Venetian, ESPNZONE, Prime, Blue Man Group, we did it all!

I so appreciated all the helpful advice I received here before our trip that the I wanted to make sure I sat down and shared everything while it was fresh in my memory... I hope some of you can benefit from our recent LV experience. We were there 2/16 - 2/19, this was our 4th trip (last one 5 years ago however)and we're in our early 30's (but not the night-life, drinking, dancing type), and not high rollers, but like to spoil ourselves every once in awhile...

Stayed at the Venetian...it was everything I hoped it to be. Staff was wonderful, rooms beautiful and spacious, service incomparable, and the bathrooms...oh the bathrooms! (especially important when you have a toddler at home and haven't gone by yourself for so long you can't remember!) Our priority was away from the construction and we got that plus a room on the 27th floor as we'd requested. Was a little disappointed in the shops...too fancy and expensive for my tastes. We did the indoor gondola ride and it was a lot of fun. If possible, wait for Luvio (sp?) if he's on shift...authentic Italian with a beautiful voice and quite entertaining; he looks the part. Ate two lunches and one breakfast at the Grand Lux. Service was great and we never had to wait long for a table and the food was very good. We did think that breakfast was overpriced...I'd wait until 11 and have an early lunch. Also ate at Star Canyon which we were somewhat disappointed in. The staff just wasn't as professional as we'd expected and although our entrees were good, the sides and bread left much to be desired. The menu was rather limited as well. Even their signature dessert, Heaven and Hell cake was dry; overall I wouldn't recommend it, especially for the money ($70 for two w/o alcohol). Nice big hot tub w/ easy access from guest suites. It takes some doing, but get a coupon book from the Guest Services booth near the shoppes...the time share people harrass you, but be persistent. No casino coupons, but some for the shops and the smaller fast-food type restaurants and the museum. I did visit the Guggenheim-Hermitage "Art through the Ages" gallery which was spectacular, but only runs through March 2nd. It's amazing to find such "culture" amongst everything else so Las Vegas... Didn't try the Spa, but there's also a coupon for $25 off $100 service which is a great deal.

Highlights of the trip included dinner at Prime (steakhouse at Bellagio). We had the first seating at 5:30 which was great because we ended up w/ the best seat in the house to watch the fountains. Service was excellent and food delicious (filet mignon outstanding...along w/ soy rice wine sauce). It's expensive (my dessert was $11...and it wasn't even big enough to share), but if you really want to treat yourself, this is the place ($150 w/o alcohol).
Another was visiting ESPNZONE at NYNY. If your a sports fan, this is a must! Bigscreens and many tables have flat screen monitors at them that can be adjusted through a touch screen and the booths have built in speakers. After dinner they give you a two for one voucher for the arcade upstairs which is a lot of fun, and be sure to visit the bathrooms (tv monitors in the stalls!) The service was some of the best we had and the food was great too! We got there right at 11:30 when they opened which worked out really well. We enjoyed it so much we stopped by the last day for some more game play and shopping at the ESPN store.
We also went to see Blue Man Group. In my opinion it's one of those things that you should do once, but you probably won't feel the need to see it again. It is indescribable and amazing, but definitely loud and puts you in sensory overload.
Not much gambling luck...Venetian slots and VP didn't do much, and no $5 BJ (I'm a gambling whimp)tables; see my post about the Aladdin if you're interested...we were not impressed by the dealers to make a long story short; had the best time and best luck gambling at Luxor. They have VP machines that are multi-denominational down to $0.05 and I won $100 playing $0.10 VP
Also ate at PF Chang's @ Aladdin. It's a busy place (no reservations) but luckily got in early w/o waiting, but the food wasn't that good and the serving staff mediocre...lots of people must like it but I wouldn't recommend it...

Enjoy your own trips and good luck!

 

Sounds like a fun time! We always say we're going to go to ESPNZONE but never remember. Sounds like a neat place. I agree with you about PF Changs. We have one here in Boston and I'm not a fan. It's fine, but so is my chinese take-out. Same thing with Blue Man Group. Saw it a couple years ago(it has a permanant theater in Boston) and I thought it was unique and great, but never been interested in seeing it again in Vegas. It's a "must do once" Thanks for the report.

 

Excellent trip report.....