From the outhouse to the penthouse(wishful thinking)..May 30-Jun 4

Sorry for the tardiness in reporting but after reading everyone's stories, I felt the need to write my own. These stories keeps a person jazzed up to go again and again and again.....

I will start this off by saying that this was my wife's first trip to Vegas in about 3 years. I had just been there during NFL championship weekend in January.
This was a totally different trip with my wife than my dad who I usually go with every year. All good times of course. The timing was perfect because my wife got done teaching before our kids got out of school. It was perfect timing with 5 wonderful nights.

After digesting the god awful airfare from STL and cramming into the seat we left around 8p on Friday May 30. Thankfully the guy who was in the row with no seat in front of him had shorter legs and didn't care if mine overlapped into his space. t was a pretty uneventful flight until the last 30 minutes when we felt as if we were on the roller coaster on top of Stratosphere . Thankfully the turbulence was over as quickly as the ride would have been. As soon as we saw the sky line, I knew it wouldn't be too much longer. After waiting for what seemed an eternity for everyone to grab their wrong row carry ons , we deplaned to the sight of sad and tired faces waiting to go home, pass out or looking for that last overpriced gift or sandwich. Once we hit the slots and terminal ride, the bags didn't take too long to come out and on to the rental bus.

Once we got to Thrifty/Dollar it appeared as if we were going to miss the first night by just standing in line at the rental counter. On the brightside, the Dollar side was longer. Once we got to the car pcik up area, I asked the lady helping us about an upgrade. She accomodated us and gave us a Premium Buick Lacrosse up from the Full size impala. it was a nice way to end the lovely wait. After the leaving the rental enter, it was as if the car was on auto pilot. It's nice to watch the city getting closer and closer until you get to the cluster F*** area near Coca Cola, etc..At first chance we snaked back and went to Koval, snaked around and headed towards the outhouse(Riviera).

Upon arrival at the outhouse, where we stayed for 3 nights(2 nts comped and 1 @ $24 no resort fee) we were given a room in the Monaco Tower with a lovely view of the Fontainbleau concrete/metal sculpture park.. Of course the room served its purpose where we laid our heads for 3 nights. After getting settled, it was time to walk and see what was out there. After a quick bite to eat it was off to Circus Circus to see the never ending parade of parents and babies(afer midnight) of course. My kids know they are going there on their 21st bdays if I can help it. After burning through a quick $300, at ddbj I walked back over to my wife who was playing the slots acting as if I had just walked around and was looking at the sights. Losing quickly kind of soured the mood. Not really but it makes you think a little more. we ended up walking back to Riv a short time later to settle in.

Saturday we ran around to plenty of Goodwill stores in the area. My wife had recently lost 100 lbs the hard way and worked her ass off. SHe needed some different things and who was I to deny the hard work. Goodwill has a designer boutique they have named Deja Blue. Good items at a fraction of the retail cost still under the Goodwill umbrella. We ran and ran all day, came back to the hotel to pause for a moment and then off to dinner...

Based on recommendations of the VMB forums, we experienced Rollin Smoke. Let me say that I'm partial to Famous Daves but I truly enjoyed Rollin Smoke. My wife had the Pork plate with sides and I had the Outlaw Burger. Everything was GOOD! The burger was messy and I ended up tossing half the bun just so I could get down to business. After we left, it was time to go back and get ready for GNR. This was the time I said goodbye to my wife and met up with a buddy who was in town the same weekend staying at the Hard Rock. He was hooked up in a comped room behind the Juice Bar in the HRH Tower. The room didn't disappoint. We pre gamed down at the bar and played DDBJ losing again. Entertainment. I ended up playing some slot/video machine with wolves on it and made back a little bit. GNR at the Joint was great. Axel sounded the same as he always did . He looked as if time/partying had caught up to him though. I would go again to a show at The Joint. The scenery at the show was good too. The drinks were strong and well worth the $11 per drink.

Woke up the next day and started thrifting again. After the 2nd or 3rd stop, I started to wait in the car just to catch some ZZZZZZ's from the previous night out. Wife was having fun so that's what mattered. We went the pool which was family friendly for awhile and then onto MJ One. The MJ show was good. Lots of good effects, dancing. Not as much acrobatics as one is used to in a Cirque show. After walking around MB, Luxor and Excalibur, we decided to go to Peppermill for a snack. The nachos were huge tasty and very filling to say the least. It wasn't too busy because it was right before the drunken late night before you go home time..

Monday was move out day to the penthouse. After a little pool time, it was off to meet up with my concert buddy. We ended up going to Bachi Burger. It didn't disappoint at all. We split the Bahn Mi burger and Pork belly sandwiches. They were both done very sell with a fusion of flavors that I can't remember but worked very well. My wife got the plain burger and said that it was very good. Slight wait but well worth it. After dropping my buddy off, we left to check in at Cosmo(2 nts comped). We had just arrived after a tour group got there and were told rooms weren't ready yet. The desk took out cell phone and said they would text when ready. After several hours of walking the strip south area, shopping in various places along with drooling at Hersheys, we made our way back. Went to front again. They said they tried texting but we never received anything. There was a room available. Room 1880 in the east tower was a perfect setting. Imagine opening the curtains to your room, stepping out on your balcony, look up and across the street. SURPRISE!!! Nothing like having Britney Spears stare at you day and night for the next few days. Mind you it was only her big billboard on PH. There was also some mysterious smell coming through the air. It was good and we didn't know where it was coming from. We ended up walking around quite a bit. I forgot where we even ate. There was a nice gentleman from the Cosmo who showed us where Secret Pizza was. Gambled a bit. Went from Single to double deck BJ. came out about even for the day.

Tuesday..The last full day of Vegas. I had to do pool time. I will say the Cosmo Boulevard Pool is decent. Nice hot tub where you can lay down or sit up along with the walk in pool. Free water for people at the bar area. A nice covered area if you needed a break from the sun. After pool time, it was time to get ready and head out. Brittney was staring again. That SMELL was still there. It was the kind of air freshener that they should pump through the hotel. we got ready, hit the Walgreens for the walk in cooler of beer and grabbed a cold one for the long walk ahead. Needless to say the beer was gone by the time we passed Paris and Ballys. Stepped into the Cromwell. Nice casino. Dark tones. quick service too. I sat down at the DDBJ and was greeted quickly. Lost there but at least I got a $300 Fiji water for the short time I played. Would probably visit the hotel again. I can still picture Big Elvis sitting in the hotel though. Made our way to Margaritaville where we enjoyed the free appetizer(another VMB suggestion to sign up for the club) along with another appetizer. After that we walked north to Encore across to Fashion Show mall, around there and then to T.I.C.V.S. made it through T.I. Mirage Caesars Forum Shops and everything else along the way. Cosmo finally!!!! We headed up to Secret Pizza where we weren't disappointed at all. On our way back down the escalator and by Holsteins, we finally figured out what that SMELL was. It was the sweet scent of Holsteins wafting through our window from a.m to p.m. Ended up the night by playing several hours, earned my losses back and made it to bed at 130 while setting a 630a alarm.

625a Wednesday morning hit. wife was still sleeping. I got up and high tailed it for the last 30 minutes of fun. started with $300 and ended up doubling my money leaving Vegas with a small profit. I was prepared to lose it as well. The dealer was at DDBJ and dealt fast. I was up in the room by 655a ready to get out of town(not really). We made our way to airport area and being the good person I am, I volunteered to stay back if necessary. DENIED..more than enough seats to STL. Damn!

Sunday night, we also went downtown. Looked around, played and went towards Fremont East and Container Park. Seems like a pretty happening area and busy too. Good free entertainment on Fremont street also. Looking forward to the next time whenever that will be.......

Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask questions. I enjoy reading the other forums as well.

 

That is quite a swing in accommodations from Riv to Cosmo. I went to see Forever Motor City at Riv in early May and found the place quite depressing and very rough around the edges. Sad, I hope they spruce it up and it makes a comeback. I hate to see all of the old places go. Must have felt like paradise when you switched over to Cosmo. I have a $100 Fiji water at Cromwell too lol. Wolf machine was probably Wolf Run.

Sounds like you had a great trip. Congratulations to your wife on her weight loss.....something to be very proud of!!

 

Sounds like fun, I love the Cosmo rooms, can't wait to go back every time I leave!

 

Great report... Thanks for sharin'. If your buddy was comped one of the spa-suites behind the juice-bar at the Hard Rock, he's a baller... best room I've been in so far on the property. I was upgraded to one on a slow couple nights. Own private elevator, plunge-pool out on the patio... was wayyyyy cool.

 

Didn't notice the private elevator but noticed all the high tech /controls in the room., high ceilings. Tiled throughout the whole room. Bathroom big enough for several people at once. Nice wet bar party area in the living room...

 

Sounds like a fun trip. Congrats to your wife on the weight loss....bet she feels great about herself. Thanks for posting!

 

You did it right going from Riv to Cosmo. It would suuuuck to do that the other way around. :evillaugh

Sounds like a lot of fun, glad you enjoyed your trip.

 

Main thng is that wife had fun especially since she earned it.. She even told me that she was glad this way moving up rather than backwards hotel wise. Riv served its purpose. As usual , Cosmo didn't disappoint at all! Didn't realize they had their little party pit area until this trip..

 

Some of them are single story and others are two-(2) story... you may have been in one of the smaller single story rooms... still sweet, I mean suite though.

 

Definitely a big room upgrade! Thanks for sharing! And STL airfare really sucks right now!

 

Thanks for sharing, and HUGE CONGRATS to the wife! Go, girl! I'd love to stay at Cosmo, and that HR suite does sound sweet!

 

Fun TR ... I hope the GNR was better than the one I tried to watch on Axis the other night ... it was just awful ... the band look like a GNR tribute band - the guitarist even had himself done up Slashish - hat and all. Then Axel sang so slow it was like GNR the lounge singer act. I got 3/4 of the way thru Sweet Child and had to change it. Sounds like the venue and atmosphere may have made things better

 

It would almost be worth it to go to KC in August when Spirit starts up.. Riv was just a bed. Cosmo was an experience

 

Not sure about the Axis show but it was a fun show to watch. It would be nice to see Slash back with them..they were going hard all night. AXl had to take several breaks but then again he's a little older and worn out..comfortable enough venue at The joint..