Please ADD your own Las Vegas Trip Report. Date of Trip: September 30, 2007 to October 04, 2007 Hotel Stayed At: WYNN Report by: KTINCA <> From: CALIFORNIA

TR—Sept. 30th—Oct 4th 2007

Another October and another trip to Las Vegas . If you haven’t been to Las Vegas in October you have no idea what you are missing. We like early May but even that doesn’t compare to the 1st two weeks of October.

We were lucky enough to fly out on a weekend that all Bay Area law enforcement agencies were conducting anti-terrorist drills. Which means the airport was on high alert, so it took 50 minutes to make it through the security checkpoint.
But that was nothing compared to what we saw at McCarron when we arrived. The lines on Sunday morning were the worst we’ve ever seen. The security line must have been at least an hour long for those leaving LV. Baggage check was ok, but the taxi line now goes around the corner catching almost everyone by surprise. My wife actually thought it was kind of funny watching the reaction as people reached the corner and saw how long the line extended. And from what we heard the lines for the shuttles were almost as bad.

We never realized so many religious pilgrims visited Las Vegas. “OH MY GOD” was the most common reaction to the cab line.

Some 30-45 minutes later we were on our way to Wynn, arriving just before 1pm. We’ve stayed at Wynn a number of times always in a room with a Golf Course view (my wife’s favorite LV view). But this trip due to the construction of Encore and Palazzo we requested a quiet room on the strip, and were given a room in the middle with an outstanding view of the waterfall and show. The Wynn water show takes place between 9pm-12am nightly, we spent 4 nights in this room and did not catch one show. We were never in the room during that time, so the view was pretty much wasted on us.

We have learned from experience not to plan anything for the 1st day/night if possible. This way if flights are delayed or if we are too tried we are not running around like crazy, and we don’t start our trip being worn out. But this also leads to us sometimes sitting in the room after arrival and going through our Abbott & Costello routine:

“What do you want to do today?”
“I don’t know, what do you want to do?”
“Do you want to see a show?”
“I don’t care. Do you have anything you want to see tonight?”
“Are you tired? Do you want to take a nap?”
“I might need to take a nap because of the Dramamine.”
“Why don’t we have lunch and we can decide later.”

99% of the time after having this conversation we end up doing nothing the 1st night in town

After stopping at the racebook to bet on a couple of races I had handicapped on the plane, we headed to Country Club Grill. We had been there for breakfast and dinner but never for lunch. I had the burger, which was good but so large it was difficult to eat. Eileen had the French Dip, which was not really a sandwich but served open-face on one slice of bread which she preferred. I was a little disappointed the potato chips were not home-made, but the fries we chose instead were excellent. With 2 Iced Teas the bill totaled $47.41, which might seem a little high, but because it was already almost 3pm this meal served as both lunch and dinner.

Checked on my races and the results were one first and one second creating a profit of $83, so it was time to check the casino for any changes.
Wynn had removed my wife’s favorite nickel video WOF machines, so it would be mostly VP for her this trip.
Played VP for around 90 minutes, both dollars and then quarters, but really couldn’t get anything going. She did better than I (which means losing less). I ended up $87 down for the session.
Isn’t it amazing how exact my accounting is the 1st day, and how fuzzy it is after that? LOL.

We decided to spend our evening playing Pai Gow Poker at TI, as the minimums are too high at Wynn. Found three $10 tables but no open seats at the moment. So I went to find us some playable JOB.

To my surprise every machine I checked had a 7/5 pay-table. I don’t know when this changed, but I guess MGM figures the new TI target market either won’t notice or care. But that doesn’t help us any, so no VP for us.
Fortunately a couple of seats opened on one of the PGP tables. So we were able to spend a few leisurely hours at a game we enjoy. Again, couldn’t get much going. I ended up losing $25, with my wife picking me up with a $35
win, allowing us to claim a profit from this session.

Back to Wynn, and a late dinner consisting of cheesecake and coffee at the Café. Midnight is always late enough for us the first night.

1st day totals:
VP -87
Races +83
Pai Gow Poker -$25

Monday 10-1:
Does anyone really sleep in when in Las Vegas? Certainly, but not I.
They changed the pool hours today from 8am-7pm to 9am-6pm, so we had time for breakfast. Our favorite place for breakfast in LV is Tableau. A little expensive---but oh, so worth it. We started with coffee and mini-beignets. She had French Toast which was brioche stuffed with apples & cinnamon. I had the signature Short Ribs and Eggs. I know this sounds weird, but this dish has a base made of a thick potato pancake, on top of this is tender meat taken from short ribs which has been infused with cheese (I don’t remember which type) and topped with scrambled eggs and hollandaise sauce. Actually the dish includes 2 servings making it very difficult to finish (but we try). Add a side of bacon, and the total was $58.19. Tableau is a real restaurant with outstanding service, so be prepared to spend an hour over breakfast. We are lounging poolside by 9:30. This is the real reason we go to Las Vegas, to sit around doing nothing and relax.
But even in October I can stand only so much sun, so I leave my wife at the pool around 12:30pm to run a few errands.

I head across to the mall to pick up show tickets at the ½ price outlet. My wife wants to see Wayne Brady and Monday is the only chance we have this trip, so he automatically becomes today’s choice. His tickets are not ½ price, but discounted from $84 to $63. Then it’s over to Venetian to redeem the vouchers for tickets and hopefully decent seats.

By Las Vegas standards the walk from Wynn to Venetian is fairly short but
BE WARNED it can be brutal. The wind kicked up and the dust from Palazzo was indescribable. They are still doing major work to the ground surrounding Palazzo and obviously will be for quite a while. Take my advice and find another way around this area if possible.

One of the things I wanted to do this trip was check out a couple of suites for a future trip. I had asked the Wynn concierge to arrange this, and was surprised to learn that both Wynn and Bellagio have daily room tours at 2pm. So this afternoon I took part of the Wynn tour to see the Parlor and Salon suites. The tour is a nice way to get an overview of the hotel, especially if you haven’t been a guest.

We then went to Parasol Down to meet Ants and his wife from LVTalk for drinks. We spent a couple of very pleasant hours by the lake getting acquainted and sharing viewpoints and experiences.

Because we were going to Venetian to see Wayne Brady anyway, dinner was at Grand Lux. I made a valiant attempt to finish my chicken pot pie while Eileen made a dent in a shrimp/pasta dish. Dinner was $42, and as always a good value.

Not really sure what to say about Wayne Brady, she enjoyed the show more than I. If you are a fan of his type of humor (I am not) go see this show, as he does deliver. But many in the audience did not seem to really “get it” and some started to leave at the end when he went into long song/dance numbers.

Didn’t stay at Venetian after the show, as we’ve done the tourist things there, and never really feel comfortable in their casino. Back to Wynn for a little VP and call it a night.

Very little play for either of this day and certainly nothing that affected our bankrolls.

Tuesday 10-2:
Up early again, downstairs for some VP and coffee. I spend most mornings at Wynn this way, also walking around observing and talking to Wynn staff. With a high stakes baccarat tournament going on, Wynn was a very interesting place this week.
Brought coffee and Danish up to the wife to help her prepare for another grueling day, and then down to the pool around 9:30.

In case you can’t tell, when in LV we become pool people. We know exactly where we want to sit at the Wynn pool, as a matter of fact we also have our favorite locations at the Mirage, MB & Monte Carlo pools. So you will find us in the shade under the bridge across from the Cabana Shop.

This morning my wife forgot to bring mints so she sent me to the Cabana Shop. I looked through the snack and candy section and couldn’t find anything suitable, so I asked the lady working there for help. I explained my wife has asthma and the mints help in the dry air. Unfortunately she couldn’t find any either. I offered to go to the room but my wife told me to wait.
15 minutes later my wife sees this lady waving a bag on the other side of the pool. Across the pool she shouts “Sir, I think I found something. We had some organic peppermints in a different section. I hope they help.” My wife says thanks, and sends me wading across the pool to pick them up (yes I take instruction well, lol). She hands me the peppermints and asks if I want to charge them to the room, and being in 3-1/2 feet of water and having no cash I say “Please”. She says “Don’t get out” rushes back, prepares a charge slip and brings it back to the pool. I’m sure this $3.95 sale probably didn’t make her day, but her kindness and service helped make ours.

Once again, I leave the pool around noon to begin my daily errands. My wife also will leave early today as she has a 2pm spa appointment (tough life).

Over to the mall to pick up a voucher for tonight’s show choice, Mama Mia. Of course these are ½ price, and then over to MB to pick up the tickets. Then it’s over to MGM to find out what they are planning for Breeder’s Cup. No party, but I make reservations for a couple of spots in the racebook.

Head over to Bellagio for the 2pm room tour. They only have a Penthouse Suite available to see today (along with regular rooms) which luckily for me is the one I want to see. A fairly nice suite, but probably not my 1st choice.

Back to Wynn to play a little poker for a couple of hours. I got absolutely no cards, played very few hands, resulting in a loss of $8.

Back upstairs to meet the wife and start our evening. She is feeling great after her day at the spa. In addition to her normal massage she decided to try Wynn’s signature treatment the Brown Sugar Scrub. According to her this was heavenly, and if she’s happy, I’m happy.

My wife wants to interject a comment here: She spent the whole afternoon in the whirlpool, steam room and spa facilities, having fruit for lunch. The scrub took 30 minutes, followed by a 50 minute massage. Both treatments were given by Vincent, she was very pleased and recommends him highly.

Dinner was at one of our favorite LV restaurants, the Noodle Shop at Mandalay Bay. To our surprise they have remodeled, most notably removing the bar/counter in the center. Obviously with the tables there is more seating, but we liked it the way it was (PLEASE MGM, stop changing all my favorite places). Of course the prices also increased a few dollars to pay for the remodeling. My standard Noodle/BBQ pork soup and a rice dish for my wife, along with tea, is now $29. I do love the food here though.

Not much to say about Mama Mia. The Las Vegas version is not the best we’ve seen, but this show is pretty much guaranteed to bring a smile. After the show we saw no reason to stay at MB, so we walked to THEhotel to catch a cab. Always use THEhotel if you need a cab to avoid the long line at MB.
A little VP before bed with nothing special worth mentioning.
Another day with very little gambling.

Wednesday 10-3:
I went down to the pool a little after 9am. My wife had it rough this morning, she had to pick up her own coffee and Danish on the way to the pool.

About an hour later my wife says to me “Isn’t that the lady from the gift shop?” Across the pool the lady is waving “I just wanted to see how your wife was doing. Did the peppermints help?”
I won’t remember how many 4OAK I hit or any particular poker hands, but I imagine every time we visit the Wynn pool for a few years I am going to remember the kindness of that lady. What a great impression to leave.

Again I leave wife at the pool around 12:30. Walk over to check out the Pai Gow, but the minimum is $200 this afternoon (more than I want to play) so I head to the poker room.

I sit in an $8-$16 game with 4 regulars and the rest tourists. The regulars are joking that they never know what 3 of the tourists have because they could be playing anything, and actually laughing when they get outdrawn (knowing they will end up ahead in the long-run).
Win a few and lose a few with nothing exciting, then I get dealt pocket Q’s. I raise and get 4 calls, flop comes Q,10,4 all spades. I bet get 2 calls (both tourists) turn comes 8d, another bet and 2 calls river comes 3s. Lady shows me pocket 6’s making her flush.
3 hands later I’m dealt AA and of course raise and get a couple of callers. Flop comes 2, 4, 5---I bet and the same lady calls. Turn comes J, I bet and she calls. River comes 3. I say “Don’t tell me you have 6’s again” and bet. She calls and shows A/9 and we split the pot. All you can do is laugh and say “Good hand”.
I ended up $50 down after playing around 3 hours.

We are taking Ants & Mrs. Ants to Gold Coast tonight. Even though they are certainly not newbies they have never been there, and we are looking forward to introducing them to our favorite off-strip casino.

MEN WILL NEVER UNDRSTAND:
“Honey, do you know what Mrs. Ants is wearing tonight?”
“I don’t know what difference does it make?”
“I have a dress I want to wear tonight.”
“OK”
“I don’t want to wear it if it’s too dressy.”
“I told them the Cortez Room is not fancy. But wear whatever makes you comfortable.”
“I will leave the dress on the bed and come back and change if she is dressed up.”

We go downstairs to meet them at Parasol. They have a table near the rail, have ordered us drinks and are waiting. My wife walks up and asks:
“Are you wearing a dress?”
“Actually it’s a skirt”.
“Good, I’m going to go change. It will just take a minute, everything is ready”.

So I join them for a drink, and my wife changes into the outfit she wanted to wear originally.
Something doesn’t seem right here. We’re staying at Wynn, but getting dressed up to go to Gold Coast!
MEN WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.

The Cortez Room is exactly what you expect the fine dining restaurant at the Gold Coast to be; comfortable friendly and unpretentious.
Ants requested a Guinness and received a quizzical look from our server Mauricio. Not only didn’t they have any, but he didn’t even know what it was. After an explanation the closest he could come was a Budweiser. Welcome to the Gold Coast.
Then they bring the antipasto along with a loaf of warm round bread with a hard crust. I have never been able to figure out how they expect you to be able to cut this bread without making a huge mess on the table. And I come from San Francisco, where hard-crusted French Bread is the norm (sorry sometimes the mind wanders).

The meals at the Cortez Room are not a la carte, they include soup/salad and choice of side (various potato, rice, etc). We order, receive our salads, and talk about the restaurants they frequent in England, where it seems entrees are fairly small and somewhat Spartan. Then our meal arrives; Ants & Eileen have ordered the small cut of prime rib, Mrs. Ants ordered fried jumbo shrimp, and I ordered a NY steak. In addition I ordered a side dish of sautéed mushrooms and 2 orders of fresh asparagus.
You should have seen the look on Mrs. Ants face when they brought her shrimp! It reminded me of the people seeing the cab line at the airport as they rounded the corner. The jumbo shrimp (maybe a dozen) covered the entire plate, and a separate plate was required for the sweet potato which was her side dish. Of course she couldn’t finish, but it wasn’t really expected.
With the bread, sides, condiments, meals and drinks on the table at the same time there was hardly enough rooms left for my elbows. It must have been very similar to a medieval feast.

The total bill for our gluttony, including Iced Teas and coffee after dinner (we needed to rest) was $114. A small protest was lodged when I picked up the check. But I reminded them that had we had a steak at any of the restaurants at Wynn it would have cost that much PER PERSON, and this probably wasn’t much more than the drinks at the Parasol bars the last couple of days.
IMHO the Cortez Room based on food ambience and price is one of Las Vegas’ best values and hidden gems.

Ants & I then went to play some Pai Gow Poker (a new game for him) while the ladies went in search of loose machines and free drinks. We played for a little over 2 hours and I lost all of $20. Those who play PGP know it can be a very pleasurable way to while away the time without much risk or volatility.

Eileen in the meantime is having a great time. They are hopping around and trying numerous penny & nickel machines. She very rarely plays slots so this was fun for her. Then she got lucky and hit a nickel machine for over 5200 credits. So of course she has to come by and show us her TITO. They decide to play some VP and we agree to meet at 12.

Gold Coast has quarter 9/6 JOB at their bars and best of all from the ladies point of view, great service and free drinks. Mrs. Ants doesn’t drink much alcohol, but my wife introduces her to Tom Collins. She now has a new friend in Tom. I suspect the ladies had a better time overall than we did.

Back to Wynn, where we said goodbye to our friends. But now my wife feels lucky, so another hour of VP is required, with both of us registering small wins before calling it a night.

Thursday 10-4:

Wake up a little after 8am and call down to the desk for late check out. We have this down to a science, book the 3:10pm flight check out at 1pm and go directly to the airport. Some like later flights, wanting to milk every minute out of their trip. We prefer the more relaxed approach, knowing there will always be another trip.

Next it’s downstairs for the Las Vegas breakfast of champions---Bailey’s and coffee over video poker. It’s now time for Eileen to use the $100 free play which came with our room offer. All our offers from Wynn come in her name, the real high roller in the family, lol.

I believe that all free play offers should be used in whichever machine allows the greatest opportunity to turn the money into cash, after that you can use the real cash for anything you want. At Wynn this means $1 9/6 JOB. Unfortunately this is the only period of bad luck she has the last 24 hours of our trip, and is only able to net $52. Oh well, better than nothing.
We play for a couple of hours and our luck is still pretty good (mine better than hers) so we both register wins.

We stop by the Red Desk and pick up a couple of buffet comps earned this trip. The current requirement is 750 points per stay for existing Red Card members. I don’t want to say we are low-rollers, but it takes both of us playing on one card 4 days to earn the points!

We get to the buffet a little after 10:30 and they are changing from breakfast to lunch, so we have a choice of both types of food. We are not big buffet people but we wanted a substantial meal before our flight. I’m almost ashamed to report that all I ate was bagel/lox/cream cheese, some bacon, and ½ slice of lox/cream cheese pizza (been meaning to try it at Wynn for a couple of years) and a few of Wynn’s small desserts. Buffets are a waste for me.
My wife, on the other hand is much more adventurous and has loaded her plate with a variety of both breakfast and lunch dishes.
And amongst this array of food are 2 bagels.

So I ask “Why do you have 2 bagels, you can’t eat them both?”
“Well, I was at the fish section for some smoked trout and they had bagels so I took one. Then when I got to the other side of the buffet I saw a poppy bagel and wanted it. I already had the other bagel on my plate and couldn’t put it back, so now I have 2.”
“So, you’re going to eat the poppy seed, what are you going to do with the other one?”
“Well, I can’t put it back. So I guess we have to take it with us.”
It would never occur to my wife to throw out food---even free food.
“Maybe I will eat it on the plane.”
“OK, how are you going to get it out, did you bring a purse?”
She holds up a purse so small, that even if empty, wouldn’t hold the bagel.
She says “I have pockets”. She wore a linen outfit for comfort on the plane.
“Are there any napkins?”
“This is a nice buffet, they don’t have paper napkins” I reply.
“Well, I’m going to put it in my pocket anyway.”

So after our meal, my wife left the buffet with a noticeable bulge in her pocket. Obviously, she is not very experienced at stealing food. Hopefully she will be better prepared next time.

BTW: I’ve heard Wynn keeps track of EVERYTHING in their hotel. So if we don’t receive any future offers, I am going to know who to blame.

Left for the airport with a couple of hours to spare remembering how bad the lines were when we arrived. Checked our 2 bags outside (SWA) and gave the clerk a $5 tip.
He took the tip, smiled and said “Your flight leaves from gate 23, but don’t worry I’m going to send you on a short cut to save you a lot of time. Turn right and go around this building, through the parking lot and you will see a side entrance. That is the one you can use. Have a good flight”.

So we follow instructions, and find ourselves the only people in this parking lot (yes, a little scary). We notice all the cars have Nevada plates, and realize this has to be either a security or employee entrance. There is an entrance sign so we go in to find a couple guards and 1 standard security screening device. We go through, up an escalator and we emerge steps away from gate 23, the entire entrance process took no more than 2 minutes. And right across the hall is the SWA employee locker room. What a great experience!
Moral: Always be nice to airline personnel, you never know.

Final Thoughts and Observations:

Financially: We did pretty well but certainly didn’t set any records. I don’t keep daily counts like some (and don’t use the creative accounting some may use). But I do know I left town with a little more than $1200 cash and had around $1500 when I got home. I don’t even guess at how much cash I use for tips and cab fare (nor do I care).
Before we left I gave my wife $300 for walking around money (gambling or tips if I am not around). She is one of those women who never carry cash, even a trip to Starbucks for coffee requires the debit card. She returned it all when we left and says she won. She didn’t say how much, but she did say it was enough to cover her bill at the spa ($285) and I know she won $500-$600 the last 18 hours of the trip.

But even though we came out ahead gambling, it wasn’t enough to cover our expenses. This happens to us a lot, either a small win or loss, but rarely enough to actually pay for the trip.

We didn’t really gamble that much this trip mostly because we were doing other things, or nothing. I’m sorry I didn’t get to play Pai Gow this trip, but because of the baccarat tournament at Wynn the minimums were higher than normal.

The weather was just perfect. We go almost every October (sometimes twice) and have never had better weather for our whole trip. We were able to spend every morning at the pool and still walk around comfortably at night.

We don’t do the casino hopping that we did as recently as a year or two ago. It’s harder getting around the strip with the construction, especially if it is windy. Barbary Coast used to be a must stop every trip, but there is no reason to go there now (except maybe to see Big Elvis). The same with Monte Carlo or even Mirage.

We didn’t eat. I don’t mean that we didn’t have any fancy or expensive meals, some trips are like that. I mean we actually just didn’t eat very often. During the period we were there we should have eaten 13 meals (4 breakfasts, 5 lunches, and 4 dinners). We only had breakfast once, lunch twice, and dinner 3 times. Not sure how I feel about this, but I did notice it.

It was very nice spending time with friends in Las Vegas. While our trips will always be primarily to rest and spend time together, we do enjoy meeting others and spending a little time with friends who have common interests.

This was one of the best trips we’ve had in the last couple of years, just the right balance of rest and activity. Sometimes you wish you could bottle the feeling of a Las Vegas trip and save it for the future.

Thanks for reading, and letting us share our trip.
Our next trip is only 3 nights, so I promise the next TR won’t be as long.

KTINCA <> - CALIFORNIA    4080

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