10th Annual - Cheesy low rolling horrible gambling - bonus(not) extra night

10th Annual trip - Cheesy low rolling horrible gambling - bonus (not) extra free night!

Sorry to have missed the VMB all stars this weekend! We came home as the all-stars were arriving! We go during the week since we can get cheap rooms if not comped.

I hesitate to post this now with all the live TRs going on, but what the hell...it will take me a while to post everything anyways...

This is our 10th annual Vegas trip (our 16th anniversary). I enjoy reading the live TRs, but don’t think I have the determination for that so this will be a wordy post trip TR. Started planning back in February. Usually use Southwest points but this year didn’t have enough - found a cheap enough JetBlue flight for $220 for the both of us. Although a good deal it turns out they get you on change fees! We had wanted to extend our trip by a night (hoped to see Joe Rogan stand up Friday night), but we would have had to pay 150 change fee on top of the fair difference. So our cheap flight would have turned into a 500 flight pretty quick. Sorry Joe, not worth it this time. More on this extra night later. On another note, we may need to stay over a weekend sometime - seems so much more stuff going on!

Room planning next...planned a total of 3 nights - early into Vegas on Tuesday and late out of Vegas on Friday. I become ocd with smartervegas.com Ended up booking and cancelling 9 different rooms (Aria, MB, Delano, Paris, PH). Somehow got Cromwell comped. We wanted to try it out, but it was a standard room and wasn’t sure about the view of the wall we’d likely get. So eventually we decided on one night Cromwell double booked (more on double booking stress later) with MB for two nights. This was the plan until the Thursday before we leave wifey gets an email for 2 nights comped at Cosmo in a Terrace studio! Perfect timing - cancelled MB and kept Cromwell.

This was probably our worst gambling out of the past 10 years we’ve been going . Usually even if one of us loses, the other one can make some of it up. This year we not only lost our (notably small) ~$1000 bankroll (<$200/day each) we also hit the ATM . Luckily we have only a $300 daily limit . But no, we didn’t lose the initial bankroll the first day thankfully (just a bit more convenient). We even made a FiveHundy karma donation with no luck. We also tipped everyone in hopes of more gambling karma too, but no luck there either . As I write this I realize I didn’t donate to VMB - wtf were we thinking! Sorry Sonya - a post trip donation will be coming your way.

I’ll split it up into days but first the cliff notes (this was the first of our trips we didn’t have anything definitive before heading out - usually we have shows booked, dinner reservations, etc...this year we flew by the seat of our pants. Anyways, here’s the cliffsnotes along with some of the things we were thinking about but didn’t do...

• Harrahs Improv (never know the comics - usually hit or miss). This year was good!
• Mandarin Bar - Awesome! Possibly a new tradition. Cheesy.
• Rock of Ages - good show!
• Secret Pizza - hit the spot!
• NYNY happy hour - made it, but not the same. Cheesy.
• Bound @ Cromwell - yum drinks (at least mine was!)
• Other Happy hours - always on the lookout for something new and good. Usually like a taste of expensive food for a discount and cheap(er) drinks. Didn’t end up doing too many though
• Yard House was better than expected. Usually avoid chains, but if we don’t have one by us I guess it doesn’t count as a chain . It was good food and good beer
• Off the Strip - Enjoyed on the last day
• Chocolate martini @Cosmo - oh boy!
• Walgreens across from Cosmo - very convenient!
• Switching hotels - Overrated!
• Cromwell - nice room, crappy view!
• Cosmo - never tire of fountain view on the terrace!
• Giada - redeemed herself (horrible time for dinner last year). Breakfast by the window was awesome!
• Mon Ami Gambi - fantastic as always but didn’t want to wait so sat sort of inside.
• Overlook Grill @Cosmo - nice!
• Dupars - no regrets!
• Lappert's ice cream @ Cal - 3rd year tradition!
• SDX continues to be the best deal around! Not a single cab besides the airport rides. Had to stand a couple times, but our 3 day pass more than paid for itself!
• Public House @ Venetian. Cheesy.

Hoping to do, but didn’t

• Hyde for early cocktail (myvegas free drink) - never made it
• Pizza Rock - didn’t make it
• Cosmo social hour - tried but denied
• Emeril’s Fish House

Day 1 coming next...I apologize in advance. As mentioned earlier, I tend to get wordy, but I also enjoy reading past reports, so...

 

Look forward to your report!

 

Denied at social hour? Doesn't bode we'll. looking forward to reading

 

Yeah seemed like bad timing and/or bad advertising.

 

Day 1 Tuesday

We have an 8am flight out of SFO which means we need to leave about 4:30am. What were we thinking?

We wake up, get out on time - way too many people on the road, but we get to the airport with plenty of time (even for us habitual early people). JetBlue flight was smooth and on time. Almost nonexistent taxi line gets us to Cromwell by 10am. Hope to check in and we are able (hate having to check bags). Thankfully room is ready! Unfortunately we apparently can’t walk ourselves to the room. I’m sure this is a perk for some, but for us we’d rather just walk ourselves and give our own tour. The guy was very nice and showed us around. Took us up to our room and showed our room as well. Unnecessary, but didn’t seem like we had a choice - tip him $5 and we’re on our own.

We both agreed - room is nice. View looks like we’re in a prison! At this point we’re looking forward to Cosmo. Although the robes, slippers, and towels were all beyond fantastic!. Not to mention the coffee in the hallway - way underrated benefit!





We decided to give Giada another chance after our horrible experience last year. She more than redeemed herself for breakfast. We got a seat by the window, the whole restaurant was less than crowded - overall an awesome experience. Would do again.



Slots just eat money. Did ok at bubble craps after breakfast - up $15!

Decide to walk up to Wynn for a cocktail at Parasol (down was closed) Up. Had to try a Sinatra Smash - would be excellent if you enjoy whiskey. Ambiance cannot be beat. Good service, good snacks.



Decide to take SDX down to NYNY for happy hour ($5 Guinness, come on!). SDX rocks! Such a deal compared to taxis. Disappointed that our upstairs bar was closed! . Try for downstairs, but was totally full. Worked our way outside, tried to sit down but was reprimanded. Ended up at the bar outside. Not the same experience as the upstairs bar, but the same prices. Had a couple Guinness and of course the beer and cheese dip (first bit of cheesiness of the trip)! Awesome deal for $6! We also happened to be treated to a truly Irish drunk as well (it's an Irish bar, so fitting) - it was a slight bit entertaining and a slight bit sad, but Vegas .

Walk up to Monte Carlo. First “real” craps session. Damn, not good. Bought in for $200, down to my last $20 or so. Had $5 on the all tall small yada yada. Thankfully the all small hit! Saved me from total smash and burn for that session - $175 thank you. Still ended up down about $80 . Tried roulette hit and run with some leftover $5 chips but no luck. Wifey no luck with slots either . Tried hit and run on roulette with my $20, but nada.

Take the tram up to Bellagio...head over to Yard House for happy hour! This place was good! Waiter obviously wanted us to order entrees, but after a Thai Pizza and egg roll appetizer (plus of course a couple beers!) we were good. We even took leftover pizza home.




Back to hotel to get ready for comedy (if we didn’t amuse ourselves enough!). Get ready, walk over to Harrah's for the Improv (2 for 1 via American Casino Guide coupon). We have done this our past 10 years. We’ve had some good, some ok, some horrible. This year was pretty good. I actually liked the opener and headliner better than the middle, but to each their own. Glad we’ve kept this little tradition.



After show, walk back towards Cromwell. Wifey of course wants to stop by the fishing slot game at Margaritaville. Unlike last year - lost . End up back at Cromwell. I’ve been ittching to play craps - it’s 10min. Play for a while, then end up playing by myself after 2 guys leave. I need to learn better - I always lose when I play by myself . Of course I lost $175 just like that . Wifey played slots - and lost as well…

Off to bed before midnight - Day 2 next...

 

What was the deal and what time was the happy hour at yard house.....thx

 

Day 2 - transition day

Today we were double booked between Cromwell and Cosmo. This would lead to a little nervousness as the day goes on...it was a bit of a lazy day since we weren’t in any hurry for anything. The complimentary coffee and Cromwell was way underrated - so nice to have that right there!

Eventually get up and head down to Cosmo just to see if we can check in - of course room is available (should have just took our bags). This was a comped room wifey got. Upgrade to fountain view for $30/night - well worth it. Room was on the 17th floor. A little low, but the price was right! East tower was cool (last year was the west tower). Although quite odd was the extra door we had to go through to get to the room. Very wierd and insane asylum lke.



Off to SDX downtown!

$15 discount for Dupars - egg breakfast, pancakes, shrimp of course. Well worth it. Although bummer silverware and garbage on the floor, but oh well - downtown.

Also had $20 freeplay. Lost it instantly and then some on Willy Wonka slot @ $5/spin! Move over to craps. Did kinda ok, but ended up down $50.

Over to Cal for Laperts! Yum! A recent tradition…



Hop back on SDX and walk back to Cromwell. Try out Bound for a cocktail. Extremely yummy Spicey Fifty - a bit of jalapeno mixed in. This would be my favorite drink of the whole trip! Wife had something else not so good. Interesting time - happened to be a bartender competition.



A bit unbelievable the room was still not cleaned (after away for about 6 hrs or so). No real matter since we weren't’ staying that night, but crappy nonetheless.

Pack up to head to Cosmo. Decide it is a “short” walk so we take our bags and go. Horrible decision . It was a bit fun, but also quite a bit challenging with our luggage. Oh well. Next year will be no more moves! Should have just booked and paid for an extra night for Cosmo. Anyways, it was quite entertaining listening to my wife curse me during the walk for this decision.

My negative energy all ended when we walked into our room - beautiful room, beautiful view! Only weirdness was our extra door to get to our room - very odd…




Chill out for a while with nothing planned for the night. Head over to Mandarin Bar for some cocktails - this place was awesome. We got a table by the window - looking out towards Jockey club but we could also see down the strip too.

Drinks were fantastic! We had 4 total between us - very hard to determine which ones were favorites. They were all excellent. Also ordered our first cheesy app - the brie. It was just brie, but excellent due to the ambiance I think. The free little snacks were yummy as well. We got there at a great time since we were able to watch the city go from light to dark - very nice. This may be a new tradition!







Back to Cosmo - wife slots, me craps. me lost . Wife lost. Introduced wife to chocolate martinis which may have been a mistake! She really enjoyed them (a bit too much!)! Lost some more on craps, but had some fun so ok.

For whatever reason it seemed like a good idea to walk up to Mirage for Carnegie Deli (myvegas 2 for 1). The walk was much longer than expected. The sandwiches were not as good as expected. Pastrami was good, corned beef a bit dry.



Back to Cosmo - tub was nice . In bed 3am…

Day 3 next...

 

$4 off craft beers along with 5, 6, 7 dollar apps! All very good and the whole restaurant was happy hour (not just the bar).

 

Happy hour times are 3 to 6pm.

Nice TR so far!

 

Fun report, want to try Mandarin Bar myself.

 

You won't regret it! Try to get a seat by the window. We were probably on the "undesirable" side, but it was still pretty awesome.

 

Day 3 (Thursday)
Oh Boy! It was tough to get up today. We were double booked the night before with Cromwell, but we slept at Cosmo. We’re newbies to the double booking idea and were a bit paranoid about checking out of the Cromwell (didn’t want to have to pay any extra). I know we could have just not done anything and it would have been fine, but I still ended up walking back to Cromwell and actually checking out on the TV. Silly I know! Grabbed one last coffee and headed back.

It was a slow going day (because booze - also those chocolate Martinis really did a number on my wife). Eventually get ready and head down to the Overlook Grill at Cosmo. We both really like the place. Right by the pool, open air, good friendly service, etc...not to mention the infamous “Obnoxious Bloody Mary”.



I had some kind of blackberry mojito thingy that was OK, but way too sweet (still drank it!). Breakfast sandwich and falafel sandwich both excellent, but I give preference to the falafel

Another recent tradition the past few years is to play some ponies in honor of my pops. Usually we throw money away just betting on names and/or numbers. Headed over to Caesars sports book. This time, we find a trifecta we like - bet the box for a dollar and end up winning 34 bucks! Believe it or not this brought us up for a 1$ win on the horses. We celebrated as this was our biggest win of the whole trip! Sad I know, but exciting at the time .

Head back to Cosmo to get ready for Rock of Ages! We figured it would be cheesy, but figured what the hell - we have seen most all of the cirque shows.

We were hoping to catch one of the Cosmo social hours on the way out. Unfortunately we went to DOCG first. The bar was fully packed. Headed over to STK. The time was 5:40. Website says social hour from 5:30-7. Unfortunately we were flat out denied when they said it didn’t start until 6! We were so flabbergasted and dejected we were just done with Cosmo at the time.

Good ol SDX here we come. Stop at Wynn and double back towards Venetian. Not really sure where to go, but was frantically looking for other happy hours. Stumbled upon Public House. While not really a happy hour, it seemed good at the time. In retrospect and with a bit more time to look, it seems Table 10 would have been a better choice. Anyways. Public house was pretty good. Nice beer selection. A bit hungry, but the only thing that looked appetizing was yet another cheesy app! We ordered the cheese tray which was actually pretty good. I think this was the third cheesy thing we’ve had!



I also ended up having one of the barrel aged cocktails - not sure I’d order it again, but it was good at the time. It was also nice to hear how they are prepared and aged. Felt special for a moment

Rock of Ages was a surprisingly good show! We expected it to be “cheesy” which it was, but it was also quite humorous and entertaining! They have a live band playing all the music as the actors sing. It is pretty seamless between the acting and singing and they all did a great job. Not to mention I got goosed by a lady as went to the restroom which was quite a nice perk (even wifey thought it was hilarious)!

Played a couple slots at Venetian with nothing to show for it and headed back to Cosmo. Fairly early night.

 

Day 4 (Friday) - Our last day?
Today was our last day of the trip (or was it?). We had a fairly late flight of about 7:30 PM so we still had a good amount of time! Tried to get a later checkout. The best we could do was 3pm for $150! No thanks! Stuck with the noon checkout. We were going to head to breakfast, then come back to check out, but decided to just pack up, check the bags with the bell desk and check out and be done.

Headed over to Mon Ami Gambi - a fairly recent tradition we’ve kept up the past few years. Opted not to waste time waiting for an outdoor table, but got seated immediately in the patio area. Not quite the same, but ok due to time. Breakfast was good. Wife with some eggs Benedict special, me with a standard over easy breakfast. Of course a couple bloody marys and screwdrivers to go along with breakfast!




Another bus ride up to the fashion show mall for shopping. Take bus back and backtrack up to Linq. We try a shot at roulette at the 3535 area. Nice little spot, but I lose. Wife breaks even. I try with my first $5 craps session of the trip (it has been only $10 or $15 until now). Not too much action, but was able to play for a bit which was fun! I rolled a couple points (both happened to be 9). Another guy rolled for quite a bit. But sure as shit he rolled and hit some chips, then 7. Another guy rolled for a while, then rolled off the table, but bounced back in and you guessed it. I didn’t used to be superstitious but both these were way too coincidental! Anyways although all sessions were losers this one was at least the most fun with a couple high fives going on in between the losing.

Headed over to Off the Strip for another cocktail and some apps for happy hour. Wife had some beer, and I tried the moscow mule (excellent). We ordered the hummus app as well as the caprese salad (more cheesiness!). We sat at the bar kinda near the Linq walkway which was pretty cool.

.Wife went to do some more shopping. I was still trying to win something! Ended up at Oseas trying out 3 card poker. I really enjoyed Oseas as it seemed like a lot of fun and fist bumping, high fives, shots going on, but alas I lost yet again.

Go find wifey. About time to get our bags and head to the airport. Back to Cosmo, get bags and a taxi. Check bags, plenty of time no worries. Oops - fog in SFO flight is delayed! Flight is delayed about an hour, fine. Then after waiting, they say there is now mechanical problems! This doesn’t sound good. We wait. And wait. They announce they are giving food vouchers (of course after we already ate some burger king). Anyways we’ll take it ($20 each!). Wait some more. And more. Finally at about 11pm or so our 7:30pm flight was officially cancelled.

We were told to go to baggage claim to pick up our tickets, then head to the ticket counter and/or call jetblue to get on another flight. We wandered around the airport while calling. Managed to get on the same exact 7:30pm flight the next day (via the phone). But seemed way too late and not right. Waited in line at ticket counter. Rude lady said that was the best there was. Unbelievable. Started to wait in another line for a hotel voucher. In the line people were talking about earlier flights, Virgin, etc...we started to get a bit pissed because since we only had the same flight we didn’t want the same thing to happen the next day. Anyways made our way up to the hotel lady but first asked about the flights. She had no idea what to do with the flights, but with the help of coworkers she was able to get us on a Virgin flight at 7:30am! Yikes, maybe the 7:30 pm would have been better. Anyways, we took it. Along with our taxi voucher and voucher to South Point (yipee!). I have always been curious about South Point so this was my chance.

It was a big ol pain to get there since the taxi voucher was only for a particular cab company. We waited in the Friday night taxi line, only to be shooed to another line (at the head where the taxis come in) to wait for our cab. Finally one comes in, he takes the vouchers and we’re good. Until! we finally get to South Point (that place is far away!) and another cab cuts our cab off. Actually twice. Horn honking fists in the air. Finally our cab stops, we get out. But instead of popping the trunk, he has to go have a word with the cutter offer. So we wait and wait while he tries to fight. Fun! Finally he comes back and mumbles something and pops the trunk. Fantastic.

South Point was way busy! Not sure what I expected, but there were a lot of fancy looking people there too. Wait in line, check in, walk to room. Casino was very busy and very smokey! Get to the room and I had to really fight myself to not go down and try one last craps session. However the thought of getting up in 3 hrs kind of killed that urge. Also we missed Jim Breuer @South Point which probably would have been pretty funny. Also btw we missed a number of DJs as well as Joe Rogan, and Steven Wright even. Not to mention 50cent! As mentioned, one of these trips we’ll need to stay through a weekend for a different experience.

 

Day 5 - Saturday (bonus day?)

Not really a bonus day. We were so tired and had such an early flight we were toast. Went to sleep and wake up a few hours later about 4:30am (maybe we should have just stayed at the airport). I'll tell you what even at that time South Point was going strong! Tables were full and tons of people around. Again we need a specific cab for the voucher so we wait. Not too long and a chatty cabby comes up. A bit of a long story, but he takes us to the airport, we check in and wait. Virgin this time. Very smooth. Flight was awesome, on time and everyone very friendly. Would fly Virgin again for sure.

Manage to finally make it home and we were both exhausted. Take a long nap - wake up at 3pm! Decided to continue our cheesiness that night (we're just a couple cheesy folks):



Can't wait until next year!

 

Finally some chip porn I found in my pocket! Summary and reflections coming...

 

Too bad you didn't take the later flight so you could have had the new experience of Southpoint. I used to double book to take advantage of freeplay but found it more trouble than it's worth. I still do multiple hotel stays, just not double booked. I rather like changing hotels....it's like having two vacation experiences in one. Would you recommend Cromwell if the room had a better view? I still haven't stayed there.

 

Yeah, it would have been great if we would have had an early afternoon flight even...we were too scared to try for the last flight again in fear of the same thing happening. I knew it would be the case ahead of time, but just seemed that 3 nights and two hotels was a bit rushed. At any rate, yes - we really enjoyed Cromwell and would still recommend it...just not the jail/wall view unless you really don't care (also as I've read in other reviews the rooms are pretty dimly lit too). Really did like the quaintness of the hotel, friendliness all around. We were on the 6th floor and didn't really have any noise issues. Towels, robes, bed were all a treat as well. Not to mention the location was pretty awesome too. Just a short walk from the elevator and you're on the strip.

 

Some random summary thoughts as we think think about next year already!

Days of the week - We have most always gone during the week which has been pretty nice (and cheaper or comped), but we’re thinking we should experience a weekend one of these days. Although we didn’t really enjoy our “bonus” Friday night, the energy seemed different and fun...not to mention a lot more shows and entertainment seemed to be around on the weekend...we’ll think about extending next year.

Views - Views are underrated. Although we had two extreme views this trip - jail view and fountain view we can safely say we enjoy having a nice view! Just being able to open the window and see the city is pretty awesome.

Hotels - We haven’t quite stayed at all the hotels yet, but Cosmo continues to be our favorite (probably Aria a close second). The rooms are nice and big, plus we lucked out each time with a nice view. Cromwell was nice for many reasons, but if I had to choose I’d still choose Cosmo. Really enjoy comped rooms, but we’ll again think about switching rooms for less than 4 nights. In the past, it seems one night downtown and 3 on the strip were pretty good.

Planning - It’s nice to have minimal things planned. Although our one day we didn’t have anything planned, we may have resorted to drinking and gambling a wee bit too much! Fun times though. Usually we end up doing a nice dinner one of the nights, but we didn’t end up doing that and kind of missed spending $300 on a meal .

Food - Didn’t quite catch as many happy hours as we’d usually like (food wise). Not sure what happened this time - usually I have more in mind beforehand. That being said we had some yummy drinks (and many cheesy apps!). Most of our “meals” ended up being breakfast/brunch. this was pretty nice. Giada, Mon Ami Gambi, and Overlook Grill all hit the mark with no disappointment.

Getting around - We only ended up taking cabs for airport transportation. SDX continues to be the best way to get around town in our opinion. One trip downtown pays for itself. Easy on, easy off. Sometimes one or both needed to stand, but no biggie. Never crazy crowded. Sometimes we needed to either backtrack or walk forward more to catch the bus or get to where we were going, but it of course ended up in a shorter walk than we would have had otherwise. Still never tried the Deuce - they all just seemed so jam packed we just chose the SDX and walked a bit further.

Bars - Mandarin Bar was definitely a highlight. Excellent drinks, nice view, friendly, etc...will do again. Yard House also worked out quite nicely as well. Nine Fine Irishmen is still on the tradition list - although too bad “our” upstairs bar was closed when we were there. Public House at Venetian was nice and good, but not sure we’d make an out of the way trip there. Bound at Cromwell is definitely worth an out of the way trip. Never made it to Chandalier for the Verbena - next year.

MyVegas - kind of a bust this trip. I had plenty of LP to get the $50 free play, but of course we didn’t stay at any MGM so couldn’t use that. Also, a couple other ones would have required an MGM stay as well. We used the 2 for 1 at Carnegie just to use it (definitely didn't need 2 as we already knew). We used the Crepe one at Aria, but that turned out to even be a hassle since the Mlife guy apparently didn’t add it to the card properly so we had to wait for our Crepe while they got it sorted out. Of course I’ll keep playing for the year (even finally got the DW hooked on it) so we’ll see what we’ll get next year.

Craps - I learned (although I already knew) a $200 buy in on a $10 craps table does not last long if you don’t hit something pretty early. Even just playing single odds. I usually play pass plus some come bets and boy you can get wiped out in a hurry. I lasted the longest on a $5 table at Linq - pretty fun too. Also, I have become superstitious. Just like clockwork, the guy hit some chips with the dice (he apologized to the table immediately before the dice stopped rolling - he knew)! I’m also a sucker for the sucker bonus bets. Glad I hit one of them, although I think I enjoy the All Tall,Small, etc.. better than the fire bet. At least you can usually see a couple build up (and of course I hit one of them so there’s that). The closest I got to the fire bet was one number . I managed to hit the 9 twice, but that was it.

Slots - I have never done very well on slots. I enjoy them sometimes, but I need to work on pacing myself. I also tend to just play max sometimes before looking at what max is - oops! Wife usually does pretty good, but this year was just a money sink. That’s what next year is for!

Shows - Rock of Ages was a good show. As mentioned comedy is usually hit or miss, this one was mostly hit. A continued tradition! Two shows in 3 nights worked out pretty well. One the first night and third night with a break in the middle.

Vegas - Each trip is different and they all have their highlights. Keeps us coming back every year. Somehow with the whole day(s) ahead of us we still run out of time. Not sure how this happens, I guess we were having fun!

 

Great report, thanks for sharing! Not sure my plans include cheese with every meal but we shall see!!!

 

Nice report!