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A gorgeous chandelier, mirrors, expensive furniture and money pouring in from all directions... this has all the qualifications to be the Celestial room in a temple. Ironically, this is in a casino in Las Vegas.
Budget: Around $150-$250 per day. This included the hotel (plus resort fee), food, drinks and entertainment. Trip Length: One week. Destination: Las Vegas, Nevada and surrounding area. Accommodation: Tropicana Las Vegas Activities: Fremont Street, Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, Vegas Strip. Recommendations: GoCity Pass, hop on - hop off bus, Le Thai restaurant on Fremont Street, water show at the Bellagio. Also, there's a lot to do away from the strip or downtown Vegas. Drinks are free at most casinos so long as you're gambling. Final Verdict: This was my second trip to Vegas. The first was for a business trip and this was for fun. I'm glad I had the chance to cross Las Vegas off my bucket list but it's unlikely that I will return. I had fun but I'm not a gambler. There's a lot to do in and around Vegas if you're not a gambler but not enough to warrant a repeat...for me at least, although I do recommend everyone go at least once. Pictures!: Grand Canyon Hoover Dam Fremont Street Las Vegas Strip Valley of Fire State Park Elephant Rock at Valley of Fire State Park Red Rock Canyon
I had the holidays to myself this year (mid 30s bachelor, siblings were with in-laws) and had a comped room at Aria so I made a trip to Vegas from San Francisco, CA. I had told myself I will take a day off the Strip to visit Fremont. My strategy - This is a more aggressive style I've been playing this holiday season. Before I never pressed my bets and it was just a grind session. While this trip was a negative, I believe that if I did not press my bets on the hot shooters, my losses would be greater and my wins would be less. The data does not show the times where I was out 75% of my buy-in and a hot shooter came in to save my ass
Make the pass line bet for minimum. On $5 tables, I went max odds up to 5x. On $10, $15, $25 tables, I went with 1x, 2x, 3x.
1A) If the dealer is friendly and making jokes and small talk, I would bet $1-$5 on the pass for them. 2) I place all the inside numbers 5, 6, 8, 9 for the minimum bet. 3) If the point is 4, 6, 8 10, I make a two way hardway for just the point number for $5 and $1 tip 4) If there is the ATS bonus, I typically played it. On $5 tables, I bet two way 212 ($2 All Small, $1 All, $2 All Tall). At $10 and $15 tables, 555 for me, 212 for dealers 5) I try to press my wins up to quarters (for 5/9, it goes along $5 > $10 > $25. for 6/8, $6 > $12 > $24 > $30) before collecting. 5A) If it's a cold table and I'm in the red, I would collect the first win before pressing. 5B) If I have successfully pressed it up to quarters, if I collected a win off the pressed bet, and if I had already made a good profit (more than 50% of my buy-in, I keep pressing up past $100. 6) If the table is cold, I give it 2 go-arounds to see if it heats up. If a shooter had a hot roll, I play 1 more go-around to see if they still got heat. 7) After color up, I leave all the loose $1 and $5 chips on the table Some highlights
Another player and I both hit either All Tall or All Small for $5 each several times in a session
At Planet Hollywood, I bought in just as a shooter started to heat up. He was a new player so he only had the pass line, no odds, and the field. I had my inside numbers pressed up to $100+ each. Made $500 off the guy's roll and his own stack never grew. We kept telling him to place odds and to play the numbers, but he kept his own style. I was the next shooter and rolled for 25 minutes, again pressing several up past $100+
At MGM Grand, we had a hot shooter and the dealer was just giving a lot of us shit for not pressing enough or adding to our bets. I had pressed up to $100+ and he just kept shaking his head at us. The players next to me never pressed.
At Bellagio, I stepped in just as a quiet older lady started her roll. She had a hot roll and hit the points instantly several times, hitting several hard points, and I had pressed up again. She only made one side of the bonus and it got me out of the red. I head over to Park MGM and 30 minutes later she joins the table. This time she hits the bonus for my 555/212 bet. Session ended with $1200 profit. If you wanted to know - she always played stick left, no dice setting, just picked it up, and flicked the dice like a lady throwing her silk handkerchief
At Excalibur, I stepped into a roll in progress. For some reason, the other side of the table had the puck off and I bought in mid-roll. This is my personal NO-NO rule. I would have waited it out, but I made a mistake and disturb the roll. The guy was hot and I pressed my $5 to $100. After he PSO, I just colored up.
Some take-aways
My best sessions were just being in the right place at the right time.
The female players had the best rolls. The better ones were playing besides their husbands. Single women, not too "hot"
Set the dice if you want and if you believe. No one cares as long as you're winning. One beginner shooter had a hot roll, but he had the worst roll style in the world. The dice wouldn't even make it down the table, it slipped out of the hand, if he manages to get it down the table, he chucked it so hard it destroyed all the stacks.
TIP THE DEALERS!! I played and tipped constantly at Park MGM and the dealers recognized me every night. They even talked to the pit boss to let me play with the lower minimum if they had just upped it before I joined in. I tipped at every table during the entire trip so the dealers knew my bets and would remind me if I had missed something.
Day
Date
Casino
Table Minimum
Odds
Length of Play
Buy-in
Color Up
Rounds
Comments
Wednesday
12/25
Aria
$15
3, 4, 5
1:20
$600
$300
3 rounds
Planet Hollywood
$15
3, 4, 5
1:00
$600
$1500
2 shooters
30 min roll, follow by 25 min roll. Couldn't see the dancing girls from the craps tables
Paris
$10
3, 4, 5
1:30
$600
$175
2 rounds
Bally's
$10
3, 4, 5
0:25
$300
$135
1 round
This felt like a Reno casino
Day Total
$2100
$2110
well.....what a haul
Thursday
12/26
MGM Grand
$15
3, 4, 5
1:20
$600
$1075
3 rounds
Mandalay Bay
$10
3, 4, 5
0:30
$475
$305
3 rounds
It was dark and empty
Luxor
$10
3, 4, 5
0:30
$305
$105
6 shooters
One table, too close to other games
Excalibur
$5
3, 4, 5
0:30
$500
$825
1 shooter
Park MGM
$10
3, 4, 5
2:00
$700
$1400
6 rounds
Bonus All Tall x 2
NY NY
$10
3, 4, 5
0:30
$500
$260
1 round
It felt cramped due to it being placed underneath some overhead structure
Day Total
$3080
$3970
Much better this time
Friday
12/27
Cromwell
$15
100
0:20
$500
$185
1 round
Did not like the atmosphere
Flamingo
$10
3, 4, 5
0:40
$500
$355
1 round
Linq
$10
3, 4, 5
0:20
$220
$170
2 rounds
Felt like a shopping mall
Mirage
$10
3, 4, 5
2:00
$500
$700
5 rounds
Lots of open space around the tables
Aria
$15
3, 4, 5
1:00
$860
$490
4 rounds
Bellagio
$15
3, 4, 5
1:45
$1490
$1500
5 rounds
Too many reserved tables for $50, $100, and $300 min
Aria
$25
3, 4, 5
1:45
$2000
$1500
7 rounds
Park MGM
$15
3, 4, 5
1:15
$500
$1700
2 rounds
Bonus ATS
Day Total
$6570
$6600
Down then back up
Saturday
12/28
Four Queens
$5
5
1:15
$200
$400
4 rounds
The D
$5
10
1:45
$400
$700
1 round
Cutest cocktail waitresses in LV
Fremont
$5
2
0:30
$200
$140
1 round
Binions
$5
3, 4, 5
0:30
$240
$275
1 round
One table had cute female dealers in ref stripes
Golden Nugget
$10
10
0:45
$375
$430
2 rounds
Bonus All Small
Golden Gate
$5
10
1:00
$530
$140
3 rounds
Plaza
$5
10
0:30
$340
$240
3 shooters
One table, felt like an old gambling hall
Main St Station
$5
20
0:15
$220
$380
1 round
California
$10
2
0:30
$380
$265
1 round
All older asian men
Aria
$15
3, 4, 5
1:00
$1000
$635
3 rounds
Park MGM
$10
3, 4, 5
1:15
$635
$385
3 rounds
Day Total
$4320
$3990
Oh no
Sunday
12/29
Excalibur
$5
3, 4, 5
3:00
$1000
$300
6 rounds
MGM Grand
$15
3, 4, 5
0:45
$800
$825
1 round
Park MGM
$10
3, 4, 5
1:15
$825
$700
2 rounds
Aria
$15
3, 4, 5
1:45
$1500
$560
5 rounds
Some NBA players had a reserved table. I didn't see their bets but people kept asking them for pictures which they seem cool about
Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor Viewing Guide, FAQs, and more
It was always a question of when. Every man has his price and Floyd Mayweather knew that Conor McGregor, the most popular active combat sports athlete in the world, was the only one capable of meeting his demand. What started as a rumor graduated to banter. Banter graduated to legitimate business discussions. And before we knew it we had Conor McGregor spurning whatever options he had in the UFC to enter the world of boxing.
Tale of the Tape
Floyd Mayweather
vs
Conor McGregor
49(26)-0
RECORD
21(18)-3 [MMA]
53%
KO %
75%
40
AGE
29
147 lbs
LAST 5 AVG WEIGHT
156.1 lbs
5'8"
HEIGHT
5'9"
72"
REACH
74"
Las Vegas, Nevada
HOMETOWN
Dublin, Ireland
5(0)-0
LAST 5
4(3)-1 [MMA]
-330
MONEYLINE*
+350
26(10)-0
IN LAS VEGAS
4(3)-1 [MMA]
3(2)-0
VS UNDEFEATED
2(2)-1 [MMA]
9(4)-0
VS SOUTHPAW
387
TOTAL RDS BOXED
0
1394(961)-211-43
TOTAL OPP. RECORD
249(187)-79 [MMA]
84%
TOTAL OPP. WIN %
76%
58%
OPP. KO %
57%
Accolades
Floyd Mayweather’s World Titles Won/Held
WBA super world welterweight title WBC super welterweight title x2 WBC welterweight title x2 IBF welterweight title WBO welterweight title WBC super lightweight title WBC lightweight title WBC super featherweight title
Mayweather’s Lineal Titles Held
Super featherweight champion (over Genaro Hernandez) Lightweight champion (over Jose Luis Castillo) Welterweight champion (over Carlos Baldomir) Super welterweight champion (over Canelo Alvarez) Welterweight champion (over Manny Pacquiao)
Conor McGregor's World Titles Won/Held
Cage Warriors lightweight title Cage Warriors featherweight title UFC featherweight title UFC lightweight title
How To Watch
Live
Mayweather-McGregor takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets are available through all the usual second hand sites.
All devices!!!! This will be produced by Showtime and you will get their commentary team.
Closed Circuit
You can purchase closed circuit tickets at the following hotels. You can purchase through Ticketmatster, at the MGM Resorts International Box Office (in-person), or call 800-745-3000. Note the price is $150 dollars.
Gervonta Davis vs Francisco Fonseca - 12 round fight for Davis's IBF super featherweight title. Davis currently sits as possibly the best fighter in the world under the age of 23. Davis is fierce, aggressive, and packs power in both hands. While Fonseca is undefeated, it's likely he will be blown out quickly given massive jump in opponent skill he's taking. Fight Rating: Can't miss.
Nathan Cleverly vs Badou Jack - 12 rounds fight for Cleverly's WBA light heavyweight title. Badou Jack's career has followed a Hollywood script. Pushed too hard early, knocked out in 1 round, and now he's risen to the top while learning from his mistakes. Jack is a gritty, blue collar fighter. There is nothing pretty about what he does, but he makes for great fights. Cleverly is a solid challenger, but a clear underdog. Fight Rating: Close to can't miss.
Andrew Tabiti vs Steve Cunningham - 10 rounds in the cruiserweight division. Tabiti is a rising cruiserweight contender with explosive power. Cunningham is older and thus we have an age vs youth matchup on our hands. Fight Rating: Don't blink.
Pre-Fight Undercard
FOX will be airing a pre-fight card before the pay-per-view starts.
Yordenis Ugas vs Thomas Dulorme - 10 rounds in the welterweight division. Ugas has 3 losses and with any luck he'd be undefeated. Ugas is tricky, he knows how to be rough, and he can be sublime with his counter-punching when he needs to be. Dulorme is still trying to pick up the pieces of a career that's never panned out and this could be a launching pad for Ugas to get into a title picture. Fight Rating: 3/5
Juan Heraldez vs Jose Miguel Borrego - 10 rounds in the super lightweight division. This one is going to open up the festivities and has potential to steal the show. Heraldez is 27 and desperately needs to win to take the next step in his career while Borrego is just getting off the ground at 19. Fight Rating: 4/5
Pay-Per-View Statistics
One small note. UFC pay-per-views statistics come from Dave Meltzer, whereas boxing numbers are generated by the cable and satellite providers. After the WME-IMG deal, it was discovered that McGregor-Diaz did 1.301 which would be the highest number a UFC fight ever did despite the reports from many journalists. But I'll stick with what was reported out of respect for Dana White and his company for risking their necks on a lawsuit by making this fight. For more information on Meltzer, I recommend listening to Something to Wrestle With Bruce Prichard. Top Pay-Per-View Purchases All Time
Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao - 4,600,000
De La Hoya vs Mayweather – 2,400,000
Mayweather vs Alvarez – 2,200,000
Holyfield vs Tyson II – 1,990,000
Lewis vs Tyson – 1,970,000
Diaz vs McGregor II - 1,650,000
Lesnar vs Mir 2 – 1,600,000
Tyson vs Holyfield – 1,590,000
Tyson vs McNeeley – 1,550,000
Mayweather vs Cotto – 1,500,000
McGregor vs Diaz - 1,500,000
Top Ten Pay-Per-View Buyrates Beteween Mayweather-McGregor
Mayweather vs Pacquiao - 4,600,000
De La Hoya vs Mayweather – 2,400,000
Mayweather vs Alvarez – 2,200,000
Diaz vs McGregor II - 1,650,000
Mayweather vs Cotto – 1,500,000
McGregor vs Diaz 1,500,000
Aldo vs McGregor 1,400,000
Mayweather vs Mosley – 1,400,000
Alvarez vs McGregor - 1,300,000
Mayweather vs Ortiz – 1,250,000
Number of Mayweather Pay-Per-View Fights: 15 Total Mayweather Buys Generated: 19,595,000 Average Mayweather Buyrate: 1,306,000 Total Revenue Generated at $60 average price: $1,175,700,000 Average Pay-Per-View Revenue Generated: $78,380,000 Number of McGregor Pay-Per-View Fights: 5 Total McGregor Buys Generated: 6,675,000 Average McGregor Buyrate: 1,335,000 Total Revenue Generated at $60 average price: $400,500,000 Average Pay-Per-View Revenue Generated: $80,100,000 Combined Total Combined Pay-Per-Views: 20Total Buys Generated: 26,270,000Average Combined Buyrate: 1,313,500Average Combined Pay-Per-View Revenue Generated: $78,810,000 Total Combined Revenue Generated at an average price of $60 = $1,576,200,000 To have all televised and title fights synced with your calendar, please subscribe to the sunday puncher calendar. There is seriously no better or easier way to stay up-to-date with boxing. You'll never need to ask what time a fight starts or what channel you can catch it on again.
You hurt me. It took me a really long time to see it because I didn’t want to talk about it. You weren’t in my life every day anymore and I didn’t want to dwell on the past. Despite everything, you were still the first person I wanted to share exciting news with. So we stayed friends. We text each other happy birthday. We share pictures of the cat we once owned together. Never anything serious, but you stayed in my life longer than you should have. I wish I had seen it sooner. I wish I had seen it when I was 17 and first met you. I wish I had seen it when I was 20 and you left me crying on the casino floor at the Bellagio. I wish I had seen it when I was 21 before I brought you back into my life. I wish I had seen it when I was 23 before I married you. But I didn’t. Maybe I didn’t want to see it. Maybe I chose not to see it. I remember a night in high school when we were sitting in your car talking. We had only been dating a few weeks and I felt you deserved to know. I was so scared to tell you. At this point I had only told two people I was bisexual. I wasn’t out to my family or most of my friends. But I liked you and I wanted you to know. You weren’t nice about it. You told me you didn’t understand it, but that you were raised to believe that homosexuality was a sin. You told me that my sexuality wasn’t valid, that it was a choice. But you also told me you liked me and it wasn’t going to be a problem for you. You hurt me that night and I let go. After we had been together a while I told you that I thought maybe I was wrong before. I wasn’t bisexual, I just hadn’t met the right man. I said that to make you feel better. I squashed down a part of me so that you would be more comfortable. I remember a night in college when I had some friends over to play beer pong and hang out. We invited this new girl that none of us really knew all that well, but who was pledging our sorority. You were there too. Throughout that night she flirted with you, she flashed you, she sat on your lap and played with your hair. You did nothing. That hurt me. A few weeks later you broke up with me in the middle of a casino on our first day in Vegas with some friends. We had to share a hotel room that night. You said that you felt like you were holding me back, but really you just wanted to fuck her without feeling guilty. When I saw you a week later on her Instagram celebrating Christmas with her family out of state, that hurt me. When you came to me and told me you made a mistake, I forgave you. At least I tried to. I was hurting so much and even though you were the one who hurt me, I thought maybe you’d also be the one to make it better. I remember the day I first asked you for a divorce and promised it would get better. It didn't. I remember letting that happen two more times. I remember the day you called me and told me you were finally done. You didn't want to be married anymore. I remember how you made it my fault. Made me beg you not to leave me. I cried, but I remember being confused about why I was crying. This was what I wanted, and yet somehow here I was begging you to stay. I remember the day after we split. When your "friend" posted a picture of you hugging her with the caption "I'm so happy this day is finally here." That hurt me. I was afraid of you. I was afraid to be vulnerable with you. I was afraid to share my feelings with you. Because you never validated them. I would come to you feeling low and I would leave feeling worse. You walk around acting like the nice guy. The dependable guy. The respectable guy. You have good manners, you respect authority, you don’t break the law. My mom still talks about how much she misses you. But you’re also an alcoholic. A homophobe. A racist. An abuser. Your abuse didn’t leave physical scars. It left emotional ones. You broke me down until I believed that I needed you in my life. You isolated me from my family and my friends, you took me away from a career I loved. You hurt me. Over and over and over. And I let you. Long after you were gone, I still let you hurt me. Because I was holding on. I didn’t want to be in a relationship with you. I stopped wanting that shortly after we got married. But I still couldn’t let you go. I thought you loved me. I thought I loved you too. But I don’t think I did. I don’t think you did either. Right now, I’m falling in love with a person who understands me better than anyone ever has. A person who accepts everything about me. A person who never makes me feel less than. Who never puts me down. Someone who I trust completely. And now I know what real love looks like. So I’m letting go. You hurt me, but I’m healing.
[Phoenix, Fri 11/15 4PM-7PM] The Phoenix Yang Gang Cavalry RIDES for Las Vegas @ This event’s address is private. Sign up for more details / This event’s address is private. Sign up for more details
Title: The Phoenix Yang Gang Cavalry RIDES for Las Vegas Time: Fri 11/15 4PM-7PM Location: Phoenix / This event’s address is private. Sign up for more details / This event’s address is private. Sign up for more details Event URL: RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/yang2020/event/153433/ KEEP IN MIND: This is an event in which we will TRAVEL to Las Vegas together either on Friday at 4 PM or on Saturday at 7 AM. The First in the West Democratic presidential meet-and-greet at Bellagio Hotel and Casino is on Sunday November 17th at 7:00 PM. It's $125 to attend in order to meet Andrew Yang himself! Otherwise, from here until the Nevada caucuses in February 2020, it's always a great weekend for canvassing in this vitally important early primary state! https://www.mobilize.us/yang2020/event/152355/ The Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half-Marathon is on Saturday November 16th as well as another on November 17th so if you want to run a marathon & rep some Yang Gang swag that would be fun too! https://www.raceplace.com/events/44044/2019-rock-n-roll-las-vegas-marathon-1-2-marathon The rest of us will rendezvous with the Las Vegas Yang Gang on Saturday & Sunday, visit a field office & canvass in the nice weather with other volunteers. Canvassing means knocking doors of Democrats & independents to hand out flyers & share the message of Humanity First. Training will be provided! Lunch & dinner with the rest of the Yang Gang is recommended because it'll be fun! There are numerous places in the city where Yang supporters can find a bed or couch to crash on for free for a night. The Yang Gang sticks together! It helps to bring a sleeping bag, your own toiletries & a pillow. Also it is usually polite to help pay for gas for whoever carpools. We'll carpool either Friday afternoon at 4 PM or Saturday morning at 6 AM depending on availability. We will leave Las Vegas to return to Phoenix on Sunday at either 2-3 PM for those of us that can't attend the meet-and-greet, or either late Sunday night or early morning Monday. Please RSVP to let us know your needs! For more information or to get in touch with organizers, RSVP to the event and check your regional Yang Gang's Facebook group. Post pictures from the event here when you're done! This event was cross-posted from an automated bot by @andgokevin
I'm 42/m from Manitoba Canada. The past year at work had me stressed so I planned a trip. I was on the fence on where i wanted to go, but this was to be a fast trip and it had to be somewhere easy and fast. I decided Vegas was the best option even though I'd be going solo, it is whatever. The weird thing is, I'm not really a social person ... lol. I started researching tips travelling to vegas alone, things to do, where to stay and stuff like that and was starting to get excited. First things first is booking flights. I had amassed some airmiles so decided to book the flights that way. Only down side to booking with airmiles is the amount of connections. On the flight there I had 3 connections, and on the way back I had 4. I would definitely pay cash next time for a direct flight. Once the flights were booked may 3rd to 7th/19 . It was time to fill up my days. Years ago I had stumbled upon sites to rent exotic cars and thats where I started. I immediately realized that it was a little expensive(understandable) so I found this gem of a site called Exoticracing.com and immediately booked 10 laps in a 488 gtb 900$ canadian (screw the exchange) . This is something I have always wanted to do and what better way to experience an exotic car than to whip it around a track at 200kph!!!. Exotics racing is truly amazing, right down to the shuttle, greeted at the desk when you arrive, the instruction course, the 2 laps around in the cayanne where the instructor shows you the track .. to the blistering, crazy drive in the 488 with your instructor telling you when to shift, where to brake, when to turn in .. always pushing you to go faster and faster. By the way Mike is the best instructor there tbh. I will definitely make a point of doing this again only I will drive more cars on my next trip I've also always wanted to see a cirque du soleiel show so I bought a ticket for "O" at Bellagio. Truly a great show and a must see. My seat was terrible though, I sat to the far left of the theatre in the 2nd row from the front, I missed a lot that was happening at the centre of the stage when the pre-show was happening, and missed a lot that was happening at left stage with each act. But all in all, I would recommend this show to anyone. It was amazing the acrobatics these people can do. FYI, If your ticket says (splash Zone) on it, don't be alarmed, you won't get soaked, maybe a light misting from splashing in the pool. And lastly I booked the Vip reality tv tour. Where the tour guide took you to Tanked, Pawnstars, counts Kustoms, world of toys, the sports memorabilia store, and american restoration. Tbh I shouldn't of booked this tour. I was truly more interested in counts Kustoms, vegas rat rods and american restoration. Pawn stars just doesn't peak my interest. But to be fair, the tour guide was amazing, he had a lot of fun facts about vegas, and he had a seemingly bottemless pit of facts about all of these shows. The thing I hated the most was these venus were so boring to look at, I guess I wouldn't expect the stars to be there all the time, but lets be honest, thats truly what you wanna see, right? We did get to see the toy expert that comes on pawn stars and when we were at American Restoration Rick Dale was there working on an old 50s truck and he came out for pictures!. Each stop was 20 mins, there was more driving then stopping, would not recommend. I would certainly do the other tour which ends at vamped for lunch/supper. Don't ever go on these tours expecting to meet stars. So what did I do between and after all the stuff I had planned? I put about 50 000 steps/ day on my fit bit walking up and down the strip!!! looking at casinos, all the little stores, the people, everything, there is so much to see in Vegas. Tips: Wear good comfortable shoes, you will be walking A LOT Don't take anything from anyone on the strip, they are all an excuse to get you to stop and get money out of you, the free CD guys are the worst and the most sketchy looking. If you drink, I found going to CVS or walgreens to buy beer was the cheapest ( think 3$ got you a king can) and you can buy them one at a time. Don't buy alcohol at the resort unless you like over paying. A lot of people say don't shop on the strip, but I went to the fashion show to shop and didn't find the prices too bad, its the canadian exchange that killed me. I also bought couple pairs of shoes at DSW(hardrock). A lot of the resorts have some sort of free exhibit to check out (bellagio fountain, theres also a garden inside) for one example. I can't really give advice for people travelling with friends or loved ones, but if your solo, just enjoy your time. Don't let the big crowds fool you or scare you, try not to make eye contact with street people. Its so hard to explain the amount of things happening in Vegas, I bet you could go 100 times and not see everything. Things I regret: I stayed at the Excalibur, probably would stay at the MGM or Treasure Island next time. The rooms were out dated and didn't have that "oh wow" factor. I think next time I would do the helicoptor tour, more shows, a better vegas tour, and maybe drop the bucks and rent an exotic for the day just for that baller factor. If you plan on going on a trip and not spending much money, then you should probably plan a different place to go, but if you aren't afraid to spend a little, you aren't afraid of big crowds, drinking, gambling than vegas is absolutely amazing. I will be making this an annual trip for sure. Maybe next time I'll bring some friends, maybe not.
Trip report: four nights at Encore for anniversary for $8500
My wife (32F) and I (31F) had our one-year anniversary at Encore for four nights. We had previously spent our honeymoon doing the same Encore trip. All together, we’ve been to Vegas five times and Reno two times since meeting a few years ago. Heaven on Earth Cost: all-in, including transportation, lodging, entertainment, food, etc, we spent $8500. That includes our bankrolls of $1600 each. My wife left with $400 of her bankroll and I actually won $500, but we don’t return any of that to offset the $8500, we just add it to next trip’s bankroll. Lodging: we went with Encore, our favorite casino resort in the world. We prefer it to Wynn because it’s more intimate, has the Players Lounge (a special casino pit with couches and dealers in classy black dresses), sometimes has lower limits than Wynn, doesn’t get much tourist traffic from the strip or Palazzo, and it has natural light from the pool and the atrium next to high limit. Both Wynn and Encore are on the quieter side, but Encore even more so. We got the Panoramic Suite, which is the same as the regular Resort Suite, just on a higher floor. Comps: at the end of the trip I spoke with the on-duty casino host about comps. He gave me $150 and my wife $100 off our bill. I felt that was more than generous. While we did give them a ton of play (maybe 6 hours a day), we’re low rollers. I play craps, blackjack, baccarat, pai gow poker, pai gow tiles, and three card poker. My wife plays craps, blackjack, pai gow poker, three card poker, roulette, and slots. She goes to sleep earlier, which probably explains the difference in comps. Sat: we landed at 2pm after a slight delay. My wife surprised me by having a black Escalade waiting to take us to Encore. I’m a sucker for SUVs. We were directed to the express (electronic) check-in, which couldn’t scan our IDs or find our reservations, but an attendant helped us. We opted to wait for a strip-facing room, and were rewarded with a top floor (63rd) room. We changed in the bathroom and gave our bags to the bellhop, heading straight to the pool. There was a great energy there, lots of people, very sunny. We played $15 craps and got in the water. Encore Pool Casino After changing we had a wonderful dinner at Andreas. My wife is allergic to shellfish so she loves their vegan sushi. I tried foie gras which was too rich. After that we gambled for many hours in the Players Lounge, playing $10 craps and $15 blackjack (6:5). The cocktail waitress was able to get me port wine for free by going to the bars. We tried out Night Swim at Encore Beach Club. Total disaster, I’ll spare you the full story, but they put us in the regular line (not expedited entry that hotel guests get), and the pool was closed. We left 30 seconds after getting in and a great floor manager at the casino later that night helped us get a refund and gave us a ticket for a free meal at Jardin. That’s Encore service :-) Sun: started the day at Jardin. A beautiful restaurant but I find their options a little bit limited. Subtract alcohol and eggs and half the menu is gone! After that we went to the spa. Super beautiful and relaxing. I got my hair cut and styled at the salon, followed by makeup. My wife got a blowout. We both felt great after that and took lots of pictures. We headed over to Bellagio to play craps and eat dinner at Prime. We were nearly alone on the patio facing the fountains. Prime's patio Food was just amazing. The filet we split was an earthy brown on the inside. I wonder if that’s from dry aging, or from doing it sous vide. Either way the best filet I’ve ever had. Filet at Prime After that we went to Caesars to see Absinthe. It was super loud, but the show was fantastic!! Beauty at Absinthe :P Absinthe performers After the show we met with a colleague of mine in Caesars who was in town for a conference and showed him how to play craps. We finished the night at Encore, gambling mostly in the Players Lounge. Mon: woke up a little hung over to a room service breakfast of bacon, hash brown, and beignets. We went to check out Red Rock Casino but left in a grumpy state after an hour because of how loudly they play country pop in there, as well as commercials for their Players’ Card, which sounds just like a bad radio station ad, and creates a terrible atmosphere. For lunch we ate at Charlie’s Bar & Grill, and checked out Wynn’s completely redesigned sports book. The hot dog was great. I decided to get my first ever massage at Encore spa. It was beyond amazing, so profesional, so skilled. I used the hot tubs and reading room too. My wife took the opportunity to nap. I was doing well on bankroll so I played some $25 at 3:2 blackjack (instead of $15 at 6:5). Then we went to the buffet. We ate too much! But it was amazing. I made sure to get plenty of crab legs this time, while my wife was given a personal tour from the chef to show her what was safe to eat. He even offered to personally cook any item separately to make certain there was no cross-contamination with shellfish. Wynn Buffet We both felt uncomfortably stuffed after that. Gambling in the Players Lounge rounded out a great day. Tues: woke up to a delicious mango from room service. The day before they said no mangoes were ripe. If they don’t have a perfect mango, they don’t serve it :-) We walked to to Venetian/Palazzo. We ate lunch at Grimaldi’s which served a wonderful thin crust pizza in a NY themed setting. Pizza at Grimaldi We toured the mall, got some Honolulu cookies, and gambled in the Venetian. It was a little hectic in there for my taste. However, you can play in the high limit room for only a $50 bacc bet, which I thought was a great value. Next we did the Star Wars virtual reality attraction, which we loved. After that we went to Palazzo. I liked that Palazzo was less crowded, with fewer tourists running through. I played some $25 Pai Gow Poker in the green chip pit next to the high limit room while wifey played slots--she was very excited to find a Casablanca machine. We canceled our dinner reservations at Lakeside and decided to get room service. I ate a delicious Reuben sandwich with chicken noodle soup and she ate a cheese melt with tomato soup. We finished the night in Encore’s Player Lounge as usual. Weds: we started with room service of scrambled eggs and english muffins. While my wife packed I talked to the casino host who gave us some great comps off our room bill. I played some bacc in the high limit room, winning $300 as a fantastic sendoff. My wife, on her way out, placed a single $100 blackjack (3:2) bet and got dealt a ten and an ace, blackjack! It was a great moment. The black Escalade took us to McCarran and we were on our way! Lessons learned: sleep in or you won’t feel right the rest of the day. Don’t try to eat too many high-end meals, they’re just too rich and leave us feeling overstuffed. Don’t go to the nightclubs if you’re expecting the same kind of personalized friendly service you get elsewhere on property. They’re pretty gruff, probably from dealing with drugged out 20-somethings. And the biggest lesson of all: spend a little extra to get exactly the trip you want. Encore charges a premium but to us it’s more than worth it. Thanks for Reading :-)
I'm in Las Vegas, leaving tomorrow. I have been staying at Mandalay Bay and attending a conference here. I have been here during the terrible mass murder. In the hope that this would be somewhat cathartic, I've written out what happened below. I'm not doing this to be a karma whore or to get reddit gold. Don't gild me. The text below is just a brain dump of what happened and how I feel - I haven't really tried to make it presentable or anything. Hope this is OK. Times aren't super accurate as I'm going from memory. My manager, his son and I were finishing our meal at "The House of Blues" (a restaurant within the Mandalay Bay complex - just off the casino floor). At around 10:10pm local time, our waitress yelled out that we were to all evacuate immediately, that there was a shooting taking place in the hotel. At about the same time we heard screaming and saw people running past the front of the restaurant. We were evacuated to outside the hotel, to a loading zone or rear entry of some sort. While outside, we heard some gunshots and more screaming. It sounded like someone with a gun was pretty close to us. At this stage, we had no idea what was going on - people thought that there were gunmen shooting people in the casino and on the streets like an execution squad. As everyone thought we were in danger, we were then evacuated back into the hotel through a service entrance to another restaurant (RM Seafood), where we (about 15 of us plus a handful of staff) were sitting at tables in a function room towards the rear of the restaurant. We sat with a pair of ladies who were attending the conference with us, from California. One of these ladies (we will call her "A") was becoming hysterical with panic, so I started talking to her and trying to calm her down; asking her about her family and pets, and trying to get her to think of something other than the situation we were in. I crouched in front of her and positioned my body to offer her some protection if shots were fired. At this point, police/military started storming the casino. We could see men with guns (who turned out to be police/military but it was hard to tell at the time with all the confusion) running past the restaurant shouting for people to get down. This was terrifying, as we expected bullets to start flying at any minute. "A" started going into shock/panic again. We all crouched around her to offer her some security/protection in case something happened and tried to put on a brave face to stop her from becoming more panicked. After twenty seconds or so, we crawled under the tables back to a service area which led to the Michael Jackson Theatre. At this point I got separated from my boss. He (and some other people) had stayed in the restaurant and crawled behind the bar. The ladies we were with had also left their bags in the restaurant during the panic. We burst into the theatre and were told to find a seat. It was apparent that the people in the theatre had no idea what was going on - many of them were clapping and cheering as if us running in all panicked was part of the show. The people in front of us turned around and asked what was going on. We told them there was shooting going on and we'd been evacuated in here, but to keep it quiet so as not to incite panic. Three heavily armed police entered the theatre and instructed the theatre staff to lock the exit doors from the inside. They spoke over the public address system that they were responding to "an incident in the casino", and that we needed to all stay in our seats, keep quiet, and keep the exist clear. They asked that the lights be kept off. Some people got up to see what was going on. The police yelled that they needed line of sight to the exits and for people to return to their seats. At this point, someone tried to open the door from the outside. The police officer yelled "GET DOWN NOW!" and raised his machine gun to the door. Everybody got down onto the floor in front of the seats, there was a lot of screaming. We expected a gunman to burst through the door an open fire. After a minute or so of nothing happening, we got back up. "A" started to panic again, and said she would feel more comfortable sitting near an exit, so we went with her and crouched down by one of the exit doors that led to the outside of the casino, next to the car park. I positioned myself in front of her to try and offer some protection and comfort her, and asked her to show us pictures of her children on her phone to try and help her calm down. At this point I think everyone in the theatre realised that something serious was going on, and started to take the situation very seriously. Shortly after, several more police officers arrived, and broke into teams of 2-3 per exit. They were armed with rifles, shotguns and machine guns. The police didn't seem to know what the threat was, and were acting like people with guns might burst through the doors at any minute. They kept the theatre in lock down for 2-3 hours. During this time we were not allowed to leave the theatre under any circumstances. People that needed to use the restroom had to urinate in plastic cups. We could overhear the radios that the police had on them, saying things like "reports of shots fired at New York New York, the Bellagio, the MGM Grand and several other hotels". We all thought that this was a coordinated terrorist attack. It was truly terrifying. During the initial lockdown, the police made an announcement over the PA system along the lines of "we have heard some people saying they are carrying concealed weapons. If you are carrying a concealed weapon DO NOT DRAW IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OR WE WILL SHOOT YOU". After 2-3 hours of lockdown, the police now thought that there were two shooters coming from the roof of the hotel, and that the reports of shootings on the streets and at other hotels were false. They secured the lobby of the theatre and assembled a strike team outside the lobby for our protection. They then allowed people to visit the lobby to use the restroom. At this point they moved the remaining people from the restaurant into the theatre. My boss was not allowed to bring the ladies' bags into the theatre, so he stashed them in a cupboard so they were safe. The theatre and lobby was kept under lockdown for another three hours or so while the SWAT team were clearing the casino floor and each floor of the hotel room by room. People from the conference who were still in their rooms were texting us saying that SWAT had burst into their rooms guns up, made sure there was no threat, and then left. This spooked many of the conference attendees who later required counselling (put on by the conference organisers). We were told that the entire hotel had been marked as a crime scene, and that we would be unable to return to our rooms. The police arranged for busses to evacuate the 1500-ish people in the theatre to various places - a site near the airport, a local university, a local sports field. They asked that the elderly, people with young children, and people requiring medical attention please line up for the first lot of busses. During this time, one lady started going into a seizure as she did not have access to her anti-seizure medication. The police made an announcement over the PA system asking if anyone had any of the specific medication she required. That was the last I heard of that so hopefully she was OK. As we were all able bodied and staying in the hotel, we stayed behind and did not evacuate during the initial rounds. The evacuation process took place over the next few hours. Over this time, through twitter, reddit and listening to the police scanner, we learned that there was only a single shooter, he was firing from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay to a country music festival "Route 91" that was over the road from the Mandalay, that he shot himself, that there was over 50 dead, they had found a bomb in the killer's car, and that, thankfully, we were never in any real danger (although I would later find out that the killer's car was filled with ammonium nitrate explosive, and it was parked metres away from the theatre in the hotel's car park). Throughout the lockdown, people were sleeping in aisles, sleeping on the floor, trying to call and message loved ones, eating and drinking food/drink from the concession stand (we were told to help ourselves at no charge), etc. People were sharing phone chargers to try and make sure we could all stay in contact with friends and family. A lady ("D") in front of us was worried about her one year old, who was in a hotel room with her grandmother. She was concerned that when her child awoke in the morning, there would be no substantial food in the hotel room. The manager of the theatre did everything he could - people were cold due to the air conditioning - had nothing to offer but napkins but did everything he could to try and make people comfortable. The theatre staff (who must have been equally terrified) were handing out water. I had a chat to some of the police, who mentioned they were getting tired and hoping that a new shift would come to relieve them soon. They had been on shift for about 14 hours. At around 6:30am, a new shift of police came to relieve the team that had been protecting us all night. We thanked them for keeping us safe and they promptly left, thanking us for being cooperative. At around 7:45am, the evacuations had finished. There was about 12 of us left in the theatre. My boss, his son, the two ladies we ran into, and a few more people. We were told that the SWAT team had cleared the hotel, and that we could go back to our rooms (with the exception of people staying on level 32 - I would later learn they were given new rooms). We were locked in the theatre for a total of around 10 hours. We went to RM Seafood with the ladies to retrieve their bags. We made sure they were OK and then we all went back to our rooms. From this point forward, there were guards posted in the lobby, many more guards patrolling the casino floor. Guards with sniffer dogs walking around the hotel and conference area. Impromptu metal detectors were set up at the entrance to the conference facility. Everyone entering for the remainder of the conference would be subject to airport-style security - metal detector checks and bags searched. We found out through talking to the hotel security staff that:
The killer had ordered room service, and then put the room service tray outside his room, camouflaging a security camera on the tray giving him a view down the corridor leading to his room.
The killer had a camera set up in his room, capturing the entire murder.
They knew the killer was on level 32, as the smoke from the machine gun set off the room's smoke alarm.
They had found around 23 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in the killer's hotel room. That the guns he used for the mass murder were mounted on tripods and fitted with scopes and "bump stocks", effectively making them into fully automatic assault rifles.
The killer would use one gun and shoot at one side of the crowd. The crowd would run to the other side of the festival field. He would then switch guns/windows and shoot them on the other side of the field. Sickening.
During the shooting, the hotel head of security went up to level 32 to try and evacuate innocent people. When the killer spotted him on the camera, he shot 200 rounds through the door of his room. The security guard was shot in the leg, but still managed to evacuate people.
When the SWAT team breached his room (with explosives on the door), they found him already dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The SWAT team found a large quantity of ammonium nitrate explosive in the killer's car (apparently a black audi), which was parked sickeningly close to the exit of the theatre where we were hunkered down. They believe his plan was to perform the shooting, arm the car bomb and escape, meaning for the car bomb to explode and demolish part of the hotel. I'm very thankful this didn't happen as it would have probably killed me. I feel sick just thinking about it
My hotel room overlooks the concert area. I've kept my windows shut as I did not want to see the bodies of the victims. I was told that they were still there to allow forensic investigators to document the crime scene. The front entrance of the hotel has remained closed, and there are road closures in place still. About half of the conference attendees left, including "A". Many have had counselling that was arranged by the conference organisers. Since this, Trump has come and gone, and today the vice president has come and gone. The death toll is up to 58. The hotel and casino is very quiet. The hotel staff are visibly shaken. That's my story. I'm so thankful that I'm alive and can come home to my wife and children, pet bird and the rest of my family. When I look back at the ordeal, the only thing that really happened to us was fear through misinformation and confusion during the shooting. I am not a real victim. The people at the festival that were shot are the real victims, and the people that were injured trying to help the fallen. Through this tragedy, I have seen both how disgustingly evil humanity can be, but also how amazingly selfless humanity can be. The red cross have more blood donations than they can handle. Seeing everyone look after each other in the theatre was amazing - everyone was looking after everyone else. Seeing the footage on the news of people helping the fallen get to safety, while bullets were raining down on them from above ... Words cannot describe the bravery of these people. The gun control debate is raging here. I have heard people say things like "after this, I will never leave home without my gun again", which to me is complete madness. I read in the news that sales of guns have skyrocketed, and that "bump stocks" have sold out of gun shops everywhere as people fear they will be banned. Again, this is madness to me. I will never return to America after this. I simply do not feel safe here knowing that people have access to these unnecessary weapons. Take care of one another. Love Mike.
Day 1. My fiance and i land and get to Mandalay Bay by about 7:30am, we figured it would be too early but tried to check in anyway. When we were checking in I asked if there were any complimentary upgrades available; She said we could move from a resort King strip view for a double queen room at the Delano. We decided to stick with the resort king which paid off because they ended up waiving our resort fees. Since we had a good amount of time until our room was ready we went to the buffet before going to the nearest dispensary and got a pen vaporizer then went to the Shark Reef aquarium which was pretty badass. We then worked our way down the strip going through each resort from Mandalay to MGM then down to Paris, we started getting close to time to start getting ready for dinner so we headed back to Mandalay. They said they would text/call between 12-1 for the room to be ready and we hadnt heard anything by 4, so we went to the counter to ask about it and that's how we got the resort fees waived. We got up there and my fiance took a short nap and i went down to the casino. We went to Batista's for my birthday dinner and i got a picture with Gordy. We walked back to the room from there with a few stops along the way and called it a night. Day 2. We're early risers so we get the most out of our trips, so by around 9:30 we started walking towards Bruxie's at NYNY for some chicken and waffles which was incredible. We rode the roller coaster at NYNY which was honestly a lot better than i expected, then we walked through all the resorts down to Ceasar's and got some Fat Tuesdays after my fiance did some shopping, then took the tram from Excalibur back to Mandalay to hang out by the pool for a little while. We had a reservation at Blue Ribbon Brassiere during their social hour and got a ton of oysters and stopped at an Art-o-Mat before leaving. We then went back to NYNY for our 7:00 show of Zumanity which was fantastic. When we got out we went across the street and got some orange julius then back to Mandalay; We gambled a little bit then went upstairs, showered and ordered some room service. Day 3. Pretty early morning again, we get crepes at 48th and Crepe and walk around the Aria until the Hofbrauhaus was open. We had a couple masses each and had some food while we were there for a couple hours. Then we were off to Fremont street, we hung out there for a few hours and did the zipline. The pictures turned out good enough for us to actually buy them all haha. We then went to the stratosphere and got to the top before deciding neither of us were down to do any of the rides but we got the amazing view. We found a cool spot to have a preroll we got at the dispensary before getting a lyft in one of those self-driving BMW's back to Mandalay to get ready for dinner. We got ready and went out to SLS for our dinner at Bazaar Meats which was by far the best meal of my life, expensive but absolutely worth it. Then we went to see the Bellagio fountains then had another preroll before making our way to the Skyfall lounge for our final night out, the view was incredible. Day 4. Up early to check out and give the bell desk our bags, i was obsessed with Bruxies so my fiance got Krispy Kreme donuts and i got bruxies again. We went down to the Venetian for a little while to shop and look around. No matter how old i am I'll always be suckered into the magic shops and those damn magicians are good sales people lol. We went back through our random casinos that we had vouchers for to get our money or play a little and tried to soak in our last walk through the strip before heading out to the airport. We didn't do a lot of drinking or anything crazy but it was by far the best vacation i've ever had and we'll be back as soon as we can. Thank you to everyone who gave suggestions on where to eat and what to do, it definitely helped out a lot. TLDR; My fiance and i had a badass first time in Vegas, ton of great food and great people. Zumanity was fantastic and we'll for sure be back.
Hello all, My fiancee and I are planning a vegas wedding for 2018. I am sure some of you have had or been to vegas weddings before. My questions are pretty simple so I'll just get straight to the point: 1.) Any idea how much these weddings cost to have at a major casino? We would like to have it at a nice place (Mirage, Venetian etc) as opposed to one of the lower tier casinos. 2.) Is there a certain venue that you would advise for or against? 3.) We honestly think we will have around 200-250 people actually come (our families are awesome). Is this feasible for the venues at the major hotels/casinos? Any other information anyone can let me know about this would be greatly appreciated!
I'm planning a trip for my wife my parents and I in May. My older sister has gone and states she stayed at the Excalibur, it was nice but was a walk. As I am taking my parents I'm not really into walking the whole time. And as I've read there is a lot of walking. What would be a couple hotels that are cost effective and cut a little walking out. We are going for gambling mostly (so best casinos for slots) and a couple vegas must dos. Can anyone help?
It’ll come as no shock to you that Las Vegas is not the most pleasant city in the world. From the insane cabs that won't hesitate to steamroll you right into the ground, to the borderline-toxic stench wafting from the sewer grates, it's easy to see why the place wouldn't top too many travel lists. But as I sit in this cheap hotel room about two hours from the Strip, typing with the one arm I have left, I know for a fact that I will never return to Las Vegas. “Hey, hey!” Reggie said as I walked up to the gate. “There he is! what took you so long?” Mike said, giving me a high five. We had been planning this for months. My friend Danny was getting married, and we had decided to have the bachelor party in Vegas. Behind Danny’s back, we had all chipped in to book a suite at the Bellagio hotel. We were obviously pumped for a weekend of slots, booze, and girls. “Where's Danny?” I asked, dropping my carry-on. “Went to the bathroom”, Reggie said, pulling a handful of chips out of a bag under his chair , “ he’ll be back in a minute”. Mike leaned into me and Reggie, and lowered his voice. “Alright boys, final check. Reggie, you booked the room, right?” He blinked a couple of times and scratched his stubbly chin. “Uhh… yeah”. “Awesome. Mitch, you got our rental car?” I held up my receipt. “ Of course”. “Alright!” Mike said a bit too loudly. “Alright what?” A familiar voice rang out from behind us. I turned around to see Danny walking towards us, shaking water off his hands. His khaki pants and button up shirt putting to shame my sweat pants and faded hoodie. “Jesus. Nicole must really be changing you, man”, I said, laughing and pulling him into a hug. “Trust me man, if I had never met her, I’d be naked half the time.” A few minutes later, they called our flight. With a few whoops from Reggie, we boarded the plane. Two hours later we had touched down in Sin City. Reggie went to check in for the rental car while the rest of us watched the turntables for our luggage. As I absentmindedly watched the perpetual row of bags emerging from the plastic-flap-covered opening, I suddenly felt eyes on me. I raised my eyes from the bags and saw who those eyes belonged to. On the other side of the concourse, leaning against a wall, one guy stood out from the crowd. A black guy in his early twenties, wearing what appeared to be an old timely bellhop uniform. The gold buttons on his crimson jacket gleamed under the fluorescent lights. As I stared at him, with no small amount of confusion, the man whistled at me in two short bursts, equal in pitch, as if he were calling a dog. Dan put his hand on my shoulder, making me jump slightly. We picked up the rental car and made our way to the Strip. As we gawked at the lavish hotels with flashy signs that could’ve been seen from the stratosphere, Danny turned to me. “ Shouldn't we get to the hotel first?” I smiled at him. “Sounds good to me,” I said turning into the Bellagio’s self parking area. “Wait…” Danny’s eyes lit up “ you didn't..” “ 15th floor.” Danny looked like a kid on Christmas morning. I will never forget that face. “You didn't tell me you got a suite!” Danny said as he looked around the gigantic room we had rented. “Anything for the man of the hour”, I said, shoving the pocket sized Fireball I had bought on the plane into the mini fridge. “What’re we sitting around here for?” Reggie yelled, emerging from the bathroom. Mike looked up from his phone “ there’s a sick nightclub at Caesars Palace. Let's check it out.” After shot number four, I was feeling like a king.I made my way from the bar back to my table, through the crowds of people silhouetted against the multicolored lights of the club, and found Danny,Mike,Reggie, and a girl who Reggie introduced as Lolita. After shooting Reggie my world-famous she’s-not-staying-the-night glare, I took my seat and laughed at the tail end of the joke Mike was telling. After a few minutes, I noticed a rather out of place man a few feet from our table. He looked like a real greaseball, with a shiny balding head that housed a combover synonymous with the word creepy. Had I not been so hammered, I would have been more suspicious when he walked up to our table. “Hello Gentlemen” He said with a grin that showed off slightly crooked, yellowish teeth. “You seem like the kind of guys that belong in some place other than a cramped one room night club. Perhaps someplace more… exclusive would better suit you.” Eying Danny’s expensive blazer and tie clip, the man leaned in close, putting his hands on the table. “ I'll cut right to the chase: if you follow me, I'll take you to the most exclusive casino in Vegas.” He raised his eyebrows. I turned to see what the guys thought, only to see Danny standing up from his seat, with Reggie close behind. I turned to look at Mike. He shrugged. “What the hell! It's Vegas after all,” Mike stood up and I followed suit, jogging a few paces to catch up with the group. After passing a row of Rocky Horror Picture Show themed slot machines, the greasy man banged open a door marked “Staff Only” to reveal a dark staircase with lights strung on either side of the stairs like a movie theater. Reggie let Lolita go first with a slurred,“ladies first”, Reggie then took a step down,stumbled, and proceeded to slide down the stairs, taking out Lolita like a lone bowling pin. Danny,Mike and I had to grip the handrails as we descended, due to us laughing so hard. A strange mix of thick perfume and cigarette smoke greeted our nostrils at the bottom of the stairs. Mike could barely hold back a gag as we walked further down the hall. As we rounded a corner, I saw a large golden sign above the main entrance to the casino. “The Thomas Bernard club of Las Vegas” It read, with the image of two dice outlined with fire underneath. “Before everyone gets started, will you follow me please!” The greasy man said, leading us past rows of blackjack tables to a blue metal door that seemed out of place with the rest of the casino. “Here,” said the greasy man, abruptly open the door, “ is where you join the club”. “Choose anywhere you want, sir.” The tattoo artist said, as Reggie sat down in the chair. If I had been in better shape, I would have thought that a tattoo was a pretty weird membership requirement. “ I'll give you $100 if you get it on your ass” Dan said, giggling. Reggie wasted no time dropping his jeans and pointing out the perfect place on his right cheek. Within the hour, Reggie was holding a mirror to admire the Devil’s Tongue flower that had been printed on his butt. Dan came next, who got his on his left shoulder blade. Mike got his on his bicep. He told us he could make it dance, but winced in pain as soon as he flexed. Reggie practically fell over laughing. I got mine on my left shoulder. As I stood from the chair, the greasy man entered. “All set?” He asked in a jovial tone. We nodded. “Excellent!” The man said, clapping his hands together, “Have fun!”. All four of us exited the room, and Reggie immediately jumped on one of the slot machines, dragging Lolita behind him. Strange, I had forgotten Lolita was even with our group. Did she even get a tattoo? Dan grabbed my shoulder. “ we're headed to the craps table. Come on!”. An hour later, I was running the craps table like a champion. Cheers went up every time I rolled the dice, and a particularly good looking girl in a short club dress had been making eyes with me across the table the whole time. I jumped out between games and asked if she wanted to grab a drink. After we ordered,the girl grabbed my arm. “Have you heard the rumors about this place?” she whispered to me, with eyes that sparkled with curiosity. “Like what?” I replied, taking a sip of my beer. “Like about the people who run this place? I heard one of them went insane.” She spoke with the voice of an idle teenager, and I found myself slightly on edge as I responded. “Really? Interesting.”my hand curled tighter around the bottle I was holding. The bartender startled me when he walked over to us. “Miss, that's only a rumor. Trust me, I've worked here for almost 30 years. Mr. Bernard and his brother were killed when the boiler underneath their personal ski lodge exploded one winter. Bodies were never recovered. Horrible ordeal.” The bartender said, looking past us into thin air for a second, before turning to help a big buff dude who had just approached the bar. Something had seemed… weird about that bartender. He had rattled that story off almost as if he had memorized it beforehand. Like he’d had to say it more than once .I glanced in the direction the bartender had looked, where two casino security guards were staring directly back at me. “Hey are you ok?” The girl’s words snapped me back to reality, and I was vaguely aware that my hands were shaking. “Yeah” I said, clearing my throat. “Will you excuse me for a second?” She barely got a chance to respond before I was sprinting away from the bar. Something definitely wasn’t right. I needed to find the guys. Dan wasn’t at the craps table. As I ran down the rows of bright, flashing slot machines, air reeking of cigarette smoke filling my lungs, I began to well and truly panic. I felt like I was drowning on dry land. I needed to find the guys. I must not have been running as straight as I thought; I ran into a group of people, and almost knocked a few down. Turning a corner, I saw Reggie and Lolita, facing a slot machine at the end of the aisle, seated with their backs to me. Relieved, I sprinted over to them. As I got closer, my relief slowly melted into horror. The first thing I noticed was that Lolita was crying, tears streaming down her face, smearing her cheap makeup and turning her tears black with mascara. Then I noticed that she was whispering something I couldn’t hear into Reggie’s right ear. The third thing I noticed was that Reggie was dead. Not just dead. He looked like a burn victim. Though somehow his shoulder length hair and thick glasses remained in tact, his skin was a sickening, ashy black. His eyes were gone, and his mouth was open in a silent scream of agony. The final thing I noticed, and something that has rattled around in my brain for years, was that Reggie’s right hand was clutching his right buttock. Right where he had gotten his tattoo. His other hand was melted to his phone, where what was left of the screen displayed the frozen image of a phone call marked “Mom”. I don’t know what I intended to say when I opened my mouth, but before I got the chance, I wretched, and vomited my dinner all over the tacky casino carpet. The room began spinning again, my skull throbbed like my brain had been replaced with a hornets nest. What the hell just happened? Why was no one else helping, or even noticing? That’s when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “ You don’t look well, friend.” The voice was the exact opposite of comforting. I looked up and found myself face to face with the greasy guy that brought us here. He was so close I could smell his rancid breath under a thick shroud of cologne. “Here, come with me.” I wanted to protest, to get this disgusting man away from me, but I was so in shock that I could only stand there as he put a hand on my back and guided me away from Reggie’s corpse. It took me a while to realize that he hadn’t noticed him. Or if he did, he sure as hell didn’t say anything. The next thing I remember is sitting in a large, comfortable chair. I looked around and found I was in a lavish office, similar in design to the suite we had bought for the bachelor party. One thing that caught my eye, however, was the Devil’s Tongue flower in a vase on the bar. That was when all of the memories of what had happened flooded back into my head. I went to stand up from the chair, but found I was unable to pull myself from it. Why was I so weak? “Don’t bother” a voice came from behind the chair. I heard the sound of wheels on the carpet, and I started panicking all over again. My mind was awash with fear as saw through the large mirror on the wall,what, or rather, who was being brought in. The greasy man from earlier was wheeling in a wheelchair with an IV bag attached to it, as well as a respirator. But I quickly realized it wasn’t for me. In the chair was what appeared to be the charred corpse of a man, barely more than a blackened skeleton in a pinstriped suit. His eyes were covered by the gauze wrapped around the top half of his head. Even so, the two black stains on the gauze right where his eyes should be made me feel like he could see more of me than I would ever like. Before I had a chance to say anything, ask why I was being shown this horrible sight,the greasy man shot me a wink and left. The door slammed, And as I sat helplessly, the corpse spoke. “Allow me to introduce myself” despite how emaciated he appeared, the “man” spoke with perfect clarity. “ I am Mr. Thomas Bernard. I suppose you’ve already heard about me, though.” Mr. Bernard sharply inhaled through the nasal respirator. “What the hell?” I was able to sputter our in my dazed state. “Yes I know. You’re thinking I should be deep in the Colorado mountains,frozen under layers of ice in the ruins of a long forgotten ski lodge. And above all, I should be dead, right?” My mind warped like heated metal. My mouth could only take in shallow, staccato breathes. What had they done to me? “If you haven’t already guessed, that story is about as true as the cheater at a poker table.” Said what was left of Mr. Bernard, with a chuckle that sounded fit for a crow with a broken neck, “Now I guess, considering you don’t have that much time left, I can tell you about how I came to own this...place”Mr Bernard said, seeming to choose the last word carefully. “In my prime, I was the greatest businessman on the face of the earth, if I do say so myself. With monopolies in real estate, car manufacturing, and specifically… casinos. I owned some of the most popular casinos in the United States, and ended up bringing more tourists to Nevada then anytime in recorded history. I was a king.” “ I believe it was a Wednesday. I remember going to sleep in my house, and waking up in a room that I could only describe as...as beautiful beyond the concept of beauty. It was as large as a stadium, surrounded by pillars connected by large, medieval arches. The floor was an intricate, polygonal mural that seemed to shift wherever I stepped. The pillars were covered with carvings. Looking closer, I found that these carvings were all different languages, From English, to French to Korean. Towards the bottom of the pillars, languages that were so old I hardly recognized them. Looking up, I noticed that the arches sat in the middle of the pillars rather than the top, and the pillars rose high above them into murky darkness.” Under the desk, I gained movement in my left big toe. “A voice emanated from the infinite darkness surrounding me.” Mr. Bernard’s emaciated hands gripped the arms of the wheelchair. “I felt both fear and comfort in that moment. It was a voice unlike any other; Speaking English, yet somehow devoid of any accent or defining speech pattern.” “ I was dead. I had died in my sleep, and was now in what it referred to as Fegefeuer. And whatever dwelled in this place…” Bernard leaned forward, and I swear I could hear his bones creaking and popping beneath his suit. By now I had completely regained feeling below my left ankle, and was swiftly feeling more and more of my entire leg. “ ...offered me a choice. To my right, a simple, red door appeared. ‘Through that door,’ the voice whispered, ‘is your afterlife. And this…’ from behind me came the bright, twinkling glow. Turning, I saw the geometric tapestry of the floor morph into a city street, and the pillars into Vegas strip signs. ‘is the powerful, regal life you ran prior to this very moment.’ Everything below my waist tingled as though it had fallen asleep, and was regaining feeling. “I suppose you’ve been wondering why I look the way I do, Mr. Ross.” Bernard said, leaning back in his chair. “ I am a man of chance. My gambling has lead me to the most extravagant experiences and luxuries on this earth. I have also lost fortunes the working man could only dream of. With the future of my existence hinging on one choice… I played it safe.” Even with barely any flesh still attached to his blackened skull, and his eyes covered by bandages, I could clearly see anger spreading across his face, making small pieces of flesh fall like bits of paper into the ashtray on his desk. “It didn’t like that. One. Bit.” And that’s when Mr Bernard stood up. I don’t know why, of all things, that haunts me the most. The fact that such a spindly, crude mockery of the human form had the ability ( or at least the compulsion) to stand as a man would. “Come one more!” Bernard suddenly roared, pulling me up by the front of my shirt so that we would be eye to eye if his head were not wrapped in gauze, “Maybe now I can sleep!”. I realized very quickly his ramblings were not directed at me, as the vacant stains on the gauze were aimed off in the distance. Beyond the walls of the office. As quickly as he had lifted me, Bernard dropped me. “Not Enough?” He said, his voice suddenly strained, hands clutching his head. I realized in that moment that all of my feeling had returned. I knocked the chair over sprinting out of the office. Strange enough, it was not locked. As I sprinted down the hallway back to the casino, I began hearing something loud. As I rounded the corner back into the casino, it dawned on me exactly what that sound was. Dozens of voices, all screaming. All around me, people were screaming for help, or groaning in pain. It was then that I started…smelling it. Burning flesh tearing through the tomblike shroud of the casino’s stench. I saw people who seemed healthy an hour earlier crumpling to the floor, clutching at various body parts. I thought nothing. I ran, ignoring the dampness at the crotch of my pants. Ignoring the sweat running into my eyes, causing me to slightly stumble. Ignoring the group of three people I pushed through. That is, until I heard Danny’s terrified voice. “Mitch! HELP ME!” his voice cracked in desperation, trying to free himself from the grip of the two security guards holding each of his arms. I turned back, dazed and petrified, as I watched my friend get dragged further into the crowds of writhing bodies. If she had not been there in that moment, I would have never made it to the door ten feet from where I stood. I would have crumpled onto that singed casino carpet and shut down like a robot in a cartoon. But the girl from the bar was there, and I didn’t realize it until she grabbed a hold of my suit jacket. She screamed one word into my face: “Run!”. I lunged to the door, and it came off its hinges as soon as I pulled on the handle. As I fell out into the dark corridor, I turned and watched as the entire casino seemed to...disassemble. Slot machines became bare wires and sparking lights. Roulette wheels telescoped upwards in layers. The ceiling seemed to melt into concrete and steel beams. My eyes were fixed, however, on the girl in the black dress, crawling on her elbows towards the doorway. I hadn’t noticed how radiant her light green eyes were, until the moment before her head was crushed by a large antique fire extinguisher. Her defined cheekbones and long brunette hair were suddenly lost in a mess of blood and jagged teeth. My eyes rose to the person responsible, and I initially could not understand what I was seeing. I knew it was the man who had lead us to the club, but his face was nothing more than a pile of flesh that wouldn’t look out of place on the Elephant Man. Bulbous skull, eyes swollen shut, and a wide mouth with no teeth. A mouth that was laughing. I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see the man in the bellhop uniform, the one who I had seen in the airport. He walked forward until he stood parallel with me, and turned. He gave me an acknowledging nod, then walked into the casino. As he did, the doorway gave off a blinding white light. There was a sound like lightning hitting a gas truck. Then, nothing. I stood up, and stared at the solid concrete wall where the hellish casino had stood. I knew then that I had witnessed something no one else would believe. People gave me strange looks as I walked down the strip, but I hardly noticed. I made it to the rental car, and the next thing I remember is standing at the front desk of a motel. I sat on the bed,not knowing what to think or feel. My questions outnumbered my answers one thousand to one, and even attempting to comprehend the tiniest things: The guards, her eyes, the roulette wheel breaking,that bellhop… and Danny’s voice, saturated with terror, fading into the dynn of screams. My phone buzzed on the bedside table, and I didn’t have to look to see it was Nicole calling me again. I stood and looked out the window, at the sun rising over the barren desert. Staring into that crimson ball of gas, all of my anger and confusion funneled into one solid pit in my stomach. I felt so… small. It took me a second to notice the burning pain shooting down my arm. I heard myself yelling, and felt the pain pulsing in my left shoulder. I frantically removed my shirt to see that the veins around the Devil’s Tongue tattoo had turned black. One more answer I didn’t need. I spent hours cutting off my arm in the bathtub with the swiss army knife I kept in my back pocket. I used my belt as an improvised tourniquet, and bit down on one of the bath towels. I was scared when the first blood started to drip. After a while, it became nothing more than a morbid chore, intercut by crying and grunting from the pain. When I had finished,I covered my stump with the towel. The ambulance should be on its way right about now. We’ll see if it runs into any stubborn taxi drivers along the way.
Going to Vegas in July - I've been doing my research so hope this can help others.
I'm going in July and have done some research. Plenty of this is from the sidebar, but other notes are from many of other sources. The Vegas Degenerate Tour ( . ) ( . ) Things to do:
Drugs
Hookers
Bellagio Fountains (free)
Mirage Volcano Show (free)
The lounge at the top of the Mandarin Oriental - Super Classy with amazing night time views, sexy patrons and great cocktails
Wet Republic - Rent cabana 2 months in advance
Las Vegas Helicopter Night Flight with VIP Transportation £65pp
Grand Canyon Skywalk - Apparently Expensive and not that good - you have to take a bus to get there and it is $30 each. Go to Grand Canyon south instead.
The Strip Gun Club Range
Sapphires pool party - strippers pool party!!!
Fremont Street Experience at night.
Container Park, which is a few blocks east of the Freemont St. Experience, a 2 foot recycled steel praying mantis (acquired from Burning Man) spits giant fireballs to the beat of music A LOT. Lots of half naked men and women. LOTS (free)
Ghost Bar at the Palms has amazing views. Check Groupon for deals. Happy hour 8-10pm
Stratosphere rides
Stratosphere bar at the top. Happy hour 2 hours after open
High Roller observation wheel. Get a car with the open bar.
Monte Carlo minus 5 Ice bar. Everything is made out of ice! Bar, glasses, seating - everything
RiRa Irish bar with live music and good Guinness after 9pm
The Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay, live music and amazing strip views
Strip clubs: Spearmint Rhino, Hustler Club and Crazy Horse--those are our top 3 Rhino and Horse are high end and classy
Top Golf location, just behind MGM. 5 levels of golf driving range, mixed with music, food and drinks. There are also 2 pools, free to use.#
Dig This drive diggers and bulldozers.
Spa in the ARIA is amazing with good treatments.
Alibi show http://alibitheshow.com/ This experience throws the audience into an exciting adventure around the streets, restaurants, bars and other real-life locations on the Las Vegas Strip.
There is so much free stuff going on up and down the strip though that you can just do all the free stuff and not spend a dime. From street dancers, people singing, or pictures with a grown dude wearing a diaper.
Eclipse cinemas downtown for an over 21s only luxury cinema experience with cocktails and good food.
Drinks are ALWAYS cheaper inside the casinos on Fremont than outside
Harrah's has a "Million Dollar Pull" where you just go up and play a slot machine for free with the chance to win $1 million. Even if you don't win a million, you will always win something.
If you want to go to top of the Stratosphere go to the desk to the right of the entrance and say you want to go to the bar. You won't have to pay the $15 to go to the top.
Have the clubs pick you up in their limos because all the cab/ubelyft/limo drivers get a kick back on anyone they drop off to the clubs and same with the VIP card guys! So if you don't use the free limo ... THE CLUB HAS TO CHARGE YOU A COVER!!! If you use the clubs FREE limo service they can sometimes wave that cover charge!! (that's like $20 a person!)
Check for Groupon deals.
Make sure you all download the Uber and Lyft app. Both offer new user signup credits. Free rides.
A $400 Pre-Authorisation charge for resort fees and ‘amenities’ was taken as expected upon check in. I would recommend UK visitors to take a Cash Passport MasterCard (available in Thomas Cook and other travel agents)
é by Jose Andres inside Jaleo inside Cosmo. Only 8 seats, reservations by email only ([email protected]) starting 3 months prior to the res date, 23 courses. $190/person(?) without alcohol pairing
Raku in Chinatown does amazing 8/12 course tastings for $70/100 a person
The tasting, or "seasonal discover menu" at L'Atelier is up to $165 per person
Eiffel Tower restaurant is a Must for dinner!!!!!!!! Fantastic view of the strip
Good steakhouses serve food at the restaurant bar and the bartender has seen some shit. So much more fun for a party up to three and the service is over the top.
Delmonico's in Venetian at the bar. The cocktails and food were amazing.
Mushashi's dirty show (Japanese steak with a naughty show for the girls.) Midnight to 4am happy hour.
Secret Pizza. A secret pizza place. Needs research! Inside the Cosmopolitan
Bachi Burger – also to reunite with a previous memory. I still think this is one of the top 3 burgers I’ve ever had. The oxtail chili cheese fries are recommended by others to be a “must”, but I personally prefer the truffle fries.
Monta Ramen – I’m a huge ramen fan and I understood this was the –best- ramen place in Vegas.
Sweets Raku – in the same complex as Monta Ramen. They have some neat desserts that they make right in front of you, lovely experience.
Wicked Spoon Buffet at the Cosmo. Everything was really good and the deserts were awesome.
Brunch @ Bacchanal Buffet, Caesar’s Palace – This was awesome! We had the groupon deal and it was impressively cheap. Midway through our meal they switched to their lunch menu so we got the best of both worlds there.
Gordon Ramsey’s Burgr – onion rings were incredible. The burger was pretty good as well.
Earl of Sandwich - I could seriously eat these every day.
Studio B Buffet @ M Resort
The "Heart Attack Grill" lets you eat free if you weigh over 350 pounds.
Marriage Can Be Murder - This is a dinner / theater / murder mystery / whodunit show at the D downtown. Includes tasty food, extreme audience participation and likely embarrassment. You may be called upon to dance, or play a character in the murder mystery. Comes with tasty food, cocktails available.
For dinner, I highly recommend BLT Steak House in Ballys Hotel and Red8 in The Wynn - if you are a food lover, BLT’s is particularly worth the extra!
Sex/Swingers Clubs (Or; no, you filthy pervert - what's wrong with you?)
I went on vacation to Las Vegas with my wife from July 2nd-7th. This was my 5th trip and our 3rd together. Here's my (excessively long) trip report: Hotel This time we stayed at the Cosmopolitan, and we had a Terrace Studio Fountain View room. It was our first stay at Cosmo (I'd been to Wynn, Luxor, Aria Sky Suites, and Bellagio previously), and the hotel was great. I thought our room was nicer than the one we had at Bellagio last year and for a cheaper price (friend who is a travel agent got us a pretty good deal). Literally the only downside I can think of is not being able to listen to the fountain music on TV. We were in the Chelsea Tower (which is larger than Boulevard), and had a great balcony view. Cosmo definitely attracts a younger crowd than some of the other casinos on the strip- lots of people in their 20s and 30s staying here. There are two main pools, one in each tower. When we went down to the Chelsea Pool around 11am on the 3rd, literally every seat was already taken. Note: Chelsea Tower is much larger than Boulevard, but its pool is much smaller. We hiked over to the Boulevard Pool and settled in. Great view looking over the strip with a livlier atmosphere than you'll find at the Bellagio's pools. Also worth noting the water is pretty shallow- no more than 4' deep. The most amusing part of our swimming experience was watching an Asian kid, probably 10 years old, swim all around the place, bumping in to every other group there, and saying hi. Seemed odd that he was basically on his own at that age, but he was clearly having a helluva time. One of the best parts about Cosmo is its location- right in the center of the strip, which makes an easy walk to most of the other casinos. It has a great selection of restaurants (see below) and modern decor as well. One notable omission in my opinion is it doesn't have any shows/productions in house. The casino also doesn't have a poker room, but I didn't end up playing during this trip anyhow. Easy walk to the Bellagio or Aria poker rooms regardless. Checkin to the hotel was very easy. Our flight got in to Vegas at about 8am on Sunday, so the room wasn't ready yet when we arrived. They took down all my info, and we left our bags with the bellhop. They sent a text message when the room was ready around noon, and they brought the bags up to our room. I used the online checkout on Friday morning. Easy peasy. Uber Side note- I'd never used Uber before this trip. Definitely recommend it for others in the same boat. Cheap/easy to use, and I liked riding with the average Uber driver more than the average cabbie. Each hotel has its own pickup/dropoff location for UbeLyft- just ask any employee, and they'll point you in the right direction. I never had to wait more than five minutes to get my ride. Shows/attractions The only show we saw on this trip was Ka at the MGM Grand. I'd pretty much recommend any Cirque du Soleil show on the strip- they're all pretty amazing. O at the Bellagio is probably my favorite, but Ka was great in its own right. Supposedly it's unique among Cirque shows in that it has a big storyline, but uh... I'd just say there's not much of one. Amusing moment before the show: I get a text message from my wife, who is sitting right next to me. "Am I sitting next to a drag queen?" I looked over. Yes, yes you are. We also made a trip to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. I felt like the line for tickets was pretty absurdly long. I realized the reason for that when we got in- the whole aquarium was about half as big as I expected, so they needed to keep the flow of people in fairly slow. Having said that, the exhibits they did have were great, and there was no shortage of staff floating around to answer any questions you might have. Definitely a good spot to bring the family to in Vegas. Food The biggest reason we love Vegas is the food. Yes, my wife and I are the annoying people who post pictures of thier food on Facebook. The great thing about Vegas is there's multiple restaurant for just about any cuisine you can imagine right on the strip. Wicked Spoon Buffet at Cosmopolitan (7-2-17 brunch): I like to hit up a buffet once whenever I visit Vegas, and none have disappointed. These places definitely aren't the Golden Corral. Our flight got in pretty early Sunday, so stuffing ourselves at the buffet and having extra time before dinner seemed like a good idea. To start things off, I'm a sucker for an omelette station, so I grabbed a Denver style omelette. Added some cheesy hash brown casserole (one of the best things I had), and a verrine. I have no idea what a verrine is, but it was basically a shot glass filled with mashed avocado, grapefruit, and a bit of crab. Good stuff. Had I stopped here, I would have had a normal sized brunch by most people's standards. Of course the entire point of a Vegas buffet is getting full value by stuffing yourself so full you can't walk, so I made more trips. Next up I grabbed a jerk chicken thigh, a few pieces of spicy tuna sushi, some house-made italian sausage, and yogurt/fruit. The jerk chicken was perfect in that after the first bite I thought- that's not that spicy. 3 bites in, I'm feeling it a bit. By the end, I'm chugging my coffee/juice. Finally it was time for dessert. When I first visited Vegas back in 2005, my friend informed me that the #1 rule of Vegas buffets is that you must try the bread pudding. You are not supposed to question the reasoning behind the rule, nor are you supposed to debate whether it's necessary. You simply do it. Wicked Spoon featured a bourbon white chocolate bread pudding. It was good, but I wasn't sure what to make of it since it tasted more like butterscotch than bourbon to me. I also had half a mango danish and some little chocolate tart. I thought I was done at this point until my wife brought back some gelato. I couldn't sit there and watch her eat, so I ended up getting some coconut-lime gelato for myself. The selection is pretty ridiculous- about 18 flavors to choose from. After the gelato, I finally waved the white flag. Picasso at Bellagio (7-2-17 dinner): We've been wanting to visit Picasso for a while now. I was going to book a reservation here for our honeymoon back in 2014, but as it turns out they typically take a 2 week vacation in July every year. We ran into the same problem last year, but they were open on Sunday the 2nd this time before closing. Finally, we had our chance. Picasso is basically fancy-pants French fine dining at its best. If you've ever seen the movie Ocean's Eleven, the restaurant scene was filmed there. We were seated at a table next to the window with the Bellagio fountain outside, and my wife had a real Picasso painting above her shoulder. So uh... not bad. I wore a suit and tie, but you really don't need to- wear khakis and a nice shirt, and you'll fit in fine. We both ordered from the four course prix fixe tasting menu. My goal when eating out at nice places is to get stuff I don't cook myself / haven't tried much before. First course I got the poached oysters. The dish was basically smooth, melt-in-your-mouth like butter. Next up was the foie gras. This was the second time I've foie gras, and I've decided it's just not my thing. I could tell it was prepared properly, but I just don't think it has much flavor. The rhubarb chutney on the side was good, though. For the entree, I had the roasted milk-fed veal chop. After the first bite I literally started laughing, basically thinking, "Where has this been all my life?" Literally one of the best things I've ever eaten. If I had to nitpick, it was cooked a touch rare for my liking. But it was amazing. I wanted a lighter dessert given how much food I'd stuffed myself with that day, so I got a pineapple tart with prickly pear sorbet. Almost too pretty to eat. Picasso is definitely the type of restaurant you take your date to if you're wanting to impress them. I like Le Cirque a bit more based on my two trips there previously. Le Cirque is a much smaller restaurant, just feels like a more intimate setting, and the service seemed a little more personal. But really you can't go wrong either way. Also, it was a nice touch seeing the chef, Julian Serrano, as we left the restaurant. China Poblano at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 lunch): The best way to explain China Poblano is that it seems like one person wanted to start up a Mexican restaurant at Cosmo, one person wanted to start up a Chinese restaurant, and then some executive asked, "Why don't we have both?" There are literally two different kitchens in the same restaurant, and the food is served tapas style- dishes just come out one by one whenever they're ready. We started off with the queso fundido for an appetizer- pretty standard stuff. I ordered two tacos from the Mexican menu, one taco suadero (brisket), one carnitas. The brisket was good, the carnitas was great. Because if eating a taco with pork rinds on it is wrong, then I don't want to be right. I decided to get Mongolian beef lettuce from the Chinese menu, because I remember reading an IAMA from a Chinese restaurant owner a while back who said that was one of the best things on the menu that people rarely ordered. And he was right. We skipped dessert since our stomachs were still half full from eating the day before. Estiatorio Milos at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 dinner): Milos is proof that food doesn't have to be fancy to be fantastic. They just use high-quality ingredients, use a simple preparation, and let the food do the talking. The neat part about this place is that they really don't have specific fish on the menu. Instead you walk up to the fish case, pick out the one you want, and let your server know how you want it prepared. And marvel at the produce while you're at it. We ordered the tzatziki as an appetizer, and at first I wasn't going to take a picture of it since it's just tzatziki. And then I tasted it. And I decided it deserved a picture- the best I've ever had. Next up was a Greek salad which was ridiculously good. Those definitely aren't the tomatoes you buy at Kroger. We chose lithrini, which seemed like a generic white fish, for our entree. Pan-seared with lemon, capers, and herbs. Some basic potatoes and broccoli for our sides. Milos is one of our top recommendations for people visiting Vegas. Milk Bar at Cosmopolitan (7-3-17 dessert): We skipped dessert at Milos because we wanted to try out the Milk Bar. I grabbed one of the much-hyped compost cookies, which I actually thought was nothing special, and a spiked chocolate malt milkshake. The shake was awesome. I ended up coming back later in the trip and got a spiked coffee shake as well. Not sure they're worth $12 apiece, but you're in Vegas, so what the hell. Eiffel Tower Restaurant (7-4-17 lunch): My wife had put this on the list of places to visit a month ahead of time, so we ended up going here for lunch. You enter the restaurant by going up an elevator in the main floor of the casino, and the doors open to give you a nice view of the kitchen. I always like restaurants where you can see people work in an open kitchen, so I thought this was a nice touch. We had reservations for when the restaurant opened, so we managed to snag one of the best tables in the place with a great view of the strip. We started off with the cheese tray as an appetizer, which was most notable for the honeycomb. I think that's the first time I've ever had real honeycomb, and it was delicious. I decided to go brunch-ish for my meal and order the lobster eggs benedict, which was easily the best eggs benedict I've ever had. We shared a frozen strawberry souffle for dessert, and the best compliment I can give about this is that we immediately began looking up recipes to make our own when we got back to our hotel room. Overall a great meal, and I think we'll head back here for dinner during our next trip to Vegas. Tetsu at Aria (7-4-17 dinner): I'd wanted to visit a Japanese steakhouse while in town (especially since the favorite place in my town was run down by new ownership and closed), and I was a little surprised to find there weren't many options. Tetsu is actually a sectioned off portion of the BarMasa restaurant in Aria, and you can order sushi from BarMasa's menu while there. Which I did. I'm far from a sushi connoisseur, but I thought it tasted like a standard salmon roll- good, but I wasn't blown away by it or anything. As far as the hibachi grill itself goes, the first thing to note is that the chefs basically just prepare the food in front of you but don't put on any sort of show. So if you're wanting to impress the family with a flaming onion volcano and eggs juggled on a spatula, this isn't your place. It's about the food, and the food was fantastic. I had the whole lobster, which is every bit as good as it looks. The chili shrimp cilantro fried rice was as good as the lobster, and I had some brussels sprouts on the side. My wife got the fingerling potatoes as a more photogenic side dish to her chicken. They also serve prime A5 Japanese Ohmi beef, but I couldn't justify spending $132 on a 4 oz steak. We had chocolate sesame ice cream for dessert, and the sesame was actually a lot stronger than I thought it would be (might actually put some people off). Of course one of the fun parts of eating at these places is talking to people seated with you at the table. One of the ladies next to us teased a server, trying to get his name badge, Harvey (definitely not his given name), since apparently a guy named Harvey founded the golf club she worked at. Even went so far as to summon the manager to see if she could get the badge, but ultimately she failed in her negotiations. Everyone at the table had a laugh about the situation. Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay (7-5-17 lunch): We were looking for a lunch spot down on this end of the strip before heading to the aquarium, and the Burger Bar (actually located in a walkway between Mandalay Bay and Luxor) came recommended by several people. To start with, they had a great beer menu. I ordered the classic bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. Great burger, cooked perfectly. I know there are several excellent burger joints on the strip, so it's probably not worth making a special trip far out of your way to come here. It's a great option if you want a burger and are on the south end of the strip, though. Lemongrass at Aria (7-5-17 dinner): Next up, some Thai food. We had some pot stickers for an appetizer, which I thought were pretty average. Nothing to stand out here from your average takeout in either taste or presentation. My wife decided to order some wonton soup to share, and I'm glad she did. It was freakin' amazing- easily the best part of the meal. I wanted something light for my meal, so I ordered the garlic and lime steamed cod. The surprised reaction of the waitress seemed to imply that nobody ever ordered that. It was good, but you better love lime if you get it. As luck would have it, the one time we received poor (exceptionally slow) service on the trip was when we had our meal before a show. We had to skip dessert so that we could make it down to MGM Grand in time to see Ka. Olives at Bellagio (7-6-17 lunch): We thought about hitting up Lago for lunch, but since we were headed to Sinatra for dinner we wanted to avoid back to back Italian. Olives had a nice deal on a 3 course prix fixe lunch menu, so we ordered from that. I had the Caesar salad to start, followed it up with fish and chips, and finished it off with tiramisu. A bit of an odd combo, but a good meal. Nothing exceptional. Great server, though. Sinatra at Encore (7-6-17 dinner): Another place we'd wanted to visit on previous trips but never had a chance to. There's tons of Frank Sinatra themed memorabilia in the place, including a Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar as you walk in the door. I'd describe the place as lively but classy as hell- which is pretty much what you'd want when going to a Rat Pack themed place. To start off with, I ordered an Old Fashioned. It's one of my favorite drinks to order because everyone does it differently, and you never know what you're going to get. Well, it was the best Old Fashioned I've had in my left. I meant to ask the waiter what type of boorbon they used, but ultimately forgot. We ended up sharing the estiva for an appetizer, which is basically a watermelon salad. I ordered the gnochetti for my entree, which tasted great, but the portion size kind of left me wondering where the rest of it was. We shared the panna cotta for dessert, which was as good as it looked. Eggslut at Cosmopolitan (7-7-17 breakfast): Eggslut is a casual stand at Cosmo that pretty much sells egg sandwiches all day long. I had the Fairfax with bacon, which is pretty much what they're known for. I think the reason why it was such a great sandwich was they kept the eggs inside creamy, whereas most breakfast sandwiches have the eggs cooked hard as a rock. When you walk up to the place your first thought is- whoa! Only $8... finally a reasonably priced meal. And then you realize they charge $5 for a cup of coffee or orange juice, and you remember you're still in Vegas. Regardless, this place is a good stop for breakfast or a late night snack. Overall a great trip. Can't wait to go back again and try some different places.
A little background on us. I’m 35 my wife is 28. We aren’t major gamblers by any stretch, but we usually hit up a local casino maybe once a month, twice if we do good, and usually gambling about $100 a piece each time. We are both huge sports fans, especially college sports (Notre Dame). I’m a bit of a tightwad most of the time. The morning of April 2, 2016 I asked her if she wanted to marry me (both of us have been married once before), she said yes. I bought tickets that morning, didn’t tell anyone our plans and drove from South Bend Indiana area to Chicago O’Hare, and arrived in Vegas right around dark. The first couple of Hotels I tried for were booked, but we ended up finding a room at Planet Hollywood (which we spent all of about 4 hours in). We then flew out the next morning, spending a total of about 12 hours in Vegas. This time around, after finding out my kids would be with their mom over Spring Break, I decided to save up and actually plan a trip this time. We debated Florida, Canada, the Smokies, and ended up deciding on Vegas. Tuesday – March 27 We stayed the night at Blue Chip Casino (BOYD Gaming) in Michigan City Indiana (halfway to O’Hare). Both of us had comps for a free room and Buffet’s as well and about $75 worth of food credit that we had been saving for our Vegas trip. They also gave me a $25 gas card. We decided to gamble $100, and lost pretty quickly. After eating our “free buffets” we decided to go to bed, anticipating an early morning. Wednesday – March 28 Once we got to O’Hare, we went and checked our 1 bag in at the Spirit Airlines desk. Everything at Spirit is A la Carte, and I had paid for 1 checked bag, however the lady in front of me discovered that their checked bags cost even more if over 40lbs. I had gone with Spirit to save a buck, and overall the experience wasn’t terrible, but I’ve had much better experiences with other non-discount airlines. After arriving in Vegas, we rode the bus from the airport to the Rental Car facility, and in short time had our new car for the week. The nice lady at Payless tried selling me several extras, and I politely declined each of them. I’ve come to expect the sales pitch no matter what rental company I use, and overall my experience with these guys was very good. We ended up changing reservations last minute for our Hotel due to additional offers I received while at Blue Chip. After checking in at the Fremont (all 6 nights) we unpacked, stopped at IN & OUT Burger, and made a run to Wal-Mart for snacks and drinks. We then decided to go check out the Nuwu Dispensary, we were both very impressed with the selection, cleanliness, and friendliness of everyone we talked to there (we are novices at this lol). After making a “small” purchase, we decided to drive out to Mount Charleston for the evening and ended up catching the sunset before driving back into town. We spent the rest of the evening walking around Fremont Street mostly just people watching, before we grabbed a snack from the Café inside the Fremont and went back to our room for the night. The food was average at best, but the price was right, even if I hadn’t used my points. Thursday – March 29 We slept in until about 9:30, and slowly made our way over to the Hoover Dam. On our way to the Dam, we stopped at Sunset Station for their Brunch Buffet, and were really impressed, especially for the $7 price. After gambling a little and not winning we continued to the Dam. Waze had me going some crazy roads that I’d never taken before to get there, and took us about 3 times longer than I had ever remembered. After getting closer and seeing all of the traffic/road construction I now knew why. All of the lower parking lots were full, so we drove to the little gift shop on the Arizona side (I was surprised to see the road now ends here), got a couple of little souvenirs for our boys, and walked around a little bit before exploring Lake Meade a little and driving back to Fremont. After relaxing for a little bit we again decided to walk around Fremont Street and ended up getting Margaritas and Enchilada Nacho’s at Nachodaddy’s. I would highly recommend this place if you want a good drink and great nachos, we both loved it, and our bartenders were great. After walking back to the Fremont and going back and forth on winning/losing at the slot machines, my wife got a bonus feature on the machine she was playing, when I noticed a guy standing behind her watching. He looked really familiar, and after seeing “Deez Nuts” on the back of his jacket, I realized he was the youtube star from the Deez Nuts video. He posed for a picture with my wife and then went on his way. We gambled for a few hours and went to bed about even on the day. Friday – March 30 After grabbing coffee from Dunkin Donuts inside the Fremont, we decided to drive down to Primm, because my wife had never been to California. We stopped at the truck stop and decided against topping off on gas, due to the price being over $4/gallon. We walked around the shop, found some more souvenirs for the kids, and ate lunch at Qdoba. After driving around behind the outlet mall, I realized there wasn’t a sign saying welcome to California, so I hopped on I15 and continued South/West until she got to see her sign. We went a few exits and decided a trip all the way to Baker wasn’t worth the drive, so we turned around just past the giant solar farm on the right. In the stretch from about a mile outside of Primm to where we turned around, we passed probably a dozen of each Nevada State Police and California Highway Patrol, many of which were on motorcycles and all of which had at least 1 car pulled over. About the time we made it back into Vegas, my buddy’s flight from Washington DC had arrived (he’s getting ready to leave for Japan for the next 3 years) so we went and picked him up at his hotel (Hooters). My wife won some money on the “Vacation” machine in Hooters and we decided to go walk the strip, which wasn’t a bad walk at all. We ended up going through the MGM, across to the Aria/Monte Carlo area and decided all the bars were a bit too busy due to a Golden Knights game getting ready to start. We walked over to Excalibur and rode the monorail to Mandalay Bay. We spent the rest of the evening here, and I decided to bet on Notre Dame Women, which turned out to be a good bet. My buddy, being born in Connecticut bet on UConn and that pretty much set the tone for his luck the rest of his trip. My wife and I ended up getting a giant hot dog/pepsi combo for $3.99 at the Café inside the Fremont after returning, and it was a better bet than the Chinese food we had tried earlier in the week. Saturday – March 31 Another buddy of ours had moved to Vegas about 6 weeks ago, while his wife and kids are moving out there today. He called me late Saturday morning, and had us meet him out at the RV Dealership he works for. After getting a tour of their half million dollar Motorhomes (built here in Indiana), we hopped in his convertible and rode out to Red Rock Canyon. The line to get in was about 100 cars long, and it looked like they were only letting a few in every 15 minutes, so we drove out along that area and headed back a different way to the south side of town. The company he works for sponsors the Horse Arena at the South Point Casino, so we rode over, watched some of the show, and got the behind the scenes tour of the stalls, practice arena, and got to meet the horses/cowboys. We ended up spending most of the day at South Point, and we really enjoyed it, probably our favorite one on the “strip” so to speak. We ate dinner at Baja Miguel’s and all enjoyed our food. Later on Saturday night we rode back to downtown. My buddy that now lives in Vegas, took us to Container Park, which was really cool. After that we walked back down Fremont Street and I had bet earlier on Michigan beating Loyola in Men’s basketball. Another good choice, however I had to find a casino with a sports book that could cash me out. We ended up going to “The D” and really enjoyed the atmosphere/older machines. My wife ended up playing the old school Horse Racing Quarter Machine upstairs and stayed on it for quite a while. We ended up heading back to the Fremont, where we gambled the rest of our “$200 limit” for the day, and did pretty good. After several hours of gambling, we decided we were hungry, so we walked over to the Café at Binions, and were really impressed with what we had. Sunday – April 1 We ate the Breakfast Buffet at the Fremont (comped), took an Uber back to our rental car on the other side of town, picked our buddy up at Hooters and headed north to Zion National Park. A couple hours later we arrived and were somewhat surprised that it wasn’t completely packed. My buddy has a free pass (Military) so we saved $30 on the gate fee. We spent most of the day at Zion, climbing, hiking, and exploring, it was my 4th time there, but the first time for my wife and buddy, and while my wife isn’t a hiker like me, she really enjoyed it and mentioned that it was one of her top 3 things we did on our trip. On our way back to town we stopped at Casa Blanca in Mesquite for a few hours, we didn’t do any good, but enjoyed the change of pace from the Vegas casinos. Monday – April 2 We walked the strip again, and ate the brunch buffet at the Bellagio. It was really good, but if I hadn’t used the buy 1 get 1 free coupon I had, I wouldn’t have been quite as impressed. We walked around the strip some more, and ended up buying tickets to X-Country for my wife and I for the 10pm show at Harrah’s. The lady at the Box Office didn’t offer any discount, but when I asked about using my players card, she gave me a $10/ticket discount on the tickets. After that we drove across town to Sams Town (Boyd Gaming) and gambled for a few hours, I remembered a Steak House from several years back that I really enjoyed here, but we ended deciding against it for our anniversary meal. After going back to our hotel to change and shower, we ended up going to Viva Zapata’s (based on Reddit reviews). We weren’t disappointed! The food was amazing, the atmosphere even better, and the wait staff was the best! Our waiter asked what brought us out there, I told him it was our 2 year anniversary and we had flown in from Indiana to celebrate. We were enjoying the live Mariachi music, but started getting a little anxious as we were waiting on our bill (we wanted to get to Harrah’s by 9:30). A few minutes later here came the wait staff/musician to our table, put giant sombrero’s on us, gave us a couple of churros and each of us a shot of Tequila (no charge) while they sang us a song. I tipped them well and we were on our way to the show. My wife is a huge country music fan, and while I enjoy some of the older stuff, I’m more of a metalhead. I was pleasantly surprised at the price of our tickets, and for the money, the show wasn’t bad. 1 of the dancers really stood out from the rest though, but all in all it was a good experience. I wanted to go see Absinthe but found out they weren’t playing on Monday night. After our show we walked down to the Bellagio Fountains to see a show before heading back to the hotel. Tuesday – April 3 We spent most of the morning packing up from our 6 nights at the Fremont, I checked with the Casino host to see about possibly comping more than 2 of our nights, but she showed me where my score in their algorithm was only a 65, and needed to be 100 to qualify for more. I still only paid $165 for the 4 nights I had to pay for, which was more than fair in my opinion, considering how little time we actually spent in the room. We went to Hooters and gambled for about 20 minutes, winning a couple hundred dollars, then took my buddy to the airport. Our flight wasn’t until 6:30pm, so we drove back North and had to try another Reddit suggestion for our last meal in town. We ended up at Hamburger Hut as we love to eat wings, and although the location and building were a bit sketchy, we ordered hot wings, a hot dog, and chili fries, this was our favorite food of the trip. We also really enjoyed hanging with some of the locals while we ate lunch. After eating lunch we hit up Walmart by the airport to find some last minute souvenirs to take back home, and then returned our rental car and waited a few hours for our flight back home. What I would recommend Sight Seeing - Zion National Park, Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead, Container Park (especially if you have kids) Food - Hamburger Hut, Viva Zapata’s, In & Out Burger, Nachodaddy, Hotdogs at South Point, Breakfast Buffet at Sunset Station, also saved a bunch of money by getting snacks and drinks for our room at the grocery store on day 1. Casinos – As a gambler, the ones off the Strip seemed to pay better, but the ones on the strip were much classier and had newer slots you can’t find elsewhere. My 3 favorite were the Fremont, The D, and South Point. My wife really enjoyed seeing the sights at the Bellagio, the Flamingo, and others on the Strip. No matter what, if you’re going to gamble, get a players card, it saved me a bunch of money. Transportation – If you like to do more than just stay in town and walk all week, I’d highly recommend getting a rental car like we did (about $200 for the week for a nice sized car), but if you don’t plan on going on long day trips like we did, UbeLyft would be great. Entertainment – XCountry at Harrahs wasn’t the top show I’ve ever seen, but 2 tickets for $80 something and a happy wife, I can’t complain at all. Watching all the entrepreneurs on Fremont Street as well as the stage shows for free was hard to beat, and any trip to Vegas should include the Bellagio Fountains, the Flamingo Habitat, and any other free entertainment you can find along the strip. What I wouldn’t recommend Airlines – don’t go with the budget airlines expecting to save a bunch of money if you plan on taking a bag with you, checked or carry on, prefer to pick your seats out in advance, or want to get a snack while flying. Food – While we didn’t really have any “bad” experiences, the café and Buffet at the Fremont were probably my least favorite, but I can’t complain because I didn’t have to pay for anything at either of them. Also I was looking forward to checking out Heart Attack Grill (based on Ducktales review), but they were packed and took Cash Only fyi. Sight Seeing – Fremont Street after dark really isn’t the place to take your small kids but be sure to take them to Container Park during the day, Hoover Dam (unless you go early), Red Rock Canyon scenic trail on a holiday weekend. Pawn Stars was packed and if you’ve seen it once, the excitement kind of wore off, and they apparently charge for parking now. I parked up the street for free and only had a short walk, but the people trying to push you to buy extras outside of the store really kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
We just spent a week in Vegas split between two hits and three hotels. This is my 6th time in Vegas, my fiancé’s 3rd time, and my friend’s 2nd time. We love the city. It is the only place like it on Earth. I love it, but this massive adult theme-park needs to be treated with respect and best approached with experience. So, I hope this report will help others. We were here last year, and although we had an amazing time, we did make some mistakes. This year’s trip was refined to near perfection. Flights (UK to Vegas). We’re from the UK. We flew direct with Virgin Atlantic. As far as I know VA are the only airline that flies direct from UK to Vegas. We used 80,000 airmiles to upgrade to Premium seats. When you’re sat on your arse for 11 and a half hours, the extra comfort, space, and legroom are well worth it. It also means the actual cost for the flight was super low compared to booking Premium seats without miles (£400 compared to around £1500). As it's a 747, I would recommend getting seats on the upper deck. As it is the top bulge of the plane, it only holds around 70 passengers. It feels exclusive, with faster service from the staff, shorter lines for the bathroom, and far less chance a child or baby will be sat near you. Jetlag. Something I didn’t take into account last time was the effect of jet lag. We paid for it. With the West Coast being 8 hours behind the UK, we tried a different tactic this time around. As soon as asses touched seats on the plane, we adjusted clocks to Vegas time. We respected the need to sleep by front-loading the flight with lots of booze and soon got our heads down. With those few hours of sleep, we were much better adjusted when we landed. ESTA. Immigration into the US can be a pain, but here’s a tip; if you’ve travelled to the US before with the same ESTA, you can use the automated passport scanners and skip the massive line. Food. We’re foodies. We’ve traveled the world and eaten at many Michelin Star restaurants. It’s our thing. It’s our passion. We had high hopes for Vegas food last year, but we came to the quick realisation Vegas can’t do quality. It's not surprising. The sheer volume of people that pound the strip means restaurants don’t really need to try to turn a profit. As I said above, Vegas is a theme-park. It supplies the fake and gaudy like no other, but on the flip side it can’t really do genuine or authentic. Last year we had to pay truly spectacular amounts of money before we got a properly impressive meal at é by José Andrés in the Cosmo. I can’t afford to do that again. So, this year we did things differently. We embraced the brash, the massive, and the crappy and ate like the locals. Finances. Vacations are my opportunity to live large. I look forward to them all year, and save for them with the intention to experience things way beyond my normal life. I want luxury. I want finery. I want to be treated like a rockstar, because these things just don’t exist in my day to day life. I spent a lot on this holiday, but that’s because I saved for it and budgeted hard for it. If you’re doing Vegas, then you have to do it right! Hotel 1: The Vdara. After the flight and immigration we got a cab to our first hotel; the Vdara. What a brilliant hotel. It doesn’t have a casino attached, so is less Vegas and less insane than many strip hotels, but I’ve been there and done that - so this was a beautiful, calm hotel for the start of our trip. We went for a Lake View Suite. Sounds fancy, and it was, but so much cheaper than an equivalent at one of the other big hotels. The room was massive, and modern. It also had a microwave and food preparation area with fridge separate to the mini bar. The Vdara also has a nifty room service robot that can deliver snacks and drinks to you autonomously. It is a novelty now, but it worked well and I can see it being rolled out to other hotels soon. As for location, the Vdara is right behind the Aria and the Bellagio. There’s a sneaky walkway to the Bellagio, or a short walk across the valet to the Aria. From either of these hotels you are straight onto the strip. Adventures. Day 1. First port of call was a walk down the strip to In-n-Out burger next to the High Roller. We don’t have In-n-Out in the UK so its a real treat. We walked the strip until well after dark, visiting Caesars, the Bellagio for coffee, and finally back to the Vice Versa bar at the Vdara. It is a quiet lobby bar with a calm outside section. We had a few drinks there and then off to bed. Day 2. Breakfast at Eggslut at the Cosmo. Expensive, but very tasty. Get the cookie. I has just the right amount of gooey inside and salt crust to make the perfect pud. Back to the Vdara for a workout at their OK gym and then relaxing at the pool. They do a bag check, but we just had water and coke so let us in. I think they were looking for booze. After our fill of the sun (still 30o C + in October) we made our way back to the Cosmo for a late lunch at Block 16. This is their new “street food” area with an excellent selection. We went for the sushi rolls at Tekka. Really good, and bigger than expected. They also have Asahi on draft. Again, a little expensive for the type of food but nice. Hopped in a taxi for a walk around the canals at the Venetian, then over the the Wynn for drinks at Parasol Down. We like drinking outside, and it was really relaxing sipping cocktails by the waterfall. I had a crab cheesy dip thing with breads that was surprisingly tasty. We headed back to the Vdara to get ready for our evening at the Luxor. It started with drinks at an Irish bar I forget the name of. It actually had genuine Irish staff and live music, so the fakery was better than most. A few pints later we went to see the Blue Man Group. Hilarious and a lot of fun. Well recommended. After BMG we wandered to the Mandalay looking for food, but their restaurants were all taken over by a massive convention. We hopped into a cab and made our way back to the Cosmo to Beauty and Essex for food. The restaurant was very cool. You enter through a secret door in a cheesy gift shop. You’re then lead to a dimly lit, intimate table by a pretty server lady. Food was only OK, but definitely not up to scratch for the price. However, the atmosphere was amazing. Day 3. Breakfast was a 15 inch pizza slice from Pin Up Pizza at Planet Hollywood. Horrible, greasy pizza, but the novelty was fun. We checked out and picked up our car from our Turo host, a Tesla Model X for the next leg of our trip; a week in San Diego. Amazing city. Go. Vegas Day 4. Hotel 2: The SLS. It was fight night. Hotels were stupidly expensive because of McGregor vs Khabib, so we stayed for one cheap night at the SLS. When we booked it it was still the W, but the SLS since took it over. The room was a Fabulous King, but I’m not sure that name is relevant anymore. Anyway, the hotel is still in a state of flux. The W side was dead. The bar was closed and the few remaining staff seemed to just be milling around. It was odd. The room was spacious, and had an interesting theme, but seemed a little empty given its square footage. It did have a mirror above the bed, though. Very Vegas. After the long drive from SD, we freshened up and got dinner at Bazaar Meats by José Andrés. This was my favorite meal in Vegas. José Andrés can actually be counted on for a great theme and good food. It wasn’t quite good enough for the price, but it was closer than any other restaurant we visited on this trip. The atmosphere and decor were incredible. A massive industrial fire pit grilling many meats greets you as you enter. The entire room is bordered by the various kitchens and preparation areas, and produce is proudly on show. There were some freakishly huge vegetables and a vast array of meat slabs all around. Of all the Vegas restaurants I’ve visited, the theming here was on point. After dinner, we stayed at the SLS for drinks around the casino watching the fight in the sports bar. Vegas Day 5. Hotel 3: The Cosmopolitan. We checked out of the SLS quickly, glad to be away from its strangeness. As if to confirm our ikky intuition, we passed a crime scene investigation outside, little orange cones all over indicating spent bullet casings. Welcome to America, motherfucker! We headed to our next and final hotel - the Cosmo. What an incredible place. By far and away my fave hotel on the Stip. In addition to the hotels this trip, I’ve stayed at the Stratosphere, Luxor, Aria, and Bellagio. This was better than them all. Even though it was around midday when we hit the check in desk, the concierge sorted us out with a room upgrade to an immediately available room. With three of us sleeping in one room, he wanted to ensure we were comfortable, so booked us into an unlisted suite with two bathrooms, a japanese soaking tub, and a massive balcony on the 55th floor overlooking the Bellagio fountains and the strip. That view was breathtaking, and the room was stunning. Only one minor issue - we found a diaper behind the sofa that housekeeping had missed from the last guest. We complained to the front desk and they sorted it with a $75 credit and resort fees refunded. Score! Lunch was at Secret Pizza. A good slice. Be aware they have more slices available than is on display. We went to Walmart to pick up booze and snacks. And a kettle. I’m English. I need my tea. Vegas hotels don’t have tea and coffee making facilities in the room, so a $15 kettle and some tea was a must. For the cost of three drinks at Starbucks, this is a good move for us Brits. The Cosmo room also had a little bar with additional fridge to the mini bar, so we packed that bitch with booze, mixers and fruit. After Walmart we picked our friend up at the airport and got her showered and dressed ready for dinner. A few drinks at the Chandelier bar in the Cosmo, then over to Jaleo by José Andrés. I’m sure you’re seeing a theme with our booked restaurant choices, but José is consistently good. Jaleo was no exception. The paella was a touch disappointing this time, but the other dishes were amazing. We drank a bit too much sangria, so kept the party going with drinks in Beauty and Essex. It may be a restaurant, but the little bar area also has seating for drinkers to watch the patrons come and go (and the pretty front of house ladies). It proved a great spot to people watch and enjoy their amazing cocktails. After too many drinks, we retired to the room and enjoyed the view with more drinks and snacks on the balcony. That experience was priceless. The twinkling view of the Vegas madness far below our own intimate little party felt very special. We got pretty messy loving that very special moment, and eventually found the bed. After all, our friend had been up for nearly 35 hours. Hardcore! Day 6. To work off the punishment to our livers the night before, we hit the Cosmo gym. It is OK, and actually has a good number of heavy dumbbells. Many hotel gyms I’ve been to stop at around 60lbs but the Cosmo went way up to 100lbs weights. There were only two benches though, so I can see it being a problem when busy. We got brunch at Lardo in the Cosmo Block 16 street food thingy. Great food, but three sandwiches, a coke, and one fries cost nearly $75! Fucking ridiculous. Street food prices these are not. After nursing my abused credit card, we headed to The Range 702. We’d booked the Triple Threat package where you get to pick three guns of your choice with 25 rounds each. I shot a Colt, a P90 and an M4. The girls both opted for two handguns and an AK47. The automatic rifles were quite an experience. Loud and violent. I have shot at The Strip Gun Club before and they were very attentive and let us take our time. Our shooting at 702 felt a little rushed in comparison. They have you shoot all your guns back to back, so for the girls especially they were a little beaten up after their sessions. It would be better to alternate shooters with each gun to give the wrists a rest, but hey, it was a noisy, blasty, shooty good time anyway. After the blasting we went back to the Cosmo to get ready for our evening. This is where we again paid for wanting to wing it and not book too many things. All dressed up, we headed to the Bellagio because we wanted some drinks at Hyde to watch the fountains as the sun went down. It was booked out by a conference party. So we went to try at Spago. Same story. Booked out by conference weenies. We tried back at the Cosmo at the Chinese Mexican called China Poblano, but again the same fucking story! Booked out by conference weenies. We said fuck it, went to the room, threw on our shorts and sneakers, and hit the strip for a dirty night. We walked the craziness with slushy margaritas and ended up at In-n-Out again. We had a burger and then went on a drunk hunt for pudding. Ok. Let me make one thing clear. If you cover a cupcake or doughnut or cookie in enough frosting to choke a donkey, then it will just taste like frosting. And it seems like that’s all you can get at the quick and easy places on the Strip. Our failed pud-hunt brought us to Caesars. I remembered the Gordon Ramsey restaurant did a sticky toffee pudding. Somehow we got seating for three, even though we looked like we’d just been kicked out of a pool party. I say somehow, but when we entered we could see why. Gordon Ramsay’s Pub and Grill is the perfect metaphor for Vegas. I’ve eaten at two of Gordon's Michelin starred restaurants in London and one that didn’t have a star. They are all exquisite. Decor, food, service and the general experience all live up to his reputation for perfection. London is possibly the best place on earth for fine food. Gordon has to be on top of his game to make it there. And he does. Vegas he does not. Vegas is about churning out vaguely thematically relevant crap to the clueless for huge profit. Gordon’s Pub and Grill is hilarious. The theme is old English pub in the middle of a Roman themed casino. With TVs. Lots of TVs. It’s as if someone described a pub down the phone to the designer it’s that bad. We had the corned beef poutine (not an English pub dish) and and the sticky toffee pudding (better). The poutine was terrible. Just fries with pastrami meat (not corned beef) and bad cheese. There was hardly any gravy. The pud was good though, but maybe that was because of a few sunk pints. It hit the spot and the size of it caused comment from the table beside us (who were eating burgers - sigh). Anyway, after done there, back to the room for more balcony drinks and that view. Day 7. A quiet one today. Using the room credit we got a daybed at the Cosmo pool. The cabana bed thing is a $200 minimum spend. The $200 lasted us all day. We managed to eat well, with breakfast, other nibbles, and a few drinks reaching $200. The pool is gorgeous and the attendants were very attentive (hence the name, I suppose). By the time we’d spent our credit, it was nearly dinner o’clock. Dressed up pretty, we headed to New York New York and got Shake Shack burgers. Tasty. Not quite In-n-Out good, but still better than anything in the UK. We played some giant jenga with some random people at one of the outside bars, then went to the Zumanity show. Zumanity was great fun. Very naughty, funny, and the acrobatics were impressive. Well recommended. The boobies on show and the sexy theme got us ready for our next stop - the Palomino Strip Club. My fiance and I had been to the Palomino the year before and we loved it. It is the only club in Vegas that does full nude and booze so it is a no-brainer to be number 1. Our friend had never been to strip club before, so that night was a special treat. We got a bottle service table at the runway with champagne and a stack of ones. It was spectacular pervy fun drinking, watching the girls, and chatting with them as they visited our table. We all got a few sofa dances and had a brilliant night. The girls were super attentive, really looked after my friend as it was her first time, and made us feel very special. We got a drunk burger at In-n-Out (our last - I promise) and somehow made it back to the room alive Day 8. Our last full day. After the craziness of the night before, we slept in. Brunch was at Mon Ami Gabi. Much like Gordon’s Pub, this place was a hilarious parody of a Parisian café. It was nice to sit outside and watch the Strip go by as I munched my lunch, but the food was pretty bad for the price. After brunch we walked up the Strip past the Mirage and then over to the Venetian. The girls did some hard-core shopping while I made stupid comments, made their lives difficult, and generally didn’t help. I don’t like shopping, OK. Because I’m a child, they soon gave up. Back to the room for our last bookings of the trip. Yay. After getting pretty, we hit the Skybar at the Waldorf Astoria (previously the Mandarin Oriental). Gorgeous views and really tasty cocktails. We hit up Lemongrass for dinner without a booking because the Aria was next to the Waldorf. We ordered way too much food, so got most of it boxed up. We dumped it at the room, and then grabbed a cab to the Wynn for our last big destination. We were on the guest list to see Afrojack at Intrigue. Great club. The line wasn’t too bad. About 30 minutes as they checked on everyone. My friend had a bit of an issue with her ID as it is an English driver's license, but she found a picture of her passport on her phone to confirm it was her. The girls both got two free drink vouchers and I got one (am I not pretty enough?). The club was just my thing. It was not massive, but still big. The large outside area around the fire fountains and the waterfall was perfect to escape the heat and craziness of the dance-floor. We stayed for far too long given we had a 9 hour flight to catch the next day, but it was worth it. An amazing last night in an amazing city. Of course when we got back in we ate the rest of the Chinese food on the balcony. Day 9. One last (expensive-ass) Eggslut, and we were on our way home. Thank you Vegas.
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Bellagio Suite Room Tour at Bellagio Hotel and Casino Las ...
Tour around our Bellagio Suite at the Bellagio Hotel in Vas Vegas.Subscribe: https://goo.gl/3D5gFcMake your Las Vegas suite dreams come true in the Bellagio ... Bellagio Hotel & Casino Las Vegas (Resort King Room - West Wing 27119) Room Tour 8th January 2017 - Duration: 3:19. Matt Bridger 74,120 views Amazing fountain show at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Original version of Andrea Bocelli - Con Te Partiro https://www.bellagio.com/en/hotel/cypress-suite.htmlBellagio is a luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Owned by MGM Resorts Inter... Bellagio Penthouse Fountain View Suite #32006, 32nd floor, 1536 sq ft. These suites located from 29 to 36 floor in main tower and have private elevator acces... Support the channel by donating with Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/4KVegas 1X Donation Via Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/ryanwest1294 Merchandise: https:/... Fountains of Bellagio dancing to the music of Tiësto. Once in a lifetime, every time.http://www.bellagio.com/attractions/fountains-of-bellagio.aspx-----Title... A tour of the Resort King Room at Bellagio Las Vegas, from January 2018. This 510 sq ft room is a very nice, and spacious room. Included is a very comfortabl... Make your Las Vegas suite dreams come true in the Bellagio Suite. This spacious suite with art-themed interiors and views of the Las Vegas landscape, may be ... Take a walk with us at Bellagio Hotel & Casino located on the Las Vegas Strip! #LiLV - LIving in Las Vegas Youtube Channel - #VegasStrong
