The Mirage - 6/13 - 6/21

Ended up getting an earlier flight out to Vegas on Virgin America, little bumpy landing but nothing too bad. First time in awhile I actually checked my bag, but luckily it came off first, and I made a mad dash for that insane Taxi line, which consisted of... 3 people in front of me. Hopped in a cab and on the way to the Mirage... everything great so far. Since I got the earlier flight I knew that my room may not be ready, I used the Platinum Mlife card and the woman explained that the room wasn't ready yet, which I was expecting, so I asked if I could just check my bags and she would give me the card keys, but not the exact room number, and they would text me when it's ready. At this point it was 2pm, she said it would be ready by 2:30 - 3pm to which I replied 'oh only an hour at the most, that's great', she said 'yes an hour'... I check my luggage make my way Starbucks for a coffee and charged it to my room using my name. I look at the receipt and see my room number, so after playing some slots and winning $800 [which i pissed later in the day] I looked at the time and it was 3pm and I figured that I'd be getting a text soon so I would head up to my room and wait. I get there and the door is closed, nobody inside cleaning, which I took as a good sign. Finally 3:10 rolls around and nothing so I call down and the manager picks up, she then tells me that the room won't be ready for 2 - 3 hours... wtf??? I go downstairs, and I'm dumbfounded. I ask why i was told 2:30 - 3 if now it won't be ready until 5 or 5:30. She says there's nothing they can do. She sees that I'm upset and slips me a day pass to the Spa... bingo! This woman knows her shit, I thank her and start making my way to Spa when I get a text message from the Mirage saying that the room is ready. And based off the fact that I was just up there 5 minutes ago, it was ready for the past hour or so... bad communication on their part. But I have a free pass to the Spa and $800 in my pocket... how can i complain about?

I don't want to detail every single thing about the trip like above, so I'll try to do a bulleted highlight list

- The spa at the Mirage was great, I went almost every day, great service, relaxing environment, I fell asleep a few times in the chairs.

- Cravings Buffet: I like the self-service drink stations but it has compromised the amount/types of food offered. I had so many comp points and MyVegas Rewards I think I ate there 4 or 5 times. Only once did the asian section have potstickers, which is my favorite, yet they always had potsticker sauce even with not potstickers! grrr.... I heard a few people make the same complaint there. Food was great and the dessert section was evil!!! Think I gained 15lbs on this trip no kidding.

- Since I was there for a conference and more days this time I got to do more things besides lose money. Went to the Neon Museum, it was great seeing all those signs, everyone should do this at least once. I went to the Mob Museum, I love that stuff and they had a lot to look at. Also went to the National Atomic Testing Museum/Area 51 Museum. The Atomic section is done so well, the Area 51 section is like a kids science project, very underwhelming

- As for shows I finally saw the Beatles LOVE show, it was mind blowing. Would definitely recommend this to anyone. I also saw William Shatner's one man show at MGMGrand, and I was rather impressed. Comedy, touching stories, singing, videos, dancing... reminded me of an old Vegas show.

- Walked to the Venetian and stood in the spot where the Rat Pack played in the Copa Room, had my songs playing on my iPhone, stood there for about 30 minutes just thinking about the history that happened there.

- Speaking of the Venetian/Palazzo, I went to Carlos Bakery, had a few too many cannolis. I also ate at Grimaldi's Pizza, I miss real NY style pizza.

-I was really really impressed with the casino at the Cromwell, the red leather,very classy, dark atmosphere, something right up my alley. I have no idea what the rooms are like there but if they are anything like the casino, I wouldn't mind staying there next time.

- My conference was at the Tropicana, reminded me of being in Miami, which I guess is what they are going for.

- The place I was really disappointed in was the Luxor, holy crap that place was run down. The elevator I took to go up/sideways was falling apart. Worn down, busted panels in the elevator, very dirty. I thought maybe it was just that one, but the other one I took down was in the same horrible shape. If that's any reflection of the rooms I would never stay there.

- Mlife card holder express line... i'm calling BS on this one. Of the 5 or 6 times I went to an Mlife buffet, there were about 20 people in the regular line, and nobody in the express line. Just as I'm walking into the express line, they call out a group from the regular line and have them cut in front of me. I was pissed. The 3 times that it happened to me it ended up being a group of 20 year old yahoos, about 6 to 8 in the group, all paying separately and not having their money or anything ready as they got to the cashier. I get the concept of thinning the line out, it makes sense to me, but if you see a Mlife member with their card in their hand, walking up the line, why would you let 8 people cut in front of them? I complained to the cashier, she didn't give 2 shirts. I contacted Mlife about this already. I don't need that option but don't advertise it as being a great thing about being a member if you aren't going to honor it. That's probably the worst thing that happened on my trip, so I consider myself lucky.

- Monorail was a waste of time/money. Why didn't i listen to the group of you who told me not to bother with that? I did the 2 for 1 MyVegas reward and thought that Mirage to Tropicana for the conference would be worth it. It wasn't, took too long to get to the Monorail and too long to get out from it. I ended up walking from the Mirage to the Tropicana.

- I'm not much of a foodie so I didn't eat anywhere special, just the places I like : Cravings, BLT, Carnegie Deli, Aria Buffet, Grimaldis, Room Service. Also had some Mexican a few days

- Aria Buffet... I think I liked Cravings better than Aria. I felt like considering the hotel and the expectations, this just wasn't up to par. Cravings is what you expect it to be, I just thought Aria's would be better. Nonetheless, good food and service.

- Had a 2 day overlap with EDC kids, no biggie. I didn't noticed the difference between the drunk/high EDC kids or the drunk/high mutton heads that are usually in Vegas, so it was all good.

- Side story. I get on the elevator one night around 1:30AM, this beautiful older woman gets in, had red eyes, but I'm not about to say anything so I press my floor which is the same as hers. She then says...'i can't believe my husband and boyfriend both cheated on me'... EXCUSE ME?? She tells me how her first husband cheated on her years ago, but now she was in Vegas for her son's wedding and she walked in on her current serious boyfriend making out with some other woman. She was a wreck I felt horrible for her, her room was about 5 doors down from me. I asked her if she was ok, she looks at me and gets this look in her eye and says 'im going to throw the bastards shit out of the hotel room, screw him'.... yikes! So i say good night to her thanking god i wasn't in her position. 2 days later i see her in the elevator again, she doesn't recognize me, i ask her about what happened. She says that they aren't talking anymore and he ruined her entire trip, she was miserable. Just reminds me of all the different crazy shit that happens in Vegas.

- Now the gambling, I'm mainly a slot player. I hit 3 big jackpots $800, $900, $1100... but being that i was there so long I got greedy and lost all of it, plus a nice chunk of my own. I was miserable, my first big losing trip. I had cab fair and $300 when I was walking out of the hotel with my luggage, light in the cash department. I knew I had plenty of time before my flight, so I thought 'Eff it! I'll go to the High Roller slot room. So there I am with my backpack and luggage, put in $100 play a $25 machine... 4 spins and 15 seconds later... GONE! eh I'm screwed I'll play the last $200.... spin 1... $75... spin 2... nothing... spin 3.... stars/stripes7... stars/stripes 7... third wheel taking its time... i'm dying just watching it... then BING! lands on a friggin TRIPLE!!!! HOLY SHEEEET! I won $6K, paid for my losses, hotel and food charges....guy comes over hands me the cash and high tailed it to the Taxi.... what a way to end my trip.

As I sit here typing this, I can't help but thinking....'4 months lead up, non-stop thinking about it, planning, etc... and boom it's over'.
When i left the hotel I was thinking how I was done with Vegas for awhile, I get home and there's an MGM promotion for comped rooms... oh cool, time to plan other trip.

I took a huge amount of photos but haven't had time to go through them all here are a handful I just threw up on Tumblr.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/vegastrip2014

 

Nice way to end it! A true "Hail Mary" play there.

Not sure if you're male or female but when I read the part about the lady in the elevator we were about to get a story about some wild revenge sex. Lol

 

Hahahaha I'm male and trust me that went through my head too! Way too many nights of watching Cinemax After Dark, but alas it didn't happen, plus I forgot to mention she said that her boyfirend is 6'7 I decided that it was it good thing it didn't happen!

 

Happy ending! Nice.

 

Yeah getting thumped by a giant jealous boyfriend wouldn't be a good thing.

I love the Mirage. Did you stay in a tower deluxe room?

 

Yeah it was a Tower Deluxe Room on the 25th floor. Every time a book a trip I think about trying out the Venetian, Bellagio, Aria, Cosmo, Wynn, but I always come back to the Mirage. For me it's perfect, I like the decor, the surroundings, what it offers for food/entertainment. Plus I can easily hop over to Caesars, Venetian, Palazzo for shopping and walking. If I got a super deal at one of those I might try them, but the Mirage always gets me the best deal so I end up sticking with them.

 

Ha good report...Next time ask her to your room ha

Good hit on ya 6k

 

Not sure if you're male or female but when I read the part about the lady in the elevator we were about to get a story about some wild revenge sex. Lol[/QUOTE]

Haha, I had the same thought, she was gonna ask you to her room and wait for the bf to catch her in the act....

Good report, great hit at the end.

 

Mirage was the spot where my girlfriend and I stayed on our inaugural trip so it holds sentimental value to me and her. We have stayed there a couple times since and I always look there first when booking a trip.

CET threw me offers so I stayed at Harrah's and Bally's on solo trips (free is free!) and V/P have been generous lately with offers so I have stayed there too. But The Mirage is still my first choice.

I am going out in Sept and it will be a six nighter...I have three free nights at V/P and I will use those but for the first time ever I will switch hotels during a trip and hit the Mirage for the final three nights.

I love the tower deluxe rooms and have both booked them and also booked normal rooms and then asked the clerk to upgrade me.

 

nice report. Pretty cool you won at the end. I've always won at the begining and then lose it all plus one hour before the fight back...


Great job on the 6K win

 

Congrats on the last minute heroics!

 

I saw someone hit that slot machine this weekend...wonder if that was you...lol!

 

That story reminds me of my May 2013 trip. Playing VP at the bar at Monte Carlo for drinks, and this chick goes into a similar story. I'm not looking to play 6/5 Bonus quickly for beer anyway, so I tune in. Except she was the "other woman" to this guy for like 5 years. Well, he finally breaks up with the other girl in his life, so she thought she would finally be where she wanted. Well, she brought her friend to Vegas as well while meeting up with him there. Apparently he took more interest in the friend that night!!! :confused2: What surprised me the most though, she assumed I was gay because I "listened so well". If I didn't have a g/f up in the room sleeping...maybe I would have been more obvious about "being straight". :evillaugh :evillaugh :evillaugh

Good summary! And Excellent finish!!!

 

Well I hit that on Sat the 21st, so it may have been me. If you saw a guy pulling a luggage, with a wad of cash in his hand, running like a blur to get out of the casino before he pissed away the 6K, yup that was me.