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The Mirage - 2 Bed Penthouse 3 nights - The Wynn 2 nights - bringing a

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by MacAttack, Apr 12, 2017.

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  1. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    I am about to head off on Trip 16 (I think) - this time without Mrs M, and instead bringing a vegas newbie who is turning 40.

    My last (and first) trip report of 7 nights in the Bellagio is here: https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/index.php?threads/bellagio-23-sept-30sept-irish-30-something-couple-craps-vp-eating-14th-trip-1st-tr.135098/page-5#post-1372057

    Flight takes off in 18 hours - have three nights comped in 2 Bedroom Penthouse suite in the Mirage, and then 2 nights at $109 in the Wynn. I have never stayed in the Mirage so it will be something new for me too.

    Looking forward to bringing a Vegas Virgin with me as I think you get to see the place through a fresh set of eyes.

    No real plan this time (despite having a speadsheet set up)
    Arrive Thursday - Gamble and drink
    Friday:
    • Breakfast by the pool in the Mirage (anyone have any experiences here - Paradise Cafe).
    • Wander the Strip - avoiding Wynncore as we are checking in there on Sunday. Probably have lunch in Shake Shack as I love that place
    • That night - a niteclub - maybe a niteclub crawl bus thingy - anyone any recommendations? As we are two guys I am thinking that might be a better option than paying a fortune to stand in line for 90 minutes. No interest in dropping a few thousand to get table service in club
    Saturday:
    • More sightseeing / Gambling / maybe Mirage morning poker tournament
    • Dinner that night in Prime in the Bellagio - been there twice before but not for about 8 years.
    Sunday
    • Check into Wynn - look at the luxury and then head downtown to get pissed and have a laugh
    • Back to Wynn - maybe eat in allegro if we havent had Pizza Rock downtown
    Monday
    • My friend maybe at the pool as I go gambling unless he seriously catches the bug and has remortgaged his house
    • A friend is joining us for our last night - they are staying in the Four Seasons which I have never been in so will meet them there for a drink or dinner.
    My last report was a live one and I enjoyed writing it as I went along - hopefully the same will happen this time. I will be using Taptalk so will upload any interesting photos (and probably less interesting but obligatory ones like the Las Vegas sign in the Airport).

    Gambling wise - Loads of CRAPS - Hours upon hours of VP - bit of BJ, bit of Roulette, bit of Slots.

    There is a good chance that I will write more before I get on the plane. Watched Vegas Vacation last night (not a great movie but its in Vegas so I like it). Woke up at 4am and couldnt get back to sleep with the excitement.

    Anyway bye for now......
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
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  2. Drewm1972

    Drewm1972 VIP Whale

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    Can't wait till follow along...have a great time.

    Regards to nite club; Mirage actually has a decent club called 1OAK (stands for 1 Of A Kind) and if you are guest of hotel you will have access to club for free. After you checking in call concierge and have them put you on guest list then go down around 1130 ish and they will have invited guest line, very short line if any. Then you should be good. But call to be 1000% concierge and ask for it. We stayed Mirage few times and never had any issues going to club. Have a wonderful time my friend!!!!
     
  3. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the advice drew. Will probably do that.
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
  4. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    Hey there, MacAttack! You had me at...

    :beer:

    Have an excellent trip! Please wish a Happy 40th to the newbie!

    RICHARD
     
  5. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    [​IMG]

    pre flight drinks in Dublin airport. Hard to contain excitement.
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
  6. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    So making the trip report "Live" was an epic fail but the good news is that the trip was the opposite - maybe they are inversely proportional?

    I am going to write up the report day by day and go into a reasonable amount of detail (or what I can actually remember!). Some great wins on the way and some bad days too
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
  7. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    Day 1 - Thursday 13th - Mirage

    So the flight from Dublin to London was uneventful as expected but when I went ot check into my flight to Vegas at the British Airways desk I almost had a heart-attack (not literally!). They could not find my ESTA authorisation on system which would preclude me from flying to the US. I said I was 100% positive I had completed it and had even chased my friend to make sure that he has completed his. They continued to search for it but to no avail - I did not have approval to board the plane - Heart is now racing and I am seriously pissed off at myself - I had comeplted an ESTA application for both of my parents for their recent trip to NY so maybe I had confused the two? If my companion had not completed his I would have 1)been really pissed off at him and 2) waved to him as I headed to boarx the plane to Vegas solo. Luckily we had an hour to board the plane and I was able to apply for the ESTA on my phone and approval was immediate (thank God). I was pretty stressed but hugely relieved that I wsa able to continue my trek to Mecca.

    I have never flown to the states with British Airways before and although all the staff were nice etc, the seats were tiny - smallest seats and smallest ampunt of leg-room I have ever had on a flight to the United States - I will pay the extra monety to fly Virgin in the future (or even American or United - taking the risk of being pulled off the plane due to overbooking).

    Took at sleeping table on the plane, slept maybe for 4 hours and arrived to Vegas at approx 3.40pm. The queue at US Customs was the longest I had ever come across in Vegas and took 1 hour to get through. Got an Uber to the Mirage - cost 14 dollars with 3 dollar tip. Great service and used Uber for the rest of the trip.

    Checking into the Mirage was a breeze with no line at all despite the hotel being very busy. I had three nights in a two bed Penthouse comped. Was not able to get a strip view (which would have been a bonus) but no complaints as the room was amazing. It was my first time staying in the Mirage, although I had always enjoyed the feww times I dropped in when on other trips, and had eaten in Japonais and Portofino before and loved them both.

    So, as I mentioned in the first post my friend was a vegas virgin and was amazed at the drive in from the airport etc. We have casinos in Ireland but we don't have slot machines or Craps, just BJ, 3 card poker, roulette and Poker. THhe first night's gambling was a wash-out. Everything we touched turned to shit. Imagine the scene - I am going to show him how to play VP - just .25 machines - explain to him that 100 dollars in will last you for a seriously longtime as you go up and down and while you are playing you will be drinking for free, smoking cigarettes, just having fun. What actually happened was that we put in 100 dollars each and were wiped out at possibly the fastest rate I have ever seen on a VP machine (we started out at he Sports Bar). We were both tired, and you will always have losing sessions but it was ridiculously bad. I know - I'll show him some craps - I buy in for 200, he buys in for 100. 10 dollar pass line bets - point set, then 7. His roll - point set then 7. Some random person rolls, sets point, few more rolls but point not hit before 7. I was betting pass, 6 and 8 and 20-25 dollars on odds. Wiped out very quickly. I had read before that the Feature bets had reduced their odds, but at the Mirage they have also increased the minimum bets to 5 dollars on each section. (Bellagio and Wynn are still 1 dollar mins btw) - stupid decision and I saw very few people betting on it at my time at the Mirage. We left Craps and tried some of the slots - Buffalo, Walking Dead, Quick Hits - 100 dollars in max bet (3-3.75) - no bonuses on any plus it felt like we put money in, pressed the button a few times and then the money was wiped out. At this stage I was wondering what Vegas Virgin was thinking - Does he think that this is why I come to Vegas 1-2 times a year just so I can make 100 dollar "donations" to slot machines without even a bit of excitement or of ever being 'up' even a few dollars...... We head for food in California Kitchen as it was the first place we saw - food was fine - not the worst pizza or best pizza I ever head in vegas, service was good etc.

    So we decided to head out and explore the strip. I love the casino in Bellagio so we head over there - The Gambling Gods are definitely smiling on us we the truly horrific luck continues there on the Craps tables and also in the VP and slots in general. I try to explain that this is not normal - losing is normal but not at this rate
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
  8. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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  9. h0llywood

    h0llywood VIP Whale

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    Have fun! Since you're two males, XS or Omnia will do the trick.

    There's a club crawl via party bus that starts off at Sapphires strip club and then takes you to three or four clubs after. Let me know if you're interested and ill find the link.
     
  10. bshowell

    bshowell VIP Whale

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    Looking forward to reading
     
  11. h0llywood

    h0llywood VIP Whale

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    How would you rate/rank that room? Im staying in the same room next month and wonder how it is. Does going up require entering the room key in the elevator or is there a private entry?
     
  12. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    I would rate it extremely highly. It is better than the normal suites in the Venetian and Palazzo (in my opinion). The panoramic rooms in the Wynn are fantastic but the size of this room (and the fact that it was comped) ranks it higher in my mind. One of the bedrooms is far superior to the other so make sure you get the bigger room! Not that the other room is bad or anything but there is a considerable difference in bathroom and wardrobe. You need to use your elevator key to access the floor. There a certain elevators that can only access floors A, B, C, D and E. We never had to wait long for the elavtors. We had room D33. The room was immaculate and there was no noise pollution from anywhere. I will probably go back to the Bellagio on my next trip (especially if I still have an offer of the one bedroom suite) but I would have no qualms, and would be excited to go back to this room especially if I was bringing along another couple with me and my wife). The room is plenty big for 4 people.
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
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  13. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    Day Two – Friday 14th (Part One) - The Mirage


    Woke up early (5am) on the Friday – showered, got dressed and planned to sneak down to the casino without waking up Vegas Virgin. Was almost out the door when I heard him stirring. He was awake too and ready to gamble. Great sign, maybe the gambling gene had been activated in him despite the heavy losses the night before. We both head down together, the casino is understandably quiet. We sit down at .25 VP machines, order some Heinekens and start playing. I tell him to ask any questions on what to hold through away, when to break up pairs to go for flushes etc. We go up and down lose a bit but get some value for the money and have a few beers so all good. WE play a few quick hits machines and win a small bonus (32 dollars) and again go up and down and both cash out about even. Craps next – no one on the tables at all so we have it all to ourselves – I don’t like this, I prefer to see it busy, the game can move too fast when there are only two ouf you playing. We hit maybe one point and quickly I lose my 200 buy-in, him his 100 buy in. Its getting close to 9am so we decide to take a stroll out to the pool, there are a good few people out already and towels down holding chairs already. I want to try breakfast at the Paradise Café which opens at 9 so we have to wait about 15 mins. The sun is out and it is a really nice morning.


    There a few people queueing for the café at 9 and we are seated in the sun. The menu is very small – surprisingly so. We both order the Breakfast Burrito, and me a Bloody Mary and him a Mimosa (which was not listed on the menu – again seemded strange as it is so popular in Vegas for breakfast). No offers for limitless Mimosas like in the Wynn or Bellagio. The food is fine, nothing spectacular (How can a Burrito be spectacular you ask?), service was good but again not as good as Breakfast at the pool in the Bellagio or Wynn. I have to say that I was impressed with the pool area in general (pics below). Nice palms trees and water features, and a nicely hidden away Jacuzzi.

    The plan today is to explore the Strip but avoid the Wynn, Encore, Venetian, Palazzo - do some gambling and sightseeing. Part 2 to follow......
     
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  14. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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  15. Kevke

    Kevke Vegas Addict

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    Good luck on the TR, i am also flying with British to Vegas on a boeing 747.

    And im kind of a big guy, flew the last 2 times with british , and yea the seats are very small, but its the most convienent way for me to fly.

    amsterdam - london - vegas is just the best way there is.
     
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  16. JRRestoule

    JRRestoule VIP Whale

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    Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip!
     
  17. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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    Day Two – Friday 14th (Part Two) - The Mirage


    So after breakfast we dropped a few bucks here and there in the Mirage (nothing notable to report) and headed out to to the strip We walked to Caesars. Vegas Virgin was loving the strip - you forget when you have been there so many times how crazy it all is. Huge resort / flashing screens / music being pumped out onto the street. We walked through the Forum Shops, looking at the painted sky etc - "Do you want to do any shopping?" I asked - "Can you drink or gamble in the shops? No? Well lets pass" he said, "right answer" said I.


    We wandered around Caesars casino for about 10 minutes but I wasn’t keen on dropping much money there as I wanted to keep my gambling for MLife. Next we headed back into the Bellagio, looked at the Conservatory, the chocolate fountain, and started having a few drinks and playing a few slots - nothing majorly good or bad happened so we kept moving.


    Next stop Cosmopolitan – played some walking Dead – no bonuses – there was no one on the craps tables (it was still pretty early) so we kept moving.


    Went to Crytals next – I really feel that this is the most soulless shopping center in the world. I know it is really high end but it is always dead. I think it looks pretty cool from the outside with its unusual design but the inside is boring. We didn’t stay long and moved quickly into the Aria. I have yet to stay in the Aria or even eat in any of the restaurants there. I like the lobby (probably not the best reason to select a hotel), and the casino seems fine. I have had friends who have stayed there and all rave about it. I might try and book a few nights the next time I’m in town….. On the gambling front nothing of note happened.


    Morning was almost over and it was time for food…….
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
  18. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

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  19. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Nice start so far!
     
  20. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Loving your pictures and your suite
    looks very nice. Sounds like a
    fun trip - hope the gambling god's get nicer!
     
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