Much needed husband/wife drunken vacation 8/3-8/8 MGM Grand

I booked this trip back in April. Since the day I booked the trip I have been on this forum reading reviews and trip reports in anticipation. My wife and I have been to Vegas together four times and this will be my 10th trip. We own two restaurants and I go to work every day, seven days a week, at 4am. I hadn't had a full day off this year before this trip. My wife is a stay at home mom, and I always say her job is much harder then mine. We have three kids, son 13, and two daughters ages six and two. My son is in every sport offered in our small town at times being in three sports at once. My oldest daughter is in many sports as well. She is also in competition dance that takes up many nights and her and my wife have been gone several weekends this summer traveling for competitions.

It was a very hard choice for us choosing a hotel. We like to choose a different property each visit. We have stayed at Imperial Palace, TI, Aria and Bellagio. Since the last two trips were at upscale fancier properties we chose MGM. Although we have a pool at the house we wanted a nice, fun pool that we could go to since we were going to have a few extra days then normal. We aren't real picky on restaurants. We don't like buffets however. We have done buffets in Vegas before and have never left saying that we were happy we ate here. We are picky on customer service and would prefer a great service experience over fantastic food.

After reading about comps on here and talking to friends who go to Vegas I thought I would try to get noticed. I have got players cards before but usually forgot to use them or left them in a machine. This year I emailed a host to let him know we were coming. We are not high rollers by any stretch. We bring $1000 dollars a day cash and have a line of credit established at MGM. The host could only reduce my rate on the rooms but said to charge everything to the room and he would see what he could do. I like to play everything, blackjack, craps, baccarat, slots, video poker and all the carnival games. My wife likes slots, video poker and knows blackjack but doesn't like a full table after some jerk smarted off about a wrong play someone made at a table we were at. She is always afraid she will mess up and make someone upset. Our favorite game to play together is Pai Gow Poker. We like to drink, a lot, on vacation and this game is perfect for that.

The past couple trips I have planned every event to the day. This year we decided to decide on the fly more. We are going to drink when we want to drink, swim when we want to swim, eat when we are hungry and sleep when we are tired. Really no plans going in but to have a great time and have some much needed adult time. We saw and did things we have never seen or done before and will always remember for the rest of our lives. I hope you enjoy because we did.

 

Details, details??

 

Fantastic summation!!! Bravo!!

 

Day 1-flight out and royal flush

We flew out on allegiant air for a 9m arrival in Vegas. We got the kids to their homes for the week and headed out. We got to the airport about 2 hrs early and hit the airport bar. I always like talking with people before we leave. Everybody is so excited to be leaving and starting the vacation. We have beers and meet new friends. It's also interesting hearing how peoples plans for Vegas differ. That's what makes Vegas great. You can do anything. We get on the plane, order more drinks and we are off. Not even the crying baby could damper our moods.

We arrive in vegas and get our bags. The line for the taxi was short and we were off. We got to the MGM and waited about 5 minutes to check in. I told my wife I was going to show the clerk a twenty and ask for an upgrade. She was embarrassed so I told her to just take the luggage and have a seat and I'll check in. I asked the clerk for an upgrade and all she could give me was a double queen on a high floor with a strip view. I was in a king on the other side. I took it. We wheel our big overweight suitcase to the little shop outside Rainforest Cafe to stock up the room. I got a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Whisky, and mixers. We head to the room. We were happy with the room and the night view was great. I made us a drink each and we cheers and were so excited that we were here. I unpacked my stuff and my wife changed and we went to check out the property.

As many have said in reviews it is very big. It took is a couple days to figure it out. We just used bars as land marks and meeting points. We decided to play Pai Gow and sat at a $50 table. I asked for a $500 marker and after a bit of calling and signatures we were playing. It was pretty slow Sunday night and the drink service was fast. We started to feel no pain. Then my wife looks at her cards and says Holy Shit I Got a Straight Flush and shows me her cards. I say honey you got a Royal Flush. She was so happy she hugged me. She was more happy when they counted out the $750 for her bonus bet. Then she takes $500 of it and pays my marker and I'm happy too. I let her rip it up. We play more till the cards are looking fuzzy and turn a bit cold and headed in around 4am. It was a great start to the trip.

 

Pretty good way to start off the trip!

 

Day 2- strip hop, wife babysits

I don't sleep many hours a night and on vacation it's no different. I'm up at 7am and start to get ready. I forgot mouth wash and want to head out to get some. I hit the strip and walk to an abc store. It's raining out but no too hard. I get what I need and head back. It's not even 8:00 so the streets are pretty quiet. But there are still people every 20 feet pushing time shares or tickets. I haven't had my coffee yet and it was pretty annoying. I just try to ignore them then I get past them and they say some smart remark about me being rude and not answering them. Just let me get my toiletries please.

I made my way back to the hotel. Walking to the room I noticed buckets, towels and floor dryers around the hotel. It just amazed me on how the hotel leaked as much as it did with so little rain. In fact there was a dryer in our hallway the entire stay. I got back to the room and my wife is stirring about. We decide to meet at the lobby bar then go eat. I head down to hit the Lion Share. I put $60 in and didn't hit a single thing 20 spins and done. I moved over and put twenty in Michael Jackson. First spin it goes into bonus. It lasts awhile but not much money. Played a bit longer got another bonus and cashed out to meet my wife.

We decided to go to Avenue Cafe for breakfast. We got seated right away and we waited, and waited finally a server appeared and asked if we were ready. No drink order first wanted the whole thing. We ordered and waited and waited again. He brought out my coffee and my wife's water. Then the food came out after another 15 minutes. It was very good I must say but the service was so slow. Thankfully they give you a whole pot of coffee so I could fill it.

After we ate we decided to go check out The Linq and hit every casino there and back. We take off down. The strip played at PH, Balleys, Osheas, Cromwell, Quad and Flamingo. I played a variety of games and lost on all of them. My wife mostly played Video Poker. We really liked Cromwell but it was empty in there. We had fun at O Shea's as well. Last time we played a lot at PH but it just didn't have the same vibe this time for some reason. We played a lot at Paris at a video poker bar. I was drinking scotch and a lot of them. In fact we were drinking a lot at all the casinos. In the middle of out booze fest we did manage to eat at the New Mexican restaurant in the Linq area. It was very good and a neat place. Around 8:30 I think my wife informs me that she believes I am the drunkest she has ever seen me. Oh boy. The walk back to MGM is a blur. We may have flew on a kite for all I know. We get back and I want Chinese. We go to Grand Wok and have potstickers, orange chicken and Kung pow chicken. I think it was good????? After I think it's a great idea to play $100 Pai Gow on a marker. The food helped but I was still tanked. A guy next to me made small talk about what shows I want to see ect. I told him I've always wanted to see Carrot Top. He said well ask the pit boss he will get you carrot top tickets. So I asked the pit boss. He made calls and came back to inform me that he was off this week and asked if Brad Garrett club was ok for Wednesday night. This is my first ever comp and I thought I could get used to this. I'm playing and doing well. I look down at a large pile of blacks. I said man I'm up! The dealer saved me by saying don't forget you got a marker. Now I'm probably 50 scotch in by now so I pay it off. My wife comes to check on me and says she is turning in. I'm pretty sure the dealer tried to get me to go with her but I stayed. I'm not sure how much longer I played but I left at $700 profit. I know I bet a $500 chip a few times so I was up more I'm sure. So in my drunkest state I somehow managed a break even day after losing all day. That is a win in my book. I stumble to the room and brag to my wife of the victory. She wasn't as impressed.

 

So far, so good!!!! And you have us waiting for more.....

 

Great report, looking forward to hearing more.

 

Sounds like you are having fun. Comps are always cool.

 

Haha if I had a dime for every time my wife said that, I'd have about 60 cents.

 

Day 3- Downtown- My turn to babysit

I get up around 7:00 and I am real thirsty. I get ready and go down and play some slots and video poker while my wife gets ready. She comes down and we grab a quick breakfast at Stage Deli. Today we wanted to see a couple of hotels that we haven't seen before, The Hard Rock and The Stratosphere , then head to Fremont St. for the rest of the day. We decide to walk the back way to Hard Rock. We grabbed a beer from the shop and hit the streets. It was hot but it was neat to see the back of the MGM. The deliveries for the day were coming in and as a restaurant owner seeing the palates of food come in was neat. The walk was a little over a mile.

We get to the Hard Rock and really liked the look of the place. This place was DEAD! I bet there wasn't 20 people to be seen and the workers looked like statues. We walked around and looked at the memorabilia. I signed up for their players club and came across the first (and only) employee there that seemed to be happy with her job. We then decide to sit at the bar and play video poker. We are the only ones at the bar and the bartender finally greets us and gets us a drink. We are playing for awhile and I am still sweating from the walk. I ask my wife if it was just me or is it hot in here. She agrees that she thought it was just the walk but we weren't cooling down. We finish our drink and move on to the next bar. We sit down and it was at least 10 degrees cooler. We were amazed the difference in temperatures from one bar to the next. We settle in with more drinks and notice an interesting character walking to the players club desk. He was very thin and pale with long red hair that looked as if it hadn't been washed this year. He had a backpack and was wearing a t-shirt that was three sizes too big and had on pajama pants. He gets his card and talks it up with the players club lady and walks and sits at the bar we are playing at. He says hello to us and the bartender greets him. He talks the bartenders ear off. He was like one, never ending run on sentence. It was hard for the bartender to break free to get us fresh drinks. We felt bad for him a little. We wrap up our video poker session and get a new drink and check out a few more displays and hit the taxi line for The STRAT .

We get to the Strat and it is a bit busier but full of younger 15-20 yr olds. We sit at the bar get a drink and play video poker. We both are in agreement that we had low expectations for this place but it was nice. We were also in agreement that we have had a lot of cocktails for it not being noon yet. We say F-it and clink our glasses. I see a big wheel by the player club desk for new players so I go check it out. The lady was not impressed with my early buzz and drink on the desk in front of her. She gets me signed up and informs me that once I get so many points, 25 I think, I can spin the wheel. I go back to my wife and tell her of the wheel. She is excited for this goal and we decide to hop around the themed machines and play together alternating spins. We decide to hit a bonus or bust and move to the next one. I don't remember many bonuses but it was fun and drink service continued to be pretty good. We finally hit the goal and headed to the desk. I got the same lady and she still wasn't impressed with me. We look at the wheel and laugh that there is nothing on the wheel that we cared to win. It was all just bonus points. I think there might have been a dining credit. But we get the spin and I spin that wheel like I am on Wheel of Fortune. My wife starts chanting, big money , big money. It stops on something real small and I pump my fist like I got a hole in one. She motioned for my card and asked if I was staying at the hotel. I told her I wasn't and wouldn't you know it I think I saw a smile. She must have been happy that she wouldn't have to see me any more. The main reason I wanted to go to the Strat was to grab a drink at 107 lounge and check out the view. We hit the elevator and wait to go up. We get to the front of the line and they inform us we need a pass. I explain that we are just going up for a drink and she points at the line to get a pass. It was full of this 15-20yr old group. I look at my wife, who hates heights anyway, and we agree it wasn't worth going through all of that for a drink. Plus we were excited to get to Freemont St. We should have went up. The details to follow!

 

So far, so good, I am really enjoying your trip report and kudos to your wife for paying off your marker with the Royal win. She sounds like a keeper.

 

Great TR so far thanks for sharing!

 

Hey... you saw me there... you should've come over and introduced yourselves... I would've LOVED to meet you!!!

 

Freemont Experience- Yea for sure

We get to Freemont and get out of the cab. It was a bad sign from the start when there are several people asleep on the side walks. We had never been to Freemont in the light and there was no one around outside. Probably they don't want to see the filth. We are a lot of drinks in and we are ready for lunch. We walk the street deciding what to eat and get asked for money several times. We find a neat looking Irish bar and grab a seat on the patio. We have plans of eating at the new Italian Steakhouse at the D later so we split an order of nachos and get a couple of the pubs specialty drinks. As we are waiting we just take in the street. We are amazed of how dirty it is downtown. There were bottles and cups in the street. No one approached us for money while we were eating but several homeless/looked homeless walked by us. Our nachos were good and large. We decided we were just going to play at several casinos and just hop around. Some of the properties run together so forgive me. We grab a drink from an outdoor bar and make our way. We went into Golden Gate and I signed up for the players card and got a deck of cards. I spotted a Silver Strike machine. I bee lined to it and told my wife that I was going to win one of those coins no matter what. She didn't believe me and sure enough about the third spin I got one. She was in disbelief and said how much is that worth? I told her ten dollars but I just wanted it for my chip collection. She did agree that it was a nice addition. The drinks made this win a bit more exciting than it really was but it was a high note. Then things went bad quickly.

Let me take a second to describe my wife. She is the sweetest person I know. She is the type of person that is friendly to everyone and rarely talks negative about anyone. She works out religiously usually two or three times a day and had a rock hard body. As a reward for nursing our three children I purchased her a couple of enhancements that the doctor did a fantastic job on. She is beautiful inside and out and I know I have overachieved. So we leave Golden Gate and head into another casino. I am done playing slots and want to hit the tables. My wife says she is going to continue to play video poker. We agree on an hour per casino. Im playing a few minutes and she comes up behind me looking a bit flustered. She has a ticket in her hand. I ask her if she won. She said she couldn't enjoy herself because she was constantly either getting hit on or asked for money by old men blowing smoke in her face. I cashed out and we left. Im pretty sure the next place was Golden Nugget. Again I played tables, blackjack and craps, and she went to video poker and slots. I'm bouncing around and playing awhile when she comes and finds me at a table pissed again. She said she was playing a machine and was up $100 or so when a old oriental man with a limp comes up behind her. He says let me show you, reached over her changed the denomination and started hitting buttons. She told him to stop but he continued till it was at 0. I grabbed my chip and jumped up to look for him but we couldn't find him. She was mad I was mad I cashed out and left. We decide to go to the D and play together at the long bar. We go in and the place looked nice. We sat at the long bar and got drinks and played. After awhile I said lets go play the ponies that will cheer us up. I left her to finish her drink while I used the restroom. I came back and she just shakes her head saying someone else came over and started to play her machine over her shoulder again but she stopped him this time. I couldn't believe the nerve of these people. How do they think they can do this? We go up to the Sigma Derby and get our quarters. We obviously don't play this to win but to have fun with the crowd. Well we were the only ones who thought this way at this machine. It was full of people that were so serious they sucked the life out of this fun game. They would switch sides and talk strategy. We did get a chuckle on how serious they were. We lost our quarters and decided to move on. We agreed that the Golden Gate was the least creepy place we visited so we went back there. We found a video poker bar right next to the Texas Hold Em table game. She sat down at the bar and I sat right behind her at the table. I was doing well and winning. Two other guys sat at the table and asked how to play. I told them and shared that I saw on line the best odds are if you have q8 or better to max bet. They saw my stack and said well it looks like it is working. I would get up from time to time to talk to my wife as she had another friend playing next to her. I asked her if she was ok. She said he was ok the smoke was annoying but he was waiting for a girl to meet him at the bar. So we played for awhile and the drinks were flowing. I was having fun and the dealers were pretty and would take shifts dancing behind the tables. I was getting a kick out of seeing the dealers faces on the chips. I would bet the chip with their picture for good luck. My wifes poker mate was getting drunk too and would come talk to me at the table. I was drunk but he had me beat. So time goes by and all of a sudden I hear my wife yell "That's It I Cant Take It Anymore!" I jump up and the guy walks off. I asked her what was going on. I guess as the drinks flowed this guy got more and more friendly. She said you know he was waiting for the BARTENDER who wanted nothing to do with him. The dealer asked me if she wanted to call security. My wife said no lets just get out of here. I cashed out and we went outside. Now my wife is so upset and looks like she is about to cry. As we walk out a band is playing and I grab her hand and start dancing with her. It took her a moment to loosen up but she did just as the song is over and the band was done. It was the end of the set. We walk off and it hits her of the scumballs she has dealt with downtown. She starts to tear up and says I just need a moment and went into the casino to the bathroom. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to leave her in the casino alone and drunk with what she has had to put up with. I just stood there and didn't take my eyes off the bathroom. She came out still looking upset and hugged me. I asked her if she was just ready to go back to the MGM. She said she just wanted to do something fun with me that wasn't gambling. I said no problem that sounds great. We start to walk off and we hear a band starting down the block. We get there and it sounded good. It might of been the booze but good to us. There was a patio right by that said you had to purchase to enter. I said those dirtballs wont bother you here and there is a security guard. We order a drink from the waitress, I said your favorite draft and my wife got vodka tonic. The beer she chose for me tasted like drinking a flower. Not my cup of tea but I drank it. The total was $15 and I gave her a $20. He looked like I gave her $100 and said are you sure. I didn't think that was a great tip, do people not tip on Freemont? Anyway she took great care of us all night and we never went dry. We were dancing all around the patio. I am pretty sure people didn't appreciate this but my wife was having fun now and that is all I cared about at the time. The band finished and we were getting ready to move on and my wife pulls out a TITO and say OH NO. It was for $171 at the Strat. I said to you want to go back or mail it in? After all the loses downtown she wanted to go back. We grabbed our drinks and got a cab to the Strat. We walk in and she plops down at the first slot into the door. She hands me the ticket and says she is staying right here. I cash it in and come back to her and she is half asleep. When she sees me she hops up and asks me whats next Im starving and we never made it to the steakhouse. I tell her Ive read this place called Earls is a great place to get a sandwich drunk. She said that sounded good where is it? I said NY NY (oops)

So we get a cab to NY NY and go in. She says she loves this place. I look at the map and realize that it isn't there that it is at Planet Hollywood. I told her of my mistake and she asks how far is it? I tell her we have walked further. I should have added sober to that. We walked and walked. About the time we hit Aria she looks at me and says she would have never done this to me last night when I was so drunk. I offered to head back but she said we were committed now. We finally made it there and she sits down. I order a Holiday for me and a Chipotle Chicken for her, a wine and a water. We wait for the food and I ask her which one she wants. She said if she drank that wine after the walk we just had she would throw up on this floor. We both agreed that the sandwich was good but didn't live up to the walk we did for them. We stumble back to the MGM and to the room and of course the key doesn't work. My wife collapsed at the door and says she is not walking another step tonight. Why with all the technology we have not make a key that can be next to a cell phone? I get the key and she is asleep at the door of the room. I wake her up by saying "Miss if you want to sleep on the floor you need to go to Freemont St" She laughed and got up and dove head first on the first bed and passed out. I did the same on the other bed. I guess two queens was a good idea after all. What a night!!!

 

I'm hoping the 15-20 yr olds were there for the rides, not the casino and bar

 

Haha that's funny.

- - - Updated - - -

Damn man...that sucks about the people doing that to your wife. I couldn't even fathom someone walking up and playing a machine for someone with their money in it!!

 

Rocky- I know I couldn't believe it either then it happened THREE times.

 

I think that is something that is pretty isolated to the Freemont area...If memory serves correct I seem to recall another person's TR mentioning the same thing where someone started taking over a player's machine. I don't hear about that happening on the strip.

I don't go downtown much but will on my next trip to check out the Mob Museum and to shoot some dice at MSS and Cal

 

Nice. TR. I plan to casino hop with my wife next month. We've done it before. It's fun walking down the strip and grabbing drinks at all the casinos.