Solo Trip Luxor Sept 25 - 28

Hello sweethearts!! First of all sorry that the pics are so HUGE... BUT I didnt have time to resize so enjoy!! LOL...

Well it was my first solo trip to Las Vegas and I only had about $300.00 to gamble with… I summed it up to a hundred dollars per day… boy was it hard…. Here goes…

I had accumulated enough Hawaiian miles for a free round trip from Hawaii to Las Vegas on Hawaiian Airlines… I also got an invite from the Luxor which included a 69.99 rate on a tower deluxe room, free admission to the Spa, VIP Check in at the North Entrance, $30.00 free Slot Play, and a $50.00 flight ticket which I can use on my return…. Needless to say I booked the trip for three nights from Sept 25 – 28. The flight from Hawaii to Las Vegas was great… left on time. We arrived at McCarran and you know that feeling that you just get as you exit the plane? The ‘VIVAAAAAA LAS VEGAS FEELING?? Deep down inside your stomach? Well I got it!” LOL !!... I picked up my bags and caught the coach to the luxor… cost me $6.00 + 2.00 tip… im not very good with directions but I know it took about 10 mins to get to the Luxor…

Upon check in at the Luxor, all of the computers were down… they quickly checked me in and gave me my room keys… it was a room on the 6th floor… I requested a non-smoking, king size and strip view and didn’t even bother the 20.00 trick because it was a solo trip and didn’t feel I needed anything extravagant… The gentleman checking me in said I should be happy with the room except that they did not have king beds avail and was giving me two queens… that was fine..

When I got to the room I could already smell the stale stench of smoke… one of the first things I noticed were the astrays on the table… Ah a smoking room… I immediately called down to request a room change… they apologized and said that nothing was available until tomorrow… I figured it would be ok and I would change tomorrow… UNTIL… I checked the beds… I make it a habit to pull down the covers each time I get to the rooms… oh garsh when I pulled the covers down I found a HUGE AND I MEAN HUGE WAD OF BLACK HAIR loaded under the covers… That made me ill… I called and they immediately changed my room, apologized, and brought up new room keys… hmmmm no rooms to change???? They switched me to a room right above on the 7th floor… I thought… YAY… LUCKY SEVEN!!...

I got settled into my new NON SMOKING ROOM… and went down stairs to shoot a game of craps… Played a hun… and walked away with $155.00…. I played for about an hour… not bad while I played $10.00 on the pass, $20.00 odds, and $12.00 each on the 6 & 8…. A pretty nice run….



By now it was around 4am which is 1am Hawaii time… I took a shower, read some las vegas mags looking for coupons and then fell asleep…. Two hours later I wake to the sound of slamming doors and people speaking very loud… I figured it was someone waking early and leaving for breakfast so I shrugged it off and fell back asleep… 15 mins later, the same door, the same voices… I later learn that the service entrance was right across my room… AHHHH… its my vacation!! LOL…. That passes and I finally fall back asleep… within 30mins I start to hear the sound of drilling… hammers pounding… and obvious construction noises… I tell myself, “this is EXACTLY WHAT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT”… room renovations … (see my post under “construction in vegas”)

Its Wed morning and I decide to skip the sleep and get ready for breakfast… around 10am I go down to the luxor breakfast buffet… I charge it to my room… the buffet was just OK… ive really had better…after breakfast I go to the VIP players club area and request a room change… again they apologize and confirm that all of the rooms in the east tower are being remodeled… the West Tower is not… they give me new room keys ONCE AGAIN… and I head up stairs to change rooms and get settled into my new room…… LOL!







Once that is done, I go downstairs and play $50.00 on the crap table again… this time LOSE!!... the run ran for about 30mins… not bad… same bets as usual… I play some VP, and Wheel of Fortune… oh those Wheel of Fortune Machines…. I just jones to hear that sound “Wheel of Fortuneeeeee!!..”… played for a bit and then went over to the players club to find out about my flight certificate and my play… the woman at the players club booth stamped my room card with “VIP Player”… hmmm how did I get that I wonder to myself… but im not complaining… now I can pass the lines at the buffet and restaurant… LOL!!... wooohoooo….



I end up walking and gambling for most of the day… I go up and down but manage to make my $100.00 budget last until evening… I end up having dinner at La Salsa Cantina located on the second floor atrium level of the Luxor… It was nice as I watched the LAX club staff set up stanchions for the long expected lines for the club… I had three Dos Equis, and a sampler platter… didn’t care for the taste of the wings but I loved the steak nachos… asked for Leche Flan but they didn’t have that for dessert… so I signed it to my room and made my way over to the Excaliber, did some gambling and then called it a night…

I love the soak tubs at the Luxor… I was able to take a long HOT BATH… and relax in my room… I must say the mattresses on the beds are very firm… im not use to that and would have wished for a softer mattress… I did have a nice view of the Excaliber from my room and slept with the curtains open… I like knowing that im in vegas… guess what??? NO CONSTRUCTION AND NO NOISE!! WOOHOOOO… slept in until 8am vegas time and ordered room service for breakfast…. Oatmeal Brulee and a pot of coffee… both were delicious… I enjoyed every bite…

$18.00 Oatmeal!!


Soon I get dressed and head over to the Excaliber for another game of craps… dropped a benji and walked away from the table with $180.00. That was nice… but im still breaking even on the trip… Im wanting to go downtown and trying to figure out the cheapest way down there because im on a budget… but I refuse to use the city bus system… I walk over to the mgm and pass this bar that has a beautiful laser light which stands at least 3 stories high in the middle of the bar… I later learn that once the music starts the bar tenders jump on the bar tops and dance… VERY NICE…





The MGM was great.. I enjoyed the lion cubs and played a little… not much though…. I finally catch a cab to down town… I know that there are lots of people from Hawaii at the Cal and I just absolutely love the Black Chip Porter Beer from Main Street, so im headed to down town… the cab fair cost me $23.00… 19.50 + tip… I stop to get a copy of my players card at MSS and then head on over to the Triple Seven Pub Brewery…

I had a large black chip porter beer with a spicy ahi roll and three oyster shooters. I sat at the bar and met this very very nice elderly woman… turns out shes a nurse that specializes in children dying from cancer etc., she was there vacationing with her husband who is an avid gambler… she said that he had accumulated millions of comp dollars and he was playing video poker… lol… she was cracking me up… she was having a second glass of wine and she kept saying… “im all bust!!”…. now you have to imagine in your minds eye, a tall thin gorgeous red head with piercing blue eyes and olive skin sitting at the bar dressed in all black and sparkling diamonds on her finger…. Ok now imagine her saying ‘IM ALL BUST!!”… with her silly little glass of white zin… that’s funny… she went on to share that two wines were her limit lol… her husband made that clear to her… she said she couldn’t handle anything over that… lol.. such a cutie… we did have a nice chat… there was another couple from England next to her and when they found out that I was from Hawaii they said, “why are you here?” LOL the typical comment... lol … after my lunch, I walked and did a little gambling at the Cal where I played VP & Craps… and then walked again… and walked and walked and walked…. I didn’t take any pics of down town… garsh turns out there was a BIKER CONVENTION… OMG… .. ok a biker convention downtown and a BODYBUILDING CONVENTION at the LUXOR!!... my timing was off because just as I was leaving they were all arriving…..….

I then ventured up Freemont street only to be faced with pan handlers… This was on the way from the Cal to Freemont so I cut through Binions to avoid them… I normally give them money but this time I didn’t… It different being alone…

I was looking for the Fitzgerald’s hotel because they have a chicken that plays tic tac toe and if you beat the chicken you win something… I did find the hotel but no chicken… lol… I signed up for a players card and the club host said ‘HEY SINCE YOU ARE SIGNING UP 10 DAYS WITHIN YOUR BIRTHDAY YOU GET A SPECIAL PRIZE!!” That made my day… then she hands over a players card and says, when you make “580 points come back and ill give you a pen set, but as a gift to you we are giving you 500 points so all you need to do is make 80!”… now im thinking 80 points? Sheesh that’s like gambling 100 bux,,, 100bux that I don’t have… so I left without my 100 dollar pen set LOL!!!


Too funny these casinos… FREE GIFT… BUT GAMBLE 100 BUX FIRST… LOL….. I then went to one of the souvenir stores and purchased 4 tshirts for 8.99, some water, and a nice coffee mug to bring back as a gift… my kids wouldn’t forgive me if I returned empty handed…

By now it was late and I was burnt… oh did I mention that my 4 hr fix was a continued dose of extra strength Tylenol??? Oh heck yah I walked so much that I had blisters on my toes and every muscle in my legs ached… but that didn’t stop me, I WAS DETERMINED!! LOL… I made sure to take two Tylenol before I went to bed and as soon as I got up…. It helped totally!!...

I later caught the cab back to the Luxor (another 23.00) got refreshed, and then went to the dinner buffet…. The buffet was again just OK… nothing spectacular… the only seafood they had was shrimp cocktail and it wasn’t the best… I did enjoy the prime rib and the crème brulee…. After dinner I walked around the Luxor to look for some live entertainment… nothing… so I left for the Excaliber and found a lounge and a restaurant with live bands….. I hung out for a bit and then went back to my room at the Luxor… took a shower got ready and then hit the music scene…

I found the lounge at the Excalibur once again and sat at the bar playing some VP (up and down in winnings)… drank an absolute spicy bloody Mary and enjoyed every ounce of it… after my play and on my way back to the Luxor I stopped to pick up two dozen crispy crème donuts… (crispy crème is not in Hawaii yet, well not on my island)…

It was time for me to return home… my flight was originally scheduled to leave LV at 245am but Hawaiian called to let me know that the flight had been delayed until 655am… that was nice.. I had a little time to nap and made it to the airport by 530am… upon arrival the check in clerk greets me with a 200.00 flight certificate and a 10.00 meal voucher to be used for breakfast… he apologized for the inconvenience and then politely told me that the flight was now leaving at 855am and not 6:55am… oh boy… luckily I kept a sarong out of my suitcase and used it as a blanket to keep myself warm… the airport was FREEEEEEEEEZING!!...

We finally left Las Vegas at 9:30am… got home to Hawaii at 12:30 in the afternoon with Crispy Crème Donuts, a 200.00 voucher off another flight, $50.00 flight certificate and later only to find out that the Luxor had comped all of my meals and one night of my room!!... so all in all the vacation was a winner!!

I cant wait for my next trip.. hopefully it wont be another solo one!

 

Wow! I'm impressed on so many levels -- but I think most of all by your discipline to budget $100 a day for gambling.

You reinforced my opinion that the Luxor, while they have great rates at times, is a bit of a gamble if you're looking for consistency.

Glad you had a great time!

 

Great report. I agree with your "Next time hopefully it won't be a solo trip". I went by myself last winter and while it was nice to do what I wanted, it wasn't the same as having someone with you to tell that you won some money or that you needed some of theirs cause you lost all yours.... At least you weren't getting propositioned by all sorts of weird middle aged men..... Or did you just not share that with us? I couldn't sit down at a table without a pervert trying to get me up to his room!

Thanks for sharing!

 

I love that bar at MGM Grand. It's called Centrifuge. I also LOVE the Cal and MSS.

Funny on the "what are you doing here?"" from Hawaii. My sister lives on Oahu and she likes to vacation in Canada!

 

Nice going. Not bad to have your whole trip comped and get $250 in airline comps for your next trip.

 

Nice TR Hula....too bad we just missed each other! But you made sure to have a great time....

 

Good job, nice pictures.......

 

Thanks for your TR, sound like you had fun! I love going solo to LV and I always rent a car so I don't have to take cabs or a bus (in the long run it comes out to about the same $$). I'm totally impressed that you managed to stay within $100 a day gaming budget. You got me in the Vegas mood .... next trip is the weekend after next, and then another one with my husband 3 weeks after that! Aloha!

 

Excellent tr! Thanks so much for posting. I know you were a little concerned about going solo, but it sure sounds like you did it up right!