Trip Report: Jan 11-17

Visited Vegas from Jan 11 to Jan 17. Stayed at an MGM Celebrity Spa Suite.

Accomodations:

I lucked out a few months ago reading another members%26#39; post, and someone provided a link directly to the MGM reservation site. From that link, I was able to get the Celebrity Spa Suite for $85/night (except friday which i think was something like $115). If I went through the MGM website, to their reservations, I wasn%26#39;t able to find this same deal. I don%26#39;t remember exactly who posted the link (i want to say Stratton, but i%26#39;m not sure). so whoever, thank you! I would post the link myself, but I checked a couple of weeks back and the link wasn%26#39;t working any longer. Anyways, a long sentence just to say that we felt we got a good price on the suite!

We both really liked the room. it wasn%26#39;t a true suite (in that it wasn%26#39;t two separate rooms), but it was a Huuuuge room, and a huuuuge bathroom. Lots of little minor ';issues';, but really nothing significant.

- yes the room is showing its age - due for a remodel. not even a flatscreen tv (!?!), the carpet was a bit worn.

- the large jacuzzi tub could be difficult getting in and out of, and i%26#39;m 5%26#39;7';. there really should have been a step or something to help.

- the bedding was amazing. very toasty and so comfortable. loved the pillows and mattress.

Gambling:

wow. luck was SO NOT with us this week. I mean, I go to vegas expecting to not bring back any of my gambling money (though I secretly fantasize about winning the progressive and not ever having to work again!). But the least I ask for is that at least it%26#39;s enjoyable to lose my money. not this time. nuh-uh. wham bam, thank you ma%26#39;am. So it%26#39;s a little disheartening to lose continually, with very few ';ups'; to keep my enthusiasm going. There is however a couple of fun new slot machines (well, new to us - our last trip was July 2008). Star Trek! now this thing will just suck you dry if you let it - the payouts seem pretty crappy, but IF you ever hit a bonus, it%26#39;s really fun and a decent amount can be won. Plus, it lets you create an ID, and it stores all your info (basically medals won). so you can go to different casinos, log in with your id and continue your play. a cute idea. Also, there%26#39;s a great game called Zeus II. If you%26#39;ve ever played Zeus, it%26#39;s similar, but those rows of Zeus are taken to another level - if you get a row of Zeus on the first column then the machine will respin, and each time you get another Zeus (or wild) the machine will continue to respin. anyways. hubby won a pretty penny on it - to which i then took the $$ and subsequently lost it in various games *L*

Shows:

okay. Show. as in ONE. *L* we haven%26#39;t actually seen a show in vegas since,...geez since our honeymoon a few years back. but we finally decided it was time to see another one. so we saw Penn %26amp; Teller. tickets through tix4tonight (~55/pp). Show was amazing, if you enjoy magic and Penn %26amp; Teller%26#39;s style of humour. Would definitely highly recommend it.

Food:

We had some ups %26amp; downs with meals this time, which was slightly disappointing.

Bad:

Wynn Breakfast buffet. We%26#39;ve eaten at Wynn for dinner before and loved it. so we thought we%26#39;d try the breakfast this time. maybe we just caught them on an off day. both of us prefer more a lunch-type meal than the usual breakfast foods. and there wasn%26#39;t a huge selection of things other than breakfast fare. The asian area was sadly disappointing: Fried rice was sweet (?) %26amp; the lo-mein noodles were salty. The fruit bar was hit or miss. the berries were awesome, but both the honey dew %26amp; cantelope tasted ';off';.

Terrible%26#39;s Cafe. We%26#39;ve eaten here for a meal the last couple of times we%26#39;ve been in vegas. Decent fare and very good prices. Again, it must have been an off night. Hubby ordered the meat lasanga. it was served still cold in the middle. yes, he sent it back, but really all they did was re-heat it in the microwave. I had the strip steak %26amp; beer ($10), and well, i guess you get what you pay for *LOL* very tasteless - now i know why have have TWO bottles of steak sauce on each table. It was a shame we were so disappointed. we usually really enjoy the meal there.

MGM buffet. Now we%26#39;ve had the breakfast buffet here before, but not in a few years. Selection was much less than previously remembered - not much in way of anything OTHER than breakfast foods. The donuts were very yummy - but what%26#39;s the point in paying $14.50 for a couple of yummy donuts? *L* oh wait, the biscuits were VERY good too. oh yes....very yummy. - that was the saving grace!

Good:

We ate at the Gold Coast a couple of times and loved it.

Ping Pang Pong: pretty authentic chinese food. had the singapore noodles, shrimp %26amp; sesame rolls, and salt %26amp; pepper pork chops. total was ~ $30. VERY tastey.

Noodle Exchange: lunch special was $7/pp. I had sweet %26amp; sour pork and husband had mongolian beef. both came with fried rice %26amp; a spring roll. The fried rice wasn%26#39;t the greatest, but the pork was amazing. had that yummy sour/vinegary aftertaste. making my mouth water just thinking of it! *L*

Dan Marino%26#39;s - inside Hooters. I was expecting a so-so meal, and it turned out quite yummy. service was good and very fast. i honestly think we were in and out within 30mins! I ordered chicken parmasean ($15) and husband had french toast. both were very tastey and the chicken was GINORMOUS. i only finished half of the breast and felt very guilty for sending the other half away.

Ghiradelli%26#39;s: - Carnival Court. Treated myself to one of their sundaes on my last full day in vegas. An espresso sundae. Espresso ice cream, warm fudge sauce, whipped cream %26amp; chocolate chips sprinkled on top. TO. DIE. FOR.

MGM room-service: We ordered in pizza for dinner (twice!). it was actually very very good and quite reasonable. $16 for a pizza big enough for two, with sausage %26amp; pepperoni. the crust is very light and crispy with a buttery flavour. Mmmmm.

Anyways, everything might not have gone our way this trip, but it was still nice to be in vegas and get away from the deep freeze that Toronto went through last week (-27C??? yikes!). Everywhere seemed noticably quieter and not very busy. well except for friday/saturday, when a lot of ppl drove into town for the long weekend. The weather was beautiful and sunny every day and didn%26#39;t get TOO cold at night (a warm sweater usually sufficed). If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Trip Report: Jan 11-17

My mother LOVES Zeus. While gambling at TI last week she received a total of 120 free spins. It took about 20 minutes to finish. She got 100 at once than two respins of 10 each. I was very happy for her but my machine next to her did nothing. So I cried about it in my appletini.

Trip Report: Jan 11-17

Glad you enjoyed the trip.

Good TR.

I%26#39;m leaving Toronto on the 30th - staying at the MGM too and in the same room (type).

Looking forward to the trip!