1st trip report (Dec 2020/Wynn)

Hi y’all. This is my first trip report here — marking what is likely around my 25th trip to Vegas in the past five years. It’s easier to do when you’ve lived in California and Arizona during that period.

My partner and I are highly paranoid about COVID, and this marked our first trip to Vegas since the pandemic. It was a one-night stay in mid-Dec for my partner’s birthday. The mission: drive in, hit the tables and some shops, eat well, and get out.

I have a host at Park MGM/NoMad and usually stay there or at the Waldorf Astoria. However, because of COVID, we wanted to stay at a resort that was more open — and could entertain us completely without having to leave the premises. We chose the Wynn.

I had a $200 Amex travel credit, so we booked a Tower Suites King standard room via their Fine Hotels program. We have stayed at both Encore and Wynn before and prefer Encore, though we had never before done the Tower option for either property.

Upon arrival, we were treated like royalty. We valeted our rinky dink car as someone left their Lambo. The front desk upgraded us to a Parlor Suite for free — it was divine, about the size of our 2BR apartment.

On our first and only night, my partner left to shop, mostly for Christmas gifts, and my top priority was gambling. I typically play just Blackjack, with a brief stop at a Baccarat table each trip if I need a change of pace. To be honest, I really hate Baccarat and think it’s such a dumb game, but it calms my brain after an intense blackjack session and lets me go on autopilot mode.

I had a brief stint at a $100 6D S17 table in the high limit wing and left up about a thousand. That would mark my only winning session... Downhill from there.

My partner and I reconvened and got Lakeside to go, to bring to our palatial room. We had a birthday feast…shrimp cocktail (yum), tuna poke (the best thing we ordered), beet salad (the dud of the dishes), sea bass, mahi mahi, mashed potatoes. We were stuffed and satisfied, looking at our view of the mountains and lights at night.

It was exceedingly quiet at the hotel. The only less than stellar moment was a strong pot smell pervading the air for maybe an hour at night. It went away, though.

The next day we took advantage of our FHR breakfast credit and ordered a pot of coffee and waffles. Surprisingly delicious.

The play resumed the rest of the day off and on, every few hours, since we had a 4pm checkout. It was terrible, the type of day where you sit down, lose 8 hands in a row, take a break, return hours later to lose 8 hands again. I even took a break for Baccarat, only to lose my shirt there too.

The day also had its characters. A few Eastern European types hanging out together and dropping $10k on just one BJ bet, separately, entering the shoe at different times to drop their big bet. Each one lost. I loved seeing them lose — and so did the dealer.

The one saving grace was that a host reached out and comped Lakeside, and now I can contact them to diversify my hotel portfolio after being fairly loyal to NoMad. I especially hate that Park (allegedly) does not have 3:2 BJ on the floor now, just at HL for $100. I quite like their HL room but I do enjoy my $25 tables too - and Wynn has plenty.

Anyway, while leaving, it was the same story of tacky, ostentatious guests — one woman had a literal wagon of luxury goods being tugged by a Wynn employee to her valeted car. Who are these people?! The people-watching only adds to the experience, even if I would never want to actually engage with these folks.

My partner loved the stay and was so taken with the Tower Suites. Hopefully we can return in a few weeks, since I may have a break from work in March... though if Park is fully functional then, I may consider it too.

 

Thanks for sharing

 

thanks for taking the time to do the report

 

Glad you were able to make it back out to Vegas! Thanks for sharing!