1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

Trip Report 10/17-10/21!!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Go Blue, Oct 23, 2001.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Go Blue

    Go Blue Tourist

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2001
    Messages:
    156
    Location:
    Boston MA

    My Trip Report

    This is my report for my 10/17-10/21 trip. First of all, let me give some background info before I start out. I am in my mid-20s and from Boston, and this was my first trip to Las Vegas since 1993. Every year, a group of my friends from my undergrad days from the University of Michigan flies out to Vegas during our football team’s off-weekend. This was the first year I joined them. There was a total of 21 people (14 guys & 7 girls). We had 7 rooms in New York-NewYork.
    The group as a whole didn’t fly out until Thursday, but to get my cheap airfare, I had to fly out on Wed and hang out by myself for a night. It actually worked out pretty well though. Thanks to this board, I was able to get a $59 Venetian suite for that night. I haven’t stayed in many nice hotels, so I was especially impressed by this room, which had a price listing of $499. Actually Wed ended up being my day of luxury and class (which I knew was gonna end once we had the big group in town). After check-in, I saw the Guggenheim Hermitage exhibit, which was very nice. Ticket prices are $15 for that, but only $11 for students. If you are young-looking, just say you’re a student- they don’t ask for any ID.
    After relaxing in the room again, I had dinner at Delmonico’s Steakhouse, which was an excellent meal. I had their french onion soup, filet mignon, truffle oil & parmesan cheese potato chips, and bourbon brownie sundae. The free bread they give was really bad, which was surprising, since most nice steakhouses make excellent bread. This whole meal with 2 drinks and tip was $90.
    That night, I went to see Mystere at the Treasure Island ($88). I sat in section 203 Row FF (doesn’t seem to be many bad seats in the house). It was a very entertaining show, though it might frustrate viewers who look for a plot. Is it expensive for a 90 min show? Of course it is. But you’re on vacation, you might as well spend the money. I wanted to see the Pirate Battle at Treasure Island but missed out. That night I was going to hang out at C2K in the Venetian, but I had been awake for 24 hours at this point, so I just went to bed.
    The next morning, my first friend came into town. I had him hang out in my room until I checked-out at 1 PM. He was very impressed by the room, natch. Of course, going to the NY-NY was going to be a big dropoff. I paid $40 a night for a deluxe upgrade (which we needed, because we had 5 people in the room). File this under “if this is the deluxe room, I’d hate to say the regular room†category. They also offered an $80 upgrade to a Jacuzzi room.
    After check-in at New York-New York, we had lunch at Il Fornia in the hotel. It was a pretty solid meal, coming in at about $25 a person. We gambled for a while and waited for our friends, who came in that afternoon. A bunch of the guys wanted to watch the baseball game, so we had dinner at ESPN zone in the hotel. The food there was typical sports-bar quality, but with a much smaller menu. While at the Zone, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard shows up with his entourage and takes our table, of course. This increased our table wait to an hour. Also, UNLV coach John Robinson was there at the bar. In 1977, while he was USC’s coach, he beat our football team in a bowl game on a terrible call by the ref. My friend passed him a note telling him he got lucky that year…Robinson actually came over to our table and joked with us about it. That evening, we went to the Voodoo Lounge on top of the Rio hotel. It has an outdoor deck with an excellent view of the strip- really cool place. After that we went to Club Rio, which I wasn’t too impressed by. We got home at around 4…most of the people just went to gamble, and a few of us ate at America Restaurant in our hotel. That place is terrible…the food is cheap, but not good at all. We actually ate there twice during the trip, but only because it was open at 4 or 5 in the morning. I would recommend never eating there while sober, and definitely considering your decision before even eating while drunk.
    On Friday afternoon, we took the monorail down to Bally’s and checked out Paris and Bellagio. Paris seemed to be a nice hotel to take your girlfriend or wife to. The water fountains at Bellagio were pretty fun to watch as well- make sure you watch from the Strip sidewalk, and not the hotel walkway. We had the lunch buffet at MGM Grand, which was absolutely terrible. It was no better than a mediocre dorm cafeteria.
    Friday night for dinner, 3 of us ate at Gonzalez, which is the mexican joint in our hotel..food there was fairly good. That night, we took a cab to the Hard Rock Hotel, with plans on going to Baby’s (which is in the basement). The Hard Rock was absolutely amazing for the women. The first 2 days in Vegas, I was wondering where all the big groups of girls were…everyone in our hotel seemed to be a couple. Well I finally got my answer…we drank and gambled in the Hard Rock casino for about 2 hours, and it was really fun. Huge groups of 5-15 very attractive women would come streaming in, dressed in the most ridiculous outfits, with every guy in the casino gawking at them. Around 11, we headed into Baby’s. Go early if you want to get in..the line gets huge. That was a pretty fun club too…2 separate dance rooms, one with techno and one with hip-hop. There were VIP booths in the techno room that cost $200 to sit at, and they sold out right away. The place had an oxygen bar as well. We left there at 4 and drank in the casino for another hour or so..then found an Escalade limo to take us back to our hotel.
    Saturday morning, we woke up fairly early (some people stayed up all night) and headed to ESPN zone to watch college football games. After doing that all day, we relaxed in the room and the group split up for dinner. 6 of us went to Mandalay Bay and ate at the House of Blues…I wasn’t expecting great food since it’s a chain theme restaurant, but it had really good food. At night, we met up with the big group again and went to Rumjungle in Mandalay. That is a very fun club…it’s fairly small so there’s not much space to roam around, but it definitely seemed like a hip place to be. The women there were absolutely gorgeous, and that doesn’t even include the model-type dancers at the club. They had women dancing in cages all over the bar, and even women on the ceiling in zip lines, who spin and gyrate directly above you. I actually heard a girl in the crowd say, “well this is sending back the women’s lib movement 10 yearsâ€. Judging from the large amount of older men with young girls all over them, you could surmise there were plenty of escorts working in there. There was also a VIP section with tables, but you had commit to buy $1k in liquor before you could sit there (and you had to know someone even to get the chance to buy a table!). Overall I thought that was a very fun nightspot. We left at around 3, got in a limo, and headed back to the hotel. Most people kept gambling…I had to fly out at 6:30 AM, so I had to leave the hotel at 4:30. I was shocked how crowded the airport was..there were about 200-300 people waiting in line to check in at the Delta terminal, and another 600 people waiting to pass security at the actual gate. There were less than 10 people at curbside check-in, so I just used that. I’ve always wondered why more people don’t use the curbside…are people too cheap to pay the tip? Anyways, luckily, I had no problems with flights either way.
    A few final comments:
    - the women in Vegas are a different breed than here in Boston. Here, the nightlife is dominated by attractive European women with dark features and classy dress. The nightlife scene in Vegas is dominated by attractive blonde women with skimpy outfits and breast implants. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, just different to me!
    - I didn’t actually gamble very much, which was weird. I always pegged myself as the kind of guy who would gamble until all my traveler’s checks were gone. I ended up losing less than a $100, while my friends lost thousands at blackjack and pai gow. Sports gambling seemed to be my favorite..the odds aren’t that bad, and you get 3 hours of entertainment for your bet, as opposed to one spin or dice roll.
    -I didn’t get to eat at as many nice restaurants as I hoped..it’s also hard to have everyone hungry at the same time in such a big group.
    - LV seems to be the melting pot of the US, in terms of vacation spots anyway. You get everyone here..young,old…black,white…rich,poor, etc. That’s a pretty cool trait.
    - Overall, I had an excellent time. This is a city made for big groups such as ours. However, I also realized it can be a great place to bring your S.O. We normally make our trip every year during our football team’s off-weekend, but a good friend of ours is getting married that weekend next fall. But I’m sure we’ll be back in LV fairly soon.
     
  2. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 1999
    Messages:
    44,734
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    You young people are too much. [​IMG] I don't know how you all party those hours that you do. I know I did it when I was in my early 20's but at a mere 34 I can't even imagine those kind of hours anymore. [​IMG]

    Sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for the info on the clubs, I can always use more info on them as I'm too old to appreciate them. [​IMG] The only one I've been to recently is Rumjungle. I didn't know that Baby's had techno... I'll have to tell my sister.

    And the women in Vegas are mostly from LA. That would explain the blonde silicone women.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Sonya
     
  3. LV Terry

    LV Terry Captain Flop'N Fold

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2001
    Messages:
    3,957
    Location:
    Santa Barbara, CA, USA
    Too old to party at 34?! Please! hahahaa! On our last trip in October, two of my buddies and I stayed up all night Saturday night, watched football all day Sunday, then played nine holes at the Calaway Center under the lights! The best part was the one of my friends and I tied for lowest score and beat three other guys that hadn't been up for 30+ hours....needless to say, we are the reigning Kings of the Vegas trip! :-D Also needless to say, I slept Very well Sunday night (and did so for a full 10 hours)! At 37, I have to admit I was feeling it, but hey, you gotta push yourself sometimes!! hahahaha!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.