We were in Las Vegas earlier this week. My husband was invited to play in a slot tournament at Palazzo. I paid the entry fee of $100.00 and played in it, too. Neither of us won, but it was kind of fun, and as part of the offer, we got 3 free nights.
We arrived about 10:00 on Sunday morning. We were allowed to check into a lovely suite on the 21st floor immediately. The clerk offered a strip view for $45.00 per night and we declined. We've seen the strip. Our view was of the mountains and the Wynn golf course. It was actually a very nice view.
Our suite was really nice and everything worked. The maid service was good, and the room was serviced before noon every day. I asked for an extra pillow and one was cheerfully provided. One word of caution would be to keep the "Do not disturb" sign out and the inside latch engaged when you're busy in the room with something of a private nature or are not fully dressed. We had three cleaning staff members and one plumber come in to "check on things" while we were there. That might be inconvenient for some.
We have not stayed on the strip in a few years. We used to get many offers from Venetian/Palazzo and would stay there pretty often. After those quit coming, we have stayed downtown nearly every time we've come for a few years. We like it because things are close to each other, the casinos are smaller, and the table limits not as expensive.
Palazzo/Venetian have started sending us offers again so I guess they have changed marketing directors. Anyway, this was a nice change for us.
We didn't eat at any really fancy places or steakhouses this time. We ate dinner one night at Kahunaville at TI. It was good. We each had a different variation on chicken with pineapple. It was good. Other than that we ate breakfast a couple of days and lunch once at the Grand Lux. It's always pretty good. Loud, but pretty quick and pretty good.
Sunday night, we went to Mandalay Bay, House of Blues, for Santana. I love Santana and had seen him when he was at Hard Rock. I wanted my husband to see him. House of Blues is kind of a "cute" venue. Lots of character. The stage was actually a little too small for the band. They were much more spread out when I saw them at Hard Rock. There was a dance floor or standing room right in front of the stage. Then on slightly raised platforms, small tables were set. The rest of the seating was upstairs. Drink service was great. A darling girl who looked like she belonged in the movies served us. She was a very good waitress. I'm sure she got tons of tips. She deserved them.
We had pretty good seats. We could see and hear well. We weren't dead center, but not too far off to the side. They were the best seats I could get. It's not a very big theatre so they sell fast. The band was too loud for me this time. I used some Alpine ear plugs. I didn't enjoy the selections as much this time as when I'd seen them before. They were new songs or maybe the band was "jamming." Anyway, no old favorites. He did nearly all his old favorites when I saw them at Hard Rock. This was just a different kind of show. It was good--but, not as good (for me) as when I saw him before.
Monday, we went to the National Geographic display of the 50 best photos in the history of the magazine. It was really interesting. Of course, the girl with the lovely eyes was highlighted. It told how they found her years later and made donations of educational opportunities in her name. There was a current picture of her. Looked like she's lived a hard life, but she's still lovely in her own way. This exhibit is at the Venetian.
Monday night we saw Human Nature at Palazzo. We had seen them at Imperial Palace. They were just a lively and fun as ever. The show is much more sophisticated now with more techno images and a fancier stage and better seats and such. We had front row center seats for this. I kind of like to be up close so this was fun. We had been in a booth when we saw it before. Not too far back but not real close either. They are very personable and visit with the crown after the show. We enjoyed seeing them.
Tuesday night we saw Michael Jackson One. It is soooo big and over the top. Lots and lots of WOW factor. We were on row K in the center section, and I'd say our seats were perfect. It's not like some of the other cirque shows where you want to be pretty far back. Most of the action takes place up front. There is lots and lots of high energy dancing with less acrobatics than say Mystere or O or KA. It was...very interesting and well performed.
I didn't win over all, but I had some little flourishes that were fun. Dolly Parton is a new game to me, and I enjoyed playing it. I also liked the Star Wars game. It's one where you win a bonus and look up at a big screen. It was great fun. My husband didn't win much, either. He plays Black Jack, Craps, Poker, and Video Poker. I think he came out ahead on Video Poker and won some at Craps. Again, over all we didn't win, but we had enough ups and downs to make it fun to play and had enough left to get out of the parking garage at the airport when we got home.
We flew Southwest so it's an easy two hour flight back and forth. No issues either way. That's a blessing in itself! We had a good time and will be ready to go back soon--we will probably go to the Golden Nugget next time and come back to the strip in a year or two.
