Trip Report - (it's a long one...) 9/8-9/12

As promised...following is my (long) trip report for my stay in Sin City from September 8th through September 12th.

We left Orange County about 3pm last Thursday afternoon and hopped on to the 15 fwy towards the hot desert. We were in Vegas by 7pm, but then drove another hour north of Vegas to stay in Mesquite, Nevada, as we had planned to visit Southern Utah the next day before spending the remainder of the weekend in Vegas.

We checked into the Oasis Casino and Hotel, which is located right off the 15 fwy in Mesquite, and is equivalent to Buffalo Bills, Main Street Station, or any of your standard run-of-the-mill casinos on the state line. We managed to snag one of their rooms for $19.99/night - $10 off the regular price, and that is just what we got. The room was large and on the first floor, but quite run down (I stepped on a piece of tile that had come loose in the bathroom and just about broke my bare toe). There was also a tiny blood stain on the side of the bed - something we found the next morning that sort of grossed us out. It smelled smoky and there weren%26#39;t alot of people around at all. After checking in to Oasis, we had a quick couple of drinks in our room and then headed down to gamble. The casino itself is great - has everything you%26#39;d want - poker room, plenty of gaming and craps tables, massive amount of slots, plenty of wheel of fortune games, video poker in the bar, a steakhouse, coffee shop, gift shop and a Starbucks. The cocktail waitresses gave great service - plenty of drinks that weren%26#39;t exactly bubbling with alcohol, but hey, we didn%26#39;t expect them to be in that kind of joint. The blackjack dealers didn%26#39;t seem that thrilled, kept glancing at their watches wanting their shifts to end. After 7 or 8 watered-down jack and cokes, we stopped noticing their bored attitudes. We won a few small jackpots - especially on the really fun game ';Money Storm'; and ';Texas Tea'; - my two new favorites!

Check out at the Oasis was a breeze, and after our short visit to Southern Utah, just an hour and half further (there isn%26#39;t alot to see in that state), we arrived in Vegas later that day around 5pm.

Arriving at the Luxor we had quite a surprise - the check in lines were atrocious! I%26#39;ve stayed there probably 5 times and never had I seen the lines so long or the lobby so crowded. We were fortunate enough to be able to check in the club line since we are One Club members, so we only had to wait about 20 minutes.

We arrived up to our room on the 25th floor, #10021, in the corner. My boyfriend opened the door and I was thrilled to discover he%26#39;d surprised me with a jacuzzu suite! I wasn%26#39;t expecting that as we had initially reserved a standard room. The room was immaculately clean, with a great jacuzzi in the northwest corner and a smaller room that rounded it%26#39;s way to the right. Of course, the first thing we did was hop into the jacuzzi and pour ourselves a cocktail. The view from the tub was amazing -if we looked left, it was a clear view of the Strip, straight in front of us was a view of the airport, so we could watch all the planes landing and taking off.

We then cleaned up and headed downstairs to the taxi line. We didn%26#39;t have to wait but 5 minutes, which was nice, considering the lines and crowds there. We headed straight to Margaritaville for dinner. The place was mobbed with people at 7pm, but our name was called within 10 minutes and we were seated inside quickly. Now...for all you Margaritaville fans, let me just say that yes, the margaritas are fantastic - but the food? Just mediocre. There wasn%26#39;t a whole lot of a selection, I expected more variety than sandwiches and burgers. However, I was pleased to find that they offered SOME mexican food. I had the tortilla soup and an order of calamari...which I found to be just ok. The margarita I had was very, very good though - and I figured it should be, for costing $13. One thing I really liked about Margaritaville - the waiters will ask if you if you want to round your bill to the nearest dollar, and if so, they will donate that amount to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We did this with both our bill and some suveniers we bought at the Margaritaville Store.

After dinner, we walked the Strip back to Luxor, stopping at the Alladin for a martini. We put $50 into the video poker machines there at the bar and the bartenders still charged us for our drinks, which we were surprised about. We lost all our money within minutes, and left, walking further down to MGM Grand, where we stayed and gambled for quite a while. There was already a long line for Studio 54, so we decided we%26#39;d go back to Luxor. We gambled some more, then wandered into the lounge for some shots of Patron Silver (not a good idea after a margarita and martini) and I soon found myself dancing with the lead singer at the lounge in the Luxor. They were closing down soon, though, so we walked over to Club Ra and even though we were guests of the hotel and it was 2am, they still charged my boyfriend $10 to get in. Whatever. It was worth it because Ra was still packed, had great lights and atmosphere, and played great music. The dancers are also very cool to watch. We called it a night around 4am and went upstairs. An eventful first night!

The next morning we woke around 11am and ordered room service. Now, I%26#39;m not sure if this is just my experience, or if any of the rest of you can relate..but it seems every time I order room service, they tell me it will take 45 minutes and it ends up taking at least an hour to an hour and a half for the food to be delivered. Not too much of a problem, since the guy that delivered it was very apologetic and the food was still hot and tasted fresh. After we ate, we again rolled our hungover selves into the jacuzzi and this caused our bodies to want to go back to sleep, which we did until 3pm.

Waking up, we cleaned up and took the monorail over to Mandalay Bay to see the shark excursion and do some gambling there. I found the Shark Reef to be really interesting! It%26#39;s around $15/person, and when you walk in, they hand you a phone-looking gadget where you can listen to an explanation of each station you go to, example, one window will show you a baby alligator sitting there and you can hear a story about it. Also, I wasn%26#39;t expecting so many different kinds of sharks and sea creatures. At one point you can actually pet the fish through a tank where they sit in the sand! There were alot of kids on this excursion, though, and they kept running past me and bumping into me and yelling and so forth. It might have been my hangover but I was not thrilled about this. Sorry to all you kid-lovers..but Vegas if full of kids wherever you go.

After the Shark tour, we headed over to Mon Ami Gabi for dinner for our anniversary. We arrived at 6:30pm and I was thrilled to find that we were seated outside on the patio within 10 minutes! Also - we had requested to be seated against the outer rail, in the center, and that is just what they gave us! It gives a perfect view of the Bellagio fountains and the atmosphere in this restaurant is wonderful. The sun had set around 7, and the wind had also died down (it was windy when we had gotten there). We had excellent, prompt service. I wasn%26#39;t sure what wine to order with my filet, and asked the waiter if he didn%26#39;t mind picking one out for me, so not only did he do that, but also gave us a short lesson on wine 101 and what goes good with what. In addition, at the end of the meal, he brought us a dessert pastry that had vanilla ice cream inside of it, covered with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, with a candle on top. He wished us a Happy Anniversary and we were both very surprised - neither of us had told him it was our anniversary!! The only thing we could come up with was that he had seen us toast our wine glasses and say Happy Annivesary to each other prior earlier in the meal. Needless to say, it was an extremely nice touch to the evening.

After dinner, we took the Eiffel Tower tour, and although crowded, this was really exciting. It is not for those scared of heights, however. The elevator is small and you can see the entire ascent and descent...(I had to close my eyes) and once you are up in the tower, you can feel it sway a bit. There is cage-like walls though and the security guards do assure you that you are safe. We were able to see incredible views. We also bought the picture that was taken of us before we had gone up (you have the option of purchasing the photo).

After the tower experience, we went back to the Luxor, rented an in-room movie War of the Worlds, and were snoring by midnight. The beds at the Luxor are very comfortable.

Sunday morning we woke and ate breakfast at the Luxor Cafe - which is a great place to eat and serves great food. After we ate, we wandered over to Excalibur to gamble and continued gambling our way all the way down the Strip the entire day. My boyfriend won a few small jackpots - $100 here, $200 there, while I lost most of the $20%26#39;s and $50%26#39;s I put into the machines. We stopped at Harrahs, then Casino Royale, where we stupidly gave in to a junk food craving and mistakingly ordered the pizza there. The pizza was greasy and tasted as if it had been sitting there awhile..and then gave us some outragous stomach aches.

We then went to Imperial Palace. We had the most fun there- where we bought the ';Yard Drinks'; from Tequila Joes - slushy drinks served in gigantic plastic glasses that you can carry with you. The largest ones cost $30 and contain an enormous amount of alcohol. My boyfriend, afraid that he might not ';get enough of a buzz';, added 2 shots of tequila to his - then ended up not being able to drink it all and disposing of half of it in the mens room at IP. The impersonators who deal blackjack at IP are a must see. We gambled with Alice Cooper, the Blues Brothers and Ricky Martin for over 2 hours (me winning this time) before we declared ourselves too buzzed to walk. We then made our way back towards Luxor.

We stopped at the place that sells 1/2 price show tickets, there right by the large Coke bottle and all the peddlers, and purchased 2 for that night 8 o%26#39;clock showing of La Femme at MGM Grand. We were able to get both tickets for $60, which I thought was a fantastic deal. There weren%26#39;t alot of other decent choices - most of them were the less expensive shows, but I still think it%26#39;s always worth it to check this place out.

After showering in our room, we headed toward MGM for dinner and the show. We ate at the MGM cafe - which had some slow service, and mediocre food. Not sure I%26#39;d eat there again - yet it was the only place close to the show theater.

We saw the La Femme show and although I really liked it, my boyfriend grew bored with the unusual routines the dancers performed and the fact that the show is relatively calmer and less glittery than Jubilee and Folies. I found it to be more creative and sensual then any other Las Vegas show I%26#39;ve seen and I%26#39;d recommend it. After the show, we spent some time at the Luxor lounge and then called it a night.

I unfortunately awoke with a sick feeling in my stomach around 1:30am - and had a bad episode of food poisoning. Whether this came from the bad pizza at Casino Royale or the mediocre food at MGM, I am not sure, but it was a really bad experience.

The next day we ate breakfast at the Luxor buffet - (always good, everytime I%26#39;ve eaten there) checked out, and made our way over to the Wynn. What a beautiful place! The trees have big bunches of colorful flowers in them and the tile on the floor is just amazing - filled with colors. The place was fairly crowded even though it was a Monday morning. We gambled, but seemed to lose everything we put in - not surprising! In the poker area, they were filming a television show, so we could see the actors and cameras and so forth - which was pretty cool. We then walked over to the Ferrari Showroom and had to wait in a long line to get in. We finally decided it wasn%26#39;t worth it to wait and instead walked into the Ferrari store, where you can see most of the cars though the walkway.

After the Wynn, we knew it was time to make our way southbound...to drive back home to Orange County, so we left close to 3pm, stopping once in Baker at the famous ';Bun Boy'; for a burger and a shake, dissapointed that the big thermometer was broken and not displaying the temperture. After all, that is the city%26#39;s claim to faim. :)

We arrived safely back in Cali around 8pm. All in all - a great trip...and as usual, it ended way too soon.

Trip Report - (it's a long one...) 9/8-9/12

great review.

Have you ever eaten in any of the restaurants at the Orleans? We are heading there in a few weeks and have only been to the mexican restaurant which we liked.

Trip Report - (it's a long one...) 9/8-9/12

Sorry Wolfman, I%26#39;ve never been to the Orleans, so I can%26#39;t help you there. Let us know if you find anything.

Very good report. Down to earth and non-pretentious.

Cali,

Nice Report! Glad you had a good time. To have a jacuzzi in your room would be great! I may have to try that sometime. I%26#39;ve never used the half-price ticket place at the Coke Bottle, but I may try that this time around. I%26#39;ll be staying at the MC in Nov. My bet for your food poisoning is on Casino Royale, but it%26#39;s only a guess. Anyway, we%26#39;re glad you made it back safely. When is your next trip?

Hey bjk - thanks! I%26#39;m sure your trip to MC in Nov will be lots of fun, as that%26#39;s a great place too.

My next trip is October, over the Columbus holiday weekend. This trip will be a cheapy one though...staying at Harrahs for just a night, and meeting co-workers there.

Definately do a jacuzzi room sometime. Worth every penny.

Cali,

I think I may have stayed in the exact same suite as you! I remember it was on the 25th floor and in the corner...don%26#39;t remember the exact # though. The jacuzzi and view are both pretty awesome, huh? It made me want to go back sooooo badly after reading your report. Now I%26#39;m sad...:-(