Vegas Newbie at PHo, Feb 24-28

Hello everyone, I can’t sleep so I figured I’d start my trip report. I’ve only got one day in but maybe it will be a teaser for the rest, ha ha.

Thursday

Our day started around 4 am central time. We dropped our little girl off at my parent’s and headed to Nashville to the airport. We flew Southwest and our plane wasn’t delayed at all. We did have connections which sucked, but I’ll know next time to book direct. Our flight home is direct so that will be nice. We finally made it to LV at 2:15 local time, only 10 minutes later than scheduled. We shuttled over to the car rental. I dropped my sweatshirt but luckily found it. I picked out a Chevy HHR, which I am not a big fan of but it is something different so why not. It was so exciting to drive up the strip and see the famous welcome sign. The Mr wants to go back there later and get pictures. He has been to Vegas a few times but said he has never seen the sign. He said the one time that he flew in, they took a cab and didn’t see it. I thought “yep you got tunneled†lol! We walked through the endless mall and finally found the front desk. The casino is so confusing! The only casinos I had even been to were on cruise ships so this is quite a bit bigger. I was expecting a line at check in but there wasn’t one. So I had no time to get out my $20 and get my nerve up. I asked for an upgrade anyway, but she said it would be 20 something per night just for a strip view so I said no thanks. We did get a room on the 36th floor so it is a nice view, just not of the strip. After dropping off our luggage we went down to get TR cards. Each got a $5 match play for signing up so that’s cool. Unfortunately we discovered the 24 hour buffet pass had went up to 45 per person. But we talked it over and decided to do it anyway. We went down to the spice market buffet for dinner. It was so good! I enjoyed crab legs and mashed potatoes and the Mr enjoyed roast pork, ribs and mashed potatoes. He skipped dessert but I didn’t and it was amazing!

After dinner we decided to take a nap. It was after 5 which was 7 to our bodies and we got up before 4. We ended up sleeping about 3 hours which was perfect. Next it was time to go to Margaritaville at the Flamingo, using a groupon. When we got there a live band was playing and they were really good, just our kind of music. I got a pomegranate margarita and it was sooo good! The Mr drank beer and got some shrimp. I got a 2nd margarita which I should not have done because I ended up feeling very full and wasn’t in the mood to drink anymore. We walked back to the Pho. There was another band playing at the Extra Lounge inside the casino, they were just ok but also played our kind of music. I sat there awhile listening to the music and the Mr ran off to play poker. I ran over to the ABC store and picked up some cokes, water, and chips. Saw a couple souvenir items I’d like to go back for. I took the stuff up to the room and here comes the Mr. He had lost $100 at poker and was feeling pretty dejected. We went back down to the casino and I found a penny slot machine I liked and he played some video poker. Finally we headed back up to the room after 3am. Good thing we took that nap earlier! I commented that I would normally be leaving for work at this time (5 am at home).

I did not sleep good so figured I’d get up and get a few things done. I’m hoping the Mr wakes up soon so we can go get breakfast!

 

Have a great time and good luck!

Your in my place! Just did a trip there and will be back book in for March 23 to March 29th.

The high limit room is the only place I play in Planet Ho, I do gravitate across the street to The Bellagio and The Mirage often.

I like the Striphouse there, the steak and seafood place upstair as well as Todi Japanese. Friendly little Starbucks there also. Stay away from Planet Dallies, personally don't like the place.

You also got the mall to wonder around in, also some good quick eats.

A tip about the casino. The escaltor you see is going downstairs to the Valet, front desk, etc. ALot of people think there are 2 towers, North and South, there are not. You can take any eleveator as long as you got the right floors, and you will get to your room. Just might be a little longer walk is all. Planet Dallies is on the back wall of the casino and the cashier is on the opposite wall. Bar in middle. Poker room which is out in the open is near the escalator to go down stairs to the valet. Opposite side of that is slot machine against the wall, Mexican place and PF Changs. There are your four sides to the casino. Everything else in the middle. There are two main exits out, one to the mall near the Starbucks and one past the high limit to the street stairs going down to the Strip. There is another one that is smaller also.

If you stand in the middle of the casino and can sight Planet Dallies coffee shop you can always get your bearings. Elevators to go to the rooms are to the right side of Planet Dallies and along the wall. Which would be directly behind the escalator going upstairs and the one going down to the Valet and front desk.

It is really not that hard.

Have fun!

 

Nice start, keep it coming.

What a coincidence, we'll be on the same flights as you in 9 days...I assume so anyway...you connect in PHX, right? And we're not staying at PHo, but right next door at Paris.

Leave a few bucks in those machines for us!

 

Looking forward to day 2.

 

Hey BCB! awesome start - seriously when was the last time you stayed up til 3 am (and a puking kid doesn't count)? You're in Vegas now baby!

Have a great second day!

 

Looking forward to reading the remainder of your trip. Have fun!!!

 

Hope the trip goes great!!

I hope you have a lot of good stuff to report in the rest of the trip report!!

We really like P Ho, though I still get turned around after five trips. Maybe it is the drinking... I always have trouble in the Miracle Mile...finding the ABC store challenges me after a few hours of gaming and drinking. We like the place a lot and will be back there again...I just wish they could have survived without CET BUT others are glad they are with CET...

Have a great time!!!

 

joyglen- thanks for the tips on the casino and elevators. I think if that dang Heart bar weren't in the middle it would be easier because you could see everything.

sammowhammo- well if you don't count a puking kid then it's been a really long time!

Well I didn't intend on this being a live trip report but it's semi-turning out that way...

Friday

Like I said before I woke up waaaay early after only a couple hours sleep. Finally the Mr got up and we headed over for breakfast at the Paris buffet. The wait was about 30 minutes. The food was really good, although the Mr didn't care for the onions in the gravy. I ate a ton of strawberries and whipped cream. Headed back to our room, and guess who we see in the casino, Holly Madison! She is shooting some kind of segment for Extra. There is a small crowd gathered round taking pictures and I join. I love Holly! After that we headed up to the room. I immediately laid down for a nap. I knew I wouldn't get through the day without one! The Mr went back down to the casino for awhile, I think he played roulette and the big wheel whatever that is called. He then joined me for the last bit of my nap. The Mr had signed up for a poker tourney at 2, so he headed down to that. I went to the Spice Marked buffet for lunch (still on the 24 hour pass). I had some clam chowder soup and some really delicious desserts. Then I wanted to go check out the BCBG store in the mall. Spent quite awhile in there trying on dresses. I finally chose a black and grey one that was on sale for about $100. The one I liked the best was on sale for about $200 and I would have had to get it taken in in the shoulders so I decided against it. At that point the Mr had gotten put out of the poker tourney so I met up with him. We didn't really have time to do much so we just went outside for a bit and took a few pictures. Then back to the room to get ready for the night. We didn't get much sightseeing in but the Mr decided he doesn't want to go to The Price is Right after all so that will free us up the next day. We had dinner reservations at Rare 120 at the Hard Rock Hotel, so we drove over there. We missed the turn into self park and accidently drive through the valet line while turning around. We get directly behind Wayne Newton's car! He and a female companion are getting out of the car. Unfortunately I could not get my camera out of my purse on time. We parked and got into Rare 120. It was still early so there were only a few people in there. We both ordered filets, the Mr got the baby baked potatoes and I got the creamed spinich as a side. They brought us some pretzel bread with mustard butter, which was really good and different. Then we got our steaks and yum! They were so tender. My spinich was really good. We were full and weren't planning on dessert but our total was only $92 and I needed to spend another $8 because I was using a Restaurant.com certificate. So I ordered a chocolate smores shot ($4) and a beer ($6). The chocolate smores was delicious and just the right size. Our total, after tax, tip and including purchase of the certificate was $80, not too bad. We walked back through the hotel and casino, taking pictures along the way. I stopped in and bought the Mr a hat and my daughter a cute shirt. The Hard Rock was nice but definitly had a different vibe than PHo. I think I prefer PHo. We headed back over to the PHo and from there I will have to update later!

 

Loving your report so far. Keep it coming. Funny about being behind Wayne Newton's car.

 

Great report so far! That chocolate smores shot sounds de-lish! I've been off of chocolate for 41 days so I'm saving up for Vegas to endulge a little.

I'll be checking into PH tomorrow morning. Thanks for the heads up on the buffet. Now I know I want to try it.

 

I really like reading your report so far! It is so fun to read about what each person does each day. The reports are all so different. Some gamble and that is the main theme of the trip and others report on the sigths and food. I like them all! I don't care what the theme is, I just like the feeling of being right there with you each day. Looking forward to the rest of your report! Have fun.

 

enjoying the report, I also have to do southwest direct, it is the only way!

 

OK I am finally back to the real world! Sorry I didn't get a chance to do any more live reporting. I'll try to finish the TR soon!

 

great trip report

Feel like I'm there.. Can't wait to go back.. keep them coming

 

Alright I will try to finish up my trip report in the next couple of days. Some stuff happend there at the end that kind of soured the trip for me

Friday Continued

Peepshow started at 9:00 pm. I had picked up the tickets earlier, so we headed up around 8:30. I got a good deal on a VIP table and it was great! The tables were only 3 deep and we were in the 3rd row. We settled in with a few drinks. The show was great! Holly wasn’t in a large portion of it, but it was very entertaining with and without her. Josh was great too. I did not think Holly looked fat at all. She was a little more curvy than the other dancers but still looked beautiful. We both really enjoyed ourselves and so did the rest of the crowd. It was nice that the show was right at our hotel too. After the show we went up to the room for a little while, then back down to the casino. We played slots for quite awhile which was the theme of our trip. They didn’t serve our beer of choice in the casino but they did have Miller Chill and I enjoyed several of those. The Mr got hungry late and tried out the Earl of Sandwich. His ham and cheese looked good but I wasn’t hungry at all. We went to bed around 2:30.

 

Trip report continued... sorry for the novel but I am having fun reliving our trip!

Saturday

So this is the day the trip started to go south. Still had a good day for the most part though. I woke up fairly early and played around on the computer, taking my time. About 9:00 I realized that I had my massage booked at 10:30 so we needed to get moving. Of course the Mr was grouchy because I woke him up. I wanted to go check out La Creperie at Paris. He wanted to stay at the PHo and eat the buffet again. I didn’t want another buffet but I told him he could do that and I’d grab a muffin at Starbucks. Of course he didn’t take me up on that. I explained to him that walking over to Paris would probably be faster than waiting in the buffet line. Well we got to Paris and the Mr decided he didn’t like anything on the menu. Fair enough. I got a peanut butter and banana crepe and decided to take it back to the room and eat while I waited on the massage therapist. The Mr said he would go back to the PHo and eat the buffet. Unfortunately I got a call on my cell phone, the therapist thought the appointment was at 10:00 and she was waiting at the room. I headed up there and swallowed a few bites while she set up her table. I was NOT impressed with the crepe. I’m sure it would have been better had I eaten it there instead of carrying it over, but I still don’t think if would have been that great, and I would not go back there. By the time I bought that and an orange juice, it was almost as much as a buffet would have cost anyway. OK back to the massage. I booked it through Miraculous Massages, they were wonderful and easy to work with. I had actually realized the day before that I forgot to bring my spafinder giftcards with me. No problem, I just paid with a credit card and they are holding the payment and until the giftcards I mailed to them yesterday arrive. The therapist was very nice and the massage was wonderful! I got the 60 minute swedish massage and at $90 it was cheaper than a hotel spa.

After the massage, I was so tired. I laid down on the bed “just for a little while†while waiting on the Mr to come back. I found out later that he had went down to the buffet, saw the huge line (told ya so!), and went to the Sugar Factory for a brownie which he brought me back half. Then he spent some time in the sportsbook. Well when he got to the room he saw me asleep and he laid down too. We took a pretty long nap. I feel like we wasted alot of time in Vegas napping but that’s something we don’t get to do much at home with an active toddler. Plus this is the day it was really cold outside so we didn’t feel like walking around anyway. I woke up around 3 and ate the rest of the brownie while I waited on the Mr to wake up. It was DELICIOUS, especially the frosting on top that was not too sweet. It tasted kind of like the inside of a Lindor truffle. Finally he woke up and we talked about where to eat. We had missed lunch at that point so I suggested we go to Hash House A Go Go. He was wary of my choices after the La Creperie fiasco but he agreed after reading the menu. On the way over there he said he was not feeling well and boy I could tell. He is a wonderful person but not so pleasent when he is sick. Got to the HHAG and we did have to wait a few minutes because it was 4:45 and we were using a restaurant.com certificate which was good for dinner only, which started at 5. But they got our food to us really quickly after that. The Mr got a stuffed burger only he didn’t want it stuffed so it was just 2 thin but huge meat patties, and fries. He said it was pretty good. I got the sage fried chicken and bacon waffles. YUM. It was so good, unfortunately I wasn’t super hungry and I couldn’t eat even half of it. It was a huge portion though. I think it was 2 chicken breasts and 4 thick waffles. It would literally feed 2-3 people. I got the leftovers boxed up for the homeless as I had read someone suggested here on VMB. Unfortunately, when we left it was getting dark and really cold and we did not see a single homeless person even though there were tons of them out earlier. Oh well.

I tried to get the Mr to go to the Auto Collections at the IP while we were there, but he said he would rather go back to the room and lay down again. So he did that while I went shopping. I didn’t do any major buying but alot of trying-on and I got some souveniers for friends and family. I went back to the room, he was still asleep so I pretty much gave up on doing anything that night. I just decided to go down to the casino and play some penny slots for awhile. Well right before I walked out he woke up and I told him to come down if he felt like it. He met me at my favorite Gem slot machine an hour or so later and he sat with me while I played and drank for literally HOURS. He finally said he was ready for bed, but I wanted to drink another beer. So anyway I went up to the room for a little while and came back down when he went to bed. My machine was still open and I was on my 3rd cocktail waitress of the night. The 1st one was good, the 2nd horrible, but this 3rd one was good, so I drank 2 more beer and a water. Oh yeah, and some SOB stole my doritoes while I was in the bathroom. I asked him to watch my machine, I come back and no chips, WTH?? I always eat and drink water before going to bed after I have been drinking to ward off the hangover. Oh well. Finally I got up and wandered around, it was in the wee hours of the morning but I still wasn’t ready for bed. I tipped one of the dancers in the pleasure pit, I don’t know why but I was just in a very generous mood. I walked around looking at the table games that were still going on. I talked to a few people but I was trying to be a good wife and only talk to other girls. I’m sure I came off as either gay or psycho but hey it was 5am in Vegas after all. I did meet one nice girl from Mexico who was waiting on her boyfriend who was playing poker. I pulled my phone out of my purse, I had 3 missed called from the Mr. I was in the middle of calling him back when I see him around the corner in the casino. He says “where the F- have you been???†I have never see him this angry! He ran off so I head up to the room and stand in the hallway smoking a cigarette. He comes up and goes to bed, I have seriously never seen him this pissed. I’m pretty shocked since I haven’t done anything wrong! Finally I went to bed although of course I didn’t sleep much at all.

To be continued...

 

Oh come on now!!! It's been over a week and the soap doesn't continue? I wanted to know if Mr ever settled down and yes, you are right..... you really didn't do anything... ha Please finish this great report.

 

Can't wait to hear the rest of the report.