We once again went to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend. Our flight was fine and we arrived a bit early. It is usually a quiet weekend in Vegas, but this year things seemed busier than previous years.
We took Lyft to the Aria, where we were staying on a two night MyVegas comp. At check in I asked if any upgrades were available and they offered us a strip view one bedroom Tower Suites corner suite room for $75 a night, which I took since the room was free and I really wanted to check out the room type. It also included Tower Suites lounge access, which is located just off the front lobby. Water, soda, juice and snacks were included with the lounge access, which was really nice. We did not have to go purchase waters at all while at Aria.
first bathroom
living room
dining area with mini bar and refrigerator for use
main bathroom
special feature, the Toto washlet
The room was amazing and I think it was worth paying a bit extra to upgrade to it. The lounge access was really nice as well.
After check in, we went over to Park MGM to visit Juniper Lounge. I had gotten a MyVegas comp for $50 credit to use there. John had the cucumber cooler.
My drink was called A Little Bird. The lounge was really nice and the bartenders were great. This would be worth visiting even without the comp.
After Juniper, we played a few slots at Park MGM and Aria and decided to go downtown to play blackjack at Golden Gate. We played a bit a the Plaza as well and headed back to Aria.
Thursday morning we had breakfast at Aria Cafe. The food was excellent and the dining room has huge windows overlooking the back valet. This would be a great breakfast spot even if not staying at Aria.
The all-important sourdough toast was available.
crab Benedict was excellent
tiny jams are adorable!
strip view from corner suite room
We were able to use a Tom's Urban credit, so we watched some football there and had lunch as well.
We played some slots at Aria and video poker at Lift bar. The drinks at Lift bar were very good.
comp espresso martini at Aria while playing slots
We went over to Cosmopolitan and I had a little yellowtail sashimi snack at Tekka Bar at Block 16 food court. Then we went down to the sports book and played video poker and watched football.
We had dinner reservations at Scarpetta at Cosmo. Tuna crudo to start.
brussels sprouts
John had tagliotini pagli (sorry for the terrible photo!)
I had agnolotti. The food was great, but the service was pretty slow. I wasn't very impressed.
I think after dinner we just went back to the room and called it a night. Friday morning, we had breakfast at Wicked Spoon at the Cosmo. Since we made the silver players club level there, we each get a BOGO there monthly, which is a pretty decent deal. After breakfast, I tried to get late checkout at Aria, but they were not allowing it. So we packed up and took Lyft down to the Golden Nugget, where we were staying for our last three nights.
We were able to check in and get a room right away at the Nugget, which was nice. We had gotten three nights comped at the Golden Nugget. At check in we asked about upgrades and they offered us Rush Tower for $20 a night, which was a good deal since we did not have to pay resort fees at all.
After check in we went over to Main Street and played video poker at the Boar's Head bar for awhile. We had a flurry of quads between the two of us. Only $2 bonus scratchers. That is all they ever are it seems like!
We had lunch at Le Thai on Fremont East. I am not sure how we waited so long to try this place. It is really good. Mixed vegetable lunch special above.
egg rolls
crab rangoon
After lunch, we walked down to El Cortez and played a few slots. Almost all of the blackjack tables were at $10 minimums, which seemed odd for that place, especially for the middle of the afternoon. We went back to the Nugget and played some slots there and used John's free play that was included with the room promo.
We had dinner at La Comida on Fremont East and it was really good. I had shrimp enchiladas. The shrimp were tiny but the enchilada sauce was flavorful
beef fajitas for John
I think we maybe played a few more slots at the Nugget and called it an early night. Vegasing all day is exhausting work lately.
Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Fremont Paradise buffet. I had a BOGO coupon from Las Vegas Advisor and we heard it will probably be going away when the Fremont adds a new hotel tower next year.
The cafe/buffet sure has a lot of Vegasy tacky goodness. The food is just OK, but the fake palm trees, mirrors and brass sure are snazzy. Wish they would keep it!
After breakfast, I went over to the North Premium Outlets for some shopping, and John visited just about every casino downtown, finally settling on Main Street for some blackjack and video poker. Once I was done, I met him at Main Street, we played a it more video poker and decided it was time for lunch.
meatballs at Pizza Rock- guess we were starving!
We tried their award winning margarita pizza and it was quite good. They only make so many per day for some strange reason.
You can use your Club One food comps at a bunch of new restaurants on Fremont East now. We used some points at Le Thai and Eureka. It is a great benefit since The D has limited dining options and we had been just accumulating points since DuPar's closed.
After lunch, we went to the D and used our free play and some matchplay. I got a four aces with a kicker on double double bonus for a $500 win at Vue Bar upstairs at the D, so that pretty much made my trip! I think Vue bar is my new favorite place for video poker! We played a few more slots at the Nugget and changed clothes for dinner.
We Ubered to the Stratosphere, or I guess it is going to the called The Strat now, whatever. We had heard they had $5 3-2 blackjack and after a bit of searching, we did find it. It had 3 side bets for some dumb reason, but you did not have to do those. So plus one for improved blackjack at one property in Vegas for once.
We also had drinks at Level 107 lounge. The happy hour is not quite as great as it used to be, but still not too bad for free admission to the tower. I think it was just discounted drinks, not a BOGO like before.
We took rideshare over to The Mint and newish bar next to the Golden Steer. It was a bit stinky at the Mint as there is a cigar place next door, but it is a neat little bar.
We had dinner reservations at The Golden Steer. Too bad there was no caesar salad due to a recall on Romaine lettuce for e.coli. Might have to go back just for that some other time.
Mario Andretti's booth
oysters
ribeye
giant baked potato
The Golden Steer was solid, but not really impressive. Maybe if they had the tableside Caesar salads I would have been more impressed. The service was very good though.
After dinner we took Lyft back downtown and played blackjack at the Golden Gate for the rest of the night. John stayed up a bit later than I did and played craps awhile too.
Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Peppermill.
It is a pretty solid breakfast place and they do have the all-important sourdough toast.
Resorts World property is making progress again, which is fun to see. After breakfast we walked over to the Ross store next door, but did not find anything too exciting.
After getting back to the Nugget we played slots there awhile and then went over to Four Queens and played video poker at the bar there a bit.
We had lunch at American Coney at the D. Not sure I would get the chili cheese fries again, they get too soggy. We had food comps from the Golden Gate and The D, so both of meals were free.
After lunch, we used some matchplay at The D on roulette and blackjack. I lost my roulette matchplay at the D, but won the one I did at the Golden Gate. We played some blackjack at the Golden Gate and The Plaza too. Then we went over to Main Street for some Boar's Head bar video poker.
We decided to head to Eureka neat El Cortez to have dinner and watch the Vikings game. They had happy hour going yet also. The mushroom toast was amazing.
Brussels sprouts
chicken slider
The food was all really good and we used Club One comps to pay for part of our tab. It was a bit quiet there for watching the Vikings game, so we went to Longbar at the D to watch the second half of the game. They had the sound on and I played some video poker too. Not sure why we don't hang out at Longbar more. It really is a great spot to watch games.
After the Vikings game we played blackjack at the Golden Gate until it was time to call it a night.
Monday morning we got up early and grabbed breakfast at Magnolia's at Four Queens. I forgot to take photos of everything, except the sourdough toast. We went back to the Nugget and packed up and took Lyft to the airport.
I had recently gotten a credit card that includes lounge access, so we visited the Centurion lounge at the D gates at LAS. It was pretty nice, with hot food and drinks available too.
Had to have a mimosa, just because!
Our flight home was fine, pretty full, but we arrived on time. We made it just in the nick of time to pick up Maya before the boarding place closed.
Overall, we had a great trip and enjoyed some nice weather in the high 60's most days and lots of sunshine, unlike home!
