TR - Sept 23rd - Oct 1st... Hope you're ready!

I hope you guys are ready for my trip report – all eight and a half days of it!!!

If you want to check out pics, have a look at my facebook photo album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9151&l=d9d12&id=555755868

Day 1 – Sept 23rd

Had an uneventful 5-hour flight from NYC. We were quite excited as we were really looking forward to this Vegas trip.

We arrived at McCarran and it took ages for the luggage to come out. We eventually picked up our bags and made our way to the MGM counter to check-in.

We had already booked a decent room at the MGM Grand (a Celebrity Spa suite), but I thought I’d try the $20 trick anyway. The girl at the counter seemed nice enough, so I slipped a $20 between my id and my credit card and asked if there were any upgrades available. She did her check and came back with the Hollywood Suite available. She showed me the floor plan and it wasn’t much bigger than the Celebrity Spa Suite – and it didn’t actually have a spa. As the spa was the major drawpoint, I polietely declined but thanked her anyway. I then asked for a strip view and she gave us that with no problem.

Our room wasn’t ready so she said it’ll be ready around 3ish, so she gave us a number to ring from a house phone and we were on our way. We had organized for the shuttle to take us to the MGM and we left our luggage with the bell hop. We made our way to the casino and headed straight for the Players Club. Although we already had cards, we just double-checked to make sure they were still valid, and luckily enough my hubby’s card had expired! So she gave us both new cards and went through our perks. She told us to charge everything to the room and then to go back to the Players Club before we check out and see if we had earnt any comps!

We played the slots for a while. My favourite machines are the Aristocrat ones, and I was a little disappointed to see that the MGM didn’t have many of these. I did find a few so that’s where I played the most.

At 3.00pm we called up to see if our room was ready and we were given our room number on the 15th floor. We made our way up to the room, and of course because I had asked for a strip view, or room was the furtherst away from the elevator!!! We probably had a 200metre walk to the elevator!! LOL

The room was absolutely gorgeous and so huge. It was divided into a bedroom and a lounge room with a divider in the middle where the TV stood. The TV was on a swirly thing, so it could have been watched from the bed as well as from the lounge! The bathroom was massive (bigger than our entire room in New York). We had a spa, a shower and a double vanity! I was really happy with the room.

This evening we had dinner reservations at Panevino Restaurant which is off the Strip – near the airport. The great thing about this restaurant is that is has unobstructed views of the Strip. The food was lovely, and the view was spectacular!

After dinner we just went back to the MGM and gambled most of the night away!

Day 2 – Sept 24th

Started the day at the MGM Poker Room playing $1 - $2 NL Hold ‘em.

I had a bit of a stack going so I was happy. We were on a table with a very talkative Irish guy. He had the most chips on the table and the more he chatted the more he was winning and was just about landing everything!

I was doing alright – until I got a horror hand and had a really bad beat! I had K-J and the flop came out J-4-K. I had hit two pair on the flop. I bet big, but not huge to try and lure him into the hand, and he called. Fourth street came out and was a 9. He bet and I called him. The river was a 5 and he went all in. At this stage I thought I had the best hand and I called his all-in (which was for all my chips) and he turned over pocket 9’s giving him trips. I was gutted and had lost all my money

By then I was over poker and didn’t buy in any more. I just cut my losses and left the Poker Room.

When hubby was done we headed to Mandalay Bay. I did some shopping at Mandalay Place, well let me rephrase… Hubby did shopping at Nike Golf! And then we walked through the Luxor and I played some slot machines.

This evening we made our way to Mirage & TI. We finally got to see the Mirage Volcano show as well as the Sirens of TI show. It was really funny seeing the families waiting for the TI show, and then the parents after the show saying “That was a bit risqué for the kids, wasn’t it!!†LOL – Don’t they know they should take the brats to Vegas… it’s not as if you can cash them in for chips!

Day 3 – Sept 25th

This morning we headed to the Premium outlet Mall in Downtown Vegas. Basically we were just after a brand-new suitcase as I had kind of gone a little crazy with the shopping in NYC. We got the suitcase and headed back to MGM.

This afternoon I had booked a spa treatment at the MGM Grand Spa. I had booked a Sooth the Sole foot massage. The massage was fantastic. I was so relaxed. After my massage I stayed at the spa and used their facilities which were a hot tub, sauna and steam room. They also had showers and a full vanity room. It was great and really relaxing. It was definitely what I needed to perk me up for some more gambling!!

This evening we headed to Caesars. Although we wanted to stick to MGM properties because of the comps, Caesars is one of my favourites, so I couldn’t help but pay it a visit.

We had dinner at Nero’s which was lovely. It was a very chic restaurant and the food was fantastic. We played slots and roulette at Caesars and then we had planned to go to the Pussycat Dolls lounge, but when we went past at around 11ish, there were so many people waiting to get in. I couldn’t believe it would be so busy on a Tuesday!

We headed back to MGM and continued gambling into the night.

Day 4 – Sept 26th

Had a lie-in this morning. Much needed. I can’t remember the last time we drank so much constantly! LOL – I guess that’s what Vegas does to you.

This morning we walked up the strip to the Hawaiian Marketplace and went to Tix 4 Tonight to see what was available. We ended up getting tickets for Mamma Mia for 50% off. We then walked up to Planet Ho and checked out the new setting. We did a quick wander through the Miracle Mile shops (which obviously still looks like the Desert Passage). After Planet Ho we went to Paris which is another of my favourite non-MGM casinos. We played for a while and had some cocktails.

This evening we headed to Mandalay for Mamma Mia. Our seats for were really good. We were in the fist bit on the right. Really good discounted tickets! The show was absolutely fantastic. I can’t believe that even though Mamma Mia has been around for 7 years, and I’ve had the opportunity to see it in London, Melbourne and Vegas last year - but it’s taken us this long to go see it. But it was worth the wait. The singing was great and the story was cute. I thought the actors were very good as well. It was highly enjoyable!

The show went on for two and a half hours and when we got out at 10pm, we were both starved so we went for dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Trattoria del Lupo. Dinner at Lupo was fantastic. I would say one of my favourite meals on this holiday.

First we were given some mini breadsticks (kind of like big grissini) and we were brought out an olive dip and a white bean garlic dip as well as some more bread, this time ciabatta. The white bean garlic dip was delcious and hubby and I enjoyed eating the bread and dipping it into the dip.

We didn’t order any starters, so for our mains hubby ordered a Margarita pizza and I ordered the seafood risotto (or risooooto as they pronounce it in the US). I was about weary about the price of the risotto because it was $33, and I didn’t know if they could justify the price, but when our meals were served, I knew it was $33 well spent! The risotto was gorgeous. It was creamy and the seafood was already shelled and cooked to perfection. I gobbled it all down (just left a couple of scallop pieces as they are not my favourite). After the risotto I was entitled to a free dessert by showing our Mamma Mia stub and I ordered the Vanilla Panna Cotta with strawberry soup and pistachio biscotti wafer. Well, the panna cotta was divine! It was so smooth and silky it just melted in your mouth. The strawberry soup was fantastic as well, but I left most the strawberries because there were quite a few, and the pistachio biscotti wafer was a great mix to it all. An absolutely gorgeous dessert to encompany an absolutely fantastic meal eaten in an excellent restaurant!

We had heaps of fun at Mandalay that evening. We gambled there until the early hours of the morning. There was a band playing in one of there bars and it was all cheesy 80s & 90s music… so right in my element! I was singing along whilst playing my slot machines!

Day 5 – Sept 27th

Planned to go shopping at the Fashion Show Mall today, so we headed out of our room and hubby quickly went to Starbuck for his morning fix, then we played $20 each before leaving the MGM. Well… the slot machine hubby was on decided to die, so we had to wait until a technician came and looked at it. It was a lot of standing around doing nothing for over 35 mins, so by the end of it, I couldn’t be bothered going shopping. Instead we walked outside and headed to Hooters across the road.

Hooters were so much fun! I started playing Rapid Roulette which had a low limit and the Hooters girl dealer was friendly and we were having a ball. You know you’re having a great time when you start drinking cocktails before lunch!!!

We had a late lunch at the Hooters restaurant (when in rome) and then gambled some more. I love the low-limit places. You can really enjoy losing your money! LOL

This evening we had tickets to the 10.30pm show of Zumanity at New York New York. We headed over to NYNY at around 8ish and grabbed a quick bite to eat. I really like the décor of the casino, very friendly, very kitsch. We played a bit before heading to the theatre. Once inside, we had some photographs taken which were available after the show.

Zumanity was a show based on the more sensual side of Cirque du Soleil. It celebrated sex and sensuality. It was a good show, not the norm from a Cirque production, but still good. I liked how they got audience to participate. I’m just really glad that hubby and I weren’t sitting in a love-seat in the front, because that’s who they picked on. At one stage during the show I had a pom-pom thrown at me by a performer and another one had to retrieve it in a skin coloured suit with a little dangly bit!! It was very funny.

After the show we picked-up our photos, which looked really nice and we stayed around the casino for a little while. We thought about going to Coyote Ugly, and even walked to where it was, but there was a queue to get in and you had to pay a cover charge. I couldn’t imagine paying a cover charge just for a bar, so we decided against it and headed back to MGM. We had a drink at the Zuri lounge and then played Blackjack till the early morning.

Day 6 – Sept 28th

This morning we headed to the Fashion Show Mall and wandered around for a while. Did a bit more shopping for myself… oops, never seem to learn! LOL! Then we headed across the road to Wynn. I love the Wynn casino. Aesthetically it is the nicest casino in Vegas! The cocktail waitresses are better looking and the cocktails and stronger! We played slot machines and actually did quite well, cashing a few tickets totally just under $1000.

This evening we headed Downtown to Freemont Street. We were able to see the Freemont Street Experience, which we missed last time. I really liked the light show. We played at Binion’s and also at the Golden Nugget. For dinner we went to Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse at the Golden Nugget and had a lovely meal. I thought there was a lot of character in that steakhouse. I loved the photos from the olden days on the walls. It was really great.

From Downtown we headed to the Luxor because they were showing the Australian Football League Grand Final. I had called the manager of the sportsbook the day before and he agreed to have it on the bigscreen once the baseball finished. I was lucky to get to Luxor just as the baseball was finishing, so we took a seat in sportsbook and watched the game!! It was great… and luckily the right team won!!

We hung around at the Luxor and played for a while. Luxor must currently be one of the hottest places in Vegas, especially with the new LAX niteclub opening. There were a lot of young girls dressed in very little and a lot of guys as well. I thought it was a bit immature, but maybe I’m just showing my age! The Flirt lounge was pumping and people were spilling out of LAX. But all in all it looked as though they were having fun.

Day 7 – Sept 29th

Headed down to MGM pool early this morning to catch some morning rays. I think the MGM pool complex is one of the best in Vegas! I would have loved to have grabbed a cabana, but hubby’s not really a “pool-personâ€.

After the pool we headed to Tix 4 Tonight to try and get show tickets, we ended up getting Rita Rudner VIP tickets for about $60 each. As it was a Saturday there wasn’t a heap on offer, but we both like comedy, so we thought Rita Rudner should be fine! We also bought a dinner voucher for the Penazzi restaurant at Harrahs at that was $3 and we got 50% off our entrees.

We headed to Monte Carlo and had a late lunch at the Market City Café which was surprisingly good. Was expecting a café-style meal, but it was more an Italian bistro, so we were rather impressed with the food and the service was excellent as well. We played slot machines at Monte Carlo and hubby was able to pull out $400 from a penny slot machine, and then we played some blackjack, and that was great as we doubled our money.

This evening we had the Rita Rudner show at Harrahs. We got there just in time for the “Meet & Greet†with Rita herself and we had our photo taken with her. When we went inside the seating guy said we were on the far left of the stage. He then said “I might be able to get you a booth, if you wantedâ€. I told hubby to tip the guy $20 and we were given a seat in the prime centre booth!

Rita Rudner was so funny. Her jokes were very relatable. Many jokes about female/male relationships, and she tried to explain to men the concept of shopping. Both hubby and I really liked the show.

After Rita Rudner we had dinner at Penazzi which was really nice. It was 9.30pm, so the restaurant was quietish. Hubby ordered Spaghetti & Meatballs and I had Chicken with a White Wine Cream Sauce. With our dinner voucher we got both mains at 50% off, so the entire meal was under $40!

After dinner we were supposed to head down to The STRAT for their nightclub Polly Esther’s, but we decided against it. We both weren’t really in the niteclub mood. We stayed at Harrah’s enjoyed the Piano Bar and the Carnival Court. We played some slot machines and enjoyed our night there.

We then headed back to MGM where we continued to play blackjack and had drinks at the Zuri lounge.

Day 8 – Sept 30th

Left hubby sleeping in the room and headed down to play some early slot machines. Won a little so decided to buy breakfast at Starbucks and take it back to the room.

Hubby was awake so after breakfast we decided to do some packing as I had 3 suitcases worth of stuff!! Packing took a while and once we were finished we decided to head to the Venetian.

I was happy when I started playing penny slots at the Venetian because with my first spin I won $300 (of course I was playing 125 credits!!). That put us both in a good mood so we had some cocktails and kept playing for a while.

We had a late lunch at the Grand Lux Café and then went for a wander around the Grand Canal shops. I love the atmosphere of the Grand Canal shops; it is a very festive mood and lots of street performers. I had a squizz at the shops and loved some of the jewelry I saw, but unfortunately it was a bit out of my budget!!

This evening we were unsure of what to do. We got ready and decided to stay close, so we headed over to Excalibur. We played slots and blackjack there for a couple of hours and then crossed over to NYNY where we had a late dinner at il Fornaio which was really nice.

After dinner we played some cool 10-game keno which I won $100 on and then gambled a little more before heading up to Coyote Ugly. Again there was a queue to get in, and also I don’t think hubby would have got in because he was wearing combat pants, so we decided against it and headed back to MGM.

At the MGM we decided to play some poker, so we got on a $1-$2 no limit game. I cashed in $200 but kept getting crappy cards. I saw a few flops but didn’t hit anything to keep playing. I went down to about $125 and got big slick A-K of spades. I raised pre-flop and was called by a few. The flop came out K-8-J. I was pretty happy that I hit top pair. So I put in $25 and the guy to my left went all in for about $100. Although it would mean I would bust out if I didn’t win, I had to call his all-in. I already had a lot invested in the hand and I did have top pair. So I called! He turns over K-J!! I was gutted, so I waited on baited breath and was excited to see the turn being an A!! I was back in front. The river was a 6 which didn’t help him, so I won and was back over my $200! By this time it was past 2am, and we had an early start in the morning so I cashed in my $200 and went to sleep.

Day 9 – Oct 1st

We were very sad this morning as we had to leave Las Vegas. We got up early and finished packing. As I had called concerige to come and pick up our bags I did a quick check and realized I had left one drawer full of my juicy couture stuff I bought in NYC, so it was a mad dash to try and fit them in the suitcase. The bellboy came and we loaded our luggage onto the cart and he took it away.

We then left our room and headed downstairs. We went to the players club before checking out to see if we had earned any comps. After waiting about 20mins to be served we gave the woman our details and were told that we would be comped 5 nights accommodation and our food and beverage. I was very happy. That saved us over $750 on our bill!

We then gambled for the last time. We were hoping to win a big jackpot so that we didn’t have to leave Vegas, unfortunately it didn’t happen. We checked out and the guy who checked us out was nice enough to comp some of our local calls and internet, so our bill for the 8 nights was $840!! How cool was that.

We collected our luggage and took the shuttle to the airport. I love how they have slot machines at McCarran airport. Of course we gave them a go, but we didn’t win anything. We boarded our flight and while waiting to take off, both hubby and I fell asleep and basically woke up when we landed in LA.

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Favourite restaurant – Trattoria del Lupo, Mandalay Bay
Favourite show – Mamma Mia
Favourite slot machine – Magic Eyes (also on Mr Cashman!)

Chups

 

wow!! thats a great trip! eight and a half days is awesome!... you did great job with details... and lucky!!... i need your secret !! lol...

 

Chups! I've been wondering when we would hear from you. Sounds like all of the "room angst" you had prior to the trip was worth it because you ended up choosing well for yourself. The comps you got from MGM at the end of the trip were impressive as well. I luv the photo with Rita Rudner. What a hoot!

P.S. You need to change your profile to "2" for trips to Vegas!

 

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you guys had a great trip!!

 

WOW!!! Great TR! LOVE LOVE the pics of the room. They are beautiful!! Sounds like you were a lucky gal this trip, wish I had the same luck...thanks for sharing

 

Awesome trip report! Thanks for sharing. You hit many of my favorite places as well!

 

Great report, thanks so much for sharing! Glad to hear you both had a wonderful time. I look forward to the day when I need to buy another suitcase because I shopped too much!

 

WOW!! 8 Days...I really need to do that, just go to vegas for 4 days, none of this one night thing.

Great TR and I love the pics of the Room. Would you book it again? How was the bed?

 

Wow nice comps, just curious how much you had to coin-in to get all those comps??

 

LOL - well although it seems as though we were lucky during the trip (and I guess we were 'cause we didn't lose as much as we intended to), we had a high turn around of cash. We used the basis of approx $1000 per day to gamble with. Some days was a little more, other days were a little less. So I'd say our over-all turnover was about $10k - $15k

Reston, the room was fantastic! I know I had heaps of angst beforehand, but it was so worth it at the end. I love the big rooms!

Angel81chick, the bed was great. Very comfortable, pillows were flexible! The only con about the room (but it wasn't a huge issue) would be that the decor was a little dated. Still the old TVs (not the new flat-screen that most high-end hotels have these days), but seriously this didn't matter to me. I'd rather have a huge room with a massive bathroom than one that's slick and small (the west-wing rooms come to mind).

The comps were fantastic. So much so that I'll probably only ever book with the MGM/Mirage again. But that's cool, cause there's so much options. Next time I would love to stay at Mandalay, i think.

I wish Australia was closer to Vegas, I could come more often, but it's not (and next year we need to see hubby's grandparents in the UK) so I'd probably say it'll be 2009 before we next hit Vegas

Chups