I just took a short trip from last Thursday through yesterday (Monday). I take this trip with a friend around this time of year, every year, in order to watch some of the playoff games and to get some R&R before tax season.
For the last two years I received comped rooms at Mandalay Bay by using MyVegas.com points. Unfortunately they have pulled waaayyyy back on their room comps.
I was able to use my Starwood Points at Caesars Palace to get a very nice room for four nights. I still had to pay the resort fees though.
Here are a few comments on places visited:
Caesar's Palace Sports Book: Caesars has been very famous in the past for its sports books. While the current one is still very nice, there are other sports books that outshine it. Unless you were 7 diamonds or Platinum you could have an unbelievably long line to wait in to place a bet or cash a ticket.
There was one thing at the Sports Book that knocked my socks off however: DRINK TICKETS
I made two initial $55 dollar bets and the female teller asked me if I wanted any drink tickets. I almost fainted. I said "yes please" and she gave me two of them. My friend only made two $20 bets but he was offered one drink ticket. I used the tickets to buy drinks at the bar that was right there at the Sports Book.
Dining:
Grand Lux Cafe This is always one of my favorites. It is over at the Venetian. Big menu. By the way, you can order a dozen chocolate chip cookies (small ones) to be baked while you are eating your meal. They come warm and soft in a box. You can take a couple of them for dessert and take the rest back to your room.
Circus Circus Steakhouse: Be sure to book with "Open Table". Again, I love this steak house. The steaks are prepared over burning wood. The meat has been aged on the premises. Many steak restaurants will sear a steak in a frying pan and then finish it in the oven, or they will use a special cooker with infra-red that sears the meat and cooks it. I love the flavor of char-broiled steaks. I had a petite filet and a lobster tail. Their food has always been good.
Carmines: This is an Italian restaurant in the Forum shops. I remember when they advertised it was going to open. I think this is a restaurant that is also in New York. We went and sat down. The menu is on the wall. At first the prices seemed very expensive, but then our waitress informed us that everything was family style dining and that the portions brought out would feed three to six people. I ordered Caesars Salad and Lasagna. Way, way too much food. I thought the salad was great. I was not impressed with the lasagna. If I had to do it over, I would have walked to the Fashion Mall and gone to Maggianos. I had to decide if I wanted to take humongous portions of leftovers with me or just let them clear the table. I decided to not take anything, even though I had a cooler in my room. The waitress asked me if I would consider giving it to a homeless person, but I didn't want to go on the boulevard, find a homeless person, and then see if they would take it. If you go to this place, go only with a group. You will all have to agree on what you want to eat. Do not order the lasagna.
Primarily Prime Rib: This restaurant is at South Point. I love it because of the prices and the meal you get. While you would get a somewhat better prime rib meal at a Lawrys or a top end steak house, this place has very good prime rib for a reasonable price. I got the blackened cajun style. Your meal comes with salad or soup, plus a baked potato or mashed potatoes.
24 hour cafe at Caesars: We had to wait 20 minutes to be seated. I had the three eggs and your choice of ham, sausage, or bacon. The meal was good but very pricey. My friend ordered what I had but also ordered a single pancake. The pancake was $6 more. I thought the food was good, but breakfast can only be so good. It is only noteworthy when it is bad.
Miscellaneous: We went over to the Westgate Sports Book on Monday. Wow. What a book. They have a state of the art board where they can show various games on multiple humongous screens. All are brightly lit and in high definition. The seats in the book are numerous and extremely comfortable. They also advertise that on Football days, they open their theater and have up to 11 viewing screens. The theater holds 1,500 people. They also offer drinks and food at the theater during games. There was no room to watch the game at Caesars, so we had to go back to our room. In the future I will go over to Westgate.
For the last two years I received comped rooms at Mandalay Bay by using MyVegas.com points. Unfortunately they have pulled waaayyyy back on their room comps.
I was able to use my Starwood Points at Caesars Palace to get a very nice room for four nights. I still had to pay the resort fees though.
Here are a few comments on places visited:
Caesar's Palace Sports Book: Caesars has been very famous in the past for its sports books. While the current one is still very nice, there are other sports books that outshine it. Unless you were 7 diamonds or Platinum you could have an unbelievably long line to wait in to place a bet or cash a ticket.
There was one thing at the Sports Book that knocked my socks off however: DRINK TICKETS
I made two initial $55 dollar bets and the female teller asked me if I wanted any drink tickets. I almost fainted. I said "yes please" and she gave me two of them. My friend only made two $20 bets but he was offered one drink ticket. I used the tickets to buy drinks at the bar that was right there at the Sports Book.
Dining:
Grand Lux Cafe This is always one of my favorites. It is over at the Venetian. Big menu. By the way, you can order a dozen chocolate chip cookies (small ones) to be baked while you are eating your meal. They come warm and soft in a box. You can take a couple of them for dessert and take the rest back to your room.
Circus Circus Steakhouse: Be sure to book with "Open Table". Again, I love this steak house. The steaks are prepared over burning wood. The meat has been aged on the premises. Many steak restaurants will sear a steak in a frying pan and then finish it in the oven, or they will use a special cooker with infra-red that sears the meat and cooks it. I love the flavor of char-broiled steaks. I had a petite filet and a lobster tail. Their food has always been good.
Carmines: This is an Italian restaurant in the Forum shops. I remember when they advertised it was going to open. I think this is a restaurant that is also in New York. We went and sat down. The menu is on the wall. At first the prices seemed very expensive, but then our waitress informed us that everything was family style dining and that the portions brought out would feed three to six people. I ordered Caesars Salad and Lasagna. Way, way too much food. I thought the salad was great. I was not impressed with the lasagna. If I had to do it over, I would have walked to the Fashion Mall and gone to Maggianos. I had to decide if I wanted to take humongous portions of leftovers with me or just let them clear the table. I decided to not take anything, even though I had a cooler in my room. The waitress asked me if I would consider giving it to a homeless person, but I didn't want to go on the boulevard, find a homeless person, and then see if they would take it. If you go to this place, go only with a group. You will all have to agree on what you want to eat. Do not order the lasagna.
Primarily Prime Rib: This restaurant is at South Point. I love it because of the prices and the meal you get. While you would get a somewhat better prime rib meal at a Lawrys or a top end steak house, this place has very good prime rib for a reasonable price. I got the blackened cajun style. Your meal comes with salad or soup, plus a baked potato or mashed potatoes.
24 hour cafe at Caesars: We had to wait 20 minutes to be seated. I had the three eggs and your choice of ham, sausage, or bacon. The meal was good but very pricey. My friend ordered what I had but also ordered a single pancake. The pancake was $6 more. I thought the food was good, but breakfast can only be so good. It is only noteworthy when it is bad.
Miscellaneous: We went over to the Westgate Sports Book on Monday. Wow. What a book. They have a state of the art board where they can show various games on multiple humongous screens. All are brightly lit and in high definition. The seats in the book are numerous and extremely comfortable. They also advertise that on Football days, they open their theater and have up to 11 viewing screens. The theater holds 1,500 people. They also offer drinks and food at the theater during games. There was no room to watch the game at Caesars, so we had to go back to our room. In the future I will go over to Westgate.
