THE Hotel and Signature at MGM Grand June 10-12

OK, so here comes a long trip report!

Our trip began with the rental of a Mustang for our drive from Orange County CA to Las Vegas... I have a good friend that works for Enterprise, so we got said muscle car for 15 bucks a day! I'm not used to driving a car that can go fast, and it was interesting to see how different people are towards you when you have a shiny muscle car. Some are nice, some are jealous. I'll take driving my regular old car any day though. I like to blend into the background, I think.

We left our house at 8:30 in the morning, stopped for gas at the Flying J in Barstow, and arrived in Las Vegas around 11:30. Our first stop was at the Mirage to pick up our tickets to Love that night. Following the advice you guys gave us here, I purchased in advance and got a pair of tickets in the third row from the stage. It was pricey, but it turned out to be worth it, but more on that later.

While we were up in the vicinity of the Mirage we headed to Ceasar's to check out the Forum shops. We wandered the casino and found the Mesa restaurant and made reservations for 7:30. We then walked up to Treasure Island. I hadn't been to that casino for probably 10 years or more and was pretty disapointed in it. It's starting to feel like Excalibur in there. I was surprised to see $5 tables... I remember it being much more expensive to gamble there in the past. Also didn't like how there were time share sellers and credit card application hawkers every three feet trying to get into the casino. We walked back to the Mirage, headed back through the casino and drove down to the Mandalay Bay to check in.

This is where the directional challenges of the vacation began! We pulled into the main valet area of the hotel. Apparently there is a seperate one for THE hotel, so we had to pull around and go to the back to get there, so we go around to the back, but apparently around the wrong side of the hotel and wind up past the freeway. Eventually after many U-turns we found the right parking garage. Check-in was quick and easy. I didn't try the $20 trick since we were only staying one night and the rooms were already supposedly huge. We get to our room on the 21st floor. It was HUGE and very impressive! Two bathrooms, lots of complimentary sundries to use ("Dental Elixir!") and a large flat panel TV. We go into the bathroom and find that the toilet has been clogged up for our convenience. I call down to the front desk and they say that they will send somebody up. This was a mistak. There we were, two honeymooners in a gigantic suite... and we had to sit there and wait for maintenance to come. And wait we did. 45 minutes later I called again, and they said that he had already come up... well, no he didn't. About 30 minutes later (1:15 since we got to the room) the repair lady finally comes and unclogs the toilet. Finaly we have some privacy! Then, about ten minutes later, the doorbell rings. Before we could get ourselves together, another repair guy comes in! We scream, "NOT NOW!" and he hustles out the door... kind of funny, but annoying. I now understand the importance of the deadbolt while in a hotel room!

So around 6:00 we head downstairs to get the car. It's time for more directional challenges! I asked the valet what's the quickest route to Ceasar's. He says "Make a left and then a quick righ and head down to the back entrance." Nice and clear! Thanks. So I make a left, and then a quick right, and find myself dead ended at the Excalibur. I make another left figuring there is a back road and I can avoid the traffic on the strip. I turn right on (I think) Frank Sinatra road and take that past a ginormous construction site, through barely paved roads with no lane markings and lots of cones, past the Bellagio and up to the side of Ceasar's. No entrance. I try to go around the back and just get myself more lost. There's no chance of U-turn so I wind up having to go all the way up to Desert Inn to try and cut back to the strip... WHOOPS! Desert Inn tunnels under the strip! Long story short, after more struggles, I finally get to Ceasar's, and not wanting to park in the forum shops since our restaurant is in the main casino area, go to the hotel valet. Full- Hotel guests only. Thanks! Turn around and hustle back to the forum valet. Toss the keys, and a tip. Hap-hazardly stuff the claim ticket in my pocket and hustle towards the restaurant.We got there at 7:45. Almost two hours to go four blocks or so!

I bypassed the check in podium so I could immediately order some tequila to calm my jumpy nerves from the wild ride we just experienced, then went back to check in a half hour late for our reservation. Dinner at Mesa was really good. I had some grilled salmon with a really spicy sauce of some sort, and my wife got the 6 spice chicken. For an apetizer we had the goat cheese fundido, which was phenomenal!

After dinner we headed to Love. The line to get the tickets was nice and short. We had about an hour to kills so I went and found a cheap Blackjack table and played a few hands. Came out even, then headed to the "REVOLUTION" lounge. Didn't seem like my kind of scene, so we just turned around and went to see the show.

I have never seen Cirque du Soleil before and that kind of thing really doesn't appeal to me. However, I'm a huge Beatles fan and have been listening to the Love album a lot, so this was something that had to be done. Turns out I really liked the show! The lighting was amazing and the sound out of this world. Some of the stunts they performed were breath-taking. But the "dancing" that consisted mostly of flailing themselves in random ways and the random screaming at strange times were not my cup of tea. The wife said I wouldn't like any other cirque show, so I guess this one is it for me!

We headed back to Ceasar's the claim the car, and lo and behold I lost the valet ticket. The attendant asked me what my car looked like. I told him it was a grey mustang. He said he had to flash my drivers lisence to a camera so they could have it on file and that they wouldn't be able to use the parking space for seven months. Then he talked into his wrist like it was a walkie talkie... problem is he had no earpiece and he flashed the ID so quickly there is no way a camera could pick it up. I guess you gotta lie to make it seem like it's hard to get the car out and stolen, but whatever.

We headed back to the hotel to sleep... I'll post day two later.

 

How long did it take you to get back to TheHotel when you left Ceasars? It seems like you had a lot of challenges that first day in Vegas. I'm hoping the second day was better.