For our second trip to Las Vegas in 2021, the pandemic was still happening, but things had settled down somewhat as many people had been vaccinated at this point. Well, people that wanted to be vaccinated. Who knows about the rest. The mask mandates were not in effect for this trip, which, looking back, was really quite nice.
We stayed at the Downtown Grand for the first part of our trip in their new tower that had been completed in September 2020, the Gallery Tower. I don't think we have stayed at the Downtown Grand for quite a few years. Things at the Grand are still about the same, the rooms are nice, the pool is nice enough, but the casino is lacking something. Energy I guess. Their tables games were open limited hours, which was disappointing. Their video poker was decent enough, but neither of us had any luck at it. We tried.
The TV used a QR code on your phone to operate it, no remote in the room. It worked OK, but only worked on one phone at a time. Not great when one person goes to sleep and the other needs to turn off the TV.
The room was nice, comfortable bed, spacious bathroom, but the room was not at all sound proof. We could hear people talking to one another in the next room and also heard their dog barking at every sound.
My friend Deanna was already in town and staying at The D, so we met up with her and headed to dinner at 8 East at Circa.
pork belly bao
dan dan noodles
brisket fried rice
ginger chicken potstickers an short rib dumplings
8 East was really good once again. We love using our Circa, Golden Gate and The D food comps here on almost every trip.
After dinner I think we went to The D and played video poker at Vue bar for most of the night. I even got a quad with Jacks.
Thursday morning we headed to Four Queens for breakfast at Magnolia's. I think Deanna met us there also. Magnolia's was solid as always.
After breakfast we did a bit of a downtown coupon run. Above I had a nice little hit on free play at El Cortez. Free money is free money. Deanna had to head back to the hotel and pack up and check out. She moved to Gold Coast for the rest of her trip.
We had a late lunch/snack at American Coney at The D. I think I had a small food comp we put toward the total.
We ended up at the Plaza to do some free play from coupons and play a bit of blackjack. I didn't have great luck at blackjack but found this great quick hits machine that was very good to me.
I played this machine for quite some time and actually walked away with most of this! Got back what I lost at blackjack at least.
Deanna came back downtown for the evening and we played video poker at Vue bar for awhile. I had one quad at least to keep me afloat.
Deanna, John and I had dinner at Victory Burger at Circa. Deanna had the cinnamon toast crunch shake to start.
Banks BBQ burger with sweet potato fries
American Burger with fries
I had the Vegas martini burger, a half-pound burger with hand-cut cheddar cheese, topped with our unique homemade olive sauce mixture of green olives, cream cheese and mayo. It was very rich and super filling.
After dinner Deanna and I wandered around the casino at Circa and did a bit of group/team play, We each put in $20 or $40 and took turns picking machines to play. Unfortunately, nothing at all exciting happened. The slots at Circa are pretty brutal it seems.
John and I had rented a car on this trip, so we decided to take it out and go on a bit of a foray to a new to us breakfast spot in the Arts District called Makers and Finders. It was super cute and the service was excellent. I had the Avocado Toast and it was amazing. The prices were decent also.
John had the chilaquiles
We had lunch at Pizza Rock. This is the Spicy Grandma pizza.
Peepin' Vegas Vicky
We had a couple drinks at the lobby bar at Circa. The drinks were excellent and it is a good people watching spot also.
We had dinner at Hugo's Cellar at Four Queens. I had played the Binion's mobile app for quite some time and the app was going to stop giving out restaurant comps. I had redeemed for Binion's Steakhouse, but since that was not yet re-opened since the pandemic closure in March, I was able to redeem it at Hugo's for $100 off our bill. Not a bad deal, but I think it took me 4-5 years to get enough points for the award. Not a great use of time. 😂 But getting $100 off the bill was nice.
martini with a side of martini
salads form the Hugo's tableside salad cart
sorbet palate cleanser
ribeye for John
filet and shrimp combo for me
The dessert tray is included with every meal. I had made reservations well in advance and they are essential as many places have limited staff and limited hours, even still. The food and service were all excellent.
Saturday morning we walked over to Eat on Carson Avenue for breakfast. John had the prime rib hash.
I had the truffled egg sandwich. This is seriously the best sandwich ever. It consists of two scrambled eggs, wild mushrooms, green onions, feta and bacon on ciabatta with chive potatoes. It is gigantic but it has a tons of amazing flavor. Eat remains a solid contender for best breakfast downtown.
After breakfast, we went back to the hotel and sat by the poo at the Grand for a bit. No shade so we did not last too long. Later, we got in the rental car and headed to the brand new Resorts World to check things out. It is shiny and new, but sort of bland. Maybe it is better if you stay there? In July, it seemed like a lot of restaurants and bars were not yet open.
some fun art pieces around the property
The next few pics are the view from Starlight on 66. There is a high limit table games casino up there as well as a bar/lounge. I'd like to go back and check out the lounge at night. I'm sure the views are excellent at night.
We played a bit of video poker in the sports bar at Resorts World and I hit a little quad. The rest of the casino was noting too exciting. A lot of crappy table games with high limits.
I think we took the car back to the hotel and took an Uber over to Gold Coast to hang out with Deanna for the evening. We had dinner at Cornerstone, which is the steakhouse there. We just grabbed a spot in the bar and ordered a bunch of appetizers for our dinner. The food and service were both very good. It was a great deal also, as we used a coupon from the ACG book.
Deanna and I played a bunch of video poker. I had almost no hits except for this guy. I think John played blackjack most of the night.
We played quite a bit of blackjack downtown and I did fairly well. I had to read through text messages to recall this fact, since I never take photos at the tables. I believe I was up slightly when we left downtown.
On Sunday John and I had breakfast at Magnolia's again (forgot to take pics, but see above, probably about the same items ordered). We packed up our stuff and checked out of the Downtown Grand. We tried to check into the Cosmopolitan, but the room was not quite ready yet.
In the meantime, we grabbed lunch at The Block food court at the Cosmo. John had Bang Bar and I had Tekka Bar.
I finally tried their hand rolls and I actually enjoyed them even though I usually do not care for sushi with this type of wrap. It was all very tasty though.
By the time we finished lunch I had gotten a text that the room was ready, so the wait was really very short. We had a fountain view balcony studio suite on the 20th floor. We were not all that high up in the Boulevard tower, but at least we had fountain view for the fireworks that evening. For a comp room, it is really very nice. No complaints from us!
We walked over to the Bellagio after settling in and checked out he conservatory and did she MyVegas free play. No wins to report on the free play. I think we did some free play at Park MGM and Aria as well.
gotta love a comp espresso martini at Chandelier bar
We played a bit of video poker before and after dinner and this was my best win.
We had dinner at Blue Ribbon. The food and service were great, as always.
There were lots of people on the strip for the fireworks, which were far more extravagant that usual. I loved being out of the crowd and on the balcony to watch the fireworks. Much more relaxing than being in a crowd. Cosmo balconies really are amazing.
Monday morning we had breakfast at the Overlook Grill.
breakfast burrito for John
The breakfast sandwich for me. This was really good too.
John and I again grabbed lunch at The Block. I tried Bang Bar and had the U wrap with chicken. It was very tasty and filling.
Either before or after lunch, I can't recall when, we sat at the pool for awhile. It was toasty, it was July in Las Vegas after all, but not at all bad in the shade.
Deanna came to the Cosmo and we played a bit at Chandelier bar before dinner. Only one quad for me. Video poker was not my friend on this trip.
two drink tickets gets you one the fancy drinks off their cocktail menu
We had made reservations at China Poblano for dinner. I had somehow accidentally cancelled the reservation, but they were able to get us in anyway at the bar.
We all did the tasting menu, which really gave us a nice sampling of the menu at China Poblano.
Tuesday morning John and I had breakfast at The Henry before heading back to the room and packing up to head home. He had the veggie scramble.
I had the short rib Benedict. Again. So good! Reservations for breakfast were essential on this trip as everything was very busy and capacity seemed very limited everywhere we went.
Returning the rental car was quick and easy, as usual, through Budget. The flight home was uneventful, although there was only one working restroom on the whole plane.
As usual I was under-quadded, but I made up for it with a bunch of random wins on assorted slot machines and some good blackjack sessions. I didn't take any notes, just had dining receipts and photos, so some details are vague. I'm sure I've forgotten a ton of important details from this trip since I am writing this so much after the fact. But, at least we can look back at this and use it to help us remember where we stayed and where we ate.
