Is it Live... Nope, It's Not Even Memorex - Vdara Aug 31-Sep 3

Been dealing with some family issues and we weren't sure when we’d get out next, so we jumped on a relatively short notice opportunity to go for Labor Day weekend. Quick getaway at Vdara late Friday night to early Tuesday am. Only solid plan was to see Wayne Brady Sunday night at Mirage…and maybe gambol and drinks.

First time I’ve flown out late on a Friday night, not a big fan. Got delayed for close to an hour on the ramp due to lightening in the area and got to the hotel a bit past midnight. After working all week getting there when my body thinks its 3am was a little rough. And yeah, I’m not young anymore (note the generational reference in the thread title), but @MrsIrishDave rallied and got over to Aria for a couple of hours.

Room was ready, of course. We’ve stayed at Vdara two trips in a row now and I’ve enjoyed it. It’s different not stepping out of the elevator into a casino, but the rooms are very nice and I liked relaxing away from the crowds and hustle. The small outdoor bar area was a good place to just chill out and the small café is fine for a quick meal. Perfect for us this trip with some of the stress we’ve been having at home, but might be a bit too sedate for some.

Room





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Day 1 (for me…day 1 ½ for my wife)

Breakfast at Vdara’s cafe


Hit some negative variance right away at row 802, one whisky sour cost me nearly $100 starting out



But @MrsIrishDave was keeping us afloat with some decent slot hits. Buffalo was her ATM this trip, she had a $500+ hit on min bet





I got a couple of ok hits...100 free games on Wild Red 7s at $1.25 and only came away with $86, go figure!



Wandered over to Bellagio





Pretty much broke even on the 8/5 BP spin poker machine on the floor



But drink service was it’s usual below average, so hit up the sportsbook only to find all new machines and the 7/5 downgraded to 6/5 But the Guinness still flowed freely (Guinness for lunch…not bad)






I felt like I was up around $100 there until @MrsIrishDave showed up with empty pockets. I gave her my gains and she promptly hit a quad, so lesson for the day…play VP at Bellagio and slots at Aria!


Next was Cosmo and VP at Chandelier, one of my favorite places to play. Awesome cocktails and at least average bartops for the strip.


Had a nice quad run, but an even better old fashioned run…4 quads in twenty minutes to 5 old fashioneds in an hour and 20 minutes! (Ok, @MrsIrishDave might have had one of those…)








Realizing we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, except for the cherries, we headed to 550 Pizza for some good drunk food and I called it a night from there.



@MrsIrishDave kept things going for a while, but finally ran out of money and energy around midnight Vegas time.



Totals:
Down ~$500 for the day on ~$10,000 coin in (-$700 for trip/$11,000 coin-in)
Up 7 Old Fashioneds and 3 Guinness

 

this Tr looks familiar.....dave you are a bit of a wuzzie not doing 2 TRS at the same time........i still like you though..... send my regards to your better half

 

And your point??

Hey, I coulda been a really wuzzie and not posted it here at all!!!

 

ok buddy i give you that..kudoos for your efforts (was just pulling your leg a bit man) i have to do 2 trs at the same time next week though but i will do it semi live as it is a bit of work and i have my usa brother visiting me and hanging out with me so less time to report

 

pictures are super! and the room - wow, I really liked it.

 

Thanks, I didn't realize they posted so large since I was posting from my phone, I'll try to keep the size under control
I've come to like Vdara a lot, nice rooms for a reasonable (well...for the strip) price

 

Day 2



Canoe wreck outside Vdara



A little slow getting going, but wanted to do a bit of a walkabout today, since we were going to see Wayne Brady at 10pm. Walked through the sterile passage from Aria to a sterile Park MGM. It might be a nice, laid back casino once all the renovations are done, but as others have said, it’s not quite there yet. We quickly donated about $200 to their renovation budget. Did hit this quad tho



Walked up to Cosmo before it got too hot out to check out the new Block 16 for lunch.








For your really big mistakes!


Wow, was Block 16 packed! Seating was limited with no chance of a place to sit at 1100 Saturday. The food options didn’t justify standing to us, so we opted for Holstein’s, which is never a bad choice.





After a quick post-lunch nap, we were off to Bellagio again, where the Royal Tease which would haunt me for the rest of the trip began. But the Guinness continued and became dinner tonight! The good...


The bad...this would be a theme today







A little better




Slow bleed on the gamble most of the day there, then walked up Mirage to be in place for the show. Again, just a slow bleed up to show time at 10pm. A bit of a late start, but we’d planned well and were still going strong.








Wayne Brady was awesome, even better than on Whose Line is it Anyway! His show was completely improv and was hilarious, I laughed for an hour and a half. What an amazing/brilliant mind to be able to take completely random inputs and turn them into great comedy unscripted, I loved it. Highly recommend.



We Ubered back to Cosmo and met up with @ttaylor001 and her friend and had a blast with them at Chandelier. Great folks and great time. We hit the wall about 3am Vegas time and left the hard partiers at Bond! Really enjoyed meeting up with them.



Down ~$700 for the day on ~$7,000 coin in (-$1400 for trip/$18,000 coin-in)
Up 1 Old Fashioneds and 3 Guinness (weak)

Overall, we had a lot of fun today. Gambling was kind of meh, but Wayne Brady was so funny and it was great to catch up with @ttaylor001

 

Great report. I agree with you about Wane B. Saw him over 15 years ago in AC. Very funny & quick.

 

Nice report

 

Your room looks fantastic! I am always in awe of Wayne Brady on tv.....would love to see him live.

 

Day 3

Honestly, staying up that late pretty much wore me out! Planned to take it easy and get ready to get back to reality. Got up in time for lunch at The Pub (formerly Todd’s English Pub). Good pub grub, but the portions were huge, couldn’t come close to eating it all.







Had a few nice small hits on both slots and DSTP, but @MrsIrishDave wasn’t doing so well.





Hung out at the outdoor area at the bar a Vdara for a while, very pleasant, and then got some nice cocktails at Alibi in Aria. I hadn’t spent much time there before and enjoyed the drinks and the bar. Didn’t check out the VP…I must have been sick or something.









I was just low-rolling 5c multi-play to wind down before dinner at Bardot







Ugh...yet another





@MrsIrishDave had almost burned through her daily bankroll when she sent me a pic of her $900 Buffalo hit!! Nice Lazarus hit for her.



Dinner at Bardot was excellent. Started with a Midleton Very Rare whiskey, always excellent, followed by a melt in your mouth Waygu Fillet special, and some sort of cheese pastry dessert (sorry, don’t remember the name), which was quite good.















Food coma followed, and I was pretty much ready to call it a night by about 8pm Vegas time to reset my clock back to the east coast. Hit a quad on $1 BP, so I decided to call it a trip with that!



I hung out at the Vdara bar for a while before turning in to get up early to pack and @MrsIrishDave headed back for a few more spins before shutting it down.



Even for days 3/4 on $10,000 coin-in. Not much drinking today. Total down $1,500 on $28,000 coin-in, I’ll take it. Overall, an enjoyable, relaxing day!

 

Final Morning – My alarm goes off at 6am and I think @MrsIrishDave is getting packed as I hear her shuffling around the kitchen area in the room. Wrong! She’s just getting in!!! Nice all-nighter dear!

Time to pack and head to the airport.





Trip home was uneventful, but reality sucks!!

 

Sounds like it was a really nice trip!

 

Thanks for the report. Looks like an enjoyable trip other than the back to reality part.

 

Ugh....reality. We all know that feeling of the last look out the room window before you have to head to the airport. Great report, though. Thanks for all the pics!