. However, we didn't get a chance to go to our favorite restaurant,
The trip came about because Kaleb had received an offer from the
Park MGM (previously the Monte Carlo) for a three night complimentary stay. It wasn't really free as a daily resort fee was charged, but still a great deal. I booked our fourth night at the
Delano, using the
American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) program. The nightly rate was $129 but with the perks included (daily $30 per person breakfast credit and a $100 property credit), we were being "paid" to stay there. (Chase credit cardholders may also find similar deals using the
Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection)
Kaleb's friends from Arizona learned of our trip and made plans to come. This added an extra night to the beginning of our trip. I booked it at the Delano using FHR again. This meant that we would have to go back and forth between Delano and the Park MGM, but we would be able to utilize the FHR perks to the fullest.
I decided to rent a car for the duration of our stay after comparing the price with the cumulative cost of Uber rides to/from the airport/Raku/etc. Hotel parking would be free due to having
Mlife status. Since we would have a car, we could go visit
Valley of Fire state park.
Remember my quest for Total Rewards (Caesars Rewards)
Diamond status in Atlantic City? I planned to take advantage of the $100 Diamond Celebration dinner credit and two free show tickets.
Flights were booked on Southwest Airlines with my companion pass, so Kaleb's ticket was free. I'm going to miss having the pass as it expires December 31, 2018. We saved a lot of money with all the flights we've taken over the past 18 months.
On with the trip...
Our plane ride on Sunday was uneventful. Kaleb and I arrived at the Delano (pronounced like the president, FDR) and were able to check in at noon, a benefit of FHR. We were also able to use the $30/pp credit at
Della's Kitchen today, for lunch. (the perk of having the credit apply on check-in day seems to have ended) The food at Della's is always consistently good.
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| cubano panini |
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| blue crab benedict |
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| FHR benefits |
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| view of Mandalay Bay pool area |
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| lots of gyms and stops for Pokemon Go |
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| turn-down treats |
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The rest of the guys would be arriving later today. Kaleb and I drove to
Total Wine & More to stock up on beer and spirits, as the guys planned to hang out in the room watching sports. Fortunately we had done this, as one of the guys' bags was lost for a day and he had packed the liquor in it. They were also very lucky to have arrived in Vegas as scheduled as their flight was the last to depart before the Phoenix airport was
temporarily shut down due to suspicious activity.
Since Kaleb and I were able to check in early to our room, the guys were able to drop their stuff off until theirs were available at the regular afternoon check-in time. What I like about the Delano is that every room is a suite, with a living room, half bath, separate bedroom and master bath. There is enough space for people to hang out; they can use the half-bath versus having to walk through the master. Pictures of the suite can be found in an
earlier post.
The guys went out while I stayed behind in the hotel room. For dinner, I walked to
Slice of Vegas in the mall between Mandalay Bay and Luxor and got a slice of pizza to go. It was pretty good.
The next morning, we all met for breakfast at Della's. Our breakfast and property credit helped cover most of the group meal cost.
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| Delano breakfast |
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| smoked salmon tartine |
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Kaleb and I checked out of the Delano (needing to stop by the front desk to sort out all of the breakfast and property credits), stored our belongings in the rental car, and transferred the alcohol to the guys' rooms. After an hour of hanging out, we visited the
Pinball Hall of Fame Museum, with some of the guys riding in our car, and the others taking Uber. It was a huge warehouse containing vintage arcade and pinball machines. What's great is that you could play them. The prices were very reasonable, mostly a quarter or two. There were change machines available - reminds me of the old days of going to the video arcade.
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| catching up with good friends |
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| view out of their Delano 2-bedroom suite |
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| this place looks legit... |
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| row and rows of machines |
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Afterwards, the guys went to look for lunch while Kaleb and I drove to the Park MGM to check in. The property was completely renovated. There were check-in kiosks versus a normal front desk. Key cards were automatically printed out. We didn't need to interface with a human being, though there was a hotel staff member roaming around offering assistance to guests in need. The remodeling was still not complete as workers were continually installing artificial plants and art pieces into the public areas.
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| bridge from garage to hotel |
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| no front desk, only kiosks |
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| Park MGM King |
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| with sitting area |
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| T-Mobile arena out our window |
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| Park MGM pool area |
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The public areas outside were park-like, which was a welcomed sight on the Vegas Strip. We got lunch at nearby
Bruxie, serving fried chicken and waffles.
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| chicken tenders |
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| holy chicken waffle sandwich |
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That night, we met back up with the guys at Delano and hung out in their room watching random TV shows and YouTube videos, then ordering pizza to go from Slice of Vegas. Later, we walked around the hotels looking for hot craps tables (difficult on a weeknight), eventually stopping at Park MGM. I played some slots for a bit before turning in. Everyone had won that night, except me. Kaleb more than made up the money I lost.
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| the tram station at the Luxor |
On Tuesday, Kaleb and I walked over to the
Cosmopolitan for brunch at the
Wicked Spoon buffet, as we hadn't eaten there in a while. There was no wait at noon on a weekday. On the way, we dropped by the
Bellagio Conservatory. I always love seeing the seasonal displays there.
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| the Chihuly ceiling in the Bellagio lobby is magnificent |
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| what does the fox say? |
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| all you can eat bone marrow, yum |
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| yes, there is a piece of bone marrow in there |
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For dinner, Kaleb and I went to Gordon Ramsay's
Hell's Kitchen restaurant, located at Caesars Palace. I have watched all of the seasons of
Hell's Kitchen, but had never eaten at any of Gordon Ramsay's outlets, so I was looking forward to finally trying all the food I'd seen on TV for so many years. It was easy to make reservations via
OpenTable. I redeemed the $100 Diamond dinner credit here. We ordered one prix fixe menu (scallops, beef wellington) and added an extra scallop appetizer and lobster risotto. The food was good, especially the beef wellington. Too bad the HK sign wasn't working (burning) tonight.
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| Hell's Kitchen |
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| past show winner photos on the wall |
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| not red or blue table |
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| watermelon amuse-bouche |
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| scallops |
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| lobster risotto |
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| beef wellington, so tender |
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| huge sticky toffee pudding |
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| Bellagio fountain show on the walk back |
After dinner, Kaleb and the guys met up to gamble again, though not as lucky as before.
The guys were leaving on Wednesday, so we had breakfast together at
America inside the NYNY hotel before their departure.
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| traditional breakfast offerings at reasonable prices |
For our free show tickets, many of the ones I was interested in were dark the rest of the time we would be in Vegas, so we settled on the
Real Bodies exhibit at Bally's. It was interesting to see preserved human bodies in cross-sections.
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| intestines |
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| vein and artery system in an arm |
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Dinner was at
Raku, finally! I had made telephone reservations weeks in advance. We enjoyed our usual selections, plus tried a few new things. I really enjoyed the foie gras egg custard and will add that to our favorites.
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| indulged in caviar and oysters |
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| bluefin tuna two ways |
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| raw kobe beef liver |
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| grilled asparagus |
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| grilled eggplant |
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| grilled kobe beef liver and pork cheek |
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| kobe beef tendon |
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| foie gras egg custard is the bomb |
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| grilled foie gras is the best |
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| seasonal sorbet |
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On Thursday, we checked out of the Park MGM and headed to the
Valley of Fire state park, about an hour drive from the Strip. I read that there wasn't much in terms of food available at the park, so we picked up sandwiches from a Subway off the freeway. Kaleb and I spent the day checking out the amazing rock formations and ancient petroglyphs - definitely worth a visit. It was a bit hot so we did not attempt any long hikes, as we only had small bottles of water/Gatorade with us.
After hiking, we drove back to Vegas and rewarded ourselves with some tasty matcha ice cream at
Cafe Maiko.
We checked into the Delano for our final night in Vegas. After a shower, we headed down to dinner at
Stripsteak at the Mandalay Bay to utilize the $100 FHR property credit. Our routine is to order an appetizer to share, then splitting the angus dry-aged rib eye steak topped with foie gras with a side. After coming here so many times, we figured out exactly how much food to order without busting our guts.
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| complimentary duck fat fries |
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| fresh oysters |
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| angus rib eye with added foie gras |
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| complimentary caramel popcorn |
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Our last breakfast was at
Della's Kitchen again. It was taking a while to get our food - our waitress had forgotten to put in our order, so she gave us a couple of complimentary doughssants (like cronuts) to tie us over.
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| hot, fresh and delicious |
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| omelet |
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| Delano breakfast |
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| pancake |
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We relaxed in our room until it was time to check out. I had to go to the front desk to sort out the breakfast and property credits. Afterwards, we went to
Fashion Show Mall, had a quick bite in their food court, followed by early dinner at
Monta Noodle House - I had wanted to try this place out since it was highly rated on Yelp. It was good and reasonably priced. I couldn't help but visit Cafe Maiko again for another serving of delicious matcha ice cream.
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| tonkotsu ramen with added egg |
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| the plain matcha cone is best |
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At the airport, we had time to visit the
Centurion Lounge in Concourse D for a quick dinner.
And that was our trip to Vegas - lots of good food as usual. We will hop on a Disney cruise two days after we get home...stay tuned!
***
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
