8 Nights in Vegas-Encore/Bellagio/Cosmo Anniversary Trip

4 days should be enough especially with the pandemic, Vegas wont be like what it once was for a while. Lately I've been going for 2-3 days at a time and that felt enough. Stayed a week before and felt like that was too long.

 

If I could drive out there for a weekend I think I would take a lot more 2-3 night weekend trips. Plus I would save a lot of money just not paying for airfare. I drive to Midland for work a lot which is about a 6.5 hour drive and that doesn’t bug me at all. Unfortunately it’s something like a 16 hour drive from here to Vegas so with flying there and back I think the sweet spot while things are slow like this is probably still 4-5 nights. That being said, having not been there since last summer I am glad we spent 8 nights even with stuff being shut down. I got to eat pretty much all I wanted to eat, gamble as much as I wanted to gamble, hit the pool nearly every day, and staying in three different resorts really kept enough variety going to not get bored. I think if we would have stayed 8 nights in the same resort it would have felt like the trip was too long. Of course I would never turn down 8 nights in that Wynn Salon Suite but I also wouldn’t have wanted to foot the bill for that long of a stay in that suite!

 

Looking back through I realized I forgot to attach the pic of the lobster pasta

 

Yeah I am definitely lucky that Vegas is only a few hours drive for me. I do believe if I had to fly to Vegas that I'd probably spend more time as opposed to 2-3 days.

 

Thanks for the report, pics, and info!

 

I was thinking the same thing but next Vegas trip you are guaranteed one comp night without resort fees for hitting Sterling so make use of it and you will likely get a teaser offer.

 

Looking at that Identity Program and how easy it was to hit the first level and then also giving you a free night just for hitting the first level I am very impressed with their loyalty program. This will definitely help make Cosmo one of my future favorites for Vegas trips!

 

Hope you had a great flight home. Thank you for the fabulous report and photos.

 

Nice report, thank you!

 

Thank for taking us along!

 

Such a wonderful report. Sad that it's over! Thank you.

 

I am definitely sad it is over as well but I am very glad we took that vacation and really happy for all the people that were able to follow us along on our trip and interact with me on this trip report. I’ve never done a report before but I think I will try to do them on future trips. Keeping it going helps fill some of the downtime when you want to go gamble but you shouldn’t!

I will say that as much fun as we had I don’t think I will return until things are more back to normal. The virus doesn’t scare me at all, I just don’t think I will fork over the money to do the trips the way we like to to do them if the shows aren’t running and the spas aren’t open. Just about everything else I could live with. If I could drive there I would definitely Go back for weekend trips with no hesitation but with flying being a necessity it probably isn’t worth it to go back for a while. We had planned on going for NYE and I haven’t cancelled my hotel reservations yet But at the rate things are going I doubt things will have returned closer to normal by then. We like to take longer trips, 5 nights or more, and being able to take in a show or two and having a spa day or two are important factors for us in choosing Vegas as our vacation destination.

As far as which hotel I think handled the new normal the best, my current vote would be to Wynn. Having thermal cameras set up at entrances makes sense to me if you’re going to test temps. That being said, they were also the least busy of the three resorts we stayed at due to it being Sunday-Tuesday.

I think all three resorts had their highlights. We certainly enjoyed the Wynn suite the most which is what I would expect for the money, we enjoyed the Bellagio pool the most, especially the Cabana, which we have done for 2 years in a row now. Table games at Wynn we’re the best to me, and I enjoyed slots at Cosmo the most. As far as “Vegas Vibe” or Buzz, that was definitely strongest at Cosmo, but it was a Holiday weekend and that crowd definitely trends younger and more party-seeking so I would expect that as well. Wynn was the cleanest, followed by Cosmo, followed by Bellagio.

for dining the best Overall meal we had Was certainly Lago, the ambience, food, and service were impeccable. Milos was probably second, and I think for third my favorite was izakaya Go and my wife’s was Carson kitchen.

Overall I think all three casinos did a great job trying to recreate as much of the Vegas experience as possible given the circumstances.

 

Great trip report! One of the few reports I kept checking every day for updates!

 

Cosmo continues to impress me. Already got an offer to return. I doubt I’ll take another trip within this time frame but it seems like a fair offer. I was hoping for more free play but I figured they might offer 2 nights and they offered 4. I’m not sure if that would include weekends or just weekdays though.

 

Thanks for the TR.

 

the offers usually specify if weekday only. (e.g. the one I just booked was comp wkdays/ $99/wkends)
You might see another separate offer for $75+ FP later that you could addon.

 

That’s great to know. Thanks.

 

I always do that as well...it really ticks me off when people just toss their lit cigs off a balcony. What if you were over a sidewalk and it landed in a baby's stroller? Or if it had hit your wife? It's a toss-up whether I would have yelled at them or called the front desk to have someone go talk to them.

Loving your TR!

 

Yes I think it being Vegas coupled with the weekend crowd at Cosmo probably contribute to people having lack of courtesy like that. Housekeeping left us a nice ashtray on day three the day before we checked out.

 

You were right @AyDee the offer included weekends. Decided to book it tentatively for October for Mrs Kachow’s 40th Bday. Haven’t bought plane tickets yet but there’s a pretty good chance we will go for this shorter trip. We had had the option for a Terrace studio FV so I booked that as that seems to be a favorite room amongst the VMB. There was also a 1-bedroom Terrace but without the view specified so we booked the terrace studio with the view.