Las Vegas, April 18 thru 22, 2011
This was to be a different trip for me as my wife was coming along. We were going to celebrate our birthdays and anniversary. Not my wife’s first choice of locations, but the trip was included as part of a promotion for the last car we purchased. So, on with the story.
Drive from home to Boston was uneventful. Parked and shuttled to the airport. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in LAS around 9:15pm. Dollar Express and in the car and on the road in less than 30 minutes. Our first night was booked at the IP. Not our choice, but the best of the choices they included in the trip. Check-in took forever and the late night food choices at the IP are poor at best. We got a room on the 11th floor with a Jacuzzi in the middle of the room. I have nothing good to say about the room or the IP. The bed was uncomfortable, the room was dingy and one of the glasses in the bathroom had mold growing in it. Overall, we were glad to leave.
IP room with giant tub. This is also the only shower which is a little weird.
For the first time in all my trip to Vegas I did not play at all the first night.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
Up around 8:00am and got ready for the day. We used the MRB BOGO coupon for the IP buffet. The buffet was actually a brunch and at $15, I would never pay full price. The food was reasonable and we were able to find things to eat. After breakfast we went for a nice walk on the strip. My wife had not been to Vegas in 5 years so there were lots of new things. We walked down passed Paris and Planet Hollywood and crossed over to City Center. We walked around the mall and then through the casino. My wife was impressed with the displays and flowers. I had not been through since it first opened and it was nice to see it nearly done. Still waiting for them to figure out what they are doing with the unfinished tower.
We then walked over to Cosmopolitan. I was in town in December, but never made it over so this would be my first visit as well. This place is very nice. I was very impressed with Cosmo. It was very well laid out, finishes were excellent and all the employees were exceedingly friendly. We signed up for players club cards and each received $10 in FSP. I turned mine into $3 and my wife turned hers in $10 cash.
After Cosmo we continued on down to Bellagio to walk around. Took a little break in the small park at the front of Bellagio near the valet,. This is a very nice spot and we enjoyed the peace and excellent landscaping.
Headed back to the IP, packed up our stuff and made the long trek to the self parking area. Simple drive and in minutes we were at the Palms. I love the Palms, and will always stay there, especially when the rooms are free and they are giving me free play and show tickets. Check-in was great and we were given a room on the 16th floor of the Fantasy Tower. Unpacked and checked out the room. My wife got a kick out of the mini-bar.
Not the greatest view but if I craned my neck I could see the pool.
We went downstairs and had lunch at the 24/7 café. After lunch I showed her around the casino, specifically the few machines that I would be playing at if she needed to find me. After lunch she went upstairs to relax and I played for a couple hours. No major hits but I was mostly just playing my FSP through.
Back up to the room to get ready to go back to the strip. Drive was easy and we in the Venetian self parking lot. Walked around the casino and headed to the Blue Man Group Theatre to pick-up our tickets for the show. Had a few hours to kill so we went to Madame Tussauds and used the MRB 2 for 1 coupon. I had never been to one of these before and I was amazed at how lifelike they were. It was quite impressive. We even took a few photos with our favorites.
Me with Buffy the Vampire Slayer
My wife with Johnny Depp
We did not venture through the “scary fun house/terror exhibit”. Neither of us are into that sort of thing. Walked around some more and enjoyed the nice weather outside before heading in for the show.
Blue Man Group was amazing. Neither of us had ever seen them before but we had heard wonderful things. I got the tickets through one of the weekly LVA deals, $166 for both tix. We ended up with 4th row seats, nearly center stage. They call these “poncho” seats because they provide you with a plastic bag to cover yourself. I did not tell my wife this part beforehand. Anyway, we were both amazed by the show. The interaction with the audience is quite impressive. I am amazed that they can perform the whole show with just looks and no speaking. They must rehearse constantly. Excellent show and I would see them again. I wonder if the show is always the same?
After the show we headed back to the Palms and walked across the street and had dinner at the Cortez Room. I used to stay at the Gold Coast all the time but never ate here. I was impressed. The food was very good, the restaurant was nicely finished, the staff was very attentive and the food was very good. Overall a nice meal for a good price, will definitely go back again. After dinner we played a little to earn the free buffets and headed back across the street to the Palms. My wife crashed for the night but I went down and played for a couple hours.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Up around 8:00am and had breakfast at the Palms buffet. Nothing special about this buffet but they have all the normal breakfast items, fruit, etc. My wife headed back to the room to get ready for her spa appointment and I settled into a nice cozy seat at a VP machine. I had set-up to use my 3x points coupon from the ACG for today so I was determined to put a lot of coin through so I sat down at the 10 play machines near the cage. Played for a long time and was hitting pretty good. Even was able to pull a Royal
After the session I returned to the room to find my wife ready to head out to see the town. Jumped in the car and headed downtown. On the way downtown, we stopped in at the Sahara to try and use the coupons but we were denied. I don’t really have any memories of the Sahara, the only time I ever went there was to play coupons. I would probably think more fondly of them had they honored the coupons till the end. Hopefully it will be redeveloped into something people will actually visit.
Parked at the El Cortez and walked around Fremont St. I am still amazed at the Zip line. There was a line that must have been an hour long. The funny thing was a kid who did not weigh enough to get to the landing platform so one of the operators had to climb out on the wire and pull him in. By the way he moved, I suspect this happens frequently. We also watched one of vendors create his artwork with spray paint, paper and a couple tools. The end product is quite amazing and it appears to take him about 20 minutes to complete each piece. There was quite a crowd and many of the pieces were sold. Not sure of the price but pretty cool. I can only imagine what the spray paint fumes have done to his head.
We hit many of the casinos and used the FSP and match play coupons in the ACT and MRB. All in all broke about even. We had lunch at Magnolia’s at the 4 Queens. Very nice lunch and even better with the 2 for 1 from the MRB. Checked out the Tix 4 Tonight booth but nothing caught our eye.
After downtown we headed to the Hard Rock so my wife could get a pain. Signed her up for a card and received a $10 MP and $10 FSP. Won the MP on Roulette red and did well on the FSP. Headed back to the Palms to relax. Wife read in the room while I played. 3x points day so I need to push the coin-in. Played for an hour or so and hit my second royal of the day.
Up to the room to put some money in the safe then we headed to Green Valley Ranch for dinner. On our first trip to Vegas, we came to GVR after watching the show on TV that was filmed there. Can’t remember if it was American Casino or something else. Anyway, she really likes the place so we went and had dinner at the buffet using the MRB 2 for 1. Buffet was very good as I remember but I really miss the crab legs. We ended up waiting in line for about 30 minutes but it was not too bad. There was a student group also waiting with something like 60 people. Who takes a group of teens to Vegas? Not my idea of fun. We did not play at GVR, just ate and headed back to the Palms.
Wife proceeded to the room and I proceeded to my favorite machine. Loaded up the 10 play and played for a few hours. An up and down session but ended on a high note hitting my 3rd royal of the day (2nd one on this machine).
Ended up putting through about $25k today so not too bad for only a few sessions.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Up around 8:00am and got ready and headed down to the Palms buffet.
After breakfast we headed out to Hoover Dam. In all my trips I had always wanted to go but could never pull myself away from the machines long enough. Luckily the wife does not gamble so she forced me to go. I am glad I finally did. What an amazing place. I have always been in awe of the dam but the new bridge is simply amazing. We walked all around and across the dam, took lots of pictures and enjoyed the amazing sites. We did not do the tour because the line looked incredibly long but someday I will go back for the hard hat tour. We then drove up and parked in the lot for the bridge and walked across. I am in construction, so this is cool stuff to me. I have never built a bridge but someday I hope to . We walked along and took pictures of everything, including the plaques explaining the construction sequence and tributes. Very impressive bridge and I cannot wait to go back again.
We drove over the bridge but unfortunately not much of a view from the car. I guess that keeps people from stopping.
Headed back to the Palms and played for a while. Went to see my host and had all our charged comped and picked up my free tickets to the Playboy Comedy show. We walked across the street and had dinner at the Gold Coast buffet using our coupons. Not a bad dinner buffet, and even better when free.
After dinner we headed back and got ready for the show. We were going to go up to the Playboy club first to get a drink but they were not opening till 9:00pm so we went up to Ghostbar instead. I had been here on a previous trip but this was a first for my wife. The bar was pretty empty but they already had the reserved seating signs up an the bottles set at the tables. We stood outside for a while and sipped our drinks and enjoyed the view. It was a nice night with only a little wind and it was cool to see the planes take off and land and watch the helicopter tours line up then fly the strip one after another. I can see why people like rooftop bars but once the 20-somethings show up, it is time for me to leave and gamble.
The playboy comedy show was pretty good. The opening act was a woman from the Chelsea Lately show. I don’t remember the second guy and the headliner was someone from Entourage. Not really sure who any of the people were but the show was entertaining and since it was free I won’t complain, too much. I love comedy, but I really enjoy comedy that makes you think about the joke. I laugh when the comedian tell lowest common denominator jokes about bathrooms, sex, etc., but I think this is lazy comedy. Again, it was free, and I had a good time but I was hoping for something more. Maybe then I would have remembered their names.
After the show my wife went to bed and I took a 5 hour energy drink and went downstairs to play. Our flight leaves at 6:45am so there is no need to get 4 hours of sleep. Played all night but was getting killed playing quarters so to save the bankroll I played the 50 play penny VP machines for about 3 hours.
Finally at around 4:30am I converted 120K points in FSP. I earned all but about 8k points this trip so after adjusting for the multiplier I used on Wednesday, I put through around $65k in three days. That should keep the offers coming. I cashed out the FSP for around $300 so I basically played it even. Up to the room to shower and pack and then off to drop the rental car.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Flights home were uneventful. We were moved to emergency rows on both flights which was nice. I like the extra leg room but not for the extra money they charge. Landed in Boston around 6:00pm and we were home around 8:00pm. Our son was very glad to see us and we were happy to be home and holding him. This was my wife’s first trip away from him and she did remarkably well. He was in good hands so I think that made it easier.
Overall a different but very enjoyable trip. I was able be a tourist again and got to see thing I had never seen over my previous dozen or so trips. Next trip maybe I’ll venture to Red Rock or the Grand Canyon. Probably not unless my wife comes along.
Upon checking my mail when I got home, I received another excellent offer from the Palms so as of this writing my return trip has been scheduled for June 2.
Thanks for reading and may we all have 3 Royal days on our Vegas trips.
This was to be a different trip for me as my wife was coming along. We were going to celebrate our birthdays and anniversary. Not my wife’s first choice of locations, but the trip was included as part of a promotion for the last car we purchased. So, on with the story.
Drive from home to Boston was uneventful. Parked and shuttled to the airport. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in LAS around 9:15pm. Dollar Express and in the car and on the road in less than 30 minutes. Our first night was booked at the IP. Not our choice, but the best of the choices they included in the trip. Check-in took forever and the late night food choices at the IP are poor at best. We got a room on the 11th floor with a Jacuzzi in the middle of the room. I have nothing good to say about the room or the IP. The bed was uncomfortable, the room was dingy and one of the glasses in the bathroom had mold growing in it. Overall, we were glad to leave.
IP room with giant tub. This is also the only shower which is a little weird.
For the first time in all my trip to Vegas I did not play at all the first night.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011.
Up around 8:00am and got ready for the day. We used the MRB BOGO coupon for the IP buffet. The buffet was actually a brunch and at $15, I would never pay full price. The food was reasonable and we were able to find things to eat. After breakfast we went for a nice walk on the strip. My wife had not been to Vegas in 5 years so there were lots of new things. We walked down passed Paris and Planet Hollywood and crossed over to City Center. We walked around the mall and then through the casino. My wife was impressed with the displays and flowers. I had not been through since it first opened and it was nice to see it nearly done. Still waiting for them to figure out what they are doing with the unfinished tower.
We then walked over to Cosmopolitan. I was in town in December, but never made it over so this would be my first visit as well. This place is very nice. I was very impressed with Cosmo. It was very well laid out, finishes were excellent and all the employees were exceedingly friendly. We signed up for players club cards and each received $10 in FSP. I turned mine into $3 and my wife turned hers in $10 cash.
After Cosmo we continued on down to Bellagio to walk around. Took a little break in the small park at the front of Bellagio near the valet,. This is a very nice spot and we enjoyed the peace and excellent landscaping.
Headed back to the IP, packed up our stuff and made the long trek to the self parking area. Simple drive and in minutes we were at the Palms. I love the Palms, and will always stay there, especially when the rooms are free and they are giving me free play and show tickets. Check-in was great and we were given a room on the 16th floor of the Fantasy Tower. Unpacked and checked out the room. My wife got a kick out of the mini-bar.
Not the greatest view but if I craned my neck I could see the pool.
We went downstairs and had lunch at the 24/7 café. After lunch I showed her around the casino, specifically the few machines that I would be playing at if she needed to find me. After lunch she went upstairs to relax and I played for a couple hours. No major hits but I was mostly just playing my FSP through.
Back up to the room to get ready to go back to the strip. Drive was easy and we in the Venetian self parking lot. Walked around the casino and headed to the Blue Man Group Theatre to pick-up our tickets for the show. Had a few hours to kill so we went to Madame Tussauds and used the MRB 2 for 1 coupon. I had never been to one of these before and I was amazed at how lifelike they were. It was quite impressive. We even took a few photos with our favorites.
Me with Buffy the Vampire Slayer
My wife with Johnny Depp
We did not venture through the “scary fun house/terror exhibit”. Neither of us are into that sort of thing. Walked around some more and enjoyed the nice weather outside before heading in for the show.
Blue Man Group was amazing. Neither of us had ever seen them before but we had heard wonderful things. I got the tickets through one of the weekly LVA deals, $166 for both tix. We ended up with 4th row seats, nearly center stage. They call these “poncho” seats because they provide you with a plastic bag to cover yourself. I did not tell my wife this part beforehand. Anyway, we were both amazed by the show. The interaction with the audience is quite impressive. I am amazed that they can perform the whole show with just looks and no speaking. They must rehearse constantly. Excellent show and I would see them again. I wonder if the show is always the same?
After the show we headed back to the Palms and walked across the street and had dinner at the Cortez Room. I used to stay at the Gold Coast all the time but never ate here. I was impressed. The food was very good, the restaurant was nicely finished, the staff was very attentive and the food was very good. Overall a nice meal for a good price, will definitely go back again. After dinner we played a little to earn the free buffets and headed back across the street to the Palms. My wife crashed for the night but I went down and played for a couple hours.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Up around 8:00am and had breakfast at the Palms buffet. Nothing special about this buffet but they have all the normal breakfast items, fruit, etc. My wife headed back to the room to get ready for her spa appointment and I settled into a nice cozy seat at a VP machine. I had set-up to use my 3x points coupon from the ACG for today so I was determined to put a lot of coin through so I sat down at the 10 play machines near the cage. Played for a long time and was hitting pretty good. Even was able to pull a Royal
After the session I returned to the room to find my wife ready to head out to see the town. Jumped in the car and headed downtown. On the way downtown, we stopped in at the Sahara to try and use the coupons but we were denied. I don’t really have any memories of the Sahara, the only time I ever went there was to play coupons. I would probably think more fondly of them had they honored the coupons till the end. Hopefully it will be redeveloped into something people will actually visit.
Parked at the El Cortez and walked around Fremont St. I am still amazed at the Zip line. There was a line that must have been an hour long. The funny thing was a kid who did not weigh enough to get to the landing platform so one of the operators had to climb out on the wire and pull him in. By the way he moved, I suspect this happens frequently. We also watched one of vendors create his artwork with spray paint, paper and a couple tools. The end product is quite amazing and it appears to take him about 20 minutes to complete each piece. There was quite a crowd and many of the pieces were sold. Not sure of the price but pretty cool. I can only imagine what the spray paint fumes have done to his head.
We hit many of the casinos and used the FSP and match play coupons in the ACT and MRB. All in all broke about even. We had lunch at Magnolia’s at the 4 Queens. Very nice lunch and even better with the 2 for 1 from the MRB. Checked out the Tix 4 Tonight booth but nothing caught our eye.
After downtown we headed to the Hard Rock so my wife could get a pain. Signed her up for a card and received a $10 MP and $10 FSP. Won the MP on Roulette red and did well on the FSP. Headed back to the Palms to relax. Wife read in the room while I played. 3x points day so I need to push the coin-in. Played for an hour or so and hit my second royal of the day.
Up to the room to put some money in the safe then we headed to Green Valley Ranch for dinner. On our first trip to Vegas, we came to GVR after watching the show on TV that was filmed there. Can’t remember if it was American Casino or something else. Anyway, she really likes the place so we went and had dinner at the buffet using the MRB 2 for 1. Buffet was very good as I remember but I really miss the crab legs. We ended up waiting in line for about 30 minutes but it was not too bad. There was a student group also waiting with something like 60 people. Who takes a group of teens to Vegas? Not my idea of fun. We did not play at GVR, just ate and headed back to the Palms.
Wife proceeded to the room and I proceeded to my favorite machine. Loaded up the 10 play and played for a few hours. An up and down session but ended on a high note hitting my 3rd royal of the day (2nd one on this machine).
Ended up putting through about $25k today so not too bad for only a few sessions.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Up around 8:00am and got ready and headed down to the Palms buffet.
After breakfast we headed out to Hoover Dam. In all my trips I had always wanted to go but could never pull myself away from the machines long enough. Luckily the wife does not gamble so she forced me to go. I am glad I finally did. What an amazing place. I have always been in awe of the dam but the new bridge is simply amazing. We walked all around and across the dam, took lots of pictures and enjoyed the amazing sites. We did not do the tour because the line looked incredibly long but someday I will go back for the hard hat tour. We then drove up and parked in the lot for the bridge and walked across. I am in construction, so this is cool stuff to me. I have never built a bridge but someday I hope to . We walked along and took pictures of everything, including the plaques explaining the construction sequence and tributes. Very impressive bridge and I cannot wait to go back again.
We drove over the bridge but unfortunately not much of a view from the car. I guess that keeps people from stopping.
Headed back to the Palms and played for a while. Went to see my host and had all our charged comped and picked up my free tickets to the Playboy Comedy show. We walked across the street and had dinner at the Gold Coast buffet using our coupons. Not a bad dinner buffet, and even better when free.
After dinner we headed back and got ready for the show. We were going to go up to the Playboy club first to get a drink but they were not opening till 9:00pm so we went up to Ghostbar instead. I had been here on a previous trip but this was a first for my wife. The bar was pretty empty but they already had the reserved seating signs up an the bottles set at the tables. We stood outside for a while and sipped our drinks and enjoyed the view. It was a nice night with only a little wind and it was cool to see the planes take off and land and watch the helicopter tours line up then fly the strip one after another. I can see why people like rooftop bars but once the 20-somethings show up, it is time for me to leave and gamble.
The playboy comedy show was pretty good. The opening act was a woman from the Chelsea Lately show. I don’t remember the second guy and the headliner was someone from Entourage. Not really sure who any of the people were but the show was entertaining and since it was free I won’t complain, too much. I love comedy, but I really enjoy comedy that makes you think about the joke. I laugh when the comedian tell lowest common denominator jokes about bathrooms, sex, etc., but I think this is lazy comedy. Again, it was free, and I had a good time but I was hoping for something more. Maybe then I would have remembered their names.
After the show my wife went to bed and I took a 5 hour energy drink and went downstairs to play. Our flight leaves at 6:45am so there is no need to get 4 hours of sleep. Played all night but was getting killed playing quarters so to save the bankroll I played the 50 play penny VP machines for about 3 hours.
Finally at around 4:30am I converted 120K points in FSP. I earned all but about 8k points this trip so after adjusting for the multiplier I used on Wednesday, I put through around $65k in three days. That should keep the offers coming. I cashed out the FSP for around $300 so I basically played it even. Up to the room to shower and pack and then off to drop the rental car.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Flights home were uneventful. We were moved to emergency rows on both flights which was nice. I like the extra leg room but not for the extra money they charge. Landed in Boston around 6:00pm and we were home around 8:00pm. Our son was very glad to see us and we were happy to be home and holding him. This was my wife’s first trip away from him and she did remarkably well. He was in good hands so I think that made it easier.
Overall a different but very enjoyable trip. I was able be a tourist again and got to see thing I had never seen over my previous dozen or so trips. Next trip maybe I’ll venture to Red Rock or the Grand Canyon. Probably not unless my wife comes along.
Upon checking my mail when I got home, I received another excellent offer from the Palms so as of this writing my return trip has been scheduled for June 2.
Thanks for reading and may we all have 3 Royal days on our Vegas trips.
