Forbidden Love - A Secret Retreat to Sin City (unidentified June week)

I have been an avid reader of trip reports on this website for months and thought I might be able to contribute something a little different - this will be the story of the trip I planned for my girlfriend, and how we pulled it off without her parents finding out.

That last sentence tends to garner some mixed emotions from many, so please let me explain. I met my girlfriend while a student in college, we fell in love and have been dating 5 years now. We come from different cultures and different religions, and for this reason, her parents do not know we are together. This is not a sham relationship by any means, I fully intend on converting and starting a family together once I have a career in medicine.


EugeneChoi is a pseudonym and does not reflect my, or my girlfriends culture. For purposes of anonymity this is all I will say. Love transcends culture and religion, the views of our parents do not.



We hatched this plan in February - I have visited many times with family and once with friends, and knew it would be right up her alley. I began playing MyVegas and eventually accumulated 200,000 points for buffets, etc. She mentioned to her parents a trip she’d like to make with a girlfriend to her parents summer home out of state. This planted the seed for our future getaway,


Through this website I learned about Absinthe, a show I had previously written off as most likely a boring variety show. I quickly realized I had made a mistake and made this one of the focuses of our trip. It would be Monday - Friday to save money and maximize experiences. My girlfriend is a huge foodie and this would be another priority. I never expected her to enjoy gambling so pools were another priority.


Budget: $2000 grand total split between the two of us. I am a graduate student but she is at the start of her career.

What we booked: 2 nights at Bellagio followed by 2 nights at Aria (~$650). Southwest Airlines (~$600).

Why: I have stayed at Signature and MGM but wanted to stay somewhere new to both of us. Also, MGM Royal Offer! ($400 resort credit and better prices than my corporate 35% off offer)



Day 1:

If anyone wants more details on how we pulled this off with her parents I would be willing to share as long as it is not with malicious intent.


We landed in Vegas around 2pm local time. Southwest gave us $20 with Lyft so we collected our bags and headed to the parking garage. The record setting heat hit her like a wave and she immediately recognized what I had explained to her as ‘dry heat’. She loved it!!


Lyft took us to Bellagio and we spoke with the friendly driver. My girlfriend wanted to see 7 Magic Mountains ( I did not ). Thankfully the driver's frank description persuaded her against the 20+ minute drive to “a couple stacks of painted rocks in the middle of no where”.


$20 trick at Bellagio got us switched from Resort Tower King to Resort King with view of fountains and strip in Spa Tower. I was happy with this, and the woman gave us the option to keep the $20 (of course we didn’t).



This was restaurant week and we had made 2 reservations. Monday was Beauty and Essex at 7:45pm. When we were seated, our server did not know what the Prixe Fixe menu was. No one knew what I was talking about! But on Open Table it clearly stated that certain restaurants offered $50 or $80 dinners! Whatever, we ordered from he regular menu and were plenty happy!
(these are the lobster rolls, got too overwhelmed to continue taking pictures, absolutely delicious)

After dinner we walked up the west side of the strip and crossed over at Palazzo and walked back down to PH and back to Bellagio.


2 weeks prior I had been to Vegas with my family ( Remember that awkward post about needing a room for 5 with a fiancé??) Well on that last night my brother and I hit it BIG on roulette! $40 into $2700, mega drunk, offers of drugs and hookers. Great story and will attach pics for proof.
(We counted money in bathroom stalls because our drunk selves thought we were high rollers that everyone was watching)

What was I getting at? Right. My girlfriend was intrigued by this game and the ~50/50 odds and wanted to give it a try. She loved it. We did not win but made $20 bills last 2 hours and a few drinks all week long.
Side note - Cosmopolitan hit black 12 times in a row and I lost $40, what! My camera was wonky and this is my best pic.

Day 2:

Tuesday we had Holsteins booked for Restaurant Week at Lunch. Once again “Server: Whats prixe fixe?” Whatever. We got 2 milkshakes when they innocently asked if we’d like to start with them. We also ordered 2 burgers. Huge mistake. Pick 1 unless you are starving!


We had visited Bellagio Buffet on BOGO for breakfast before hitting the pool Tuesday so were not prepared for Holsteins.


We got very drunk that night and walked all the way to palazzo and down to MGM then NYNY. When we got to Monte Carlo I was wiped and wanted an easy way out. Caught the tram for the first time in my 10 years of vitising and discovered it stops right at the Spa Tower!! What an amazing surprise. Also ended up at In-n-Out that night. Shake Shack is better but much more expensive. Side note - Joseph James craft beer brewed in Henderson in background. Great beer from AmeriCAN across the sidewalk by Linq.


Day 3:
Wednesday we went to Jean Philllippe to finish off our $200 credit. We checked out and headed to Aria. $20 trick got us early check in, 22nd floor facing strip. I was happy!
Tiramisu (10/10) Nutella Crepe (10/10) Cheese Danish (11/10) Black Coffee (7/10) Nutella Beignet (7/10). Not pictured - Nutella Brioche (3/10)

Room review: Tablet was a half baked idea. Alarm setting did not work (was supposed to open curtains for you in the morning) And did not turn on/off the TV or radio as advertised. Nonetheless, beautiful room, amenities and view. Pool sucked in my opinion. Bellagio blew it out of the water!
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The general train of thought on this website has been Aria = new, young hip. If you are young, stay here! But in my opinion, Bellagio was just as young and WAY classier. There is no contest in my opinion if you are coming with your girlfriend/wife.
Bellagio is 10/10 beautiful and relaxing


Spontaneous decision! We saw a video of Lemongrass on the TV in our room and had to try! Chicken Pad Thai, Shrimp Fried rice and Tofu Pad Thai. Best table and service we received at any restaurant all week. Best atmosphere and best value for money.



We saw Brad Garrett Wednesday night, my third time. I love him. If you haven't seen him, don't be deceived by his Robert character on Everybody Loves Raymond. Also, don't sit in the front row. Brad is hilarious, offensive and leans liberal with his political jokes. 10/10 would go a 4th time. He always has 2 supporting comedians when he is there.


We played a lot of roulette that night and came across the cherished Sigma Derby for the first time in all my visits. Something about how you all romanticized it made me HAVE to try my luck with a few bucks. Spoiler Alert: I was not lucky.


Over to Excalibur we went, en route to Mandalay Bay. Sitting at the roulette table at Excalibur, taking in the people and atmosphere, the older waitress arrived. I had been asking for an IPA everywhere we went and had no issues. Here, she responded with “ehhhh most people just get a Sammy Adams” Fair enough. Just thought this was funny. Don’t mean to sound pretentious, Excalibur is what it is. We weren't in the mood for more Southbound walking so we changed our plan.


We used our second $10 Lyft to get back to Paris. Hit up Beer Park with by 50% off $40 meal coupon. Got garlic fries ( 5/10) pitcher of Michelob Ultra ( does the trick), carne asada and Mac Cheese (6/10) but view of Bellagio fountains going off seemingly constantly against the night sky (10/10).


Earlier this night we picked up Absinthe tickets, row F $97 a piece grand total from the mall kiosk in Caesars.

Day 4:
Thursday we tried the Aria pools and were so disappointed. I think we were ruined by the Bellagio pools. People here seemed more of the partier type and just not as a pleasant vibe.


We went to Aria Buffet for dinner with BOGO MyVegas. In my opinion, after trying Bellagio for 2 different meals over multiple trips and Monte Carlo, Aria is BEST of above. Would go back.


Played more Roulette, drank, saw the best show of my entire life. Absinthe. Played roulette. Got really drunk.


Day 5:
Next morning woke up with my phone in my hand ( I had turned my alarms off hours earlier while half asleep). We woke up on our own JUST in time to get out and not miss our flights.


Got home without a hitch. Her parents are happy, she's happy, I am happy. Please ask questions if you want more details. I was just worried that this got too wordy for anyone to retain interest.

Thank you!

Mr. Choi

 

Great trip report. Thanks for posting. Really nice rooms. Glad you had such a good time.

 

Great report - just enough detail without being too wordy - enjoyed the pics and the views of your experiences. Hope the next time can be a "not so Secret report". Glad you pulled it off.

 

Thanks for the report!
Glad you had a great time!
Your secret is safe with me!

RICHARD

 

Nice trip report. Good hit on roulette. Are you talking odds on roulette being ~50/50?

According to this website, the odds of double zero roulette are 94.74%. IMHO, for gambling, I don't consider that "near" 50/50.

http://www.fastodds.com/game-odds/roulette.htm

 

I enjoyed your report and photos.

 

Mazel tov, hope things work out for the two of you.

 

Great report, thanks for sharing!!!

 

Great report!! Best wishes

 

Super report... thanks for sharin'

I recall a hundred years ago sneaking my girlfriend from Chico down to San Francisco for a couple nights without her parents knowing. I actually proposed there. She was 19 and I was 23. The whole "covert operation" made the time even more FUN!!!

 

Terrific report & pics! Happy for you both you pulled this off & had a great time!! Thanks for sharing with us.

 

Great report - enjoyed your pictures and descriptions.
Thanks for sharing! Glad you had a nice time!

 

Great report and pictures!! Good luck to you guys!!

 

Great report and good luck.

 

Great TR - enjoyed your pictures and descriptions. Thanks for sharing! Glad you had a nice time!

 

Nice report!

And Hop Box! Good choice! FYI, you can get that comped while gambling at TAG Lounge at Linq. Bastards were out of stock on my April trip though, first trip in a while without drinking one.

Doesn't surprise me about Excalibur. I my "go-to" beer at that place is Sierra Nevada.

 

Nice Trip Report!!! Enjoyed it thoroughly....The pics of the $$$ with the toilet seat background is Classic!!!!!!!!!!

 

Great report & pictures! And I had a similar experience with that tablet as well!

 

Thanks for the report !

 

Great TR! Thanks, and Sicilians don't talk...lol