Our most recent trip, outside of visiting family, was to Las Vegas last November. V and I had been talking about going there forever, but never made it. Fortunately for us, he was going to a conference out there, and that was the perfect excuse for a long weekend away! V went up for the week, and I flew out on Thursday to meet him.
Airport: Ok, airports aren't usually anything to write home about. But I had to mention this one so I could add the picture. When you walk off the plane, you know you're in Vegas! This picture, with the slot machines, is literally the first thing I saw when I walked up the jet bridge. I know it's a bad pic, but I couldn't help it.
Hotel: MGM Grand. The conference was at this hotel and was offering the conference room rate through the weekend, so we decided to stay. I'm glad we did! We really liked the MGM. It's in a great location, the price is good, and the overall feel of the hotel/casino was just right for us. It was a nice mix of relaxed and family friendly, but there was still plenty to do. We ended up eating at a few of the restaurants in there, drank at most of the bars, went to the club, and saw 2 of their shows. But I'll detail that a bit more below!
Casinos: Ok, so I'm not a huge fan of gambling. I have horrible luck. With that said, the only 2 places we played were the MGM Grand and the Bellagio. As I said in the hotel review, we really liked the MGM Grand, and that included the casino floor. It was always pretty busy, but not so much that you couldn't easily find the game and the price range you were looking for. And on the plus side, the dealers were friendly and the waitstaff very attentive.
I'm just going to come out and say that we weren't impressed with the Bellagio at all. The tables were pretty crowded, and it was about impossible to get a drink. Everyone who worked there seemed to have the attitude that we should be privileged to be at the famous Bellagio. Whatever. It wasn't really different than any of the other hotels/casinos (we walked through a lot of them!), and certainly not worth an attitude like that. We did catch one of the fountain shows, which was really neat and definitely a good Vegas experience.
We walked through a lot of the other casinos just to get a feel for what else was there, because I'm sure we'll be back at some point. The other two we were really impressed with were the Cosmopolitan and Caesar's Palace. We happened to walk through the Cosmopolitan because we heard that they have the most spectacular chandelier. Well, that doesn't really adequately describe the decor at all. They don't really have what I would call a chandelier so much as a lobby draped in crystals. Oh my. It made the girl in me giddy. If you love all things sparkly, this is the place for you! I tried to take a picture, but my camera wouldn't do it justice. Google it, and I promise you'll be impressed.
The other place we walked through and really liked was Caesar's Palace. We went there for the sole purpose of eating at Mesa Grill, but we'd heard that it's a neat place with good shopping, so we got there a little early and walked around. Caesar's Palace, to us, seemed like an upscale version of the MGM Grand, with more shopping, upscale restaurants, and a larger casino. But it still had kind of a laid-back atmosphere, so it seemed like a good mix.
Shows: As part of the conference package, V got a ticket to see the Cirque du Soleil show Ka, which is also in the MGM Grand. We're seen Cirque before, but only the touring show. And honestly, we weren't impressed. Everyone we talked to about Vegas said this was the thing to see, but again, V wasn't impressed. He said the acrobatics were cool, but there was too much dance fighting.
We had pretty much decided before our trip that what we really wanted to see in Vegas was a magician, and as it turned out, David Copperfield was doing a show in the MGM Grand as well! We definitely were not disappointed. I've never seen a magician of this caliber before, and his tricks were amazing! For his last trick, he made a group of about a dozen people, including V, disappear. It was really cool, and even V, who was picked from the audience, still doesn't know exactly how he did it. I was really impressed by the show, and it seemed like the perfect "Vegas" thing to see.
Food: I have no idea how we ate so much in one weekend! For breakfast and lunch, we mostly ate at the smaller restaurants in the MGM Grand, which seemed to be reasonably priced for coffee, sandwiches, and other small stuff. We really splurged on three meals: the Bellagio buffet for dinner, Mesa Grill for another dinner, and the MGM Grand buffet for brunch.
We had read, seen, and heard a lot of great things about the Bellagio buffet; that it was the quintessential Vegas buffet and not to be missed. So we decided to have dinner there Friday night. Much like the Bellagio casino floor, we were not impressed. The food was ok. There was a lot of selection, but almost everything was underseasoned and overcooked. Which I would expect from a typical buffet, but not from supposedly the best buffet in Vegas. The desserts were pretty amazing, though. And again, the service was horrible. It took forever to get sodas (we didn't even see the waiter until he cleared our first empty plates), and then forever again to get coffee to have with our dessert. It definitely wasn't worth the money.
Our other big dinner, Mesa Grill, however, was so good I wanted to go back for brunch the next morning! For an appetizer, we had the tuna nachos. They were so amazing! Just the right amount of spice, and the flavor was out of this world. I got the chile relleno for my entree, which was probably the best chile relleno I've ever had. V got the pork tenderloin, which was definitely the best pork tenderloin I've ever had. It was so tender and again, just the right amount of spice. For dessert, we had the coconut cake, which was recommended by our waiter. Evidently this cake won one of the Bobby Flay Throwdowns, and after eating it, I know why! I don't think I've ever had a coconut cake that had so much natural coconut flavor, and it wasn't too sweet. We also had margaritas, which were good, but nothing too exciting.
For brunch on Sunday, we decided to try the buffet at the MGM Grand before we had to leave for the airport. It was a lot better than the Bellagio buffet! While there wasn't as much food, there was still plenty of selection, and the quality of the food was a lot better. As was the price. It was a great way to wrap up our trip!
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