Eight Nights in Vegas

Trip Report
June 13-21

This report is way over due. After we returned from Vegas we immediately left for a business conference. Following our return from the conference we received guests from Germany. The following day we began a 15 day excursion throughout the American Southwest. Our German friends visited Palo Duran Canyon, Texas; Taos, New Mexico; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; the Grand Canyon; San Antonio, Texas and South Padre Island, Texas.

Yeah, we had a busy summer. So, that is my excuse for not posting a TR sooner! This report will not be nearly as long or detailed as reports of previous trips.

FLIGHTS: MFE-LAS-MFE on Allegiant Air. We paid $109 pp going and $99 pp returning.

CAR RENTAL: Thrifty rented us a mid-size car for the duration of our trip for less than $200. But of course after all the taxes and fees it was closer to $300. The car was one of those not a car, not a SUV crossovers. I think it was a Chrysler or Dodge. Second time we utilized the new car rental terminal. It’s great.

HOTELS: June 13-14 Imperial Palace (free), June 15-16 Red Rock (free), June 17-18 Bally’s (free), June 19-20 Planet Hollywood (a suite, one night free, one night $150).

FOOD: Breakfast; Victorian Room at Bill’s, Tea House at IP, the Grande Café at Red Rock, room service at Bally’s, Planet Dailies at Planet Hollywood, room service at PH, the Jean Paul Pastry joint at Bellagio.

Lunch; Mesa Grill – Bobby Flay’s place at Caesars, JJ Boulangrie at Paris, PF Chang’s at PH, the grill by the sports book at Red Rock, the buffet at Terrible’s, the buffet at PH, assorted quick on the go food at several places I can’t remember now.

Evening Meals; Cirque at Bellagio, PF Chang’s at PH, a Mexican food joint just of the casino floor at Sunset Station, Fat Burger at Red Rock, The Ranch Steakhouse at Binion’s and some other places, but…

ENTERTAINMENT: The Police at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Jay Leno at Mirage, Love at Mirage, Stomp Out Loud at PH, Ocean’s 13 at Red Rock’s movie joint.

GAMBLING: IP, Red Rock, Bally’s, Planet Hollywood, Bellagio, Paris, Sunset Station, Terrible’s, Harrah’s, Bill’s, Casino Royale, and Flamingo.

We enjoyed each hotel. Of course the rooms at IP and Bally’s were less wonderful than the others but they were pretty good. Both had been recently updated. The room at IP was really nice, but about a mile from the casino and the strip. We really love staying at Red Rock. The rooms are great. The casino is hard to navigate but, very hip in design. Every time we stay at RR I spend mornings in their spa. The spa at RR is way nice. The Room at Planet Hollywood was nice but, was a let down after having seen the remodeled casino. The casino is way more hip than the Aladdin. The parts of the hotel we saw were still Aladdin. You know, the cheesy fake jewels in the hallways, the lamp shaped handles on the bathroom sinks. The best part about the room is still the big bathrooms.

The bulk of our gaming action happened at Bill’s, Red Rock, Sunset Station and Planet Hollywood. We didn’t win or lose big on this adventure. At Bill’s and PH I had several good sessions at the craps tables. Those wins were given back on other craps sessions or at the Black Jack tables. I made some money during many sessions of Video Poker. I found some decent pay tables for Bonus and Double Bonus at Red Rock, Sunset. And a couple of other joints I can’t recall now.

After dinner at Cirque on Sunday evening we journeyed out to Sunset Station. We played some silly carnival games. We went back to Sunset late the next evening and I had a great run playing VP at the .25 and $ level. During a two hour stretch I cashed tickets totaling just under $700. My coin in was less than $150. The next evening again at Sunset I hit four 2’s playing Ultimate Texas Hold-Em. I had money on the bonus so the pay out was pretty nice. My wife had very few winning sessions this trip. Last year she couldn’t lose a session at the Black Jack tables or the WOF slots or VP. This year she experienced the opposite. The wins we did have ended up being absorbed by more gambling, entertainment and meals.

I had tried for months before our trip to get tickets for the Police at MGM. The box office was sold out. The online services wanted criminal amounts of money per ticket. During one call to the box office I was told to wait until we were in town a call for tickets 'cause sometimes they have a few just before an event like this. That's what I did and we got tickets the day of the show. Not really great seats but they had big screens so you could see the band pretty well. It was a good show. LOVE at the Mirage was spectacular. We really liked it and may see it again this June! Jay Leno's stand-up routine is great. Another show we would do again. Stomp Out Loud was entertaining for about the first 25 minutes then I started nodding off. We had 1/2 price tickets with our room offer from PH.

All the places we had meals were good. My favorite meal was at Mesa Grill. I love the food and the vibe of the place. We eat at PF Chang's every chance we get. It is always good to us. Cirque at Bellagio was good but, not wonderful. The room is beautiful. The staff is very good. The food was good, not great like I was expecting. For less money we've had better meals at Olives.

During our stay at PH I had the pleasure of meeting Hoyaheel and Hoyahubby. They had a really cool suite with great views of the strip. They had just returned from a stint at the pool with Hurricane Mikey. He called an invited us down to the Hoya’s room for some cocktails. My wife was napping so I went down for a visit. It was a nice visit with some very nice folks. My wife and I had plans to meet Mikey later at the Mirage for a wine tasting. The Hoya’s were headed for a night out on the town – dinner and a show, I think.

The wine tasting was cool. Some good wines and some not so good wines were tasted. Several rounds of appetizers were delivered to our table. They were good. The participants for this adventure were; Mikey, Falcon Rob, Rev. Dave, my wife and I.

We all headed Downtown after the wine tasting. Our main goal was to have a great meal at Binion’s in the Ranch Steakhouse. Mission accomplished. Following dinner we had the funniest session of craps I’ve ever seen. We couldn’t get any thing going. We’d set a point and spread some money on the inside. We’d roll a couple of numbers and seven out. Finally we all went to the dark side ‘cause a little old lady was killing us. As soon as we started laying our money on Don’t Come she hit every thing. We were hysterical with laughter when we should have been crying. It was a $5 table so we didn’t get hurt to bad. This was a fine way to spend our last evening in Vegas.

The next morning we packed our stuff and called for the bell service to hold it until we departed. We spent some time in the casino and tried to see just how broke we could get before heading for the airport. All in all this was our most fun trip to Vegas. Even though we did a whole bunch of stuff we never felt hurried or too tired. We managed to have naps several afternoons. Most mornings were spent relaxing or low rolling gambling, sipping coffee and enjoying each others company.

The only downer of the trip happened at the Mirage just after we arrived for the wine tasting. As my wife and I were walking through the tropical jungle just inside Mirage I hear someone shouting MR. *****, my name. I turn to see a hot young woman from the valet is calling out to me. She informs us that the car is locked with the keys inside. Now realize this is in the Valet at Mirage and lots of cars are behind us. Of course I’ve never taken the second set of keys off the key chain – so I have no way to unlock the car. The head guy at the valet offers to call Pop-A-Lock and lets us head to the wine tasting. When we retrieve the car a couple hours later my pop a lock bill came to $60 including a nice tip for the Valet staff. Later that evening I tried to open the driver side door and it didn’t work. The next day I had to explain to the Thrifty folks what had happened. The took my info for pop a lock and said they would call if they needed anything else. I was expecting they would contact me wanting some money for the repair of the door handle. Never heard a word. Even with that little bit of nonsense it was a great trip.

I’m counting the days ‘till June 9. That is when our next Vegas adventure begins.

Later, GVJ

 

Glad to hear you liked Mesa Grill - that is on our 'to-do' list.

Or as my aunt said in her delusions after a ton of meds & a round of double pneumonia.....'can we PLEASE eat at Bobby Flay's?'.....sure dear - your are nearly dead - we can eat wherever you want!!!!

 

Nice report. I enjoyed the valet story. That sounds like something that would happen to me. Glad it turned out ok.

 

Nice report. They have wine tasting at the Mirage? I wasn't aware of that. Locking your keys in the car while it's still running is not a good omen.

 

Nice TR. I am planning to see Love on my next trip.