Here we are, back to Sin City in less than two months! Not that we intend to go so often...Kaleb and I are the intersection of various groups of people on their yearly trips to Vegas. This trip, Kaleb's softball friends from Arizona were getting together to celebrate Tanya's 40th birthday. The entire group booked hotel rooms at the Aria Resort and Casino. I really like the location of Aria and the casino has a good ventilation system.
Kaleb and I flew in on Southwest (same procedure, using points and companion pass) and met up with everyone at the hotel lobby. Our taxi had to take a long detour to get around the Strip closures for the
Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll Marathon happening this weekend.
The rooms at Aria are nicely appointed, with many high-tech features and buttons to press.
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| the Aria lobby decor was still the same as last visit |
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| softball buddies |
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| our room was set up to welcome us with lights, soft music and TV on |
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| big shower that had the tub inside |
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| Aria toiletries |
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| the rest was next to the tub |
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| king bed |
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| touch control panel next to the bed for lights, curtains, etc. |
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Aria had a room special when we booked, which included two free buffets per stay. A month or two after we had booked, Aria had a new offer that included two free buffets every day of your stay. The price of the room had not changed, so that was obviously a better deal. However, you had to call in to cancel your room reservation (can't do it online) and we figured it wasn't worth the hassle because we weren't planning to eat at Aria the entire time.
We used our "free" buffets for tonight's dinner, but it wasn't exactly free..it was a $60 credit. Dinner was $39.99 per person on Friday, so we paid the difference plus tax. Only breakfast and lunch on weekdays cost under $30 per person; I thought it was a bit deceiving to advertise free buffets. I still enjoyed the food there. The prime rib was the best I have eaten in a long time. From what I could observe, the difference between brunch and dinner was the addition of raw oysters and more raw items in the sushi station.
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| seafood starter |
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| yummy prime rib |
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| fresh fruit and fish |
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| desserts were delicious as usual, including the peanut butter whoopie pie |
Late Saturday morning, everyone headed to the Aria sports book and spent some time making football bets. Then we had lunch right next door at
Five50 Pizza Bar. "Five50" refers to the optimum temperature for baking pizza. We had to split up into two tables to seat all of us at the same time. The pizza was pretty good, but pricey. I would have loved to taste their signature selections, but our table opted to order "Build Your Own" standard-combo pizzas.
After lunch, the gang went up to one of the rooms to have some drinks. Some of them had checked alcohol and mixers into their luggage to bring the costs down. As I wasn't a big drinker, I took this opportunity to head over to the Bellagio and shop for a handbag. When I stepped into the Chanel store, a salesperson was with a customer looking at the specific handbag I was interested in, a navy-colored
Classic Flap with silver accents, so I browsed for a little bit. Not one salesperson asked if I needed any help and there were three standing idle. I was not dressed fancy (striped top, jeans, cowboy boots, knock-off Gucci purse) so they probably sized me up as a window shopper. The customer decided not to buy and left the store; I walked up to the same salesperson and asked to see the bag. Rika was glad to help me; she knew I was a novice and without any snobbery, showed me how to open the bag, as well as point out its features, like the zippered pocket under the flap that Coco Chanel supposedly used to store her love letters. She even led me to another part of the store where she opened up a hidden closet to find a lambskin version of the bag (the one I held was a more durable "caviar" leather) for me to try. I was worried about scratching the lambskin over time since it was so soft, so I went with the caviar leather, the last one in stock. Rika gave me a bottle of water while I waited for her to wrap up my purchase in the back room. (though it wasn't Evian like when
I bought my bag at the Louis Vuitton store...) I'm sure the other salespeople were surprised that I made this purchase without blinking an eye. Rika tried to convince me to buy a matching wallet, but I think I've indulged myself enough this year!
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| a covered bridge and water features at the Bellagio Conservatory |
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| too bad it didn't talk |
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| casino bottled water and a Chanel napkin |
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| unwrapping my treasure in the hotel room |
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| hand-tied ribbon and adhesive white flower |
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| handbook |
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| the dust cover even looks like the bag |
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| silhouette of Coco Chanel |
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| voila! |
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To celebrate Tanya's 40th birthday, we had dinner tonight at
Mastro's Ocean Club, located inside Crystals shopping mall adjacent to Aria. I've walked by this restaurant and its wooden "birdcage" dining room in the mall many times but never thought of eating here. Tanya's husband Frank had hoped we would be seated within the wooden birdcage but we ended up having a private room to ourselves, which I think was a good decision by the management, as we were really loud and also, to avoid "mall sound" ambiance. The prices were in line with a Vegas steakhouse, and the meal was good. There were no set menus here; everything was a la carte. It was nice of the waiters to serve the side dishes to us when they came out so we didn't have to reach across the table or pass a hot pan around. After placing our dessert order, Tanya was presented with a complimentary butter cake and a candle to blow out. We ended up not finishing all of the desserts as they were huge and rich (but tasty!). Next time I eat here, I would only order a butter cake for everyone to share.
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| the room was kind of dim |
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| bread to start |
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| escargot on the menu...bring it on! brioche was delicious |
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| lobster bisque, good but not like Craftsteak |
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| fish of the day, forgot what it was. sides of Brussels sprouts and gorgonzola mac-n-cheese |
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| petite filet plus garlic mashed potatoes |
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| Mastro's signature warm butter cake and fresh whipped cream, must try...practically serves the whole table |
On Sunday, Kaleb and I checked out and put our bags in one of the other rooms for safekeeping as they were leaving on Monday. We walked over to the NYNY casino as a few of the gang were at the
Sporting House bar to catch the morning games. It was a good place to watch football as there were a lot of tables and TV screens, almost as good as having NFL Red Zone. Many of us were decked out in football jerseys - Seahawks, Cowboys, Raiders. I even wore an embroidered Colin Kaepernick jersey for the occasion. We ordered some snacks there, standard bar food. Many of our bets lost so it wasn't as happy a gathering as it could have been. As the day progressed, part of the group wanted to walk over to the Venetian to catch the afternoon football games, so we all got up and left a perfectly positioned table right at the front...!? Oh well. We ended up not even following them all the way to the Venetian; half of us stopped at
Toby Keith's inside Harrah's to eat a late lunch. I was hoping to catch the 49ers versus Saints game, but I could hardly see the screen from where we were sitting and no one else was interested in watching the game. By the time I managed to find a TV screen, the game was over and I had no idea what happened other than knowing that the 49ers lost. :( The bet I made had a spread of 3, so I tied and got my money back.
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| caught the Rock-n-Roll marathon as we were leaving Harrah's |
We then headed back to Aria and to the craps tables...the table they were on was hot! Kaleb ended up winning a couple hundred dollars, considering he started with only $40. Another couple in our group seemed to have won at least $800. I let Kaleb continue his lucky streak and planted myself in front of a video poker machine. I was playing for a little bit when a guy came up to me and said, "Too bad about the Niners!" I knew they lost but I didn't know what exactly happened during the game, and with me wearing a Kaepernick jersey, all I could do was agree with him and make a general remark about how the team hadn't been doing well lately so I wouldn't reveal my cluelessness. He replied, "It was ours to lose!" and so forth. Eventually he asked where I lived, that he lived in San Francisco and chit-chatted about the area, not looking like he was in a hurry to get anywhere. I didn't want to get too personal so I cut him off, telling him I was going to catch a flight in a few hours and bid him good luck, then put my focus on the video poker machine and continued playing. Not very nice of me!
Our flight home was uneventful and now I can say that this Vegas trip is the last one in 2013...hooray...!? Next trip would be spending New Year's in Palm Desert...stay tuned!
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Autumn in Vegas: Staying at Harrah's, watching Penn and Teller, gorging at Aria Buffet
