A Cosmo virgin no more 4/9 - 4/12

Let's try it with the photos this time... I hope

Mrs Red Chip and I flew out of SFO on Sunday night. This was our first time at Cosmo. We had a 1 bedroom suite fountain view room #1831. For gambling, I'm generally a quarter video poker guy and like the penny slots betting $1-$2 a spin so don't look for any huge jackpots here. I'll play blackjack and craps but not at $15 tables so that wasn't happening on this trip. All the food was great! We didn't have a bad meal during our trip.

I broke things down in to sections below with a few photos.

Flight:
Mrs Red Chip is a very nervous flyer and we both like to get to the airport early so we got to the airport a couple hours early and had some large cocktails at Gordon Biersch at SFO.

When I booked the flight, I upgraded us to First Class for extra comfort on our long 1 hr 20 min flight...haha. I know most of you travel from much farther than San Francisco. I figured, why not upgrade. It was only an extra $100 per ticket. My wife's never flown first class, plus I'm 6'3" and my legs don't fit well in the ever shrinking coach class.

Mid flight, I told my wife that this was the smoothest flight I've ever been on. Like I mentioned earlier, she hates to fly so I got a look from her that said, "You fucking dumb ass!! Now we're probably going to crash." But, we made it to Vegas and it was a truly smooth flight. Everyone else in first class was either sleeping or ignoring the flight attendant who was a really nice guy. We enjoyed talking to him and maybe got a little better service from him. The vodka cranberries were about 75% vodka and 25% cranberry.

Pre flight...



Loving the leg room in first class...



Taxiing to the runway, I was hoping this was good luck...



In flight vodka crans...



After my wife squeezed all the blood out of my hand during take off, we're up and on our way. A glance back at SFO...



And we're almost there. The lights starting to come on at about 7:10 PM...



Lucy, I'm home!



Food:
Our first meal Sunday night was at China Poblano. I think I've heard people describe the Queso Fun(something) as crack, amazing and the best ever. I completely agree! I didn't know melted cheese could taste so good! My wife also had a bean taco and I had the Mongolian beef lettuce. The Queso was off the carts and the rest was very good.


Dessert at Milk. I got the White Russian shake...


Lunch on Monday was at Pub 1842 at MGM. I ordered the barbecue chicken sandwich and got the work of art pictured below. The barbecue seasoned fries and dipping sauces were a hit. Mrs RC had the kale salad.


Dinner Monday night was a Cucina by Wolfgang Puck at Crystals. The best dish I had on the trip was the Sea Bass with capers and cauliflower in an amazing sauce! My wife had the Eggplant Parmesan which she said was the best eggplant parm she's ever had...


Brunch Tuesday was at Wicked Spoon Buffet. It was all good. Not the best food compared to our other meals, but we enjoyed it. My favorite thing at the buffet was the chopped pork with some Wicked BBQ sauce.

Dinner Tuesday night was at D.O.C.G. at Cosmo after a couple of cocktails at Chandelier. I had the lasagna with braised short rib. It was very good. It was a different take on lasagna made with almost a gravy type sauce instead of a traditional tomato sauce. It was excellent. My wife had a pesto pasta dish which she liked very much.

Hotel:
I liked the overall feel of Cosmo. It was stylish with something for everyone. I'm too old for the club scene, but the people watching was a lot of fun. Like I said, it was our first time here and we loved the view from the room! I wasn't crazy about the Japanese soaking tub in the room. I'd much rather have a bubble tub. I'll miss the view from my shower too.


Around Town
We went to KA, CBS TV City at MGM and did the daytime Big Bus Tour. KA was a disappointment IMHO. I fell asleep several times and was hoping for an intermission so I could go get drunk. The theater and stage were amazing but the story/play put me to sleep. I've seen Mystere and LeReve in the past and like both of those, but KA wasn't for me. The TV City thing was fun. The show we watched and gave opinions on was Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders with Gary Sinise. My wife loves those crime dramas but this one was comically bad. Here are a few pics from around town.

On my Nielsen controller, I could rate scenes of Criminal Minds anywhere between 1 and 100. My dial rarely got above 50.


Casino:
The lucky rock... My wife has a lucky rock that she had in her pocket for a job interview and about 9 other people have also used it for job interviews. The Rock is 9 for 10 with people getting hired/promoted. I had a picture of it on my phone and tried to have it out when I was at a machine.

Our first night, I neglected to have the lucky rock out and quickly dropped a few hundred dollars without trying very hard at Game of Thrones and Video Poker. On day two, I hit and ran a Wonka Pure Imagination machine at MGM. $100 in, 4 spins, wife reminds me to pull up the picture of the lucky rock, 2 spins later an Oompa Loompa bonus, screen grows all the way to the top, Oompas pour 2 bags of sugar, I get two full columns of Charlie and a 2x multiplier. Cash out at $200 and walked.

That was the theme I tired to follow, after the first night. Get up $20 or more, cash out and move on instead of hunting for the big jackpot or trying to double my money every time. It worked really well. I was only down $100 by the end of the trip. I found it boring at first, but liked the end result.

Almost all of my VP was Bonus Poker at a 50 play machine outside the high limit room at Cosmo. I only played between 1 and 4 lines at Quarters. Other than the first night, I did okay there.

I played Dean Martin's Pool Party and Wild Party for the first time. I really liked Wild Party, especially the music (video below).

I thought the cocktail service on the casino floor was spotty at Cosmo. Four or five times during the first two nights the server either forgot something or never came back. The third night was a lot better though. The comped cocktails weren't near as good as the comped drinks as Aria or Wynn either. Two Long Islands at Aria or Wynn had my head spinning. Cosmo's tasted mostly like syrup and had little effect on me, but when I paid for the Long Island at the bar, it was much better.

Meet the lucky rock


Love the music on this game!



The flight home was in regular old claustrophobic coach and it was a bit bumpy in Vegas and San Francisco and my wife cut of blood circulation in my hand a few times.

That's it. I can't wait to come back. My wife is taking the kids to Palm Springs in July. I couldn't get the whole week of work and don't have a lot of desire to go to Palm Springs in July anyhow. Instead of staying home alone for 3 nights, she suggested a solo trip to Las Vegas. I love this woman!!!!

 

I can't see any pictures??? Darn but only one video popped up...is it me?

 

No pictures here either.

Nice report. Thanks for sharing. We have Cosmo booked for our December trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

No pix here, but enjoyed your report.....only losing $100 is fantastic!

 

I see all pics. Great report!

 

I reposted and I think the pictures should be there this time. I hope.

 

Great pics & report...thanks so much for posting! I am 12 days away from arrival & the reports are helping me survive till then.

 

I know the feeling.... as it gets closer and closer I check several times a day for new reports. Have a great trip!

 

Great report and pics. Thanks for sharing
with us. Loved the detailed descriptions.
Enjoyed it!

 

@RedChip - I really enjoyed this report and pics; it's a treat to follow along on a 'first time' stay at Cosmo. Funny, as we stayed there in March, ate at China Poblano, and had two of the same dishes in your pics, lol! Queso fundido plus the Mongollian beef lettuce. If you ever get back, the 'Golden Pigs' (fried) are Addictive. Cocina is on our list to try - great pics and that sea bass dish is something I will try.

Hang onto that lucky rock - between that and sticking to your strategy, looks like a winning gambling trip. Looks like you and your wife had the perfect trip together...thanks again for sharing!

 

Great report. Yeah I find service on floor at Cosmo can be spotty from time to time.

 

I see the pic oh yeah awesome trip!!!

 

Yeah, I had the "forgotten" drink there once. She said she would get it "right away". I got it, but only after she completed her ~20 minute drink cycle...[emoji35] I'll mostly be taking my chances with the "tickets".

 

Love the report, especially the food reviews. Thanks for posting!

 

I'll keep the Golden Pigs in mind. Next time we might order two Queso Fundidos. I was a gentleman and let her have the last tortilla, but it was tempting to be selfish. I'd also like to try the version with Chorizo.

 

Awesome pics. Now that you mention the drink service at Cosmo, it IS spotty. Very spotty.

 

Great report, and just in time for our next trip planning. China Poblano and Cucina just got put on the restaurant list.

 

Great report, RedChip!

It's fun to see the shows you preview/rate actually make it on air.
Sometimes they invite you back for an hour to join a paid (cash) focus group to discuss viewing habits/new products/etc..

You had some great pics to illustrate your good times!
Thanks so much for sharing your TR!

RICHARD

 

Fantastic report and photos. The views from Cosmo terrace never get old. I hated Ka; I still get mad at myself for that time I can never get back. Very expensive nap.

 

Nice trip report. Thanks for sharing