Las Vegas girl's getaway weekend: spa day, show, shopping, dancing, and of course, eating! - August 2-5, 2013

Yes, another trip to Vegas!  This would be the ninth one I will link into the index on the left margin of my blog.  (not even counting all the trips to Sin City pre-blog...)  Las Vegas is so close by, and there are always new things to try so it doesn't get old.  Fortunately I am not a heavy gambler, else I would be broke!  (or possibly rich if I put my optimist's hat on)

This entry is SUPERSIZED!  Hope you are in for some reading and gawking at lots of photos.

There was a special on Southwest Vacations with free show tickets if staying three nights at an MGM Grand-affiliated hotel.  This was also coupled with a Southwest airfare sale, plus they were offering a "buy two nights, get one night free" at Vdara so we got a great deal!  For the show tickets, we originally wanted to watch Cirque du Soleil "Love" at the Mirage, but it was dark just on the weekend we were there, so we settled on Brad Garrett's Comedy Club at the MGM.

Due to everyone's busy schedules, we ended up with a quorum of four girlfriends - Karen, Melissa, Sandy and I.  It was not the first time that the girls have gone to Vegas together...several of us went to celebrate Karen's birthday back in November 2010.  Even some of the agenda was similar - spa day, spending lots of money at the mall, and enjoying mountains of yummy cuisine!

Since some of us couldn't get out of work early on Friday, we got into Las Vegas pretty late.  After picking up the rental car, we got the munchies, so we found a Chinese restaurant called Harbor Palace in the 99 Ranch plaza that was open late.  I've had much better wonton soup, but it filled our stomachs.  Originally, I wanted to try Noodle Pot in the same plaza, but it was closed.

enjoying hot soup

my bowl of wontons

Afterwards, we headed to Vdara, our home for the next three nights.  The hotel did not have an attached casino, so it was wonderful not to walk through smoke and loud slot machines.  At check-in, we requested rooms near each other, and after a phone call was made by the desk agent helping Melissa, a couple of rooms were released for us, but in the time it took Karen to give details to her desk agent, her room was taken by someone else who finished the transaction a few keystrokes early.  Karen and Sandy ended up on a different floor than us, but a request was entered to switch rooms the next afternoon.

Our rooms were studio suites with kitchenettes, handy if you have basic breakfast items or leftovers from dinner the night before to heat up the next day.  Melissa and I were in a room with a view of the Strip.

door to our room

kitchenette with microwave and hot plate in the entryway

comfy king bed

soaking tub

separate shower

nighttime view

daytime view

Saturday morning, we headed downstairs and inquired at the concierge desk about picking up tickets for the Brad Garrett show tonight, as I had recently read online that you could pick up any MGM-affiliated show tickets at any MGM-affiliated hotel.  It was true...awesome that we didn't have to rush to the MGM hotel to get the tickets.

We then walked over to Caesars Palace to start our spa day at Qua, located upstairs from the lobby right across from restaurant Guy Savoy (that Kaleb and I enjoyed for his birthday last April).  They took SpaFinder gift certificates to pay for treatments and gratuity if you mentioned them while making your reservation.  (you can find SpaFinder GC's at Costco from time to time (for example, around Christmas or Mother's Day) priced at 20% off)   I didn't take pictures inside the spa, but it was beautiful with lots of water areas, steam and sauna, and a relaxation lounge with snacks and drinks available.

checking into Qua

quiet fountain in the entryway

Everyone enjoyed massages, relaxing and catching up with each other in the many pools and in the lounge.  For my treatment, I decided to try one of Qua's signature experiences, the Chakra Balancing treatment, performed by a "Body Artist".  It was interesting to watch him locate unbalanced chakras on my body.  I was having problems with the throat chakra (communication) and sacrum chakra (relationship).  I had to choose one, so I chose the throat chakra since I figured that would indirectly help the other one, as a good relationship is based on communication.  I did feel some unexplainable energy and feelings surging through my body during the experience, which was pretty cool.  At the end of the treatment, I got to select a chakra necklace to take home...I ended up choosing one that represented the heart.  I was supposed to wear it or keep it close to me for two weeks, but I only managed a few days. :(

After we showered and dressed, we headed over to the Bacchanal Buffet around 4:30pm.  There was a line, but we only had to wait about 35 minutes, compared to 1.5 hours last time I was here.   You can save $1 per person if you have a Total Rewards card.  (one person with the card can pay for all non-members to get the discount)   I still haven't tried everything here; there's just so much to choose from.

nice balanced meal

don't think we have enough crab legs ;)

dessert!

After dinner, we headed back to Vdara to drop off our things.  Karen went to the front desk to see about switching rooms, as she got a voicemail message informing her that the room was ready.  It turned out that they again gave it away!  After some discussion and serendipity (as the people who gotten it changed their minds), Karen managed to get the room back.  There were other issues, but long story short, now we were just across the hall from each other.

We walked to the MGM to attend the 8pm show at Brad Garrett's Comedy Club.  The small venue was cozy and was almost full.  It was rather dark in there so I couldn't get any pictures.  No minimum drink purchase was required.  Brad Garrett wasn't here tonight, but we watched a couple of entertaining comedians.  It was somewhat funny, but I personally wouldn't pay too much to see this show.  We got the tickets for "free" so can't complain too much.

We returned to Vdara after the show and turned in, even though it was Saturday night in Vegas!  Perhaps the combination of a relaxing spa day, gluttonous meal and a dimly lit show contributed to the languor.  Or maybe I'm just getting old!

caught the Bellagio fountain show outside our window Saturday night

On Sunday, Melissa and I slept in while Sandy and Karen went swimming at the Vdara pool in the morning.  We walked over to the Mandarin Oriental hotel for our Sunday brunch reservations at Mozen Bistro at 12:15pm.  It was just as good as it was the last time I was here.  This time, I ordered the scallop entree so I would have enough space in my stomach for the buffet items.

Team SKKM

love love love

lychees and dragonfruit today!

bowl of soba noodles

a sampling of the dessert table

After brunch, we checked out the public nooks and crannies of the Mandarin Oriental hotel.  The restaurant Twist looked very beautiful...I'd like to try it sometime in the future.

sitting in the elevator to the Sky floor

love this wall effect

hallway leading to Twist

beautiful butterflies

We left the Mandarin Oriental and started to browse the shops in Crystals Mall next door.  We visited several art galleries then eventually made our way to the three-story Louis Vuitton store.  I was only planning to browse, but somehow Melissa and I stepped out of there with our first LV bags and our wallets a little lighter.  Thanks a lot Sandy and Karen! ;)

LV store in Crystals

looking down from the third floor

can I see that one?

our first LV purchase!

We headed back to the hotel and decided to go for a swim to work off what we just ate.  Every once in a while, a pool attendant passed by offering free refreshments like a little cup of smoothie...nice!

free smoothie

okay, maybe we're ingesting back what we're burning off

Tonight, we returned to the MGM for an extravagant meal at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant.  Since we were all dressed up and in heels, I got the car out of valet and we drove to the hotel.  We got to sit in one of the booths on the sides of the restaurant...sweet!  We partook in the Chef's Angus Beef Selection three-course menu.  Somehow we found room for this gargantuan meal after gorging on Sunday brunch.

all dressed up

in our own booth at Craftsteak

my favorite:  lobster bisque

tasty salads

meats and sides

buttload of desserts

After dinner, we hit Hakkasan nightclub, but it wasn't yet open, so we spent some time playing craps.  Sandy was doing really well at the table, so Melissa and Karen went ahead and stood in line for us while we followed a bit afterwards, making it barely in time after they reached the front of the line...thanks girls!   After ID check and paying cover ($20 for ladies), there was a second line to get in, and we found out that it was due to waiting for the elevator.  If you don't mind climbing a few flights of stairs, you can bypass this line...just push your way past people to get to the stairwell.

The multi-floor nightclub was broken down into different rooms, with lots of stairs to boot.  The room with the most energy seemed to be the main dance floor with all the lights and techno DJ music.  It got very full as the night progressed, where you could hardly move around.  I'd say my favorite room was the bottle service area, with its roomy dance floor, comfortable couches perfect for giving aching feet a break, and a mini-show in the center of the space.  However, I'd rather spend $1k on other things.  I suppose if we got here earlier, we could have tried to schmooze our way to one of the tables, but that'd be too much work, plus the guys would be expecting more later in the night. ;)

stamped

dancing shoulder-to-shoulder with the crowd

main dance floor

bottle service room

Eventually the night took a toll on our feet and we were looking for some relief.  (I shouldn't have worn those 5 inch heels...)  There was a lounge (Ling Ling Lounge) off to the side that was quiet (compared to the other rooms) where you could order beverages and sit down.  In hindsight, buying a drink and resting for a bit would have been a good idea, but I decided to take everyone over to the Palms hotel to find a less crowded place to dance and perhaps somewhere to sit.  However, the club that was open tonight, The View, was closing at 1am, and we arrived at 12:50am. :(  The door person didn't even let us know that it was almost closing time, just checked our ID's and let us up the elevator.  There was no one on the dance floor and a few people hanging around playing pool.  After the nightclub closed, we got back in the car and were going home when Melissa decided to go back to Hakkasan to enjoy the night's festivities.  The rest of us were so beat; we ended up dropping her off at the MGM before heading back to the hotel, amazed at her stamina!   When I got back to the room, I found inch-wide fluid-logged blisters on the balls of my feet, ouch.  I certainly did not have nightclub-survival savvy.  When Melissa came home later that night (rather...early morning), she described how the club burst with energy when the lead DJ got on stage, with all sorts of crazy things going on and items thrown into the crowd, which she caught as a souvenir!  Too bad the rest of us missed out on the excitement...we should have taken the time to rest in Ling Ling Lounge.

Monday morning, we checked out of Vdara, but not without incident.  Melissa found that every item in the minibar was charged to the room every day!  We didn't consume a single thing.  I suspected that every time the mini bar door was opened and shut by housekeeping, it would jiggle all the items and would trigger the sensors.  Thus, Melissa had to go down to the front desk to take care of the bill instead of checking out through the TV.  There was also some discrepancy on Karen's bill too, though fortunately due to the room change fiasco, her resort fees for the stay were refunded, which was a nice gesture.

We loaded our luggage into the rental car and drove to the Paris hotel to have lunch at Mon Ami Gabi.  No known celebrity sightings this time, but we had a nice light meal compared to the extremes from the previous two days.

on the patio

nom nom

shared some escargots

quiche of the day

After lunch, we drove down the Strip for more shopping at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian and Palazzo.  We ended up buying a bunch of underwear from Victoria's Secret (some of us had a free undies coupon too) and also some great-fitting swimwear from Canyon Beachwear boutique.  No pics! :)  No Louboutin purchases like the last time we were in the area. 

happy beautiful ladies in front of the Palazzo waterfall

Our last dinner in Vegas was at Raku restaurant.  I never have a bad meal here, and I always get my foie gras fix.  It was nice to be able to limit our intake to a few skewers and be satisfied.  I didn't take many pictures here as there are a lot in my blog.  (type "Raku" in the search box at the top left margin of this page)

constructing a morsel of Raku's tofu

trying rice balls for the first time

my most favorite skewer - foie gras!

And so ended our girls' getaway weekend...whew!  (and this isn't my last trip to Vegas this year...)  Next adventure is a 3-night Carnival cruise to Baja Mexico...not on my bucket list, but I needed it to finish my Accredited Cruise Counsellor training.  Stay tuned!

***

(some pics in this blog entry are courtesy of Karen, Melissa and Sandy)

As you can tell from my frequent trips to Vegas, I am a great resource to help you book vacation packages and recommend activities.  Feel free to ping me at yellowdogtravel at gmail dot com.

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