Wednesday:
Me
Co-workers: That sucks, hope you feel better by the time you go to Vegas
Thursday:
Me: *Lay in bed all day crippled by sickness and prays to feel better by Saturday*
Friday:
Me: *Feel slightly better so decides to skip going to the doctor* "Maybe this won't be so bad afterall"
Saturday:
Me: *Wake up feeling like death. Take every pill I can find and pray I don't die on the 5.5 hour flight to Vegas*
So I make it to Vegas, and, sadly, I don't feel any better. For the duration of the trip, I oscillate between feeling somewhere near passable and like I'm stuck in the 7th circle of hell. This means there's no rousing all night gambling sessions, no blindingly drunk degeneracy....nothing exciting. That said, I did a few things that may be of interest, so I'll share here. Since I'm still sick, I'm doing this bullet list style. Feel free to ask for more details if you're interested in anything in particular.
Places Stayed
Venetian (1 night): Not much to say, we stayed at the Venetian in their entry level suite for one night. It was fine; showed some signs of age, but nothing horrible. The lady at the front desk was a bitch.
Encore (3 nights): Beautiful property. Front desk was friendly. Gave her a $20 between my credit card and ID and asked if she could do anything to take care of us. She declined tip, but honored my request for a high floor with strip view. We stayed on the 60th floor with a nice view of both the strip, and the Wynn golf course. Overall, I really enjoyed Encore, the staff were well trained and polite, without being over-bearing, and the property is well-appointed. The few things I disliked:
-No premium booze while gambling without approval from pit. I was playing black chip Pai Gow, and asked, on separate occasions, for a GM, and a Belvedere and tonic. Waitress told me no go on either, and I had to have the pit "comp" the drinks.
-Ventilation in Encore suites is horrible. As far as I can tell, there is just one vent in the suites that blows air. This vent is in the far corner in the sitting area, near the windows. The net result is that the sleeping area stays very hot, and the sitting area is very cold. I can't imagine how bad this is going to be in the summer.
-Too much red. I realize they designed the casino to appeal to Asian folks, but, really...too much red. All the Asian staff I asked agreed.
Dining
L'Atelier Joel Robuchon One of my top 10 lifetime meals. This may be colored slightly by the fact that Robuchon was in the restaurant and stopped by and talked with us for a bit, but whatever. We had the Winter tasting menu. Highlights were the amuse; Foie Gras shot with port wine reduction and parmesan foam - a deliciously rich start to the meal, and the hangar steak with shallots - simple, but perfectly done. We started with one of my favorite wines; a 2004 Quintessa, and followed up with a Shiraz recommended by the sommelier. Service was a bit disappointed for a place of this caliber, but I think we were just unlucky, as all the other servers seemed to have it together. Total was $210/person after tip and drinks.
Okada We decided to check this place out after I read solid reviews in the Las Vegas lifestyle forum. Overall impression was, "meh". I get better sushi in DC. Everything was passable, but nothing really stood out. Total was ~$80/person with sushi and drinks.
Strip Burger Upon further reflection, eating outside in 50 degree weather while sick probably wasn't the smartest decision, but what the hell. We stopped at Strip Burger during happy hour when we got into town. $2 draft beers and mini-burgers seemed like a pretty decent deal. Recommend trying the chili cheese fries. I just had a forkful, but they were probably worth the year they took off my life. Would return.
Society Cafe Again, stopped here for lunch based on reviews in Las Vegas Lifestyle forum...don't see what the big deal is. Standard hotel lunch fare IMO. ~$70 for lunch for three with no drinks.
Encore Room Service Just mentioning this here because I really appreciated the work our server put into making our room service meal enjoyable. Food was so/so, everything seemed over-salted, but the server went the extra mile to ensure a nice presentation and overall good experience. ~$70 for dinner for two with no drinks.
Gambling
Because I was sick, and because I'm now playing black chip, I did all my gambling at the Wynn. This included some poker, and some Pai Gow. Here's the rundown
-10 hours of Pai Gow @ $150/hand (-$400). We had an awesome time gambling it up at Pai Gow, and were all running well (I was up about $1100), until one killer session where I dropped $1500 in about 40 minutes. Bounced back and forth after that, and ended up about even. Interestingly, 10 hours at $150/hand was enough for Encore to comp 2 nights of my 3 night stay.
-2/5 nl hold 'em @ Wynn (-$300). Not much to say, I dicked around in this game, which plays deep ($1500 max buyin). Game was hit or miss, but nothing to write home about
-10/20 limit hold 'em w/ half kill @ Wynn (+$500). This game was laughably soft. Pretty standard lineup of old timers trading chips back and forth. No tough spots, easy, enjoyable way to pass the time while hopped up on cold medication.
-5/10 nl hold 'em @ Wynn (+$4,000). For about 2 hours on Tuesday, this was the best game I've ever played in. I jumped in the game when it was getting started and played 6 handed for a while. Stacks were all around 1-2K, except for an older business guy named Jay who was playing ~$25,000. Then the game got unbelievably, indescribably, good. A young British dude named Nick shows up with 2x$1,000 chips and sits down. He takes one look @ Jay's stack and asks how much he's playing. Jay tells him about $25,000. This leads to a short dick waving competition about who has more money, which leads to Nick making a brief departure, and returning with $25,000. Nick is raising every hand in the dark, etc. and just generally there to gamble it up. I run good and build my $1K buyin up to $5K in a couple of hours.
Other Stuff
-ATV tour through the Valley of Fire. I skipped this because of my sickness, but my wife and her brother went and both had a blast. Will definitely be going next time I'm in Vegas
-Encore Spa. Highly recommended. We had a couples massage and "soak" which is code word for couples massage + "sex in a jacuzzi" afterwards. Both were completely worth the money paid. The spa itself is worth checking out for $30/day, even if you don't get a massage. Steam room + hot tubs + cold plunges + heated chaise lounges = awesome.
-Love. Saw this show for the first time. Different than the other Cirque shows, but well worth the time and money. I was pretty blown away by the sheer spectacle of the production, and the amount of work that went into the choreography.
Think I'll go pass out for a bit now, hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to ask questions if you're interested in details.
