We just got back from our yearly trip to Vegas for our anniversary. We did a lot of moving this year to take advantage of offers so the trip seemed to go quicker than usual (it always seems to go too fast!). We left Norfolk at 5PM on the 21st. We would have normally flown out the day before but we had an old Southwest award we needed to use and the only available flight was the last one on Saturday.
We arrived on time and headed to the car rental center. I had been checking rental rates for 6 months prior to our trip and the lowest I found (after much rebooking) was with Budget for $185 for the week. We were able to get the car, a Dodge Dart, quickly and headed downtown for our first night at the Golden Gate.
I must admit I was a little skeptical of staying at the GG. We've gambled there many times but never stayed. I've read many mixed reviews but figured it was only for one night and it was free so why not! Let me say we were pleasantly surprised. They put us in the new section and, while the rooms are small, everything was clean and functional. I'd read about the noise from Fremont but we never heard anything and no noise from traffic or garbage trucks disturbed us. I'd stay there again but probably not for anymore than one night simply because of the small room. Dinner that night was at DuPar's (comp from GG). We both had sandwiches and couldn't finish either of them. They give you plenty of food!
The next day we moved to MSS for our next night (although we booked for two nights so we wouldn't have to get up too early on Monday to move again). The room wasn't ready so we headed to the Sunday brunch buffet and were able to use our MRB 2for1. The food was plentiful and good and our waitress was very efficient and kept our drinks full. We finished up and headed to the casino floor for some video slot and regular slot play. No big hits but we were able to keep our bankroll from taking too much of a beating. I do have to say the only thing I was disappointed in with MSS was the length of time to get our room. They told us to check back after 3 but it was 5:45 before we were able to get into the room. It left us too much time to visit 777 and partake in a few too many Black Chip Porters while we waited! Once we got to the room, we unpacked and headed up to Fremont to play awhile before our dinner at the Flame. Once again, no big hits, just small ups and downs. We got to the Flame at 8:30 for our reservation. The food and service were very good, I had the porterhouse with a baked potato and my husband had the surf and turf with onion rings. The food proved to be too much and we left with half of my steak and almost all of his onion rings. We used a Restaurant.com certificate and the total bill with tax and tip came to $85. I forgot to mention that we had appetizers and drinks as well so the price was great.
Monday we went to Magnolia's for breakfast. We've never eaten there before but everything was good. The only issue we had (and it wasn't with Magnolia's itself) was a woman at the next table who insisted on talking on her phone with the speaker on so the entire restaurant was forced to listen to her 20 minute conversation. The staff there tried to wait on her while she was on the phone but she would glare at them when they approached. After she finished her call, she began berating them for not checking on her and replenishing her coffee. What an a******!
After breakfast, we went back to MSS and packed up to spend the next 4 days on the Strip thanks to MyVegas. Our first 2 nights were at Aria. I had purchased and redeemed the award early on in the game so taxes and resort fees were waived. They put us in a City View room on the 20th floor and sent chocolate covered strawberries up to the room for our anniversary. It was a nice and unexpected surprise! After unpacking, we headed down to the casino for some play. Once again, no big hits or losses. We went over to the Cosmopolitan and PH to play some as well. We got back to Aria and went to the players club to redeem another award for the Aria buffet for 2. When we got to the buffet, there wasn't much of a line so we were seated quickly. The food was very good and there was a great variety. My husband spent most of the meal eating crab legs which were quite tasty. My biggest complaint with the buffet is the wait staff. Our waitress spent most of her time talking with her fellow employees, complaining about other members of the wait staff. It was hard to catch her eye to get a drink refill.
The next day, the 24th, was our 36th anniversary. We had planned a very low key day and headed down to breakfast at the Aria cafe. Food and service was very good (I love their coffee, good and strong) and we payed with points. We were joined as we were finishing by my son and brand new daughter-in-law. They were married on the 7th but waited to take their honeymoon until the end of the month. We spent a few minutes with them then headed our separate ways, they went to the Stratosphere and we headed to Mandalay Bay to begin our visit to the south end of the Strip.
We played at MB, Luxor, skipped Excalibur, New York, New York, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, Paris, Bally's and ended at MGM. Once again, no big wins but I was able to play for about an hour on a machine at Bellagio although I can't remember what it was. We redeemed another MyVegas reward for the MGM buffet. It was their seafood buffet night and the food was all good and fresh. After dinner, we headed back to Aria to see Zarkana (another MyVegas award). The show was good but not my favorite (I love LOVE). I would have been disappointed if we had paid for it. After the show, we played at Aria a while longer then headed up to the room. All in all, a nice anniversary.
On Wednesday, we made our last move to the Mirage for 2 nights in a Tower Suite (once again on a MyVegas award). All I can say is "Wow"! The room was beautiful. After unpacking, we met up with my son and his wife for drinks at the Revolution lounge. Great drinks, nice and strong. They headed out (he's been to Vegas before but this was her first time so they were on a mission to see EVERYTHING) and we went over to Caesars. Once again (a theme for this trip), no big hits or loses. We went over to see how the Linq was shaping up. The wheel itself looks like it's about finished but the cars aren't on it. I figure it will all be about finished when we get back out next September. I'm amazed at how much the Strip has changed since our trip last year!
We met up with my son and daughter-in-law as they wanted to go downtown. We dropped them off at the Golden Nugget and we headed out to M to take advantage of the 7x slot/2x video poker day and to use our free slot play and the free buffet passes we got in our flyer. We played for a few hours, had dinner, and used our points in Babycakes to pick up gifts for family back home. We had enough points to cover everything so gifts at no charge! We headed back to the Strip, played awhile at the Mirage, then called it a night.
Thursday was our last full day in Vegas. We slept in and had a late breakfast at MGM's weekday champagne brunch (MyVegas again). We played for a while there then walked down to PH, Paris and Bally's then over to Bellagio to see the Conservatory. We then took the tram over to Aria, played there a bit then over to the Cosmopolitan. We met my son and daughter-in-law at 8:00 and had dinner at the Spice Market Buffet at PH (Groupon). After dinner, we went to Eli Roth's Goretorium next to PH over the Walgreen's. They opened this last year on 9/27, our last night in Vegas and we didn't have a chance to see it then but were anxious to visit this time. I purchased groupons for all of us when they were offered at half price. The normal price is $30/person so half was good. I know they've filed for bankruptcy and, after our visit, I can understand why. The premise is you are visiting a hotel where all sorts of things happened (I won't go into detail in case you may want to visit yourself). Some parts were good but, for the most part, a lot was pretty lame. You finish your tour at their Baby Doll Lounge where you can sit overlooking the Strip and have drinks. I think there were only about 6 people there and 4 of them appeared to be employees. It's a shame because I had such high hopes for this as I'm a fan of Eli Roth's films but I don't think this year round horror attraction will be able to sustain itself unless there are big improvements.
We all headed back to the Mirage where we dropped my son and his wife off as they wanted to go clubbing. We went up to the room and relaxed a bit then headed down to the casino which was really busy. We were playing Wizard of Oz slots when all of a sudden, any slot or video poker machines that weren't being played and all the ATM/bill breaker machines went completely off line. You could keep playing but you couldn't cash out. Everyone had to wait for an attendant to come by and had pay. Needless to say, within about 30 minutes, the casino was pretty empty. We decided to call it a night and headed up to the room.
Next morning was check out day . We got packed, took our things to the car, then headed over to TI where my son/daughter-in-law were staying. We went to the coffee shop there to get a quick breakfast as they had a comp there. We had planned on playing a little while before we left. From the time we sat down to the time we left the coffee shop, 1 1/2 hours passed. We waited 15mins for anyone to take our order, almost 20mins for the food, and another stretch for a check to come. We waited for our server to come and pick up our check and I finally went to the front to pay but was told by the gentleman there that only the server could take the payment. We waited a while longer then my husband went to ask to see the manager. Finally she came to take the payment at the same time the manager came to the table. We explained the amount of time we'd spent there and he said he was sorry but they were busy. We told him there had been no less than 6 tables empty at all times in the area we were sitting in. He said he was sorry again, walked away but came back to see if we wanted some cookies. WTF??? We said no and left. We had planned on playing at TI but went to the Mirage where, by the time we got their luggage to the car, only left about 15mins to play before we had to leave to return the car and get to the airport.
Rental car return was quick and we had no issues at the airport. We thought our flight was delayed but it turned out they were just beginning to line up when we got to the gate. The flight was full so my husband was at the window seat and I was in the middle. A gentleman sat down next to me who proved to be a little odd. He didn't say much during the flight but between my reading and dozing off, I didn't give the appearance of wanting to engage in conversation. We had a plane change in Chicago but our gate occupied and we couldn't get off the plane. We only had a 45 minute layover and were concerned about making our connection. While we were waiting to come in to the gate, the man beside me started in on a tirade about the airlines, about not serving food, and holding people hostage on the tarmac. I was polite but tried to avoid much conversation with him. My husband found all of this very amusing. When we finally got to the gate, he asked if I had anything in the overhead he could get for me but I told him no, that we just needed to get to our connecting flight. I passed him as we deplaned and we all headed to our gate. When we got to our gate, I turned around to be sure everyone had made it over and this guy is standing right behind me! He said he wanted to be sure I made it to my connecting flight. At this point, my husband said he needed to go and get to his own flight (he was going to Hartford and his gate was at the other end of the terminal, leaving in 15mins). Creeper! The rest of our trip home was uneventful and we landed just under 30mins behind schedule.
All in all, we had a great trip. No big wins or losses. We pretty much broke even. I can't wait until next September!!
Pros: All rooms comped (GG, MSS, MyVegas)
MyVegas comped buffets
Groupons
coming home with most of our bankroll
Cons: eating too many buffets (thanks MyVegas and Groupon!)
TI coffee shop
creepy man on the plane
Also, I'd like to give a "Thank you" to Larry the limo driver. My husband and I had given my son and daughter-in-law plane tickets and a limo pick up at the airport. I booked with Bell Trans and requested Larry. They couldn't stop talking about their limo ride and the great driver they had. Thanks, Larry! You got their trip off to a great start!
We arrived on time and headed to the car rental center. I had been checking rental rates for 6 months prior to our trip and the lowest I found (after much rebooking) was with Budget for $185 for the week. We were able to get the car, a Dodge Dart, quickly and headed downtown for our first night at the Golden Gate.
I must admit I was a little skeptical of staying at the GG. We've gambled there many times but never stayed. I've read many mixed reviews but figured it was only for one night and it was free so why not! Let me say we were pleasantly surprised. They put us in the new section and, while the rooms are small, everything was clean and functional. I'd read about the noise from Fremont but we never heard anything and no noise from traffic or garbage trucks disturbed us. I'd stay there again but probably not for anymore than one night simply because of the small room. Dinner that night was at DuPar's (comp from GG). We both had sandwiches and couldn't finish either of them. They give you plenty of food!
The next day we moved to MSS for our next night (although we booked for two nights so we wouldn't have to get up too early on Monday to move again). The room wasn't ready so we headed to the Sunday brunch buffet and were able to use our MRB 2for1. The food was plentiful and good and our waitress was very efficient and kept our drinks full. We finished up and headed to the casino floor for some video slot and regular slot play. No big hits but we were able to keep our bankroll from taking too much of a beating. I do have to say the only thing I was disappointed in with MSS was the length of time to get our room. They told us to check back after 3 but it was 5:45 before we were able to get into the room. It left us too much time to visit 777 and partake in a few too many Black Chip Porters while we waited! Once we got to the room, we unpacked and headed up to Fremont to play awhile before our dinner at the Flame. Once again, no big hits, just small ups and downs. We got to the Flame at 8:30 for our reservation. The food and service were very good, I had the porterhouse with a baked potato and my husband had the surf and turf with onion rings. The food proved to be too much and we left with half of my steak and almost all of his onion rings. We used a Restaurant.com certificate and the total bill with tax and tip came to $85. I forgot to mention that we had appetizers and drinks as well so the price was great.
Monday we went to Magnolia's for breakfast. We've never eaten there before but everything was good. The only issue we had (and it wasn't with Magnolia's itself) was a woman at the next table who insisted on talking on her phone with the speaker on so the entire restaurant was forced to listen to her 20 minute conversation. The staff there tried to wait on her while she was on the phone but she would glare at them when they approached. After she finished her call, she began berating them for not checking on her and replenishing her coffee. What an a******!
After breakfast, we went back to MSS and packed up to spend the next 4 days on the Strip thanks to MyVegas. Our first 2 nights were at Aria. I had purchased and redeemed the award early on in the game so taxes and resort fees were waived. They put us in a City View room on the 20th floor and sent chocolate covered strawberries up to the room for our anniversary. It was a nice and unexpected surprise! After unpacking, we headed down to the casino for some play. Once again, no big hits or losses. We went over to the Cosmopolitan and PH to play some as well. We got back to Aria and went to the players club to redeem another award for the Aria buffet for 2. When we got to the buffet, there wasn't much of a line so we were seated quickly. The food was very good and there was a great variety. My husband spent most of the meal eating crab legs which were quite tasty. My biggest complaint with the buffet is the wait staff. Our waitress spent most of her time talking with her fellow employees, complaining about other members of the wait staff. It was hard to catch her eye to get a drink refill.
The next day, the 24th, was our 36th anniversary. We had planned a very low key day and headed down to breakfast at the Aria cafe. Food and service was very good (I love their coffee, good and strong) and we payed with points. We were joined as we were finishing by my son and brand new daughter-in-law. They were married on the 7th but waited to take their honeymoon until the end of the month. We spent a few minutes with them then headed our separate ways, they went to the Stratosphere and we headed to Mandalay Bay to begin our visit to the south end of the Strip.
We played at MB, Luxor, skipped Excalibur, New York, New York, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, Paris, Bally's and ended at MGM. Once again, no big wins but I was able to play for about an hour on a machine at Bellagio although I can't remember what it was. We redeemed another MyVegas reward for the MGM buffet. It was their seafood buffet night and the food was all good and fresh. After dinner, we headed back to Aria to see Zarkana (another MyVegas award). The show was good but not my favorite (I love LOVE). I would have been disappointed if we had paid for it. After the show, we played at Aria a while longer then headed up to the room. All in all, a nice anniversary.
On Wednesday, we made our last move to the Mirage for 2 nights in a Tower Suite (once again on a MyVegas award). All I can say is "Wow"! The room was beautiful. After unpacking, we met up with my son and his wife for drinks at the Revolution lounge. Great drinks, nice and strong. They headed out (he's been to Vegas before but this was her first time so they were on a mission to see EVERYTHING) and we went over to Caesars. Once again (a theme for this trip), no big hits or loses. We went over to see how the Linq was shaping up. The wheel itself looks like it's about finished but the cars aren't on it. I figure it will all be about finished when we get back out next September. I'm amazed at how much the Strip has changed since our trip last year!
We met up with my son and daughter-in-law as they wanted to go downtown. We dropped them off at the Golden Nugget and we headed out to M to take advantage of the 7x slot/2x video poker day and to use our free slot play and the free buffet passes we got in our flyer. We played for a few hours, had dinner, and used our points in Babycakes to pick up gifts for family back home. We had enough points to cover everything so gifts at no charge! We headed back to the Strip, played awhile at the Mirage, then called it a night.
Thursday was our last full day in Vegas. We slept in and had a late breakfast at MGM's weekday champagne brunch (MyVegas again). We played for a while there then walked down to PH, Paris and Bally's then over to Bellagio to see the Conservatory. We then took the tram over to Aria, played there a bit then over to the Cosmopolitan. We met my son and daughter-in-law at 8:00 and had dinner at the Spice Market Buffet at PH (Groupon). After dinner, we went to Eli Roth's Goretorium next to PH over the Walgreen's. They opened this last year on 9/27, our last night in Vegas and we didn't have a chance to see it then but were anxious to visit this time. I purchased groupons for all of us when they were offered at half price. The normal price is $30/person so half was good. I know they've filed for bankruptcy and, after our visit, I can understand why. The premise is you are visiting a hotel where all sorts of things happened (I won't go into detail in case you may want to visit yourself). Some parts were good but, for the most part, a lot was pretty lame. You finish your tour at their Baby Doll Lounge where you can sit overlooking the Strip and have drinks. I think there were only about 6 people there and 4 of them appeared to be employees. It's a shame because I had such high hopes for this as I'm a fan of Eli Roth's films but I don't think this year round horror attraction will be able to sustain itself unless there are big improvements.
We all headed back to the Mirage where we dropped my son and his wife off as they wanted to go clubbing. We went up to the room and relaxed a bit then headed down to the casino which was really busy. We were playing Wizard of Oz slots when all of a sudden, any slot or video poker machines that weren't being played and all the ATM/bill breaker machines went completely off line. You could keep playing but you couldn't cash out. Everyone had to wait for an attendant to come by and had pay. Needless to say, within about 30 minutes, the casino was pretty empty. We decided to call it a night and headed up to the room.
Next morning was check out day . We got packed, took our things to the car, then headed over to TI where my son/daughter-in-law were staying. We went to the coffee shop there to get a quick breakfast as they had a comp there. We had planned on playing a little while before we left. From the time we sat down to the time we left the coffee shop, 1 1/2 hours passed. We waited 15mins for anyone to take our order, almost 20mins for the food, and another stretch for a check to come. We waited for our server to come and pick up our check and I finally went to the front to pay but was told by the gentleman there that only the server could take the payment. We waited a while longer then my husband went to ask to see the manager. Finally she came to take the payment at the same time the manager came to the table. We explained the amount of time we'd spent there and he said he was sorry but they were busy. We told him there had been no less than 6 tables empty at all times in the area we were sitting in. He said he was sorry again, walked away but came back to see if we wanted some cookies. WTF??? We said no and left. We had planned on playing at TI but went to the Mirage where, by the time we got their luggage to the car, only left about 15mins to play before we had to leave to return the car and get to the airport.
Rental car return was quick and we had no issues at the airport. We thought our flight was delayed but it turned out they were just beginning to line up when we got to the gate. The flight was full so my husband was at the window seat and I was in the middle. A gentleman sat down next to me who proved to be a little odd. He didn't say much during the flight but between my reading and dozing off, I didn't give the appearance of wanting to engage in conversation. We had a plane change in Chicago but our gate occupied and we couldn't get off the plane. We only had a 45 minute layover and were concerned about making our connection. While we were waiting to come in to the gate, the man beside me started in on a tirade about the airlines, about not serving food, and holding people hostage on the tarmac. I was polite but tried to avoid much conversation with him. My husband found all of this very amusing. When we finally got to the gate, he asked if I had anything in the overhead he could get for me but I told him no, that we just needed to get to our connecting flight. I passed him as we deplaned and we all headed to our gate. When we got to our gate, I turned around to be sure everyone had made it over and this guy is standing right behind me! He said he wanted to be sure I made it to my connecting flight. At this point, my husband said he needed to go and get to his own flight (he was going to Hartford and his gate was at the other end of the terminal, leaving in 15mins). Creeper! The rest of our trip home was uneventful and we landed just under 30mins behind schedule.
All in all, we had a great trip. No big wins or losses. We pretty much broke even. I can't wait until next September!!
Pros: All rooms comped (GG, MSS, MyVegas)
MyVegas comped buffets
Groupons
coming home with most of our bankroll
Cons: eating too many buffets (thanks MyVegas and Groupon!)
TI coffee shop
creepy man on the plane
Also, I'd like to give a "Thank you" to Larry the limo driver. My husband and I had given my son and daughter-in-law plane tickets and a limo pick up at the airport. I booked with Bell Trans and requested Larry. They couldn't stop talking about their limo ride and the great driver they had. Thanks, Larry! You got their trip off to a great start!
