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My TR Red Rock and Encore 1/25-1/28

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by LVLady, Jan 29, 2009.

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  1. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    My Trip Report

    The start of our trip....

    So we planned this trip back in September for my best friends birthday. The choice was to either go to Boston or get her to join us in Las Vegas. I think she made the right choice! We booked our flights and then tried to decide on hotels. Cost was a bit of an issue since we were going to pay for her and Marc’s room. We only ended up paying for two nights when the costs started going up. After booking the flights we originally booked TI for 2 nights in a Petite Suite and 1 night at Red Rock. By the time December rolled around Encore was sending out special rates, we ended up changing when Linda decided she would rather pay for Red Rock and we would pay for two nights at Encore..YIPPEE. The excitement was building, reservations for dinners were made and finally the 25th of January rolled around.

    The players were Me, DH, L and M. L and I have been friends for about 25 years, this was her 40th birthday celebration. In early January we found out that after much trying L is having her second baby. I told her I thought her timing was off and we got a big laugh out of it. At the time we were only hoping she would be feeling okay and thankfully she was....

    Flights: DH and I moved to Memphis in August of 2007 and have only been to LV once since moving, that time we did Delta free flights and had to go through ATL. This trip was so easy we flew Northwest direct from Memphis to LV. Our flight was due to leave at 9:01 am on Sunday. We left a few minutes late and arrived in LV a few minutes late at 11:08 am. It figures that flight is usually early but not today! L and M were coming from Boston and arrived in LV about 5 minutes before we did. They were up at 3 AM to make it to the airport by 4:30 for their 5:30 flight. It was awesome stepping off the plane and there they were!! I was very excited to see them.
    Flights home were great for us, we arrived home a 1/2 hour early and were at our house by 6:15 pm. We spent 73 hours exactly in LV and made every minute count. Poor L and M had to be rerouted on the way home due to weather in Cinci and Boston. They arrived home a little late but apparently their 2 year old was jumping for joy this morning when she saw them...Very cute.
    After landing we made our way to dollar, we did lock and go for about $7 a day. Never again. They tried to give us a minivan and it was a fight to get into anything else. Apparently they had more minivans than anything else so you get what they have the most of. We only wanted a midsize and we had to fight to get it. Ended up with a Dodge Avenger with poor pick up but it worked for us. We were on our way to Red Rock by noon. It would have been by 11:30 had we taken the stupid minivan.

    Day 1 January 25, 2009

    We headed towards Red Rock and decided to grab something to eat. I had remembered passing Three Angry Wives on Charleston many times so we decided to give it a try. We sat ourselves and ordered some beers while deciding what to eat. I ordered a Smithwicks on tap which was yummy. I had a hamburger for lunch as did L. M had a reuben and so did DH. The food came and it was just so so. I wouldn’t rush back or go out of my way to eat there again. While it wasn’t a bad meal, the hamburgers were frozen patties instead of fresh, oh well. I had a friend in Vegas who had recommended a few places but I couldn’t remember where they were exactly!! Next time I will take better notes.
    After lunch we headed to Red Rock which was right down the street. We found the lobby which was way around the back of the hotel and checked in. Rooms were ready. We were on the 16th floor, rooms 16142 and 16144, right next to each other. The way the doors are set up, each set of rooms has a little hallway with the doors off the little hallway so we were both facing Red Rock Canyon and right across this little hallway from each other. A very nice set up. The rooms at Red Rock are nice, they are pretty good size and the bathroom is quite nice. No issues with the room, though I wish the shower had a ledge to put your foot up on, it would make shaving your legs much easier. Seems to me men design the showers and forget these things. Anyway, the room was very comfy. We didn’t unpack as we were only staying one night. We then headed down to the casino to do a little gambling. We went to the sportsbook and played some VP for awhile. Didn’t really win anything but didn’t lose much meanwhile we had a few drinks or I should say Marc and I did. DH went to play Blackjack and met up with us later. At about 4 L and M decided a nap was in order since they had been up for 15 hours so off they went, I played a little more VP then went with DH to play some slots or maybe it was Blackjack. I can’t remember. At some point I went up to the room to shower, I wanted the plane guck off me. At about 6 L and M got up and we all headed back downstairs to play. We hit the blackjack tables and played for a bit. We were up and down. I believe M and L were up a bit at this point and we went back to the sportsbook for some more VP. We had a good little run with a few 4 OAKs that kept us playing for quite awhile. In the end I walked away with nothing, but had a few drinks so all was good in the world. The sportsbook had a good selection of beer on tap and friendly bartenders. This would be the case for the trip. Great service was something we experienced at both hotels.
    After a few hours we were hungry and decided to try Cabo for dinner. The hostess sat us and then our server came up and announced the restaurant closed at 9 and it was 5 til 9 so we would have to order. Okay, whatever. I hate when they try to rush you. I had been a server for years and I just considered this rude. We were sat before closing don’t rush us. Be happy you have someone to wait on in this economy. Okay I regress, I ordered a soda and some tacos can’t remember what anyone else ate. The food was okay. Nothing special. halfway through the meal the server comes back and asks us if we wanted dessert. Seems he was in a hurry to leave. I should have ordered it just to spite him!! After dinner we went back to playing. We hit the slots for a little while and had a good time. Again we were up and down. Had a great time though as the dealers at Red Rock were wonderful! They had $5 tables at night but we ended up at a $10 table, just D and I as L and M went to bed around 11pm. Played at the table for awhile but in the end, I lost. The cards just were not going my way. D decided to head up and I played for a little while at the VP bar. Lost again but had fun. I was in bed by 1am.

    Day 2 January 26, 2009

    Up bright and early. Took our showers and sent L a text to see if she was up. They were getting ready. We all headed down together. Straight for the blackjack tables. I can’t remember what we all started with but after an hour of play we ended up fine. A dealer change and we all decided to go get something to eat. Just was getting a bad vibe at the table at this point. It wasn’t the dealer but another player with an attitude, so off we went. DH had gone to the spa and met up with us before breakfast. We also packed up to be ready to go. Breakfast was at the Cafe. Our waitress Linda was a trip. She was so much fun. She had us in splits. Breakfast was good and reasonably priced. I think it was $30 a couple when all was said and done. That included our meals, drinks and tip. Not too bad, you could tell you weren’t on the strip. At Bellagio the great breakfast we had would cost us $60 a couple before tip. We played for a few more minutes after breakfast and then headed out. We were on our way to Encore. We took Charleston all the way to LV Blvd. it was an easy ride. We self parked in the Wynn garage as it states you can get to both hotels from there. We didn’t realize at the time Encore had it’s own parking garage. We left our bags in the car and headed in. Check in was a breeze. There were no strip view rooms available so we ended up facing the evil clown. Can I just tell you that thing freaks me out. Stephen King has really ruined Clowns for me. Is there an adult who can look at a clown like the one in front of CC and not be a little freaked out? Truly scary.
    Our rooms were ready and we were put in rooms 3237 and 3239, we had a connecting door which made it very nice. No having to go into the hallway to see our friends, just knock on the door inside, which normally was kept open. The rooms have been described enough so I won’t bore you all. I will just say the rooms are amazing, I mean simply amazing. There is nothing you could want for. The bathrooms are nicely stocked with makeup pads, q-tips, shoe polish you name it, it is there. The Desert Bambu bath products smell amazing, I love the products. The towels are the best hotel towels I have had, they are soft and fluffy and HUGE. The bathrooms supplied are very comfy too. In the main rooms the controls are awesome and then there are some lights scattered around that all have dimmers on them. The little details were great. I liked the black sheers on the windows too. Really there wasn’t anything not to like about these rooms. There is plenty of drawer space in my opinion and use of space was great. There are drawers in the wall where the TV was. The neat thing about the drawers is they self close. Push them in and walk away while the drawer finishes closing. The only thing I would have liked is drawer space in the bathroom. It would have been nice. There is a great ledge though that you can put your supplies on so they are out of the way. The ledge runs the length of the whole bathroom. Everything about the room was first class. The little tiny details were just awesome.
    We were hungry at this point so we headed over to Palazzo, the plan for today was have lunch at Enoteca San Marco. I will put the details of our meal here at the end of my report. Let’s just say the meal was amazingly good. After lunch we headed to TI to play a little, we figured we would find $5 tables but everything was $10. It being Chinese New Year I figured that might happen. We sat down and played, the dealers were duds, no fun at all. We were all doing pretty well though so we played awhile. Then the obnoxious kid sat down. He decided to play my hand for me and told the dealer I was staying on my hand which was okay because I had already waved her off, but the fact that he thought he could tell her annoyed me to no end. He would then talk to his friends instead of playing his hand and would keep us waiting. It really was annoying. We ended up cashing out and leaving the table. Everyone was ahead so that was fine. After TI we made our way back to Encore, I grabbed a drink at the bar and against everything I believe in I still put $20 in, I liked the HD machines they had at the bar. They were quite nice. Linda who wasn’t drinking anyway put $20 in her machine and started playing, 2 hands in she realizes that she is playing dollars...She had 3 queens so I told her just to switch after that hand, wouldn’t you know it she hit the 4th queen for $250!! Nice mistake for sure. She cashed out and we went to meet the guys up in the room. They moved the rental car and had brought the bags up to the room. We unpacked then DH and I went to play for a bit. Linda needed a nap so we left her and headed downstairs. We found a $10 table and played. DH and I sat down at a table and other player at the table told us she was new the game. No worries she asked for advice and did a great job playing. After about an hour we looked at our watches and realized it was time to go get ready for dinner. Off to the room we went, we showered and met up with L and M. They needed to go get a gift card someone left for L for her birthday, she needed to pick it up at Wynn’s box office. We met them downstairs by the lobby and walked to Botero for dinner. Again I will give details at the end. Dinner was good, my steak could have been a little better but more on that later. After dinner we decided to leave the hotel and go to South Point. We normally have fun there, perhaps it was the wonderful service at Encore and Red Rock that spoiled us, but it just wasn’t fun and we all lost to top it off. We decided to leave and go to Silverton, when we walked in there was an odor, almost musty smelling. We played a little, again lost and decided to head back to the hotel. L went to bed as did D so M and I decided to play some VP and have a cocktail. We ended up playing for quite awhile. The cocktail waitress was a little slow to start but then she was coming around every 10 minutes or so as the casino started to slow down. I played on the same $20 for a few hours, never hitting anything big but holding my own. It was fun. Headed up to the room around 2 am and called it a night. It was a great day.
     
  2. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

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    Tuesday January 27, 2009

    Our last day. I woke up sad...I hate leaving Las Vegas. This trip seemed to go by very fast, but then don’t they all? We woke up early and decided to head out of the hotel. But first we stopped at the bar and ordered cocktails, Joe the bartender was fantastic, very nice guy. This was something we encountered the whole time. The bartender who was there when L got her $250 yesterday high-fived her and got a good laugh out of the fact we though she was playing quarters. We went down to Valet, and talked to the doorman for a minute. Now I can’t be positive but I think all the doormen we saw at Encore were ex-hitmen and business was bad so they took a second job. I swear the guys we saw looked like they stepped out of the Sopranos, they were amazingly nice though and everyone was smiling despite having earmuffs on and it being a bit chilly for LV.
    We wanted to hit a little Bagel place we always go to. Bagels N More on Tropicana I think at Maryland Parkway or Eastern, it is right across from where Freed’s is. We get there and they are closed. The place is up for rent. We found this spot years and years ago, it was sad to see it gone. I don’t know if it is the economy or if they just got tired of it, but either way, our favorite little breakfast spot was gone. I suggested we try to find Hash House A Go Go. It took us forever it seemed to get there, but finally we did. The food was good and reasonably priced. After breakfast we headed downtown. It was slow down there, very few tables open at MSS so we headed over to GN on our way we walked through California and played a little, I started with $40 on a $3 table, played $5 a hand and didn’t win a single hand. Only push was a blackjack. We walked to GN and looked for tables, again no seats open. They were opening tables though. We went to the VP bar and had a drink while DH went off and played BJ at the one table with seats. Played $20 at the VP bar and cashed out with $30. We headed back to Encore.
    We dropped the car at Valet and decided to gamble. Ran up to the room to drop off our coats and headed downstairs. There were $10 tables everywhere so we found a table near the lobby with sweeping views of the pool. I love that Encore is so bright and open feeling. It was weird walking through Wynn which felt soooo dark after spending time in Encore. Even at night the Encore casino was amazingly bright feeling. Truly a masterpiece. Very comfortable. I was worried about staying there a little due to reports of bad service on Trip Advisor, I am not sure these people really stayed there. The service was top notch. Every employee we came into contact with was simply fantastic. They made you feel like a million dollars. They made the lowrollers like us feel like we were the highest of high rollers. It was fantastic for sure.
    Linda chilled for a few minutes in the room as did Dale. I went down and played a little VP got a drink but was sitting between two women. I decided to go to the empty bar and smoke a cigarette and play. I already had a full drink and didn’t want to be smoking right on top of someone. Linda found me at the bar and said there were open $10 tables with no one at them, Dale showed up a minute later and wanted to play too. He found a single deck game but we wanted a shoe so we went. We found the tables right off the lobby and played there again. Marc was already at the table so we sat. We all bought in for a $100. What a blast we had. A woman from the table next ours came over and joined us after we all sat down. She was losing at the other table. All I can say is we had the most fun I have had at a table in a long long time. I was on a roll, not sure why I didn’t bump up my bets to $100 a hand as I was winning, winning, winning. Up about $250 at one point, but ended up walking away with a little over $100 in winnings. It truly was a blast. I cashed out and found Dale and we went over to the bar at Eastside Lounge for a cocktail. I had the White Cosmo and he had a glass of wine. My Cosmo was amazing. It had cranberries floating in it, almost like a sambuca with the espresso beans in it. Linda then decided she needed to eat so we thought we would go to Society Cafe, a little tidbit here, they have a very limited menu in the afternoon, it was quite disappointing so we decided on sushi at Wazuzu. We ordered drinks and then snacks. You know the drill, review will follow. The room was gorgeous and service was guick good. It’s funny now looking at the picture it seems the chef is standing right near our table in the picture on the website and I can see where we sat.
    After our snack we went out and played a little more. I played for quite a bit winning a little losing a little but basically breaking even. By now it was about 5 and we had dinner reservations so I went up to get ready. Showered and we headed to valet to get the car. Oh did I mention this trip I kept losing things. On Monday I lost my phone, then lost my keys etc etc. It was the running joke by the end of the trip........One thing I would like to note here is how friendly the dealers and the pitbosses were at Encore, truly the friendliest group I have seen in a long time on the strip. Between Red Rock and Encore we were very lucky in that respect. Truly an amazing group of people. At Encore they truly made you feel appreciated as if you truly mattered to them. The pitboss we were taking to remembered our names when we sat down the next day and details of our lives that we had told him. The dealers were also fantastic. One of them was wearing a bracelet almost identical to mine and commented that he late husband had given it to her. I think she said “god rest his soulâ€. I asked her a question and she almost had me in tears. Seems he had passed away last May. I can’t imagine being so positive if I were her. She said he suffered and that she knew he was in a better place. They have 2 kids 18 and 22 yrs old. I have to say she impressed me, it was a sad story but she was so positive about it. I guess life is what you make of it and she didn’t let this destroy her. 27 years of marriage and she missed him, you could tell but it didn’t bring her down.
    We went over to Caesars since dinner was at Rao’s. I stopped at Total Rewards to make sure my TR credits could be taken off to help pay for dinner. I only had about $48 points but figured it would help a little. L and M headed to the shops to get their daughter a gift, it was their first time leaving her for any amount of time. Apparently she did fine with your Grandma but I think it was a little hard for Mom and Dad. We met up at the sportsbook bar where I managed to pull $60 our of the machine and had a few cocktails then on to Rao’s. We were seated by the windows. It was pretty good but nothing special. More on that later.
    After dinner we went back to Wynn and played a little. Played some VP and probably should have stopped drinking....Oops. Was quite buzzed, probably the first time in my life I have been really buzzed in Vegas. The drinks flowed this day and they kept on flowing. No regrets though, I had a good time. We played at the bar again for a little while and Linda hit a few good hands on Double Double, she hit 4 aces without the kicker and 4 10s. Nice. They went to the Red Card desk for something and while there they were told they 2 free buffets, they told me and I ran up to check mine too. Needless to say we both had them and decided to use them for breakfast. We turned and were walking away when I realized in a drunken moment I hadn’t cashed out at the bar!! OOPS. Ran back there and the bartender and someone from slots was there, I mentioned I think I left money and they handed me my $75 ticket. How stupid was that!! I took my ticket over to a penny gold mine machine (I think that is what it is called) I love these machines. They are 30 line 5 credit per line reel machines. If you find one that is hitting you can do quite well. This machine was amazing. It kept hitting and hitting. I was playing MAX credits and ended up pulling over $300 out of it. Now this is where I should have gone to bed. I should not have been in a casino, but I was and I didn’t. One would think someone would have escorted me to my room, but no they let me play. Alright so it wasn’t that bad and I knew enough to switch to water. That said I sat down at a Blackjack table. I played for about 15 minutes before I realized I should not be playing. I cashed out with $100 in winnings and went up to the room. I woke up DH and tossed the two black chips I had at him...He looked surprised I was able to win in my state of intoxication....I then pulled out my winnings from the slots and handed him $300 from that. He looked shocked!! It was quite funny. Still thinking about it, I am not sure how I was able to play and make the right moves. Blackjack is not an easy game to play while buzzed, but what amazes me more is that I walked away up. I normally will decide if I am winning a little to walk away if I get down to my original buy in and after that I set win limits,meaning I will walk away if my winnings get down to a certain amount or up to a certain amount. Needless to say I hit the pillows hard that night and didn’t want to get up in the morning LOL

    Wednesday January 28, 2009

    I hate leaving Las Vegas. I hate getting up in the morning knowing it is time to go. I hated the thought that I didn’t know when I would see my best friend again. I just wanted to stay, but we were leaving. When I woke up, Linda sent me a text she was on the phone with the airline, her flight cancelled, they rerouted her and put her on a flight that was leaving about the same time as her original flight. Delta put her on NW so she would be going through MSP. Our flight had no problems, when I called NW though they couldn’t tell me where our plane was coming from, I asked her where the plane was coming from that we would be on and she said Las Vegas, well duh....We knew there was weather in Memphis so we were trying to figure out if the plane was coming from there. Oh well, she couldn’t answer. We got packed up and headed down to the buffet for a good breakfast. Breakfast we good but not great, the food just wasn’t hot. After breakfast I stopped at the front desk to pay. I wanted to use the travelers checks I had since we didn’t break into them at all. Our total bill for Encore was about $900, that included 2 rooms for 2 nights, dinner at Botero, drinks at the bar and snacks at Wazuazu. We had put down a deposit for each room so total bill at check out was $628. We did have problems with our keys and a slight problem at check-out with the deposit for the second room not showing up on our bill but it was taken care of quickly. I had called down to the front desk and they called me back within minutes with the adjustment done. I gambled a tiny bit before leaving but with a slight hangover and knowing I had a very short period of time, I was done. I went up to the room, called down to Valet so the car would be ready and off we went. Linda and Marc’s gate was next to our and our flights all left on time. We left Las Vegas at 12:20 and landed in Memphis at 5:05. All in all a great flight home. Very easy and relaxing flight. On both legs we managed to get the exit row seats which was great. The extra leg room makes it so easy. We didn’t check bags this trip and it was quite easy. I was able to bring everything I needed and still had a few things I didn’t wear. We stopped for groceries on the way home and go to the house about 6:15-6:30. We would have been home a few minutes earlier but we had to scrape ice off the car!!! Not fun.
     
  3. micheleata

    micheleata Newbie

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    Sound like you had a terrific time. I agree with you about the clowns. "IT" gave me nightmares for a long time. lol
     
  4. gotavegasjones

    gotavegasjones VIP Whale

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    Very nicely done. Enjoyed the read very much. Thanks for posting.

    later, GVJ
     
  5. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    Ann, Sounds like you guys had a great trip:beer:

    Isn't it fun sometimes when the gambling just goes your way and nothing goes wrong....as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz said, "I do believe in streaks, I do believe in streaks" ......oh yea, that was "spooks"...well same theory anyway:poke:

    You're right, you definately have me re-thinking the Encore, we'll be sure to check it out when we're there in March. I've already decided to do dinner one night at Sinatra based on the great review by Mesa.
     
  6. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

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    Would you believe I never even say Sinatra!! I am sure it is wonderful but I am dying to go back for the gnocchi at Botero. I have to find out if I can sit at the bar and just order them...
     
  7. peanutmnm

    peanutmnm Scotchy

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    I knew you were going to have a blast. L & I got such a kick out of you that first night. By the way, my birthday is in a few weeks. I can't wait to see what kind of room you get me. :poke:
     
  8. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

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    What do you mean you got a kick out of me that first night. Was it the beer or just that I was enjoying myself so much?
     
  9. peanutmnm

    peanutmnm Scotchy

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    I knew you were feeling no pain when I recieved 8 text messages in under 15 minutes. You claimed you were playing video poker at the time. Holy crap I couldn't keep up. It was quite entertaining.
     
  10. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

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    I was playing VP at the time but you kept sending replies and I couldn't be rude!!!! Be thankful I thought about the time on Tuesday night....they would have been tipsy texts....You and L would have been dying no way would my spelling be right!
     
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