but first trip report so bear with me. My last pilgrimage was April of last year, so I was overdue and looking forward to checking out the new buffet at Caesars as well as Absinthe. The wifey and I also had a night planned for downtown where she would brave the zipline under the lights of the FSE. We're small-potato Total Rewards members and usually get comped rooms in all the middle tier hotels so we decided to go with a Flamingo GO room this trip.

Sunday: Arrived at McCarran around 6pm and was promptly long-hauled to the Flamingo. I can't remember ever paying over $20 even to hotels on the west part of the Strip, and this fare was over $30. That said, the cabbie was very entertaining and I hadn't seen the back part of the Strip in awhile, so I didn't make a fuss. I did ask him if he ever had passengers complain about the tunnel...just to let him know I was aware. Later, I found out from another cabbie that even if they take Paradise, the new terminal (T-3) does add about $10 to your fare, so I'm glad I didn't get snippy.

- Hotel: Check in went smoothly and we were given room 23106. I'm not really a fan of the colorful decor, but the value of the GO rooms is hard to pass up. Room was clean, the fridge worked, water pressure was adequate...only complaint was a leaky shower, but not bad enough to report. I do wish they'd embed the sink-bowl in the counter due to the lack of space it creates. Our view was across from the Colosseum at Caesars with a view of Bellagio on the left and the Mirage on the right. With some slight straining, we got a view of the Fountains and the Cosmo.
- Bacchanal: Since we were still on an EST sleep clock, we decided to eat the big buffet first, do some light playing, and call it a night. I had read so many positive reviews about this buffet, that my expectations became perhaps a bit too high. Before I even got inside I got a bad first impression. The line to get in was as ridiculous as we anticipated and moved at a snail's pace, so we decided to bite the bullet and do the $15 line pass. Sounds easy except they let the Diamond/Seven Stars players go in front of those waiting for a line pass, which seems to defeat the purpose of the line pass anyway. To exacerbate things, they charge $15 per person, not per group. So we waited 30 minutes to pay an extra $30, but we did get in much quicker than we had if we stayed in the regular line. As for the food, the Bacchanal could possibly be the best tasting buffet we've had in Vegas (and we've eaten the Bellagio, the Wynn, Spice Market, Wicked Spoon, and any other buffet on the Strip). My wife's a light eater so I did my best to make up for both of us and hit the Seafood section pretty hard. Aside from the fact you had to wait in line to get your crab legs steamed, the seafood didn't disappoint. The boiled shrimp were huge, the crab legs were perfect, and the halibut was something I'd order in a sit-down restaurant. I also tried the prime rib, which was good, but I was disappointed not to see the lamb chops I had heard so much about. The Italian section was the biggest disappointment as I had read so many good things only to see a Pasta Primavera, a Baked Ziti, and some meatballs. Where was the Chicken Marsala or Parmesan I had read about? The wifey's a dessert lover and gave two big thumbs up after attacking the creme brulee, cookies, and other pastries. Both of us agreed that while the food was excellent, the fairly low selection (compared to other Vegas buffets) and the slow setup just to get in the buffet did not justify the exorbitant cost. We're glad we tried it, but we'll stick to the Wicked Spoon or the Spice Market on the next trip.
- Gambling: After the buffet, we rolled back across the street and played near the home base since we weren't too far from dreamland. I was never a slot player til my wife introduced me to those damn penny machines and the minute I hit a bonus, I was hooked. Once this happened, my winning streaks at the casino seemed to occur less and less, but those things are fun and addictive, so I keep playing them. This first night was no different. I quickly dropped a hundo in Ruby Slippers, and another one on a variety of other games. We had never played the Princess Bride or King of Pop machines, so were looking forward to both. Both machines sucked us dry and we decided it was time to cut our early losses and call it a night.

 

Why would the new terminal add $10 to the fair?
The cab line is in the same place, you don't take a different route around the new terminal.
I think it's just cabbies covering for each other.

 

We just got back from a trip flying United and came in to the new terminal and it is completely different with a different baggage claim and exit.

 

Monday: Thinking we could absorb some of the hit from the Bacchanal, we went ahead and got the Buffet of Buffets, which meant eating three buffets in less than 24 hours. Not smart. Breakfast buffets always make me queasy and the Paradise Garden was no different. (Pretty standard breakfast buffet...omelets, crepes, but no grits dammit!)

- Gambling: We planned on seeing Popovich at the Miracle Mile shops so we casually made our way to Planet Hollywood, hitting the Paris, Cosmo, and Aria. The machines at the Cosmo were kindest so we ended up playing there mostly. I got around to trying the Superman slot as well as the new Wizard of Oz slot centered around the Wicked Witch. Both kept me in the black, but nothing earth-shattering. Popovich was at 4, so we got to PH around 3 and played a little. I had been wanting to try the new Lord of the Rings slots so we found two side-by-side near the entrance and killed some time. Well, as showtime was rapidly approaching, my machine suddenly caught fire and the bonuses started flowing. I'm not sure if any of you have played this yet, but if you get the Gimli bonus, he'll throw some Wilds at your reels and whatever you hit, he'll pay it over and over for a random number of times. I ended up hitting a nice line that paid a little over $50, but the machine kept saying "Pay That Again." I've seen this before on YouTube videos but it's usually a handful of times...nothing too special. Well, this machine "paid that again" eleven more times and looked like this:



A $600 hit! Am I actually UP??? Amidst our excitement from my new favorite dwarf, we totally missed the Popovich show but weren't too broken up since we'd seen it before. (It's a bit cheesy in parts, but what he's able to accomplish with cats is worth checking out. Dogs are one thing, but how often do you see a trained cat show?) I set a bottom limit on the LOTR machine but the thing kept paying out, so by the time I left, I had a ticket for over $700. This would be the only time that machine was good to me as I ended up pouring $200 back into it at other casinos.
- Spice Market: Not really much to report that hasn't been said or experienced before. The Spice Market has never disappointed us and this time was no different. Yes, Bacchanal had a better seafood section, but the crab legs were just as good and I think I preferred the prime rib at Spice Market more. For the money, I still consider this the best buffet value on the Strip.

At the end of every Vegas trip, I always vow to lay off the freaking buffets, but I just can't seem to stay away. Needless to say, this night ended about as quiet as the previous night due to the need to purge myself. This would be the first time I had been in Vegas this long without one drink. Downtown was on the agenda for the next evening so I knew that streak was about to end.

 

Good stuff!

 

Damn! That was a nice bonus! Looking forward to the rest.