Las Vegas Trip Report 8.31-9.5.2016 - The One With Opposite Accommodations

I'd gotten an offer for two free nights at the Cosmopolitan before our last trip and we could not resist the chance to stay there, so we decided to go over Labor Day weekend arriving Wednesday night before the holiday. I had booked a King Terrace Studio over the phone with the booking agent, though I had hopes for an upgrade to a fountain view room.

Our fight out on Wednesday evening was running a bit behind schedule, but we departed just a little bit late and arrived just about on time. The plane was not very full and the exit rows were wide open, so once the boarding doors closed, we moved back a row to an exit row. Once we landed our bags came out pretty quickly an we took an Uber to The Cosmo.

I tried the $20 trick at check in at the Cosmo and asked for something with a fountain view. The agent made a phone call and ended up telling me that nothing with a fountain view was available, but he could give me a One Bedroom Terrace Studio with a strip view, which sounded great to us, so we were happy. The room was beautiful as you can see in my many pictures below!

view from the terrace

The safe was locked when we arrived, so we had to call to have it unlocked. It did not take too long for them to arrive, but they did send a maintenance man an two large security guys, so that was  interesting.

After settling in we played video poker at Bond Bar for a bit, played a few slots and ended up playing bubble craps for some time and doing quite well actually. Even got a bunch of comp drinks.

Before calling it a night we popped into Secret Pizza to grab a couple slices to take to the room. It was early so the line was not bad.

The pizza certainly hit the spot and was good quality. I'm not sure if it was really that great or because it was kind of late, but it is worth getting if you are in the area. Not sure it is worth going out of the way for.

Thursday we were up pretty early as we ad not figured out the blinds in the room very well, so we went to Overlook Grill for breakfast. The place is not very big, but we were seated right away and service was quick.

breakfast burrito for John

I had the Overlook Omelet with bacon, tomatoes, avocado, jack cheese. Both items were very good.

After breakfast we went back to the room to change and went to the Boulevard pool. There were plenty of chairs available and the music was at a good level.

view from Boulevard pool

It was pretty toasty outside and we were getting crispy after just a few hours at the pool, so we headed back to the room to get ready. We headed over to Paris in hopes of finding a $10 3-2 table, which we did. I don't think I did very well, I think John did OK. We walked over to Monte Carlo to redeem a couple MyVegas awards. We both had a free pint at the Pub at Monte Carlo and watched some college football too. They were running out of some beers as the bartender said they were coming in three weeks, but we managed to find something we liked.

John had wings and fries at The Pub also. 

We also stopped at Hit Bar for BOGO drinks from MyVegas. We had a fun time chatting with the bartender there and hearing about everything that was going to be closing or changing on the property.

Next, we went to Andre's for happy hour and I had the sliders with fries, which was very good. Too bad they are closing also.

We went back to the Cosmo and played some slots and headed off to bed around midnight.

view from Cosmo terrace at night, so cool!

Friday morning I tried to ask for late checkout, but they said it was not available. Rats. I was hoping to enjoy that room for as long as possible.

We waited in the line for Eggslut for breakfast. I have to say, the line moves fairly well and the sandwiches are certainly worth the wait.

I had the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich

John had the Fairfax sandwich

It was not cheap, each sandwich is about $10, but they were filling, freshly made and very delicious.

We realized we never found the Bamboo pool, so we went to check that one out. It is a bit quieter than the Boulevard pool, but both are very nice.

We stayed as long as we could, but we checked out of the Cosmo at 11am and grabbed an Uber to downtown. We were staying the rest of the weekend at the Golden Gate and we knew this was going to be a tough transition. We were lucky in that we were able to get our room right away when we checked in at 11:30am or so.

This room was about the size of the bathroom at the Cosmo. And older. A lot older. But it was clean with updated furnishings.

queen bed, comfortable anyway.

We played a few slots at the Golden Gate and Golden Nugget and decided to grab lunch at DuPar's. I'm not sure what time it was, but there was no wait for a table.

Started with shrimp cocktails. Finally used the coupons Megan! 

John had a burger and fries

I had lemon meringue pie, which was quite good. 

This is a temporary facade in front of the former La Bayou. That building is coming down for a likely expansion of the Golden Gate.

We played some video poker at Main Street at Boar's Head bar, wandered through the Cal and decided to do the Sip and Stroll drink package at the Golden Nugget. For $40 you get eight drinks at eight different bars around the property. We split the package as there were some drinks I did not want and some John did not want. Plus it is a lot of drinks for one person! We played slots in between visits to the various bars.

We decided on Carson Kitchen for dinner. We had tried it a couple years ago and have not had a chance to go back. We did not have a reservation, but got seated right away at the bar facing the kitchen. It is a great spot to sit and watch everything come out.

BBQ burnt ends to start

sea bass

secret Sunday chicken sandwich and tots

Everything was really good and we would highly recommend Carson Kitchen.

After dinner we went back to the Golden Nugget and resumed the Sip and Stroll and playing slots. This is the chocolate martini from Rush Lounge. It was great.

Chart House's Pear Rita. John had a mango mojito from the Sip and Stroll. After that we played a few more slots here and there and called it a night fairly early.

Friday we were up somewhat early and headed to Magnolia's Veranda at the Four Queens for breakfast.

excellent sourdough toast, as always 

After breakfast, I decided to go to the Spa at the Golden Nugget for a massage. It was very good, but not cheap, cost was $195 for 50 minutes. You do get all day use of their facilities as well. John played blackjack at the Fremont and Golden Gate during that time. Once I was ready I played with him at Golden Gate with a fun older couple for awhile.

We headed over to the strip after a short stop at the Palms. At the Palms we realized nothing much was open for lunch, so we decided on Mon Ami Gabi at Paris for lunch instead.

classic steak frites

Bordelaise steak frites for me

After lunch we looked around Paris a bit, but the $10 tables from earlier in the week were long gone. We took an Uber over to Ellis Island Casino as we had a bunch of coupons from ACG and Las Vegas Advisor to use. It ended up being unexpectedly fun. We both had a bunch of slot play to use and I ended up on that and we played blackjack for a bit as well, I think results were just OK there though.

We had both bought Groupons to the Golden Tiki a tiki bar off strip we had visited once before.

The Groupon was a great deal and the drinks were excellent and strong as expected. Next, we took an Lyft to the Golden Gate and played blackjack for a bit.

We decided to have a late dinner at Pizza Rock. We went basic, with a pepperoni pizza, which was excellent as always. Side note, the restaurant was quite busy, but we were able to find open spots at the bar with no waiting at all.

After dinner we went back to the Golden Gate and played blackjack a bit more. I wasn't doing well, s I gave up and went up to the room. John stayed up a bit later and was doing very well at the tables. It is convenient to stay at the Golden Gate since we do play there a lot and it is nice to be right there.

Sunday we had breakfast at Seigel's 1941 at the El Cortez. Breakfast sandwich for me.

John's breakfast. Too bad they do not have hash browns. The food was OK, nothing all that great.

After breakfast we went over to The Plaza and checked out their newly redone pool area. Since we were not hotel guests we had to pay $10 admission. It was not crowded at all and the area was very nice with music at good levels. Since we did not have a pool, it was a nice option.

view from the rooftop pool area at The Plaza

After leaving the pool, we got ready at the room and headed over to 777 Pub at Main Street Station for a quick lunch. John ad a Caesar salad.

I had an Asian tuna salad, which was excellent. The portion was large and the tuna was sushi grade.

We played video poker at the Boar''s Head bar for awhile and I got a few four of a kind hands as well as the bonus scratch off cards. One was for $3, instead of the usual $2 bonus. Maybe someday one of us will win more than a few bucks on that bonus, but it is still pretty fun.

Next, we took an Uber to the Cromwell. We wandered around there a bit and decided to have drinks at Bond Bar toward the back. The day club on the roof was getting finished for the day, so it was entertaining to watch the parade of crazy go by.

Plus, we were able to use comps from our cards from Social Rewards social media sharing, so the $17 drinks didn't cost us anything but tip. We had the Cromwellian and the Never Say Goodnight, both coffee based cocktails.

We walked over to the Cosmo as John had to cash out from his sports betting application he'd been using to do bets. We played video poker at Chandelier bar. for awhile. I should mention the redone Chandelier bar looks exactly the same as before except the carpet and chairs seem to be new.

I got some more four of a kinds there, but no bonus cards here. ha. I should have kept track of how many I had as I had a lot that day, it was a decent VP day for me. No drink ticket system was in effect, but the bartenders said it was coming soon. yuck. We also played a bit at the sports book bar. I should mention the new sports book at the Cosmo is excellent. Very spacious with lots of TVs and quite a bit of seating.

We went to China Poblano for dinner. We started with the Slat Air margaritas. Surprisingly, I found it to be too salty with the salt foam on top.

siu mai lucky 6 

tuna ceviche

shrimp mojo

20 vegetable fried rice

China Poblano was good, but I'm not sure I thought it was great. Maybe we didn't order the best items? I also hated the dining room with the large shared bench seating tables. The seating was not at all comfortable, I think the point was so you didn't stay long.

After dinner, we headed back to the Golden Gate and played some blackjack before going to bed.

Monday we set an alarm so we'd have time for breakfast before going to the airport. Of course, we ate at DuPar's. It is the best breakfast downtown.

The usual items

After breakfast, we had time to wander around downtown a little bit, but I was pretty much done gambling for awhile. We took Uber to the airport and our flight home was right on time.

We had a great time on our Labor Day weekend trip. I think we both agreed that we'd love to stay at the Cosmo again. Hopefully we get more offers to stay there or they have some good deals on rooms! I don't think we would stay in the standard rooms at the Golden Gate again, though free rooms are hard to pass up, I think we'd only stay there if we could upgrade to their newer suites in the back.