This was only my second time to Vegas so I'm hoping this might be
some help for any Vegas Virgins out there. Unlike other Trip
Reports, I don't remember everything I did, spent or ate, so I'm
just writing about the memorable things.
I'll tell you first that I played quite a bit of VP mostly Deuces
Wild, I seem to like that the best. One hand that made me want to
punch the machine, I ended up with 9,10,Q,K,A of clubs...very
upsetting! However I did end up getting 4 deuces on a quarter
machine for $250.00, this was my first big win on a VP machine.
I'll post a pic asap.
We (my girlfriend, Joline, and I) stayed at Mandalay Bay in one of
their Honeymoon Suites (no we didn't get married, I just wanted a
jacuzzi in the room). This is a nice hotel, however next time I
will definitely stay elsewhere for the following reasons: there are
cheaper places with just as nice rooms, the gambling isn't great in
my opinion, it's at the south end of the strip so it's not really
convenient to anywhere, and I don't think the pool is as nice as
it's made out to be. It may be the nicest pool area on the strip
but it's almost a maze to walk through (each pool goer must have a
hotel key with them). More about the room; it was very good size,
however there was a lot of unused space, this made it feel somewhat
empty. Also the window was in an odd corner so it was awkward to
look out of, and the outside of the windows were very dirty. Nit-
picky things about the room:
~TV was too small for a suite, and for it's own cabinet
~Toilet paper sucked, it was 2-ply, but some of the cheapest 2-ply
I've seen
~Whenever you flushed the toilet it sounded like you were starting a
jet, much too loud
~Bed was a little hard, but the couch was awesome, I'm surprised
neither of us tried to sleep on the couch
~Whenever getting out of the shower, the bathroom was very cold
especially the tile floor, bring slippers
Mandalay Bay is worth the visit, but I'd recommend staying elsewhere.
We checked out just about every hotel/casino on the strip, including
Wynn. I'm not sure why there was so much Wynn bashing a few months
ago, we both thought it was a very nice place. Maybe not as great
as it was hyped-up to be (in reality, what is?) but definitely worth
a look-see! About 5 years ago I stayed at Mirage and found that I
like it just as much now as I did then, I'd recommend it. However,
during this trip I fell in love with Caesars, this is where I'm
planning on staying during my next visit. The gambling seemed very
good, the shopping is amazing, the restaurants are nice, the place
is huge, but I just haven't seen a room yet. If anyone has feedback
on this, please fill me in!
For food we tried many different places, NO BUFFETS imagine that,
Joline doesn't care for buffets. A good tip that hopefully someone
will find useful is: if you're going to eat 3 meals a day, you can
easily share a lunch with your companion. Our first day there we
split a sandwich, and were glad we did, neither of us could have
finished the whole thing ourselves. A few days later we went to
Margaritaville (at Harrah's??), although it's a theme restaurant and
it's tacky I've never had a bad meal at one of Jimmy Buffet's
places. For lunch we shared a huge platter of Nachos that was in
their appetizer menu; if this was an appetizer it was meant for
atleast 4 people. It was huge and it was great, litterly some of
the best Nachos we've ever had! We ate at both Spago and Bertolinis
in Caesars and liked both of them, very casual and simple but good
menus/food. The one place we didn't care for was Pinot Brasserie at
the Venetian, it's billed as a Fine Dining restaurant, which I guess
it is, but a little to fine for our palats. The prices are probably
a little less than a true Fine Dining experience, but so are the
portions. I just can't recommend this place, neither could Joline.
We ate breakfast a couple mornings at the House of Blues in Mandalay
Bay; it was good, but not stellar. We found a 2 for 1 breakfast
coupon and decided to try it, when we paid our bill the receipt was
good for another 2 for 1 the next morning, we saved atleast $16.00
total with these coupons.
We took an air/bus excursion to the Grand Canyon. The flight out
was very turbulent, they say the early morning flights are smoother,
we left around 8:15. The Canyon was worth seeing in our opinion,
others could easily find it boring, I found the Hoover Dam very
boring 5 years ago. One frustrating aspect of the Canyon trip was
that there was a huge Japanese group taking the same tour we were
and we had to wait in line to check in at the airport for a good
half-hour. There was also a language barrier that slowed everything
down. Our plane was supposed to leave at 8:15, but in reality we
didn't get off the ground till around 8:45. Once we got to the
Canyon we had to wait for a bus which was running late, because the
driver had to search for one of his Japanese passangers from his
previous tour...and he wasn't to pleased about it. He was a nice
guy though, just frustrated in having to deal with the language
barrier. By no means am I biased toward cultures, but this is just
the way everything turned out.
Shows:
Blue Man Group - I'd seen them at the Luxor, and twice in Boston,
Massachusetts, but I wanted to see them in a new venue with hopes
that they'd have a newer show. They didn't. If you saw them at
Luxor, save your money for another show. If you've never seen them,
by all means go see them. It's a comedy/variety/rock/visual show,
very fun, I'd recommend it for people under 60, who like performance
art and rock.
Danny Gans - A true Vegas, one man (plus his band) stage show. His
impressions are very good, he can do almost anyone. A couple could
use a little work, but all are above average. Would've have liked
to see a little more George Burns, Rodney Dangerfield, and Wayne
Newton, and a little less Michael Jackson and Elvis. All in all a
good show, he's dead-on with Jeff Foxworthy and a few others. He
does a lot of older lyricists so this is good for all ages.
Ka (new Cirque de Soleil) - What a set! What a Stage (or lack there
of)! What a Venue! I just wish the show was a little faster
paced. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing, just like all other
Cirque shows....but there seemed to be a lot of slow parts. I
really can't get over the whole set and stage though, like nothing
I'd ever seen! Look out for the huge snake! However, for sheer
entertainment I'd have to pick Mystere.
Ok, it's time for bed. Thanks for making it all the way through my
ramblings!
Please write back with comments!!!
~Ian