I read about people booking trips for $0 just to collect the SpaFinder certificates and not showing up for the flight or hotel. There were also people who booked mileage runs to Vegas or New York for little to $0, and throwing away the hotel portion. After some research on Expedia.ca's website early Saturday afternoon, I booked two packages containing airfare plus one night of hotel each person to split the cost to use the $300 coupon. I read later on in the forum that Expedia changed the wording of the terms and conditions to be only from a Canadian origin a couple of hours before I booked, so I was a bit worried that we wouldn't get the discount. But everything went fine...later on, I read that Expedia had made changes to the website to not accept the coupon if a non-Canadian airport was entered as the origin. So I think I made it through a grace period (ie. time it took for the programmer to make the code change). Las Vegas, here we come! It pays to have an email subscription to the forum to keep track of deals.
We arrived in Las Vegas around 9:30pm and I had made reservations at our favorite restaurant Raku for 10pm. I rented a car through Priceline with bidding guidance from betterbidding.com, and snagged a Hertz rental car for $10 a day + taxes. You had to take a shuttle from the airport to the off-site rental car center. Hertz had a self-serve kiosk that worked with my Priceline reservation, yay! (The Alamo kiosk does not let Priceline clients self-check-in, at least the last time I utilized it) I might have been able to add my Hertz #1 Club Gold number for even faster service (just look up your name on the display board to find your car stall and drive off) but I forgot. If you don't have a Hertz #1 Club Gold membership, you can get one for free (a $60 value) if you are a Delta SkyMiles member. If you're not a SkyMiles member, you can sign up for free at delta.com and then go to this link to sign up for Club Gold using the program name "Delta Skymiles" and promotion code 5765. Oh, and I got a free upgrade from a compact car to a mid-size (Jetta). Woohoo!
We made it to Raku at 10:02pm but our table wasn't ready yet as the previous diners were given the check but not in a hurry to pay. (just like what happened at Joel Robuchon...) After waiting 10 minutes, the server directed us to a private dining area and sat us at a big table meant for 4-5 people. We knew this area existed behind the main dining room from the first time we were here, and now we got to check it out. We also saw there were two individual dining rooms as well, and it looked like Japanese VIP were seated in there. The server brought out the usual blackboard of specials with no prices (meaning $$$). There were rare fresh offerings such as unmarinated mackerel sashimi, Hokkaido scallop sashimi, and two shellfish that the server did not know the English name for. We went with the mackerel sashimi...how many times do you get to eat pure mackerel without salt or vinegar? Then we ordered other items off the menu, which you will see soon.
Raku's chef makes the condiments. I wanted to empty the contents into my own containers, they're that good.
I barely used any soy sauce on the mackerel...it tasted very good on its own. Next, we had raw Kobe beef liver, topped with thin slices of raw garlic. We wanted to try this the first time we were here, but they were sold out. Now I could understand why. It barely tasted like liver, and since it was raw, the chalkiness that usually accompanies beef liver was not present. Even though I hate garlic (especially raw), it went well with the liver. At least both Babe and I were eating it. ;)
Next up was oden, a type of Japanese stew that's comfort food in the winter. There are many different items that make up oden, and I chose beef tendon and meat intestines. Yum! The broth was good too. There was a smidgen of Japanese mustard slapped on the side of the bowl if you wanted to use it.
Then our grilled items (robata) were delivered. I wanted my own duck skewer. :) We shared the other skewers of chicken wing and pork cheek.
Next was egg custard with foie gras. Except the "foie gras" was really a piece of duck breast with the skin on it. Probably mis-labeled. Oh well...it was still delicious. It reminded me of a steamed egg dish that I make at home.
Babe had his skewer of Kobe skirt steak with roasted garlic.
This time, I ordered a green tea sake cocktail. It had a refreshing taste, not sweet at all. The waitress somehow remembered me from the first time we were here in August; she asked why I didn't want to try the lychee cocktail again, haha! I don't know why we're so memorable. I suspected it was because of all the picture taking.
Then finally, the piece de resistance, what I was waiting all night to ingest...the grilled foie gras. We didn't want to share a skewer because we remembered how heavenly it was. It was just the right amount of foie gras too; any more would have been too rich. This tasted so much better than the one I had at Joel Robuchon and was double the size and probably a third of the price. The sauce was deeeeelicious and the liver melted in my mouth.
For dessert, we decided to try the bubbly brown sugar pudding. The brown sugar pudding was kind of like creamy jello. It was at the bottom of the cup; the waitress told us to scrape the bottom and eat together with the cold sweet milky soup and bubbles. It was a unique dessert, but I probably wouldn't order it again.
Our tummies were satisfied, and the total bill cost less than the 2-course meal at Joel Robuchon. Raku is one of my favorite restaurants and I'll try to eat here at every opportunity...I highly recommend this place.
It was around midnight by now, and we drove to Mandalay Bay, our home for the weekend. The parking garage was pretty far away from the lobby. The first night's accommodations was paid for by my Expedia package, so I checked in. The front desk agent typed my information into the computer and then handed me back my ID and credit card. "Please check in at the Four Seasons down the hall." What? Did I hear correctly? No way. I asked innocently, "Am I in the right place?" and she said yes. No way. What was funny was that I had considered staying at the Four Seasons for New Year's Eve as Kayak was showing a great price, but when I clicked on it, the total jumped in magnitude, so I dropped the idea. And now I got my opportunity! We walked towards the hallway that took guests to the Four Seasons lobby.
I'm laughing on the inside because we only paid $175 total for the flight and hotel, and we got upgraded. The Four Seasons front desk agent explained that the Mandalay Bay ran out of rooms and because I was a "committed customer" (meaning I paid for my room upfront), Mandalay Bay paid the difference to put me up in the Four Seasons hotel. "This is a five star hotel," he proclaimed; he must have interpreted my strained composure not to jump up and down as disappointment. I told him, "Oh, I know." :P Then it got better...he gave me an envelope and explained that because the Four Seasons spa was under renovation, if I would please take this coupon for $50 off an 80 minute service at Spa Mandalay as a consolation. Uh, free $50??? I was about to burst out laughing, this can't be real. Then he asked, "Would you care for a bottle of water? Warm or cold?" I almost lost it here. I get to choose warm water?!? Wow! I got a warm one and Babe got a cold one. We walked down a quiet elegant corridor to the elevators. The Four Seasons was located on the top four floors of the Mandalay Bay and the elevators are express. Our room was on the 35th floor. My ears popped at around floor 25.
We entered the room and shut the door. Then Babe asked why I wasn't so excited. I explained that I was, but I didn't want to jinx it by jumping up and down from the Mandalay Bay lobby to the hotel room!
The Four Seasons hotel has been around for a while, so it's not a huge suite like at the Palazzo. But what they lack in space, they make up in quality and amenities such as plush robes and slippers, fancy toiletries, etc.
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| the bar had all sorts of nice wines and spirits, at a not-so-nice $$$ |
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| comfy plush bed |
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| nice bathroom |
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| "cup" coffee maker |
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| L'Occitane toiletries |
Too bad we were only going to be here one night, actually, 12 hours. We wouldn't be able to peruse the pool facilities. Babe had the other night booked at the Mandalay Bay, and I figured he wouldn't be as fortunate, since we needed to try to get a room before we checked out of the Four Seasons to make luggage stowage easier. That night's sleep was heavenly...aaaahhhhhhhh...
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