Hotel at MB 8/18 - 8/23

Overview: The was my 11th trip and my wife's 14th trip. We received an offer for The Hotel for 3 comped nights and 2 nights at $29 per night plus a food credit. Typically, we go to Vegas in the Fall or the Spring but we had an offer from the grandparents to watch our 6 year old and so we booked our trip. We left out of Philly and made great time arriving 30 minutes early. However, all the time we gained was lost at the baggage carousel. It took about an hour for the bags to come out. Another 20 minutes in the cab line and we were finally on our way to The Hotel. We got our room and it looked over the pool. Overall, the soon to be renovated room was in good shape.

Eats: We tend to eat twice a day and have a snack in between. We stay like staying at MB because we love the restaurants down at that end of the strip. We ate at Fleur, RM Sea Food, Burger Bar, Slice, Brand Steakhouse, L'Atelier, Todd English PUB and RX Boiler Room. L'Atelier was simply amazing. We split 4 small plates and ordered a bottle of wine. The food and service made it the best meal we have had in Vegas. This will be a traditional stop on future visits as there are many more dishes we want to try. RM is always good and we were pleasantly surprised by RX after so so reviews. The lettuce wraps with duck were very good. The one thing that I noticed that at 7:00 on Thursday night we were the only one at the bar. I'm not sure if this place has registered with the public yet. The one place that was slightly disappointing was the PUB. I ordered a salad and it was very bland.

Shows: We saw Zarkana and I was pleasantly surprised by the show. Although, I think it was in part that we were in the second row. We obtained a perspective that we have not previously had before. You could hear them execute the commands, see the sweat on their faces and see how small and stout the performers really are. The grand finale was slightly disappointing but the acts overall were very good. There was also a very good Beatles cover band playing at the bar at MB one night. We enjoyed listening to them and having a drink.

Activities: We both hit the spa. The spa at the Hotel was very nice we each had a massage and it was very enjoyable. I arrived at the spa an hour early to his the sauna and the whirlpool. Except for one other person, I was the only one using the spa. It seemed very empty.

We walked up and down the strip a couple of times. My wife is a big shopper so we walked to Fashion Show Mall on the 2nd day. The 3rd day we walked up to Caesars so she could hit their shops. She did significant damage but it was mostly at Crystals (purses and shoes). She budgets her money for shopping and I budget mine for gambling so this did not come as a shock. We did the walk from MB through Excalibur at least 10 times. It amazes the number of people that do not walk on the moving walkway. I would understand if one is injured or has a disability but I do not understand if one is perfectly healthy.

Gambling: My wife is a slot player and I'm mainly a BJ player with some slots thrown in. We went over the Trop the first day to play at the $5 table and it was sad to see it was now to 6/5. I enjoyed playing the Family Guy slot. The bonus rounds were a trip. For the first 3 days, I was basically even at BJ. I played mostly double deck. The last 2 days, however, the gambling gods were not nice. Every time I doubled down I seemed to lose. Even though I was losing, the dealers and pit bosses were very nice so I had an enjoyable gaming experience overall. Gained about 93k points on the mlife card and had several meals comped. Wife ended up losing $200 on the slots.

General Observations: Vegas seemed very busy but it was not evident at the restaurants or at the gaming tables. The only night we had difficulty getting into a restaurant was the night of Zarkana. We tried to go to Julian Serrano but it was packed. We were hungry so we hit up Brand Steakhouse. It was fine but not memorable. Some people drive me crazy, especially those who talk about how important they are. One evening, I was sitting at a BJ table with another fellow. We had been sitting for an hour or two and had a good rhythm going. We each were slightly up and had made small talk. Inevitably, a ****** or ******s would walk up. He and/or a friend would walk up in designer clothes (me and my table mate in a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops) and talk about their jobs and how well they were doing with the job and in Vegas. Eventually, they would run through their money and leave the table. This happened several times. Some of these people worked in my profession so it was easy to know that they are bullshitting us. I just don't understand why people need to announce to the world that they have money.

 

Great TR - thanks man

 

Thanks for the report. I had a ridiculously long wait on my bags last time as well. In the past, I’ve always thought McCarran was one of the best airports for getting bags out quickly. I hope this isn’t a new trend.

I hear you about the self-important cats that like to talk about how great they are. I just find it funny, though, as anyone who feels the need to broadcast such things clearly doesn’t have the life they want or is overcompensating for some failing. Oh well, we all have our insecurities.

 

Yeah it is somewhat of a bummer. I live in a town, DC, where people fixate on your title and who you know. I'm so not interested in that sort of thing. I didn't mean to end my TR on a down note about the pretenders. The trip was great even though we ending in the red. It was very relaxing.

After all the years of going to Vegas, I think we have found our home base. We are very comfortable at MB; we like the vibe. Three trips ago we would have never said that. We love the restaurants, the gaming and to a certain degree being away from the anarchy of mid strip.

 

In contrast, when we got back to Philly, the bags were flying off the conveyer belt. We received them in record time.

 

I am quoting this because it is an extreme rarity to read this about Philadelphia International Airport.

Being from the great city I have gone round upon round with good ol' PHL and it wins just about every time.

Good TR, man!