Since I spent so much time reading everyone’s advice in planning our first trip to Vegas, it only seems right to report back on our trip. I have read a few trip reports that narrate day-by-day, but I am not sure ours would be so interesting and I often find that style to be time consuming to use as research. Hopefully this format will be acceptable.
Flight/Airport/Transportation
Our Southwest flight was great! So great to be able to check bags at no charge. This allowed us to bring anything and everything we thought we might want to wear. Non-stop was a huge treat for us. We are rarely able to fly direct from Portland to anywhere that we have traveled. Airport was easy and our bags were some of the first off the plane. We took a taxi and asked to go via Swenson…I took a shot…I know some have said to just let the drivers take you the way they want, but I went with the advice to avoid being “tunneled”. I think the total was $17 and change so I gave the driver $20 and called it good. Return trip via taxi and our flight home was uneventful.
Caesar’s Palace
We flew in to Vegas pretty early on a Tuesday and ended up at Caesar’s at 9:30 a.m. The signs at check-in said that check-in was typically from 1-5 p.m. so we decided not to push the rules at that time. We left our bags with the bell desk and started exploring. We followed to sound of slots and eventually ended up in a food court where we ate some breakfast (more on that later). Then we wandered through half of the Forum Shops without going in any of them. I know a lot of people come to Vegas to shop, but thee stores were definitely too rich for us and I figure I can shop at home, why would I spend my time doing that here.
We finally decided to check-in around 11 a.m. I was eager to try the $20 tip trick. We got an amazing $75 a night rate using a “Friends and Family” discount code I found on Fatwallet for a Classic Room and we would have been perfectly happy. However, a friend was successful with the $20 tip and I was curious. So we approached the counter and I gave her my name and let her start searching. A few moments later I asked if there were any upgrades available and she said she would see what she could do. Then she asked for ID and credit card and I handed them to her with the $20 underneath. She very smoothly slipped it into her pocket and said “Oh! Thank you very much” as she continued to type. At this point in time I didn’t know for sure if we had an upgrade or not but I was pretty optimistic. My husband on the other hand, figured we had just lost our $20. Next thing I know she is giving us keys and wrote down the room number at PT2326. Well now I knew we had it because that could only stand for Palace Tower and I know there aren’t any Classic rooms in that tower.
We headed up to our room and it was great. Overlooking the pool (and a bit of construction, but we weren’t complaning and it actually turned out to be pretty fascinating to watch). The “Deluxe room” was large by our standards, had a jetted tub and two sinks; lots of storage and room to move around. The pool is right out the elevator doors which was also a plus for us as we were determined to get some sun!
More later...
TR : 3/24 - 3/27, Caesar's, O, Craps!Off to a great start. Can%26#39;t wait for the craps part. Glad the $20 seemed to do the trick too~!
TR : 3/24 - 3/27, Caesar's, O, Craps!Good report so far. Looking forward to more. Don%26#39;t make us wait too long. I am interested in hearing about the food court.
This format works great!
Looking forward to reading more.
Judi
Dining
Caesar’s Food Court: We only ever had breakfast here as we were elsewhere at dinner and never really ate lunch on this trip. I can’t remember the name of the place, but next to the coffee shop is the only restaurant serving breakfast. We thought it was excellent. Twice we ate the and had bacon, egg and cheese croissants. We also ordered a side of potatoes and those were also excellent. Total bill: $11.26. We were able to spit the sandwich and potatoes and that got us through most of the day…a handful of trail mix got us to dinner. We also had coffee at the coffee shop…a latte and a drip coffee cost almost as much as breakfast, but we had to have it! Decent coffee…did the trick ?
Caesar’s Breakfast Buffet: We each had $20 comped for signing up for the players card so we used it here. I knew it wasn’t the highest rated buffet going in, but it was free! Decent breakfast, but nothing special. I don’t think it would be worth it for me to eat here at pay normal prices. Can’t even really remember what we ate.
Ellis Island: A total disappointment. I don’t know what I was expecting, but based on reviews we tried it out. It is definitely more of a hike from the strip than “behind Bally’s” would lead you to believe. A total dive and average breakfast. My husband and I both ordered the meal that comes with 2 eggs, bacon, toast and potatoes. Nothing special and not worth the walk. The menu says “crisp bacon” and this was anything but crisp, which is how I like my bacon so that was very disappointing. Potatoes were good….kind of that almost battered fired potato chunk style. Basic wheat toast and average eggs. Although we have definitely found that “over medium” in Vegas is still pretty runny. I would rather pay more to eat on the strip and save the time it takes to walk there.
Border Grill (Mandalay Bay): We had a restaurant.com coupon for here and the Margarita reviews were pretty good. Dinner here was good. We eat pretty well in Portland, OR and this place seemed to fall in with the quality and selection we can get at home but for higher prices (to be expected, I guess). The margarita was good, not syrupy sweet, but didn’t really have much effect….I guess I expected a little more of a buzz. I had the Tecate Carintas and my husband ordered the Conchinita Pibil, both pork dishes and they were tasty. I also ordered a side of caramelized plantains and I would not recommend them…not bad, just not good enough.
Two margaritas and our meals came to $78 after our $25 coupon was applied and we tipped. We eat a lot of Mexican food (not at the chain restaurants either) and really enjoy a quality margarita. It was a fine meal, but I think we’ll try something else next time.
Margaritaville: This was a real mixed bag. I went there knowing that I was having the volcano nachos and a “Perfect” margarita. I will start with the nachos….disappointing. They were definitely large and had good flavor but I was bummed that they added “pump” or “nacho” cheese to them. They also have regular melted cheese, which is good, but I don’t ever want pump cheese on my nachos. If I were to order them again in a desperate nacho craving, I would definitely ask to leave off the pump cheese in favor of more shredded cheese. Plenty of guacamole, sour cream and jalapenos for my liking and the ground meat that came with it was flavorful although I meant to order it with the chicken. Now the margarita was EXCELLENT. The best one we had in Vegas. We tent to be margarita connoisseurs and do not like syrupy, sugary mixes and weak drinks. This was neither of those. It is definitely worth the extra $1.50 over their cheapest marg to have quality tequila and lime juice. I would go back here every time we come to Vegas just for this margarita!
Spice Market Buffet (Planet Hollywood): We decided to eat here because it was easy, had good reviews and I had a $5 off coupon for each of us. As I am sure is true with many buffets, it was really hit or miss. There was stuff we loved and other items that were just okay or totally not worth having on your plate. I recommend the tempura shrimp, shrimp cocktail, tequila lime chicken and the cream puffs….definitely the cream puffs! The crab was disappointing. I don’t understand why buffets serve it cold, but even still it really lacked flavor. The thing I couldn’t believe was the lack of decent bread…only dinner rolls could be found. I would expect quality artisan breads at a buffet like this. Oh, and the pastas I had were good as well. Even though this wasn’t bad, I think if we were going to do a dinner buffet again, we would try somewhere else.
Taqueria Canonita (Venetian): Very good. We had 2 great margaritas here….again, not syrupy sweet (you can probably tell by now that we were not one of the couples walking around Vegas with a slushy drink in a “yard” glass) and had nice flavor. We were here for lunch so we shared the 5 taco platter: chicken, steak, pastor, fish and mushroom. All of them were good except the chicken, just no flavor. We also really enjoyed the warm chips and tasty salsa. This place is right along the canal and we were able to get seated right next to it so we could watch the gondoliers float by. A perfect final meal in Vegas.
I too enjoy a great margarita,and I agree with your surmise that margaritaville%26#39;s perfect margi%26#39;s are great. If you want one even better go to Isla Mexican Kichen in the T.I. They will make one from scratch with premium tequila, and then muddle the old fashioned way way with fresh fruit. I had the rasberry and it was awesome, still tastes like a strong margi with a hint of fruit like it should. Nice report.
great TR. i really like how you break it down into sections - for easier reading for people looking specifically for info on food, or hotel, etc...
sorry that you didn%26#39;t enjoy Ellis Island. it seems to be one of those places that you love or hate. i am partial to it, but my husband cannot stand it. he%26#39;s of your vote that he%26#39;d rather NOT walk there and get ';semi-decent'; food (in his words), and rather stay on strip and pay a bit more for something better. me, on the other hand, i find the food quite decent and the prices are amazing. what can i say? i%26#39;m cheap ;)
Great TR so far, really appreciate the level of detail especially the tip about squeeze cheese on the volcano nachos! I%26#39;ll stick with the nachos at Tequila Bar!
Hope there%26#39;s more to come.
thanks M. I will try the ras. rita at TI this weekend. Leaving for Vegas late on Thurs.
MGM Crazy Horse
My husband and I wanted to see a burlesque type show...not interested in strip clubs, but thought it would be a fun, interesting ';Vegas'; thing to do. I did a bit of research and concluded that it would be either Crazy Horse of Ivan Kane%26#39;s Forty Deuce. We went with Crazy Horse from the reviews that it was good for couples, tasteful and ';artistic';. Also, Forty Deuce isn%26#39;t performing on Tuesday and Wednesday and we already had tickets for ';O'; for Thursday. It wasn%26#39;t bad, but I wouldn%26#39;t recommend it. Even at the 1/2 price ticket price. it was actually kind of boring. Very tasteful and and a couple of the dances were particularly good, but just blah for us. Not really sure what we were expecting, but it wasn%26#39;t this. i think we might try something different next time...or not...we%26#39;ll see.
Tix4Tonite side note...
We went to the Tix4Tonite booth at Bill%26#39;s Gambling Hall at about 10:15 a.m. They had tickets for Crazy Horse so we had a decision to make. We were going to go to a craps lesson at Imperial palace at 11 a.,m. so we didn%26#39;t know if we had time to stand in line. The line outside was HUGE! The line inside for ';VIP'; customers was more reasonable, but we weren%26#39;t sure it was worth and extra $25 to be a ';VIP';. There was a woman supervising the VIP line and she explained how it worked. We stepped away from the line as we tried to decide what to do. My husband basically felt like he would rather pay full price than stand in line, but I am more of the penny-pincher and wanted to save the money. As we were standing there trying to decide what to do, the woman came over and handed us a little slip of paper and said something that made us believe that she had just comped us the VIP cost. Something like ';Well, while you%26#39;re thinking about it why don%26#39;t you take this...then you%26#39;ll have it';. Our reaction was very appreciative and we decided to go ahead and stand in the VIP line. Fortunately, my husband discovered that there was a craps lesson beginning at Bill%26#39;s at 11 so off he went. I had a lovely conversation with another woman waiting in line and then finally around 11:15 I got to the counter. I asked for tickets to Crazy Horse and was charged the VIP line fee. OH DRAT! She suckered us into thinking we were getting something for nothing. This was our first lesson in being more savvy travelers. When she handed us the little slip of paper that we thought was a complimentary VIP membership we should have asked what it was and what it would get us...oh well,we still paid less than full price and a lesson learned, but others should definitely be aware.
O
This was our first Cirque du Soleil show and it did not disappoint. We purchased our tickets at full price the week they went on sale. After getting advice on tripadvisor I decided to get the Category 2 tickets, one row in front of Category 1. We sat in section 204, Row O, Seats 1 and 2. They were great! Definitely the right decision, we got a good view of everything on the stage....we may have missed stuff being up close. The only thing to be aware of is if you have anyone shorter than me (5%26#39;4';) the railing could be an issue for things that happen right at the front of the stage. I was not an issue for me, but it might be for anyone shorter. This show was AMAZING!!! I knew right away when the curtain was pulled away from the stage that it was going to be spectacular and it was. I don%26#39;t want to give away anything, but it was absolutely worth every penny. I had that feeling part way through the show (about an hour) where I was worried it might be over soon and I had not had enough. Unfortunately about a half hour later it did end and I still hadn%26#39;t had enough. I have heard others say they like Mystere better so I can%26#39;t wait to see that one the next time we go to Vegas.
Oops, my husband corrected me, the craps lesson at Bill%26#39;s was at 10:30 a.m.
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