A week in Las Vegas - September 26 - October 3, 2021

Due to the pandemic, I had several timeshare weeks accrued from canceling previous reservations. A couple of weeks needed to be used before expiration, and since it was uncertain what parts of the country would be open, I reserved a 2-bedroom villa at Marriott's Grand Chateau in Las Vegas, operating as close to normal since mid-2021. Cash rate through Marriott would have been $2,500; counting the maintenance and exchange fees paid, I saved 60%, with each bedroom roughly costing about $72/night. With the extra living space and kitchen, the Grand Chateau is a great value just a couple of blocks from the Strip. It's also nice not needing to walk through a smoky casino to get to your room.

My parents would join us for the first part of the week, the four of us planning to visit my cousin Gwen and her husband Clark at their brand new home 10 minutes from the Strip. Frank and Brian would drive up from Phoenix to join us for the second half of the trip.

The Escape Lounge was open at the airport, so we ducked in to have a bite to eat. Entrance is complimentary for American Express Platinum Card members (access explained here). Pre-pandemic, there would have been a small buffet set up and self-serve refreshments. Now, there was a QR code on the table to scan for the menu. Orders were taken by a server.

turkey bruschetta and salmon over rice

After landing at Las Vegas' Harry Reid International airport (previously named McCarran), we met up with my parents at baggage claim as they arrived from a different gateway. Gwen and Clark were kind to give us a ride from the airport, so we headed to the passenger pick-up area located inside the parking garage.

They dropped us off at the Marriott and would return to get us for dinner tonight. Our villa was ready when we arrived. The view faced down Harmon Avenue, not great but would be nice for the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, to be held on Thanksgiving weekend 2023. (a balcony suite in tower 3 of the Signature at MGM, the building to the right, would also be nice)

The decor in the villa had been updated since we last stayed many years ago, so I will include a few pictures:

master bedroom

strange to have a sink inside the bedroom

master bath, also open to living area

guest bedroom

no mid-week housekeeping due to covid

Gwen and Clark picked us up, then we headed to their home construction site for a quick tour. It was very spacious, inside and out, with a garage bay large enough to fit a full-size RV. Afterward, we had a delicious dinner at Garlic Yuzu, followed by dessert at SweetHoney.

kampachi serrano

Thai gambas and garlic baby back ribs

octopus

short rib

mango grass jelly

black sesame

The next day, we took an Uber to recently-opened Resorts World Las Vegas, home to a couple of new hotels, globally-inspired fine dining restaurants and a food court with a street market feel. We had lunch at Famous Foods Street Eats, our orders taken through a touchscreen kiosk.

touchscreen order

dumplings

clay pot

laksa

The dumplings were great. I didn't care for the flavor of the clay pot rice. Unfortunately, the laksa was not like in Singapore; it reminded us of the Prima Taste packages you can make at home. Even though we did not enjoy all of our food, I would return to try the remaining food stands.

After lunch, we walked through the attached mall. There was a short performance on the large ball display.

Liberace's piano

inside the mall

ball show

For dinner, we went to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace. Kaleb and I each had a $100 Diamond celebration dinner credit to spend, which helped subsidize our meal. (note: we don't gamble enough to achieve Diamond status at Caesars - we acquire it through status matching. This page can help explain the details)

It helped that you could make reservations on OpenTable, reducing the wait time. I would recommend booking your table right at the 90-day window.

Covid protocol required diners to wear a mask before approaching the buffet stations. There were hand sanitizing stations spread throughout the food area. 

The food was decent. I enjoyed the roast whole pig at the Asian station, as well as the seafood and the desserts.

the rainbow cake was moist

We stopped by the Bellagio conservatory on the way back to the Grand Chateau. The theme was a whimsical fall fantasyland.

On Tuesday, we walked down the Las Vegas Strip and had lunch at Gordon Ramsay Fish and Chips. The fish and chips were perfectly cooked as usual. Then Kaleb and I used our Diamond card to get two free tickets each to the High Roller observation wheel next to the Linq. Unfortunately, the wheel wasn't open until later in the afternoon, so we walked back to the Grand Chateau, stopping by the Flamingo Hotel's wildlife habitat to see the - you guessed it - flamingos! We happened to be there at feeding time.

49-second clip of feeding time:

We took an Uber back to the High Roller in the afternoon.

Then we took Uber to Raku's newest location on Flamingo Road, called Toridokoro Raku. It was hard to find as there was no obvious signage. (located next to Mr. Bill's tobacco shop) Unlike the location on Spring Mountain Road (one of our favorite restaurants), this one specialized in chicken. We went for the omakase course; Kaleb added a wine pairing. There were some exotic bites such as chicken tail and popcorn cartilage.

seaweed noodle amuse-bouche

appetizer set

Raku tofu

straw-smoked chicken

chicken skin

popcorn cartilage

tomato, zucchini and chicken tail

tandoori chicken

chicken hearts

chicken livers

foie gras and duck

paitan soup

paitan ramen

brown sugar pudding and mango pudding

I prefer the original location, but if I were to return to Toridokoro, I would order a-la-carte skewers, the paitan ramen and the foie gras.

My parents went home the next morning; Kaleb and I had a leisurely day as the guys weren't arriving until Thursday afternoon. We grabbed lunch at Lobster ME, located in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

We took an Uber to Lotus of Siam for dinner, then walked back afterwards. Best to make a reservation here way early in advance as it is very popular.

the best Thai food as usual

Frank and Brian arrived the next afternoon. We went to Gordon Ramsay Burger at Planet Hollywood. There was a long line but Kaleb saw that Caesars Diamond members had priority seating and we had a table within minutes. The burgers were delicious!

We spent the rest of the night gambling at Planet Hollywood. 

On Friday, after picking up food from Walgreens and cooking breakfast in, we headed to the Pinball Hall of Fame, now located in a larger building on the Strip. It seemed like a good idea at the time to walk there, but the weather was quite warm, making us almost regret the journey. It was still a lot of fun playing new and vintage pinball and arcade games.

We headed back to the Grand Chateau, then ended up ordering delivery from Lotus of Siam for dinner. More gambling ensued that night. Fortunately, Kaleb won enough to offset my losses.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a lazy day at the villa, then went out for the evening. We checked out SkyBar 38 on top of the Grand Chateau for some views. This may also be a nice vantage point for the F1 Grand Prix.

Spherical 360 image of the rooftop bar:

Rooftop bar at Grand Chateau #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

We had a quick dinner at the Flamingo Food Court.

The free ticket benefit to the High Roller observation wheel resets every month, so Kaleb and I were able to get another 2 pairs to take Frank and Brian. Night time was more crowded than during the day. It was nice to see the city lights.

hard to tell a pandemic is going on

nighttime view

Spherical 360 image inside the observation wheel pod:

#HighRoller Observation Wheel Las Vegas #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Check-out time was 10am on Sunday. Our flight home was at 2pm. Frank dropped us off at the airport. Kaleb and I ate at the Centurion Lounge located in Concourse D. The buffet changed from breakfast to lunch while we were there, so we got to try both menus.

Overall, we had a great week in Las Vegas. Seven days is pretty long to stay in Sin City; it was nice to have two different groups of people join us to mix it up. If it was just Kaleb and I, we would have certainly taken a detour to Valley of Fire, Mount Charleston, or even Death Valley. As you can tell from the contents of this blog post, it's all about the food!

What's next? A short staycation in Lake Tahoe! Stay tuned...

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