July - August Las Vegas Trip - Summary

Since the blog seems to post the first photo when I post the link, I thought I'd post this one:

This was the 13th group trip I've participated in since the first one in 2008, to coincide with 08/08/08.  We didn't meet in 2018, had two meets in 2019, and missed 2020.  Overall, this was my 33rd trip to Las Vegas.  I've stayed at Golden Gate for the most days (23), passing Main Street Station (16), Bally's (15), and Rio (14).  Some of those nights I actually didn't stay in the room (such as Rio this trip), since I was double (and sometimes triple) booked.

Flight:

I was booked as Bob's companion on Southwest, so we split the cost of the one flight.  Flights were a bit cheaper departing from Dulles (IAD) than Philadelphia (PHL), so Bob drove down to my condo and we flew from IAD.  He did save on parking as he was able to park in our lot for free.  He did end up with an extra expense by booking a hotel the night before our departure.

Depart IAD:  12:05 pm, arrive DEN 1:45 pm

Depart DEN:  3:05 pm, arrive LAS 4:00 pm

Depart LAS:  9:25 am, arrive IAD 6:15 pm (with a stop in DEN, no change of planes.

Rental Car:

We saw high rental car prices a few months before the trip, so we saw a pre-pay rate with Budget for $328.64, with an Amazon code that gave 20% back in an Amazon gift card.

We had no issues picking up and dropping off our car.  Bob's name was on the board at the kiosk in the garage, and his rental agreement was in the car.  The "touchless" check-out was a bit difficult, but we managed.

Hotels:

I booked three nights at Rio using an offer I received that was supposed to include $75 in resort credit.  We arrived after the diamond check-in closed, and since there was a long line at the lobby (and no dedicated diamond line), I checked-in via kiosk.  As we were running around (and I wasn't really in the room for the rest of the stay), I wasn't able to follow up on the credit.  I called the front desk and they told me it was only $25, but I was supposed to have $100 in freeplay.  I stopped back there Thursday night, but the slot club was already closed and no one at the cashier could help me.  The person told me go come back the next morning, but I had my big play day at Four Queens, so I wasn't able to go back.  I completed their "how was your stay" form, mentioning several times about my difficulties, but I have not received a response (as a side, I completed a questionnaire for Four Queens which I mailed from home a few days after I got home, and I already received a response from the General Manager, thanking me for my responses, and even offered me two tickets for a show in their showroom).  Being a diamond card member, my resort fees were waived.

One of the reasons I booked the room was for the dining credit, since we were going to have dinner at Bacchanal.  Bob used his diamond celebration dinner and I charged the remainder (Kip and my dinners) to the room, which was $135.44.  The final charge to my room was $110.44, so at least they did give me the $25 resort credit.  Maybe I'll see something about the other $100 freeplay, or at least the additional $50 resort credit that was in my offer, but I seriously doubt it.  I'll just chalk it up to verifying these things when I check in.

Another reason was that I was planning on using the pool.  We originally thought we could use the pool in the morning, but then discovered that it didn't open until 10:00 am.  I could have carved out time later, but I had my play plans all scheduled out, and there were logistical issues between getting between Rio and downtown.

I booked three nights at Four Queens through a host.  I got a nice room in the South Tower and I was pleasantly surprised with the room quality.  The large refrigerator and coffee maker were nice, and the shower was very good.  I just wish it had a tub, on the odd chance that I'd like to just sit and soak.

I inquired about a suite upgrade, and my host said that Wed/Thu would have been $65 and Fri was $120.  Perhaps with my increased play, I can get one comped on my next stay.  Four Queens doesn't charge a resort fee.

I booked four nights at Golden Gate in one of their mini-suites.  Other than the how the bathroom/shower area is set up, the room is good.  It has a mini-fridge, Keurig machine, and they provide two bottles of Smartwater (it used to be Fiji).  We did not get housekeeping, so the water and coffee were not replenished (but in prior stays with housekeeping, they were).  The suites are on the opposite side of Fremont Street, so there you don't have most of the noise from the stage that is right there.  Comped rooms don't have resort fee.

My last stay was at Wynn, where Bob used rewards from the Wynn Slots app.  He paid to get to the level where you can book a room, but I'm not exactly sure how much that was.  A benefit to the booking, though, was that there was no resort fee.

Meals and drinks:

I don't have a lot of exact totals, so for those of you who like that, I apologize in advance.  There were a lot of comped meals though. . .

Tuesday, July 27

Dinner:  Ellis Island BBQ - Used 2-1 coupon, my total was $15.92

Drinks:  Ellis Island Pop-up Tiki Bar - 1 drink, $17.00

Wednesday, July 28

Lunch:  Starboard Tack - $40.00

Drinks:  Golden Tiki - 1.5 Dole Whips, paid around $20?

Dinner:  Bacchanal, Caesars Palace - $110.44, plus tip

Thursday, July 29

Breakfast:  Binion's Cafe, Binion's - comps

Lunch:  Whiskey Liquor Up, Binion's - comps ($93.99 for four people)

Dinner:  Orchid's Garden - $20.00?

Drinks:  Jammyland - $38.40

Friday, July 30

Breakfast:  Magnolia's, Four Queens - comps

Dinner:  Hugo's Cellar, Four Queens - comps

Saturday, July 31

Lunch:  Saginaw's Delicatessen, Circa - comps ($21.68)

Dinner:  Andiamo, The D - comps

Sunday, August 1

Breakfast:  Magnolia's, Four Queens - comps

Lunch:  Victory Burger, Circa - comps

Dinner:  Barry's Downtown Prime, Circa - comps, $55.26 was leftover from monthly comps.  I charged it to my room, but my host used my earned comps and not discretionary

Monday, August 2

Breakfast:  Magnolia's, Four Queens - comps

Early Dinner:  Pizza Rock - comps

Tuesday, August 3

Breakfast:  Binion's Cafe, Binion's - comps

Lunch:  Whiskey Liquor Up, Binion's - comps

Dinner:  Starboard Tack - ?

Activities:

Pinball Museum

Bellagio Fountain and Conservatory

Putting at Angel Park

Stadium Swim

Bowling at Gold Coast

Check out Resorts World

Wynn pool

Stop at Eureka

Gaming:

Thanks to Kip's royals, we came out ahead this trip.  We only had three losing sessions (-$292, -$7.75, and -$70.82), so that's pretty good.  Even without the royals, we would have only taken a relatively small loss, but it's still good that we came out ahead!  We maxed out one month of the Four Queens promo and half of the same promo at Binion's.  We could have maxed out both for both months, but that would have taken a majority of the trip, and we would have to be as lucky as we were.  As it stands, we did put in a fair amount of coin-in at these properties, so hopefully our offers will increase in a few months:

Binion's:  Harv - $16,800 coin-in

Binion's:  Kip - $16,000 C/I

Four Queens:  Harv & Kip - $32,000 C/I each

The D:  Harv - $15,000 C/I

The D:  Kip - $10,000 C/I

Golden Gate:  Harv - $5,000 C/I

Golden Gate:  Kip - $5,000 C/I

So an overall good trip, it was good seeing friends I haven't seen in over a year, and other friends who I've seen, but haven't been able to hang out with.  The weather was hot, but we were inside most of the time.  The mask mandate happened while we were there, so it was tough playing those long video poker sessions with a mask on, but we managed.  I look forward to the time when things will be closer to normal, not just in Las Vegas, but everywhere.

July - August Las Vegas Trip - Day Nine

Wednesday, August 4

6:00 am sunrise in Las Vegas. . .

Time to shower and finish packing for our 9:25 am flight.

We stopped at the ARCO at 7280 Las Vegas Blvd S (at E Warm Springs Rd), which seemed to have a decent price.  The drop off at Budget went fast, but it seemed like we waited quite a while for the shuttle to take us back to the airport.

We managed to get our bags checked and through security with time to pick up some sandwiches for the trip (since we wouldn't have time during our stop in DEN, since we weren't changing planes).  I also picked up a breakfast sandwich.

There seemed to be a bit of confusion at the gate, and they announced the flight going to Denver, Washington, Chicago, and Phoenix.  Well, I was getting off at one of those stops!

I had the window seat leaving Las Vegas, so I took some photos as we were departing. . .

There were only around eight people going to IAD, so we were able to change seats.  As Bob is taller, he wanted to be seated in the emergency exit row.  As I am short, I usually don't worry about that.  We got the row, and were talking with the flight attendant, who occupied the middle seat area (while I avoided eye contact with every tall person who walked by), and by the time everyone boarded, the middle seat remained empty!  Bonus!

I had a ridiculous amount of legroom. . .

I dozed off a bit and Bob dozed of a bit, but we were awake when we were arriving back at IAD.  Now I know that I live along the flight path to IAD, and was wondering how close we were.  I leaned over to look out the window, and I said that it looked like I saw my daughter's old elementary school.  Turns out that it was!  I recognized the I-66/Route 28 interchange and soon enough, we landed at Dulles.

We got our bags and Bob decided that he'll eat here before hitting the road.  We ended up going to Silver Diner.  I got what I usually get, the flat iron steak, although I got a chicken noodle soup and a chocolate malt.  Both were good, as always.

We headed back to our condo, where Bob was parked, and he headed home.  I unpacked and headed to bed, since I had to be "at" work the next day!  The trip was truly over. . .

July - August Las Vegas Trip - Day Eight

Tuesday, August 3

My last day downtown and last full day in Las Vegas!  Hopefully it will be a good one!

Kip and I have one last play planned, 2,000 points for her at Binion's.  I had to take my bag to the car, since we were checking out of Golden Gate just afternoon and I didn't think I'd have time to get back from Binion's and take the bag to the car before lunch and heading to Wynn.  I took a last photo of the view from my Golden Gate suite, which is pretty much the same view I always have, although this time it was a floor higher.

It's not the best view, but it sure beats hearing the noise from Fremont Street!

I sent a message to Kip around 8:00 am, telling her I was taking my bag to the car and heading to Binion's to meet her for breakfast.  Around 8:30 am, she said she was heading down.  There was a little bit of a line before, but by the time she arrived, there was no wait.

The same waitress who waited on me during my trip in September waited on me again and recognized me (or maybe she just recognized Jacques D. Monquee) and I told her I remembered her from my prior trips.  Once again, I get the Gambler's Special (maybe one time I'll get steak and eggs). . .

We finish breakfast and head to the machines to start play.  Things are going pretty well, I hit quad sevens, which I didn't think much of until the guy next to me says that I could get a hat for it.  Apparently for their 70's anniversary, Binion's is having some giveaway, one being if you hit quad sevens, you get a hat.  We are in a pretty isolated part of the casino, but it is close to the slot club, so I head over there, and a slot attendant happens to be there.  He takes my card number and soon enough, I have a hat!

Hit quad sevens, get a hat!

It's a pretty nice hat too.  Here are the other promotions they were running:

Too bad I didn't know about this when I did my play in July (although it would have been difficult for me to do this in August without some rescheduling), it did work out for Kip.  She said she wanted to get a hat, and sure enough, not too long after I got mine, she got quad sevens as well!  The guy who told me about the promo was telling another woman on the bank the same thing when she got quad sevens.  I told the guy that he should be getting a commission for this, and he said he got his good karma back, he was waiting for a handpay for the $1 royal he just hit!  That's the kind of karma I needed!

I hit two more stinkin' bonus quads with kickers, and still ended being a $60 loser!

Obviously it could have gone a lot worse.  Kip finished her session up $35, so we put in $16,000 coin-in with a $25 loss, and we were still getting freeplay and cashback.  I hit a 50c quad on my freeplay and Kip redeemed $185 from her $200, and with the cashback, we were up $355 for the session!  Kip also got the t-shirt (which she gave me, and it is nice), and she got the insulated flask, which she kept.

We finished just in time for our 12:00 pm lunch, and we got seated while we waited for the rest of our party to arrive.

I ordered the meatball sub this time, which was pretty good, I really do like the fries though.

Bob and I say our temporary goodbyes as we head to Wynn.  We decide to stop by at Resorts World to check it out.  We were a bit confused as to where to park (we entered from the back side, since Las Vegas Boulevard had heavy traffic around The Strat).  I believe we parked at the Conrad hotel parking and then walked down some stairs that opened onto the ground level, and you couldn't reenter those stairs, so we'd have to figure out how to get back to that garage.

We walked around the property and it looked nice, it also looked pretty large.  We went by the poker room, and there seemed to be a few tables going.  We ended up finding our way back to the parking garage and were happy to discover that we didn't have to pay.

The Resorts World sphere

We got to Wynn around 4:15 pm.  Bob had already checked in, and went to a kiosk to pick up his keys, since there was a bit of a line in the lobby.  However, technology failed us, as the kiosk failed to process Bob's ID and credit card.  It locked up processing and Bob wanted to make sure that his card wasn't going to be charged, so I told him he should go to the lobby and I'll stay at the kiosk and make sure nothing happened.  Eventually, the kiosk reset and I made sure his information wasn't in there.  I went back to the lobby and the line moved quickly.  We were soon in the room for our last night in Las Vegas.

No Strip view tonight. . .

We had a little bit of time to hit the pool before meeting Kip, Cathy, and Jose for dinner at Starboard Tack.  We also discovered that the pool was open until 7:00 pm (I believe the check-in clerk had told us it was open until 6:00 pm).

It was nice, and I found it warmer than Stadium Swim, although I was at this pool at 5:30 pm, not 9:00 am.

Last time chilling poolside!

We needed to hurry if we were going to meet our friends at 7:00 pm, but we lingered a bit longer at the pool, and didn't arrive to Starboard Tack until a little before 8:00 pm.  It was all good, our friends already ordered drinks and appetizers.

I got a cherry blossom drink and tried the fried chicken fried rice, both of which were very good.

We wanted to do some "fun play", and Eureka Casino isn't far away from Starboard Tack (and on the way back to the Strip) so we stopped there.  The five of us kicked in $20 each for a shot on 25c Multistrike.  Our first hand was a winner, and almost a double up.

Nice first hand!

Now, we typically play to a double up, and we could have easily lost trying to get that last $6.25, but we managed to get it in a few more hands.  Doubled up and out I think in around 20 minutes!

We all get to Wynn and try one more group play, on Ultimate X Spin Poker.  It was going okay, but we weren't getting the "quick hit" at nickels, so I bumped to dimes, and we ended up losing.  Ah well, those are the breaks

We said our goodbyes to Rob and Melody on the casino floor.  Kip, Cathy, and Jose went up to the room to pick up a few things that Bob and I weren't going to take on the plane with us and then we bid them farewell.

It was quite the early night, but it was going to be an early morning for our flight out. . .

July - August Las Vegas Trip - Day Seven

Monday, August 2

Got up around 8ish.  Kip sends me a message saying she was shooting to meet me at 10:00 am before heading to Four Queens and Magnolia's for breakfast.  I hit the shower and am ready for her to come by around 9:30 am.  She drops off her bag and we walk down Fremont Street to the Queens.

We are meeting Cathy and Jose again, and we get there around 11:00 am.  Looking for a change for breakfast (and seeing Jose get it a previous morning), I ordered the chicken fried steak.  He said it was okay and it was just okay.

We head back to Golden Gate to get our day's play in.  Kip and I stopped to check her in to her last room at Hotel Apache.  She had a decent size room, larger than the one I had in April, but smaller than the one she had in March.

Things were starting slow for me, then I hit aces.  Then I hit aces again.  Then I hit aces again, this time with a useless kicker.  I hit aces three times in an hour.  Not too bad. . .

Then I followed that up with quad fours, and then a bit later, deuces (with another useless kicker)!  At least I'm hitting bonus quads on a bonus game!

Well, it's now around 4:00 pm, and we had a 4:30 pm reservation at Pizza Rock.  It was for happy hour, and we could also use our One Club (earned) comps there.

I had never been there before (but Kip had, and recommended it), and it was really good!  The pizza was great and they had a good drink selection.  I'll be sure to add this place to my restaurant rotation on future trips!

The Tony 2 Times (without salami) and a Black House Vanilla Latte Stout

It was a nice little break to hang out with friends.  We then headed back to Golden Gate to finish our play.  We figured we had a few more hours to go.

The evening session did not go well for me.  I hit one bonus quad (with another useless kicker), and turned a large winning session in the morning to an overall win of 18c.  I guess I really can't complain about that.  Kip, unfortunately, had a losing session, but with our monthly freeplay and earned cashback, we only ended up being down $70.82 overall, which isn't bad for $10,000 coin-in.

We had 9:00 pm bowling planned, so Kip and I had to rush up to get socks and then get over to The D where our ride was waiting.  It was a good thing our friend had a full-size car, because we were still packed in there.

Our other friends were waiting at Gold Coast for us, and soon we were ready to bowl:

 Yeah, we were bowling with some Asshole. . .

I hadn't bowled in a while (and I imagine most other people hadn't either).  We still had fun though (there might have been alcohol involved).  And in the end, the Asshole won. . .

Afterwards, we tried a group play on 10c 10-line Ultimate X.  Unfortunately, we couldn't string together a bunch of winning hands, and it was soon over.

We headed back to The D, and Kip and I walked back to Golden Gate.  I believe that was pretty much it!

 

July - August Las Vegas Trip - Day Six

Sunday, August 1

I woke up around 8:30 am.  I had a message from Kip about 45 minutes earlier telling me she was awake and planning the day.  i took a shower and made coffee for us (the suite has a Keurig machine) and took them down to her room around 9:30ish.

We heard from Cathy and Jose and we all decided to meet at Magnolia's for breakfast.  Today was hash and eggs:

Now we head to The D for another session of play.  Originally I was going to do 500 points at The D today and then 1,000 points at Golden Gate tomorrow.  However, since Kip doesn't really like playing at Golden Gate, and The D and Golden Gate are on the same slot club, I suggested that I could do 1,000 points at The D today and just 500 points at Golden Gate tomorrow.  Kip readily agreed.

Vue Bar was pretty crowded, so we set up around the bar as best we could.  At one point, seven of our group were playing at the bar.  I hit aces pretty early, but nothing else exciting.

Bob arrived a bit later and joined in.  We said we would go to Victory Burger for lunch, so we headed over there, arriving around 2:20 pm.  I wasn't too hungry after my breakfast, but I ordered some chicken tenders and waffle fries.

They were pretty tasty, although pricey (but I used comps, so it was fine).

We head back to Vue Bar for more video poker play until around 7:00 pm, when Kip had a reservation for dinner at Barry's at 7:15 pm.  People were saying they were going and then not going, so eventually, it was just four people, Cathy, Jose, Kip, and I.

Before we left, Kip hit another straight flush and I hit aces with a meaningless kicker:

Kip and I got there a bit early and got seated while we waited for Cathy and Jose.  Kip and I had eaten there back in March, but it was Cathy and Jose's first time.

The decor is nice, but it was quite loud, mostly the loudish music they were playing.

The lamp about our table

The happy dinner group!

Bread

Lobster bisque

New York sirloin

Small desserts

The lobster bisque is a bit thicker than at Andiamo.  Also, my steak was a bit rarer than I wanted, but I finished most of it, so I didn't worry about sending it back.  I also ordered a side of tots, but I was so full from the other food that we ended up taking them back to the room.

Between Kip and my comps, we were short around $55.  I charged it to my room to see if my host would pick it up, and if not, I'd use my earned comps (I had almost $400).

So around 9:30 pm, we're back at Vue Bar.  After about 45 minutes, Kip does it again:

Huzzah!

At least one of us is doing well!  The royal was over $1,400 before, so Kip was actually happy to not get another W-2G.

For my 1,000 points ($10,000 coin-in), I was down $8, which I thought was pretty outstanding.

We wanted to head to Plaza to look around, but the FST Shakira show was starting, so we stopped to watch. I do miss the older programming, but the visuals are nicer.

We got to Plaza around 12:20.  We checked out the empty sports bar and the lobby bar which was full, although they had some stations closed.  I read something recently that they stopped comping drinks at the bar because people were just getting them and leaving.  I guess I'll look into this more on my next trip.

We stopped by Kip's room to tally the day, her royal made the day a profitable one!  We chatted for a while (again), and then it was an hour or so later.

Since her room was on the second floor, I went down to the casino level and decided to take a quick shot.  I lost a bit, and was going to finish up on bonus deluxe when I hit a quad.

That's good enough to make it a winning session.  I cashed out and called it a night (around 2:30 am). . .