I have several threads which I discussed how I was mistakenly kicked out of the Bellagio by their security staff in December. Well the Bellagio made up for it by giving me 2 comp nights which I could use anytime. This created the perfect storm, my big 50 birthday, super bowl weekend, using the Bellagio comp for the weekend nights and the fact that my wife hasn’t been to Vegas in over 10 years. So off to Vegas we went for 4 nights.
I did a fraction of the gambling that I usually do when I go to Vegas by myself. Going with my wife, I got to experience lots of good eating, some shows, shopping and a little couponomy. Here are some of the highlights:
Hotel Rooms: I never stayed at the Bellagio before so I did not know what to expect. I typically stay at lower end hotels that give cheap room comps (think Main Street Station, Casino Royale, Terribles). I thought the Bellagio room was nice but not wow. Since I frequently travel for work, it reminded me of an upper end Marriott (i.e. JW Marriott), but it was not as over the top as the Venetian room which I stayed at several years ago. I was surprised that the Bellagio still had the old style televisions and had not updated to plasma/LCD. But hey, the Bellagio is still the Bellagio and has a lot of elegant little touches.
After 2 nights at the Bellagio we moved to the Casino Royale for 2 nights since they always send me a monthly mailer. How is that for trading places (remember the Eddie Murphy movie). However, to me, the Casino Royale has some nice features. The location next to the Venetian is amazing, it is easy to park and get in and out, the rooms are small but have been remodeled, have LCD televisions, new furnishings and are very clean.
Eating: I chose the Cosmopolitan Buffet for my birthday night. Amazingly, there was no line for a Friday night. This buffet was amazing. I definitely liked it better than the Wynn. If you do buffets this place is a must.
Saturday night we used the MRB coupon for Austins at Texas Station. Again an amazing choice. The filet mignons which we received were better than those which we received at higher end expensive steak houses. With the $25 off coupon this place is a must for steak lovers.
The casual meals were also good. The Main Street Station Champagne brunch is a great value with the Freemont Experience 2/1 coupon as is Gardunos Margarita Brunch with the MRB coupon (the margaritas are very strong and the food is tasty). We also tried the Planet Hollywood Spice Market dinner buffet. It was very good but a little pricey (near $28), however the $10 off MRB coupon made it reasonable. Finally we ate at the Earl of Sandwich (Planet Hollywood) which is great place for a quick inexpensive tasty sandwich).
Entertainment: The highlight of the trip was my wife being part of the Marc Savard Hypnosis show at the Mile High Shops. She volunteered to be on stage with 40 other participants and wound up being part of the final 10 who were the main focus of the show. I like going to hypnosis shows (when I get free tickets) and I have been a little skeptical of what goes on during the performance. However, I know that my wife’s performance was completely legit. When I asked her about it, she thought that she was simply sleeping throughout the whole show and couldn’t understand why I purchased the video of the show. She watched the video with her mouth open and was relieved that she didn’t do anything which was too wild and crazy.
We also got tickets to KA at MGM. This was the first time seeing this show and it wasn’t exactly what I expected. I had previously seen Mystere and other Cirque Du Soleil shows which had come to the Washington DC area. KA was not “circus oriented” like these other shows. The stage settings and choreography were amazing, but since I am not a “theater” type of person, I was not “blown away.” Luckily the tickets are currently 40% off, and I followed GregRio’s advice and purchased seats in the middle of section 202. As everyone mentions, you definitely don’t want to sit up real close for this show.
We also used the MRB to see the Tribute to the Beatles (Miracle Mile Shops). I am not a huge Beatles fan but I really enjoyed this show. The performers were excellent and we tend to forget how engrained the Beatles music is in our mind.
Transportation: We rented a KIA Soul from Alamo. However, the really amazing thing about this was that the car had only “4” miles on it. The car was bright orange and we never had trouble finding it.
Gambling: We both had small overall losses. We lost our Super Bowl bets but had a great time watching the game at the Wynn Sportsbook. We played a lot of Bonus Poker but I am still a royal flush virgin. Our twenty dollar bills got a lot of play, but a lack of 4OKs eventually caused us to be grinded out. We used a lot of the free play coupons from the MRB and ACG which helped my wife’s small bankroll. We also tried the $100 money back Terribles’ promotion which we winded up breaking even on. We could not hit quads on the dollar machine and had the typical near miss Royal Flush draws.
Overall a great celebration of the big 50. Looking forward to returning to Vegas to celebrate my stepson’s big 21 birthday later this year.
I did a fraction of the gambling that I usually do when I go to Vegas by myself. Going with my wife, I got to experience lots of good eating, some shows, shopping and a little couponomy. Here are some of the highlights:
Hotel Rooms: I never stayed at the Bellagio before so I did not know what to expect. I typically stay at lower end hotels that give cheap room comps (think Main Street Station, Casino Royale, Terribles). I thought the Bellagio room was nice but not wow. Since I frequently travel for work, it reminded me of an upper end Marriott (i.e. JW Marriott), but it was not as over the top as the Venetian room which I stayed at several years ago. I was surprised that the Bellagio still had the old style televisions and had not updated to plasma/LCD. But hey, the Bellagio is still the Bellagio and has a lot of elegant little touches.
After 2 nights at the Bellagio we moved to the Casino Royale for 2 nights since they always send me a monthly mailer. How is that for trading places (remember the Eddie Murphy movie). However, to me, the Casino Royale has some nice features. The location next to the Venetian is amazing, it is easy to park and get in and out, the rooms are small but have been remodeled, have LCD televisions, new furnishings and are very clean.
Eating: I chose the Cosmopolitan Buffet for my birthday night. Amazingly, there was no line for a Friday night. This buffet was amazing. I definitely liked it better than the Wynn. If you do buffets this place is a must.
Saturday night we used the MRB coupon for Austins at Texas Station. Again an amazing choice. The filet mignons which we received were better than those which we received at higher end expensive steak houses. With the $25 off coupon this place is a must for steak lovers.
The casual meals were also good. The Main Street Station Champagne brunch is a great value with the Freemont Experience 2/1 coupon as is Gardunos Margarita Brunch with the MRB coupon (the margaritas are very strong and the food is tasty). We also tried the Planet Hollywood Spice Market dinner buffet. It was very good but a little pricey (near $28), however the $10 off MRB coupon made it reasonable. Finally we ate at the Earl of Sandwich (Planet Hollywood) which is great place for a quick inexpensive tasty sandwich).
Entertainment: The highlight of the trip was my wife being part of the Marc Savard Hypnosis show at the Mile High Shops. She volunteered to be on stage with 40 other participants and wound up being part of the final 10 who were the main focus of the show. I like going to hypnosis shows (when I get free tickets) and I have been a little skeptical of what goes on during the performance. However, I know that my wife’s performance was completely legit. When I asked her about it, she thought that she was simply sleeping throughout the whole show and couldn’t understand why I purchased the video of the show. She watched the video with her mouth open and was relieved that she didn’t do anything which was too wild and crazy.
We also got tickets to KA at MGM. This was the first time seeing this show and it wasn’t exactly what I expected. I had previously seen Mystere and other Cirque Du Soleil shows which had come to the Washington DC area. KA was not “circus oriented” like these other shows. The stage settings and choreography were amazing, but since I am not a “theater” type of person, I was not “blown away.” Luckily the tickets are currently 40% off, and I followed GregRio’s advice and purchased seats in the middle of section 202. As everyone mentions, you definitely don’t want to sit up real close for this show.
We also used the MRB to see the Tribute to the Beatles (Miracle Mile Shops). I am not a huge Beatles fan but I really enjoyed this show. The performers were excellent and we tend to forget how engrained the Beatles music is in our mind.
Transportation: We rented a KIA Soul from Alamo. However, the really amazing thing about this was that the car had only “4” miles on it. The car was bright orange and we never had trouble finding it.
Gambling: We both had small overall losses. We lost our Super Bowl bets but had a great time watching the game at the Wynn Sportsbook. We played a lot of Bonus Poker but I am still a royal flush virgin. Our twenty dollar bills got a lot of play, but a lack of 4OKs eventually caused us to be grinded out. We used a lot of the free play coupons from the MRB and ACG which helped my wife’s small bankroll. We also tried the $100 money back Terribles’ promotion which we winded up breaking even on. We could not hit quads on the dollar machine and had the typical near miss Royal Flush draws.
Overall a great celebration of the big 50. Looking forward to returning to Vegas to celebrate my stepson’s big 21 birthday later this year.
