Please ADD your own Las Vegas Trip Report. Date of Trip: April 26, 2008 to May 16, 2008 Hotel Stayed At: Polo Towers, Cancun Resort, Yavapai & Monte Carlo Report by: Martin <shapiro_martin@hotmail.com> From: Milton Keynes. UK

Trip Report - - - T-1 Saturday 26 April
About us; packing; drive; airport hotel

Be warned this is going to be a long and detailed TR because those are the sort I love to read! Will post in 2 or 3 instalments.
We are a pair of Brits who’ve recently discovered a love for Las Vegas. I am M, aged 55 and my lovely wife A who has claimed to be 39 for the past few years (she’s actually 6 years younger than me). We live in Milton Keynes – a town about 60 miles north of London. We have no dependents (except for Ruby our beautiful cat) and our main interest is planning and going on exciting vacations. We like cruises; we love Florida but a few years ago I started to become interested in Las Vegas. Reading the forum only increased my enthusiasm and A agreed we could go on our once in a lifetime 2 week trip to Vegas. I got so obsessed planning that trip that A very nearly called the whole thing off! Well we went 2 years ago and had a fabulous time (only slightly marred by me needing a visit to Desert Springs hospital suffering from a particularly nasty kidney stone).
Guess what? Once in a lifetime is definitely not enough!! We had to go again as soon as we could afford to do it properly. Well we both decided that if we were going to be on a plane for all those hours at least 2 weeks’ vacation is required; and as we didn’t get to the Grand Canyon last time (and we don’t like small planes or helicopters) we would add a 2 night trip to the Grand Canyon. We then decided we didn’t want to drive back from GC and have to get straight on to our flight home so we had to add a couple more nights in Vegas to the end of the trip.
What do we like doing in Vegas? Well obviously gambling – we’re not high-rollers but we really enjoy spending a couple of hours every day playing the slots. Eating; we love the fact that we can eat in a different restaurant for every meal and can choose anything from junk food to gourmet and choose almost any nationality’s cuisine. And of course the shows – we would never attempt to see six shows in two weeks anywhere other than Vegas but they are all so good and so varied.
Normally when we go to America we fly Virgin from Gatwick but as we had left booking our flights a little late, the cost with Virgin was far too high. We found a really good deal with American Airlines for flights from Stansted via JFK (the total for both of us return was £743). Also Stansted is a much more pleasant journey for us than Gatwick. As usual when we have a morning flight we decided to stay at an airport hotel the night before. We got a good package price for the Radisson SAS hotel which included 15 nights parking (£20 for an extra week). This Radisson is a nice modern hotel (we’ve stayed here once before). One unusual feature this hotel has is a wine tower in its lobby with gymnastic “wine angels” who fly up and down on ropes to fetch your bottle (not as big as the one at Aureole, Mandalay Bay but still pretty impressive).
Anyway Saturday morning we get our stuff packed into one large and one medium suitcase – we’re not taking a lot because with the favourable exchange rate we’re planning on buying a lot of clothes. Finally leave home at about 4:30pm. I’ve planned a route avoiding our terrible motorway system and we get to Stansted hotel at about 6:00pm. Room is quite nice and we watch TV and order some room service. Room service food is better than average and I have a Tapas plate (from their Spanish restaurant) and A has a proper Caesar salad (from their Italian restaurant). Early night as tomorrow will be a long day. 

Trip Report - - - Day 1 Sunday 27 April
Long flight; JFK; another long flight; magic show; no tunnel; here we are!; Polo Towers; NYNY

2 minutes walk from the hotel and we’re at the American Airlines check-in desk. Only had to queue a few minutes but then we hit our first problem. Our large case is too heavy and they want $50. OK I wonder would now be a good time to score a free or cheap upgrade to business class? Our check-in person calls over the business class person who after hitting the keyboard for about 10 minutes says we can be upgraded for the paltry sum of $1500! Each! And that’s only one way! We politely decline. We ask for our cases back so we can attempt some redistribution of weight. Too late, the cases have disappeared into the bowels of the airport. So with a cheerful smile we paid the extra $50. Apart from that, all the formalities went smoothly and we were checked in with plenty of time for breakfast at Starbucks. Buy some reading material then on to the plane.
The flights are both full and are long and boring. 7 hours to JFK (turn watch back 5 hours); 3 hours at JFK; 5 hours JFK to Vegas (turn watch back 3 hours). The best thing you can say about them is both stages took-off and landed on time. The hassle with collecting our luggage and rechecking for the JFK – LAS flight wasn’t too bad as the AA connections desk was only a few yards from the baggage claim.
One thing that made the JFK – LAS section interesting was the guy sitting next to us. While the plane was taxiing to the runway he took out a pack of cards and proceeded to do some very slick one handed cuts and shuffles. He then did this thing where the top card jumped from hand to hand. I was sitting right next to him and could not work out how he was doing it. We got talking to him and it turns out he’s a magician living in Vegas. He’s been in several shows on the Strip and also works the cruise ships. We got a great free show as he spent most of the flight practising his tricks.
We land around 7:00pm and get through security and get our luggage pretty quickly. Only have to wait a few minutes for a taxi and we’re off. Driver helps with luggage, speaks English and doesn’t go through tunnel so he gets a good tip! Even though it’s only 2 years since we were here the skyline has certainly changed – they’re making great progress with the City Center development ( I hope they can sell all those condos) and Westgate Towers is springing up. Also I’m sure that tower with Trump on it wasn’t here last time. And am I seeing double or are there 2 Wynns and 2 Venetians?
Get checked in to a nice one bed apartment on the 11th floor at Polo Towers with a great Strip view. Our unit had recently been refurbished and had a living room; full kitchen with all new appliances; bedroom with comfy kingsize bed; bathroom with whirlpool tub and a small balcony with great views towards Paris & Bellagio. I know some of you do not like timeshare but it works for us. We own 2 cheap resales in Spain which we swap through Interval International and have stayed in great accommodation in both Europe and US. For the length of time we’ll be away we want more than just a hotel room and it’s nice having a whole apartment to spread ourselves out. Also to stay in a decent hotel on the strip for 2 weeks would be just too expensive. But we do agree with you all, the timeshare touts who hassle you on the Strip are a pain in the b*tt.
Unpacking can wait till tomorrow. We’re in Vegas and it’s 8:30 in the evening and we want to go to a casino! Forgetting that we have now been on the go for nearly 24 hours we have a quick wash and change then we’re traipsing over that bridge to New York, New York – one of our favourites from last time. It’s great to be in a casino again – we have casinos in the UK but they’re nothing like the ones in Vegas. We are not big gamblers but we love putting a few dollars in the slots – especially the “penny slots” with the fun bonuses. Well we play the slots for about half an hour and then the inevitable happens; the tiredness kicks in! I’ve barely got the strength to push those buttons and A looks like she’s about to fall off her stool. We grab a hot dog, cinnamon sticks and homemade lemonade, stagger back to Polo Towers and straight to bed.
 
Trip Report - - - Day 2 Monday 28 April
Lady, where’s my car? Free buffet; up on the roof; car at last; Mexican? No make that Chinese; fountains.

Considering how knackered we were last night I’m surprised that we’re up and raring to go at 7:00. I always wake up early – even on holiday (much to A’s annoyance).
We’ve only just got out of Polo Towers front door when we’re pounced on by this guy asking where we’re from and giving us coupons for restaurants etc. Usually I do my deaf and dumb act and carry on walking but he must of caught us at a weak moment as we start talking to him. Would we like free tickets for the dinner show at Excalibur – I’d sooner have needles stuck in my eyes! Would we like free tickets for the buffet at Monte Carlo plus $100 slot play each? Now he’s got us – I’m quite partial to a buffet especially if it’s free. Well we agree to go to a 90 minute (no, we didn’t believe that - it’s always at least 3 hours!!) presentation at the Grandview timeshare in exchange for all the freebies and make an appointment to go tomorrow. We did explain that we already own 2 timeshares and will not be buying any more but of course he said that’s fine.
Walk to the MGM as that’s where we’ve arranged to collect our rental car – we didn’t arrange to pick it up from the airport yesterday as we knew we’d be too tired to think about such details as driving on the wrong side of the road and finding our way to the Strip. Well we’ve remembered how big the MGM is and have allowed a couple of hours to get to the car rental desk! Grab some Starbucks (yes I am a caffeine addict) and start to walk through the Casino. There seems to be more penny slots than last time we were here so we have to stop and lose a couple of dollars. Walk through the very impressive foyer to the Dollar car rental desk. Problem! We had booked our car through an online agency and when the Dollar lady put our code in it didn’t show any insurance included. We had actually paid quite a lot as they said all required insurances were included but, computer says no! Nice Dollar lady said we could have our car if we paid an extra $891 for the insurance or drive it uninsured. Disaster! We didn’t want to pay the extra $891 as we’d already paid nearly that much and it did say on our voucher that we’d paid in full and all the insurance was included and definitely didn’t want to drive without insurance. Also that would have made a big hole in our spending money! We agree to come back at 4:00pm by which time she would have spoken to someone who knows what they’re doing and sorted out our booking. We are not happy!
Decide to go and see if they are still doing the TV preview thing as we enjoyed it last time. They are and we get in to one straight away. They ask us to review the pilot for a program called 11th hour which is one of those implausible shows about a scientist working for a secret government agency investigating crimes with a scientific aspect – just to make it interesting they’ve given him a beautiful blonde bodyguard. Episode shown was about cloning and I thought it was great – very exciting. A didn’t like it and thought the characters weak which is strange because usually she watches this type of programme and I don’t . Wonder if it will ever get shown.
Back to Polo Towers have some lunch and then go and sit by the pool. Their pool is up on the roof and it’s pretty hot up there. I’ve had enough after about 30 minutes A stays out about an hour longer (in the shade).
Go back to Dollar and she’s sorted out our booking and has a car for us and yes, all insurance is included. Slightly disappointed as it’s not the Jeep we had booked but they’ve given us a brand new gold Toyota Highlander. Big car – 2 of us don’t really need 7 seats. Still it’ll have plenty of room for all the clothes we intend to buy and it will be nice and comfortable for our drive to the Grand Canyon.
Set off to do our grocery shopping – I know what you’re thinking – these folks certainly know how to have a good time! Completely fail to find Albertsons although I was sure I knew where it was. As usual A drives and I navigate. I’m just saying “don’t worry, Albertsons is on the next corner” when we find Vons. That’ll do nicely. We stock up on coffee, water, breakfast stuff and some toiletries that we hadn’t bothered to bring with. This might sound weird to our US friends but we really enjoy looking round American supermarkets – we’re foodies and find the different stuff you have over there really interesting and of course everything is half the price we pay in the UK.
In the evening we walk over to Monte Carlo – I wanted to go to the new Mexican restaurant but when we got there it was absolutely mobbed and there was a queue. We ended up going to the Dragon Noodle Co. We had the appetiser platter followed by honey chicken, Mongolian beef and vegetable rice. Of course the portions were huge as they nearly always are in America. It was all good with some mean chillies in the Mongolian beef (we like spicy food).
We then had our first proper session on the penny slots (high rollers we are not). We love those penny slots and are happy playing them for a couple of hours every evening. I also have an occasional session on the Video Poker but that requires a little more concentration. At one point we cash out as much as $14 but end up putting most of it back in. We have a couple of free drinks – yes I always tip the cocktail waitress – it’s got to be worth a couple of bucks to be brought free drinks by a pretty girl in a skimpy costume!
Finish the evening watching the Bellagio fountains (song is “This Kiss”). What can we say about this attraction that hasn’t already been said. They are as impressive as ever and I have to resist the temptation to start taking photos of them (I took about 60 pictures of them last time).
 
Trip Report - - - Day 3 Tuesday 29 April
Shop, shop, shop; shortest timeshare presentation ever; Mexican; amazing show.

Go to the outlet mall – the one just south of the airport. A spends a long time in Liz Claiborne and I get several things in the Nautica shop. I really like Nautica stuff but am too mean to buy it in UK where it seems to cost about three times as much. Can’t remember but I’m sure we must have got some other stuff as well.
Get taken to the timeshare place – its down near South Point casino and just past where we’re staying next week. As soon as we meet up with the salesman we tell him we already own 2 timeshares and are not planning to buy more anytime soon, so he sends us on our way! I think he may have overheard us telling someone that the only viable way to own timeshares is to buy “second-hand” and never buy from builder/developer. Oh well, no free buffet for us, still at least we hadn’t wasted more than about an hour of our holiday.
After a couple of hours rest and relaxation we’re ready to go again. We walk over to the Miracle Mile shops and collect our tickets for tonight’s show. We have a walk round the shops and are surprised at just how much of the Desert Passage theme remains – maybe there’s more changes planned? I was looking forward to seeing Planet Hollywood as it wasn’t open last time we were in Vegas. We go in and the place is OK – not bad but not one of our favourite casinos. We’re looking for somewhere to have dinner when I spot Yolos. At last Mexican food! I love Mexican food and it’s one cuisine we don’t see much of in the UK (we have some Mexican restaurants but not many and they’re mostly not very good – probably because we don’t have many Mexicans living here! To compensate we have loads of really good Indian restaurants which you don’t seem to get in America). Anyhow Yolos is a beautifully designed bar and restaurant. Very colourful with great lighting. They bring you chips and dips so we decide to skip the appetiser and just order mains. A had Chicken Tinga Enchilada and I had Carne Asada Ranchero (grilled flank steak with all the usual Mexican accompaniments). Very tasty food, spicy but not blow your head off and not so spicy that you regret it the following day! And great drinks. I had a rather superior Margarita and A had her favourite, a Mojito. It’s funny, at home I would probably be embarrassed to order a “girly” drink like a Margarita but in Vegas anything goes.
Next we go to see the Amazing Jonathan show. We’ve really been looking forward to seeing him as we’ve seen some videos of him on the internet. Last time we were here he wasn’t on (I think he was ill at the time). He is very, very funny doing his warped and twisted magic show. I also love his assistant Psychic Tanya – the ultimate ditzy blonde with a delightfully annoying squeaky voice. Great show. Like a foul-mouthed Tommy Cooper on acid! If you’re not sure if you’d like him check the videos on YouTube. We loved him. After the show we walk through to Paris to try (unsuccessfully) to recoup the money we lost earlier in PH.
 
Trip Report - - Day 4 Wednesday 30 April
Happy Birthday to me; bella Bellagio; culture in Vegas?; Rosemary’s Restaurant.

Well if you’ve got to have a 55th birthday I can think of no better place to have it than Las Vegas. This morning we drive over to the Bellagio. We think this is probably our favourite casino/hotel, it’s beautiful; upscale without being too over the top. We’d like to stay there some time if ever we get a good deal on the room rate. A pops into the salon to see if they can fit her in for a manicure and pedicure and yes they can do her straight away. How can I amuse myself for an hour? I know, I’ll play the slots! Meet up an hour later and A reports that the salon is beautiful, great manicure and pedicure and no more expensive than a lot of more ordinary places.
The Bellagio conservatory is great especially when you think they change those floral displays each season. After walking through the conservatory we pop into Jean-Philippe patisserie for some elevenses. They have the most amazing display of cakes and gelato. A has coffee and cake and I have Rum & Raisin Gelato. Very nice – don’t think we’ll be needing lunch today.
Next we decide go to the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art where they have an exhibition of American Modernist paintings. It’s a little strange to be doing “culture” whilst in Sin City but it’s a good exhibition. Unlike a lot of galleries you can get close to the paintings in a calm and uncrowded space. We particularly liked some of the Georgia O’Keeffe paintings and watched an interesting film about her life and work.
Tonight to celebrate my birthday we have a table booked at Rosemary’s Restaurant. We chose that place after reading everyone’s comments about it on the forum (thanks guys!!). Not the easiest place to find and very uninviting and deserted looking from the outside. I remember people saying don’t let that put you off. We go through the door to find a really busy, buzzing restaurant. We’re about 5 minutes early and they keep us waiting for our table for about 15 minutes which isn’t terrible considering how busy the place is. Our waiter is Tony and he’s quite a character. If you were to draw a cartoon of an Italian waiter it would look and sound like him! He looked after us very well. He takes about 10 minutes explaining the menu, the various options of a la carte, prix fixe, tasting menu, daily specials etc. Slightly confused we decide we’ll order whatever we fancy and let Tony work out how to price it! Also our Restaurant.com voucher is not valid as tonight is lady’s night and A’s food will be half price anyway. I don’t know why we bothered buying the Restaurant.com vouchers because I’ve a feeling that we’re not going to use any of them! The food is terrific. I start with BBQ Shrimp with cheese slaw and I honestly think that is one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten. A has panko crusted Crab boulettes followed by striped Bass and I have Veal Tenderloin as my main course. We are not big drinkers and as A is driving she just has water. I decide to have a beer and find that their beer list is longer than some place’s wine list. I go for an Orval which is a Belgian “Trappist” ale. Very distinctive hoppy taste which actually went really well with the food. We had no room for dessert so just ordered coffee. I was then given a plate of chocolate truffles with a candle and “Happy Birthday” written on in chocolate. A nice touch and thankfully no embarrassing singing waiters. Excellent and memorable meal and well worth the longish drive from the Strip. It’s a completely different atmosphere from the casino restaurants, more the sort of place you would expect to find in a European city. Check came to about $150 which I thought was pretty good.
On the way back from Rosemary’s we decide to pop into Palms for an hour. It’s ok but we think more suited to the young and trendy.
 
Trip Report - - Day 5 Thursday 01 May
Not more shopping?; afternoon magic; Tropicana then NYNY; Italian tonight

Well we’ve not done quite enough shopping yet so we decide to try the other outlet mall – the one near Downtown. I’ve checked the map and know where the place is so we’ll have no problems. Wrong! After driving up and down the same bit of road twice we decide we need help. Stop to fill car and the guy in the gas station gives us good directions. Surprised that the place isn’t better signposted. When we get there A is upset because 2 of the shops she particularly wanted to visit are not open (one’s still being built and one’s being refurbished). However we manage to spend some money at Izod, Timberland and Eddie Bauer so it’s not a total waste of time!
On the way back to Polo Towers A drops me off at the half price ticket place and we get tickets for Dirk Arthur. Lunch and rest at Polo Towers then off to see the 4:00 Dirk Arthur show at Tropicana. His show is very good for an afternoon show. We actually liked him more than Lance Burton who we saw last time. The illusions with the beautiful big cats were very impressive as was the helicopter that appeared out of nowhere.
We seemed to do quite well at the slots at Tropicana so stayed there for a bit longer then walked over to NYNY. We go to eat at Il Fornaio. I have pasta with Italian sausage and A has Rotisserie chicken which she thought was one the best things over the whole holiday. Food is good satisfying Italian fare and we don’t bother with dessert. Spend our usual few dollars on the slots. Coffee from Starbucks and cakes from the very fancy cake shop for desert later on!
 
Trip Report - - - Day 6 Friday 02 May
Now that’s what I call breakfast; housekeeping; I Love Cirque du Soleil but…

We’ve seen on the forum how you all say that the Paris Breakfast buffet is the best so we have to try it. We’re there around 09:30 and only have to queue for about 20 minutes. It is a really nice setting and there is a huge choice of food. We each had a plate of fruit and if we’d stopped there it would have been a good, healthy breakfast! We had eggs, bacon, sausages, French toast, maple syrup, potatoes, toast, bagels, cheese, more sausages (we were sat near the sausage station), croissant, Danish pastries and about a gallon of coffee each. Don’t know if that’s the best breakfast buffet in Vegas but it’s certainly the most breakfast I’ve ever eaten! We both enjoyed it, all the food seemed fresh – not like it had been hanging round for hours.
Had a good walk round Paris (we like this place) and of course put a few dollars in the slots. It feels really decadent to be gambling in the morning or early afternoon. To me, it’s an evening pastime. Although there’s plenty of people about who look like they’ve been gambling round the clock – and there are those frightening old ladies who seem to play the same slot machine for days on end – receiving nutrition through the umbilical cord of their players card?
Slow walk back to Polo Towers. No we’re not having lunch today. In the afternoon we do some washing. Downside of such a long holiday is you either have to bring a huge amount of clothes with, buy new stuff, or do the washing (or wear dirty clothes!) – we do a mixture of all those things. At least at Polo Towers they have laundry facilities just a few steps from our apartment door. A does the ironing while I update my notes for this trip report – can you tell which days I didn’t make enough notes? Enough of the boring domestic stuff.
Drive up to Mirage to see Love. We really like Cirque du Soleil and had booked these tickets as soon as we knew we were coming to Vegas. I think we were probably expecting a bit too much. Like all CdS shows this one has much to delight and amaze but somehow it left us feeling a little disappointed. The use of the Beatles music was great especially if, like me, you remember it from first time round. We were sat at the back quite high up (sect 205 row T) and found the gauze curtains they use to project images on slightly spoiled our view. I would suggest middle to lower tickets for best view. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a bad show – just not our favourite CdS show. Our fave is La Nouba which we’ve seen 3 times (in Orlando); that one seems to have the best balance of circus skills and spectacle, music, costume etc.
Grabbed something to eat at the Caribe café – A had soup and enough fruit to feed a family of 4 and I had a burger. We actually find the casino cafes a great way to get reasonable food at a reasonable price any time night or day. And of course we finished the day by playing the slots for a couple of hours. We still seem to be just about breaking even – probably cashing out a few dollars every other day.

Trip Report - - Day 7 Saturday 03 May
Town Square? Yes it’s more shops!; Russians on the rocks; let’s hear it for the Monopoly machine.

First stop today is Tix4Tonite where we get discounted tickets to see ICE tonight. Then we’re off to the new Town Square shopping mall. This is actually quite a nice place. Not tacky like the outlet malls. And not ridiculously up-scale like some of the casino arcades. You can imagine “real people” shopping here. We look round a really nice furniture shop (Robb & Stucky) – I think the assistant thought we were about to order several thousand dollars worth of stuff and have it shipped back to the UK! I find a gambling supplies store where I buy some casino playing cards and some interesting gaming chips (advertising a place called Judy’s…) that will amuse the lads from work on our next poker night. A spends ages and lots of dollars in Sephora and I sneak off to the Apple shop and get myself an Ipod Shuffle for considerably less than it would have cost at home. By now I’m starting to think that A must have been abducted by aliens but no, there she is still in Sephora with people applying several sorts of stuff to her eyes. I pay the ransom and get her back then a quick visit to Borders to top up our holiday reading material. It’s strange but the Borders here looks just like the one in Milton Keynes!
Back to Polo Towers for a brief rest then up to Riviera . ICE is a good show with loads of very talented and good looking Russian skaters. They do stuff that would be impressive even if it wasn’t on the ice; on the ice it seems downright impossible – juggling, riding unicycles, dancing on stilts etc. A enjoyed this show more than me as she is a fan of ice dancing and I’m not. One thing neither of us enjoyed was the uncomfortable table seating. We were the second couple seated at our table and had to sit in a very awkward position to see round the nice people next to us, who were very accommodating. I hate to think how much the poor people behind us could see. If you do this one, pay the extra for the booth seats. This is a show that probably deserves a better theatre.
Get something to eat at Kady’s café and then back to those slots. We’ve noticed that the older, cheaper casinos (Tropicana & Riviera) seem to have more and looser penny slots. Also cocktail service is better, not that we’re big drinkers but we’ve always been offered a drink within 5 minutes of sitting down at these places. We like the atmosphere at these older places but, you’re right, probably wouldn’t want to stay at one.
Anyhow A is doing better than me at the slots (as usual) until we discover the Monopoly machines where I get the longest, loudest and most fun bonus I’ve had so far – it pays 490 credits and I end up cashing out 500. What a pity it’s a penny machine and not a dollar one! Still a big win for a low roller like me.
 
Trip Report - - - Day 8 Sunday 04 May
Moving day; buy the cat a present; beware of sharks in casino; our new home; old style Vegas – Frank, Barbra and the Peppermill.

Get up, get packed and check out of Polo Towers. We drive down to Mandalay Place and have a walk round the slightly wacky shops there. Go into Urban Outfitters where A finds a wallet just like the one she bought there 2 years ago, so she buys it. Pop into Lush Puppy to get a present for Ruby (cat). Find her a catnip filled cigar which turns out to be a very popular gift. Walk into Mandalay Bay and decide to check where Border Grill is as we have a reservation there next week. It’s a looonnng walk to Border Grill and we decide that as we’re at that end of the place we’ll go see the Shark Reef. It’s quite interesting although there’s no really large sharks. Unsurprisingly it’s not as good as similar exhibits at SeaWorld. OK but overpriced for something you’ll walk round in less than an hour. Walk back to Mandalay Place and decide after all that walking we’re starving! Have lunch in the really nice Italian café there (Giorgio).
About 2:30pm check-in to the Monarch Cancun Resort. Here we have a nice 2 bed 2 bath apartment. I’m not a good sleeper (many years of shift work) and it’s nice if I wake up in the middle of the night I can go to a second room so as not to disturb A. Also we like having 2 bathrooms. There’s a large balcony at this place where we will sit to have our breakfast. Awhile back there was some negative publicity about this resort however we’ve never noticed anything (and A is extremely picky) - everything clean and tidy and as it should be. After unpacking we decide to try the larger of our two whirlpool tubs and apart from it taking forever to fill it was great.
Relaxed and refreshed we set off for the Riviera. Gamble (and lose) for about an hour and then get in the queue to see Barbra & Frank: The Concert That Never Was. This was in the Bistro show lounge which is tiny but much more comfortable than the theatre we were in last night. A surprisingly good show this is the story of Frank Sinatra back from the dead to do a concert with Barbra Streisand. What makes this show so good is that both the stars really look and sound like the singers they are impersonating. Could have done without some of the cheesy dialogue but you forgave them when they concentrated on the singing. They covered enough of the hits to keep everyone happy and as none of us will be seeing Frank Sinatra live, and not many of us will be seeing Barbra Streisand live this show has to be the next best thing.
After the show we continue the retro feel of the evening by going to the Peppermill Lounge (once more, thanks to all on the forum who recommended this place). This is a great sort of 1970s place – mirrored walls, pink & purple lights, sunken fire pit with a fire coming out of a pool of water - and all done in the best possible taste! And of course there’s the beautiful cocktail waitresses in full length evening gowns. We have a couple of rather strong Martinis, soak up the ambiance of the place then stagger back to the Riviera to lose a few more dollars!

Trip Report - - - Day 9 Monday 05 May
Lazy day; I swim to the pyramid and back; that’s got to hurt; kill a few aliens; eat loads and then go to the movies.

Today is one of those lazy days where we don’t feel like doing much so we don’t. First stop is the business center where we check our email and send the modern day postcard – an email to all our friends and family.
Next we spend an hour at the pool. Cancun Resort has a great pool, very large and complete with a Mayan pyramid in the middle. I’m not much of a one for sunbathing so by the time I’ve had a swim and dried off I’m ready to get going again.
I have quite a bad cut on my nose! I’m going to tell my friends back home that I got hit while sorting out a couple of rednecks in a bar. What actually happened was I decided to go out on to the balcony but for some reason didn’t open the glass door first. I hit my nose and my head really hard. I didn’t knock myself out but was definitely seeing stars for a couple of minutes. My nose was bleeding inside and out. To add insult to injury, once A realised I wasn’t mortally wounded she found the whole incident highly amusing. But by far the greatest indignity of all was having to spend the next 3 days with a Band-Aid on my nose.
We drive to the local supermarket - only in America would we actually drive to somewhere that was just across the road! We stock up on supplies for breakfasts. In the afternoon we maintain the hectic pace of the day – A reads her book on the balcony while I fall asleep watching Country Music TV.
In the evening we go to the South Point Casino. This a new casino just a couple of blocks south of us. We weren’t expecting too much of this place but it’s actually quite nice, bright and modern with a relaxed laid-back atmosphere. Loads of penny slots. I put a couple of dollars in an Alien machine and cash out $8. If it sounds like we’re winning all the time just rest assured that I’m not telling you about all the times we lose. Eat at the buffet – how many of these things do I have to do before the novelty wears off and I realise that you don’t have to try and taste everything? At least I don’t put it all on the same plate like some folks. It’s quite good, plenty of choice and we eat the equivalent of at least 2 dinners each. It’s not exactly fine dining but for $13.99 each it’s certainly good value.
We’re just trying to decide whether to gamble some more or have an early night when I notice the sign for the cinema. Who would have guessed – a full 16 screen job inside a hotel. Our luck’s in and Iron Man is starting in 20 minutes. It’s a film we both wanted to see (I wanted to see it as I like mindless action films and A wanted to see it as she likes Robert Downey Jr) and we both enjoyed it. Donated a few more dollars to the casino and then called it a night.
 

Trip Report - - - Day 10 Tuesday 06 May
Red Rock; morre shoppes; Jersey Boys; grotty old cafe

Go to Red Rock canyon. It’s really nice to see some nature after all the artificialness of the Strip. We take the scenic drive stopping 3 or 4 times for walks, photos or just enjoying the views and the peace and quiet. It’s hard to believe you’re less than 30 minutes from the Strip.
After about 3 hours we feel we are ready to return to civilisation – we’re missing slot machines, fast food and fancy WCs. Pop into Red Rock Casino. Not a bad place but can’t imagine choosing to stay there rather than on the Strip. Grab a bit of lunch in the food court then back to Cancun Resort to relax a bit. Luckily at about 5:00pm I check the time of the show we’re going to tonight and find that it’s 7:00 not 8:00 as we thought! Quick shower and change then off to Palazzo.
The Palazzo is a really beautiful place, very opulent décor. We collect our tickets then have a stroll round the shops. We’ve finally worked out the difference between shops and shoppes – in shoppes you can’t afford to buy anything.
Jersey Boys is a great show because the 4 Seasons songs were so good and this is a faithful reproduction of them. You forget just how many hits they had. Also it’s a great show-biz story:- rags to riches, tragedy at the height of success – all the clichés are there and matched well to the songs. The guy who plays Frankie Valli is excellent and gets his voice just right – surely not an easy voice to imitate.
Get out of the show with all those great songs buzzing round our heads and guess what? We’re hungry. Thought everywhere would be busy what with the show just finishing but we manage to get a table at the Grand Lux Café. This restaurant is far too pretty to be called a café – where I come from a café is somewhere a truck driver has his breakfast. Food was delicious. A had Crispy Fish & Chips which came with an interesting peanut coleslaw. My Crispy Caramel Chicken gave me a problem – it was so good I wanted to eat it all but the portion was huge. I managed about ¾ of it. Definitely no room for dessert here! After some very good coffee we stagger off for our usual session in the casino.
 
Trip Report - - - Day 11 Wednesday 07 May
Can you remember? No - me neither.

According to my notes we did nothing today! We may have had a wildly exciting day and just forgotten about it – but I don’t think so.
We did go to the business centre at Cancun Resort to use the PC check on our rapidly dwindling finances. We were also glad to receive an email from the nice people at CritterSitters telling us that Ruby was happy, well and not missing us at all (thank-you Danielle & Rob).
We also did another visit to the outlet mall to buy a few more bits and pieces including a new suitcase to take all those bits and pieces home.
I probably had a snooze in the afternoon while A sat on the balcony reading her book.
We obviously weren’t after too much excitement this day as we went to South Point casino again in the evening. We ate in their Mexican restaurant (Baja Miguels) and it was OK – definitely not as good as Yolos but to be fair it was quite a bit cheaper. One thing that was strange is they could not give us a drinks menu – I mean I knew I wanted a Margarita but I like to have a choice – do I want a premium one, an ultimate one, one made with that extra special 25 year old unpronounceable Tequila. Guess I got a standard one and that was good enough! It was wet, cold and alcoholic what more did I want? The food was actually not bad – I had some sort of Mexican version of Surf n Turf which was quite tasty.
Oh yes, tonight I abandoned the penny slots. Casting caution to the winds I hit the Video Poker machine. I put in $5 and about an hour later cashed out $6. Still I did have fun winning that dollar. A cruised from penny slot to penny slot and for once lost everything – mind you, it was only $5!
 
Trip Report - - - Day 12 Thursday 08 May
A close shave; Forum shops; cheesecake; view from the top; Red, White but, this time, not blue.

Today we decide we’re going to do Caesars and the Forum Shops. The first thing we see as we walk in from valet parking is Truefitt & Hill the English posh barbers. Well I need a haircut (not that I’ve got much) and a beard trim, so in I go. This is the most thorough and luxurious experience I’ve ever had getting my hair cut. He uses hot towels, cut-throat razor, various different potions and lotions, 3 different sorts of clippers, and of course, scissors and comb. He spends longer on one eyebrow than my usual barber takes to do the whole job. I’m in there for something over an hour and when he’s done I look good (well I think so) and feel good. He’s also a great talker telling me some very funny stories about the raunchier side of LV nightlife. I wouldn’t normally spend $55 (plus $10 tip) on a hair cut but this experience was well worth it.
Forum Shops were as “over the top” as we remembered. Neither of the fountain shows were working so we’re glad we saw all that last time. The shops are amazing, the setting amazing, even the spiral escalators are pretty amazing. We were wondering are people actually buying all this pricey, designer gear – thousands of people walking around looking but did not see many people actually buying stuff. Had lunch in the Cheesecake Factory. We remembered the size of the portions from last time so just ordered appetisers (sliders and pot-stickers) followed by a portion of Snickers cheesecake to share and of course huge cappuccinos. I did all right out of this deal as A took 3 mouthfuls of cheesecake; pronounced it too sickly; and passed the rest to me. Go into Caesars Palace and play a few slots then back to Cancun Resort for our usual afternoon relax.
In the evening we decide to go to the Mix Bar (top of THEhotel). Before I talk about that can anyone help solve a mystery for me. Why do they say the Mix Bar is on the 64th floor when you can see the building doesn’t have 64 floors – I think it’s got about 40 floors, there are certainly no floor numbers in the 50s. Was the architect an insecure chap who liked to tell everyone that it was bigger than it actually was? Well we get up to the Mix Bar the desired hour before sunset and as we approach we see 2 people getting up to leave from prime window seats. I sneak past a few people dawdling in front of me and ask the greeter if we can sit there. We now have what must be one of the best views of strip. It’s great to see all the lights coming on as the sun sets. From up here even MGM looks small! We stay up here for about 90 minutes drinking a couple of expensive cocktails (you’re paying for the view and the ambiance). The cocktails ended up costing more than dinner. A wants me to tell you to order a Violet!
Big thank you to everyone on the forum for recommending this, it’s well worth doing. Actually next time I think we might try the restaurant up here - bet the tables with the views are hard to get.

Talking of restaurants (we’re always talking of restaurants) we had a booking tonight for Border Grill but we cancelled it. We’ve had plenty of Mexican food and (this is going to sound really feeble) we couldn’t work out an easy way to get from the Mix Bar to the Border Grill. In the end we go to Red, White and Blue. I wasn’t sure about giving this place a second chance; we went there last time we were in Vegas and received great food but lousy service (bringing out the mains while we were eating our starters, putting the chairs up on the tables near us – and it wasn’t that late). This time they redeemed themselves, they sat us on the other side (more restauranty) – both food and service were fine. Spaghetti and meatballs, yumm and A had a swiss and onion burger.
 
Trip Report - - - Day 13 Friday 09 May
No win at the Wynn; Eek…; no room at the MGM; What happens in Vegas!

Last time we were here we never got round to visiting the Wynn so off we go today. There is something we just don’t like about this place. It has a bit of a dead atmosphere. Parasol Up & Down and the various water features do look pretty. And we have a very good lunch in the Terrace Pointe Café. The Wynn still fails to win us over (can’t resist a bad pun). We have friends who visit every year and have been staying at the Wynn for the past few years and they say it has the nicest rooms and the best service you can get in LV – so what do we know. What I can say is after walking round just about every upscale place on the Strip we would choose to stay (if we could afford it) at either the Palazzo or the Bellagio.
Many years ago I used to listen to a reggae singer called Eek-A-Mouse (yes, that was his name – no, of course it wasn’t his real name). Anyhow when I was looking at the websites for Vegas show tickets I noticed that Eek-A-Mouse was playing at the Hard Rock. So, for old time’s sake I got a couple of tickets. A was a little wary as she still hasn’t forgotten the 2+ hour set by Elvis Costello I’d subjected her to at House of Blues (Orlando) a few years ago, (she has slightly more middle of the road music taste than me) however she said she was happy to go, she likes reggae (especially to iron to). First problem was that due to construction work and the volume of traffic it took an age to get parked. Then when we got into Hard Rock it was very crowded and very difficult to get about as various sections were roped off (something to do with the Duran Duran gig they had on that night?). Also music everywhere in the place was so loud (alright I know I’m sounding like a grumpy old man now but it was unpleasantly loud). Well eventually we get our tickets and head out to the pool area to find our seats. When we get there we find there are no seats as such, just the beds round the pool all of which were taken (by annoyingly young, beautiful and very drunk people!). In fact it looked like the only place you’d be able to see the stage from was in the middle of the pool. To add to our annoyance at having forked-out good money for these tickets, most of the other people there seemed to have no tickets at all and were wandering in and out as they pleased! Maybe they were staying at the Hard Rock and didn’t need tickets? Feeling very p*ssed off (and very old) by then we decided to cut our losses and get out of the place.
By the time we get the car and are away from the Hard Rock it’s about 9:00pm and we’re trying to decide where we can get to quickly so the evening isn’t a total loss. At this point we’re driving down Tropicana so we decide to head for MGM. This was mistake number two. Eventually we get to their valet parking to be told that valet parking was full but we were welcome to use their self-parking facility. Well we drove round their parking garage for about 20 minutes trying, unsuccessfully, to find somewhere to park. I can just hear all you old-timers saying fancy trying to park anywhere on the Strip at 9:30 on a busy Friday night! By this time we’re not exactly speaking civilly to one another. So in a last ditch attempt to salvage our Friday night I think where can we go that’s fun, easy to get to and (most importantly) easy to park? Which is how we end up making our 3rd visit to South Point Casino.
We drive straight in to South Point and park about 20 yards from the main casino entrance. Breathing a sigh of relief we enter the casino and although it’s busy, it’s like an oasis of calm after everywhere else tonight. Decide to check what’s on at the cinema. “What happens in Vegas” is starting soon so in we go. Normally I wouldn’t choose this sort of romantic comedy (girly film!) but it’s easy entertainment and we both enjoy it. Besides anything with Cameron Diaz in it can’t be all bad! Also it’s a fun concept seeing “What happens in Vegas” in Vegas – if you know what I mean. We come out of that cinema with our spirits restored! Next we get something to eat at the South Point café. A said it’s after midnight I’m having breakfast and had pancakes the size of a dinner plate. I said no way am I missing a meal, I want dinner so had some sort of Chinese dish – can’t remember exactly what it was but it wasn’t terribly good. The evening ends on a high note with some more Alien machine action – how I love zapping those monsters – as long as I get the bonus I don’t care whether I win or lose (not a sensible strategy for gambling).
 
Trip Report - - - Day 14 Saturday 10 May
How many casinos can you do in one day?

Today turns out to be one of those great busy Las Vegas days where we visit loads of different fun places. We drive up to Imperial Palace and go to the Auto Collection. Because of both the age and reputation of the Imperial Palace we weren’t expecting too much from this exhibition – maybe 30 or 40 cars. What you get is a terrific display of over 250 fabulous cars spanning just about the entire history of motoring. Mostly American with a few choice European models, and of course a few Rolls, Bentleys and Jags to keep the UK visitor happy. A liked the more elegant models from the 20s and 30s. I love the long streamlined American saloons and coupes from the 50s and 60s. How sad that it’s no longer practical to drive this sort of car. What makes it even more fascinating is that practically every car is for sale. There was a 1963 Pontiac Bonneville Sport Coupe for a very reasonable $25,500 that I could just see myself driving – of course I wouldn’t be able to park it anywhere in the UK as it’s just too long. Also I wouldn’t be able to afford to fill it up. I know you Americans are unhappy with how much petrol (gas) has gone up, spare a thought for us poor Brits who pay 2.5 times as much! An excellent exhibition and well worth the $6.95 entrance cost.
As we’re walking round Imperial Palace casino we see their famous Dealertainers. What a great gimmick! You can be dealt blackjack by Elvis or Marilyn Monroe and if there’s any risk of you winning they’ll stop and do a couple of songs! We saw short performances by the Blues Brothers and a rather good Roy Orbison.
Walk through Harrahs, Casino Royale and as far as the Venetian. I let A go into the big Sephora on the understanding that she didn’t spend the rest of the day there! Half hour later and a brief visit to the Venetian, we stroll back down to the Imperial Palace and have some lunch in the Teahouse. Imperial Palace is a bit of a sad old place and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that some developer had plans to pull it down and put something new in its place.
Late afternoon we go and park at the Tropicana and we spend the evening going from Tropicana to Excalibur (don’t like it) to NYNY to MGM and finally back to Tropicana. The slots are kindest to us at the Trop and we have a couple of small wins there (probably less than we lost at the other places).
We have dinner at Chin Chin café in NYNY. Yes, Chinese again. We were going to go to PF Changs but decided we didn’t want to deviate from our route round the four corners of the Strip and Tropicana! Food was delicious. We had Gift-wrap chicken (little foil parcels – we weren’t sure what to expect), Beef with tomato and garlic, Chicken Chow Mein on crispy noodles, rice and it was all good especially the gift-wrap chicken.
Now before I start some sort of insane competition I do know that visiting 8 casinos in one day isn’t really a lot (just a lot for us). In fact I’m sure there’s people out there who’ve visited every casino on the strip in one day (they’re probably younger and fitter than us!).

Trip Report - - - Day 15 Sunday 11 May
Long drive; Yavapai Lodge; …Wow

Get up, get packed and check out of Cancun Resort. Set off for Grand Canyon about 10:00am. Only bad traffic is at the Hoover Dam. Some selfish person has broken down on the approach to the dam, and there’s the construction traffic and the border checks. Probably delays us about 15 minutes. Stop at Kingman for petrol and at Williams for lunch. With these stops, and not really rushing, journey takes us just under 6 hours. Some people will tell you it’s a difficult drive, it’s not really, just long and a little boring. Would advise anyone doing it in the summer to take a good stock of cold drinks in case of delays or breakdowns.
We check-in to Yavapai Lodge where we have a nice rustic cabin. It’s a bit spartan but comfortable enough – 2 beds, full bathroom, fridge, TV, air con and heating. Will do fine for a couple of nights. Once we’ve got ourselves settled in we go speak to the guy on the tours desk. We book the Sunset Tour for that evening and the Desert View tour for the following day so we’re sure to see all the best bits.
Off we go on the Sunset tour. That first view of the Grand Canyon really takes your breath away. We stand around saying “Wow” like total idiots. It must be the most spectacular natural phenomenon we’re ever likely to see and as we stand near the edge of maybe a 5000 foot drop with that huge multi-coloured vista in front of us I realise that words are never going to do this justice. Excellent tour with 3 stops at beautiful viewpoints, the last of which we stay at for about half an hour to see the sunset and of course the beautiful effects of the sunset on the shadows and the colours of the rocks. Our brilliant tour guide is Ranger Howard who keeps us amused with tales of all the people who’ve fallen or jumped off the edge. He also points out the local wildlife which is surprisingly plentiful – we see deer, elk, rock squirrels (cute but have a nasty bite), ravens, turkey vultures and a beautiful condor.
After the tour we grab something to eat at the Canyon Café (no fine dining here but it’s hot and filling). We are tired so don’t stay up very late.
 
Trip Report - - - Day 16 Monday 12 May
Fail to hit jackpot at ATM; Grand Canyon is cool; …and wet

I’m awake first so drive round to the café to get our coffees. When I see the ATM I realise we could do with some more cash. Disaster! I am unable to get anything out from either credit card or my debit card. Are we really out of funds, surely not. I’ve been keeping a rough total of what we’ve spent on the cards and by my reckoning we should have plenty left. We’ve some cash so we won’t starve but this could put a bit of a dampener on the last couple of days of our trip. Then I realise there are various amounts of holding deposits etc. that are due back on one of the credit cards and some funds about to go in on the debit card so I stop worrying (a bit). This is the downside of such a long holiday somewhere like Vegas – you need a lot of dosh.
Today we do the desert view tour this time in the care of Ranger Oscar who is also informative and amusing. These guys know their stuff and are more than happy to talk about it. It’s cool today about 30 degrees less than it was in Vegas. Luckily we have jackets with us (if I’d had my way my jacket would be in the car at Stansted but A won that argument). There’s several stops on this half day tour the highlight of which is the Desert View viewpoint which has Mary Colter’s impressive Watchtower. Isn’t vertigo a funny thing – I’m perfectly happy standing near the edge of a 6000 foot drop with no guardrail but take me another 70 foot up a nice solid Watchtower and I feel really uncomfortable. This is another really good tour and I take lots of photos to bore friends and family with.
I am deaf in one ear so the only thing that ever disturbs me at night is A saying “did you hear that”. Same happened tonight – I’d been asleep for about 30 minutes when I get “can you hear that” “what?” “can’t you hear running water?” Well yes, now I’m awake I can hear water. No I didn’t leave the tap running (this time). Alright I’ll get out of bed and investigate. Open the front door and see that it is absolutely pouring – thank heavens it’s waited until night time to do this.
 
Trip Report - - - Day 17 Tuesday 13 May
Now we did not expect that; Jackpot; Long drive; I want my room now!; suite’s sweet once we’re in; something completely different; waiter of the trip award goes to….

I wake up at about 7:00am and have a look out the window to see if the rain had stopped. OMG the rain has stopped and it has snowed. And it’s not just a sprinkling - there’s a good six inches of the stuff over everything. I tell A to wake up and look out the window. Her muttered reply contains some very unladylike language. On about the third attempt I manage to persuade her to look and she’s as gob-smacked as I am. We ooh and ah at all that snow and take photos of it. There’s already some kids out there playing snowballs in their shorts and flip-flops - brrrr. An executive decision is made – I can clear the snow off the car, go to the ATM then get the coffees and A will go back to sleep. As she’s going to be driving all that way today I let he get away with that one.
In the last 24 hours our finances have improved and I am able to get cash out of the ATM. Hooray. Let the good times continue. Playing the intrepid hero I battle through the snow and get the coffee and get back to our cabin. We get packed, check out and we’re on the road back to Vegas. Although there’s snow on the ground for the first 2 hours of our journey it doesn’t seem to delay us. There’s little traffic anywhere and we make good progress. We end up driving back nonstop in about 4½ hours.
We arrive at Monte Carlo at about 1:30pm and are not really surprised that our room isn’t ready (check-in time is between 3:00 and 5:00pm) so we go and have some lunch in the food court. Then A goes and gets a manicure while I play the slots for a while. 3:15 and our room still isn’t ready we go back into the casino and play the slots some more. 4:15pm our room still isn’t ready so we complain which does us no good at all. Finally get our key at 4:50pm go up to our suite and find that out key does not open the door! We get on phone to the reception and they issue new keys which still don’t work. We get on phone again and this time they send security and a maintenance person who gets the lock sorted and us into the suite. As we calm down we realise that our Monaco Suite is actually quite a nice place - large squarish room with cloakroom and full bathroom, king size bed, nice sofa in front of a large flat screen TV, and lots of chairs, tables etc. A said to tell you that it had a nice colour scheme in duck egg blue and brown, with loads of cushions and beautiful silk drapes and bedspread, pictures and mirrors and wonderful soap (three different kinds) and loads of other goodies in the bathrooms. It was on the 4th floor and nice and near the elevators. Bed was really comfortable with great quality bedding.
That evening we go to the Wynn to see Spamalot and we both really enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure if A would like it as she doesn’t like “silly Monty Python humour” as much as me but she laughed as much as I did. Very funny show and very clever the way they included some Vegas themes in the Holy Grail story. For me the star of the show was the actress who played the Lady of the Lake – she had a great voice and did very funny send ups of jazz and musical theatre vocal styles.
Still not sure that we like the Wynn so decide to go back to Monte Carlo for dinner. We eat in the café and the food is typical casino café fare – large, reasonably priced portions of average food such as sandwiches, pasta etc. A had a Rueben and I had the biggest bowl of pasta with Italian sausage that I’ve ever seen in my life! Experience is made memorable by our excellent, funny waiter Rod (Rodrigo). He had us (and at least 3 other tables) in stitches with his blow by blow account of what was happening in the kitchen, the exact number of minutes until our food was arriving and some outrageous flirting with a nearby table of 3 elderly ladies. A was so impressed with him that she actually filled out a comment form saying he was the best waiter in Vegas. You know how we finished the evening? That’s right playing the slots.

Trip Report - - - Day 18 Wednesday 14 May
Last day; change of plan; lazy river – can’t be bothered; maybe we’re not Downtown sort of people – maybe we’ll go next time; can’t decide what to eat so eat everything!

I go down to get our breakfast Starbucks at about 07:30am and the casino looks as busy as it does in the evening – are these early starters or people who haven’t been to bed yet? Our plan for today had been to spend a couple of hours by the pool and then go Downtown. However, when we discussed this over our coffee, we decided that we wanted our last day to be a typical Vegas day – shopping, eating and gambling. We never made it to Downtown last time either. It’s a good excuse to come back if there are things we haven’t done!
Quick trip to Town Square as there was something A had forgotten to buy – not sure what as by now I’ve reached the stage where I wait outside while she does the clothes shops. Pop into Borders as I need another book to read on the journey home. We then went to the tacky gift shops opposite the Monte Carlo to get some souvenirs and some candy to take back for our colleagues. For some reason I really wanted a key-ring with a casino chip on it and I find one and buy it. Sad to report within 48 hours of getting home the chip has fallen of the key-ring and disappeared.
Have a walk round MGM and see something really surprising – the lions are actually awake – and interacting with their keepers. Every other time we’ve walked through here they’ve been asleep (as a cat owner I know that most felines can happily sleep for 18 hours a day). We watch them for a while – it’s 2 youngsters and they are really cute and playful but you still wouldn’t want to get in the way of those teeth and claws. Then Tropicana where we have to stop and play the slots but for once we don’t win here. Over the bridge to Excalibur (no – still don’t like it, too many kids and the theme seems really cheesy). Over to NYNY where we have hot dogs for lunch in their food court. We think this place and Paris are the best themed casinos. Back at Monte Carlo we finally manage to get on to a pair of Wizard of Oz machines that we’d had our eye on for the whole holiday – up to now there had always been people on them. These are machines that have speakers in the back of the chairs so when you get a bonus you almost jump out the seat it’s so loud. We play for about half an hour and eventually both get bonuses cashing out nearly enough to offset our losses at the previous 4 casinos.
Brief rest in the afternoon then out for the last time. We can’t decide what we want to eat so go to the Monte Carlo buffet. It’s official, I am a pig – I eat a Mexican dinner, followed by a Chinese dinner with a large portion of shrimp for good measure. And after all that I manage is apple pie and ice-cream. A did nearly as well. I guess it’s all about quantity and choice rather than quality but we both agreed it was a good meal for the $20 each it cost.
Final session on the slots and because we know we don’t need to save any gambling funds for another day we’re both a bit reckless, probably losing as much as $10. Pack most of our stuff before going to bed as we have an early start tomorrow.

Trip Report - - Day 19/20 Thu/Fri 15/16 May
Journey home and final thoughts

It’s a long journey home. We check out of Monte Carlo at 5:30am and walk through our front door at 11:00am the next day (that does include 8 hours time difference but it’s still a long boring journey). Full marks to American Airlines – each flight took off and landed on time, the connection at JFK was easy and the self service check-in was brilliant. Best of all neither of the planes were full so we could spread out and make ourselves fairly comfortable – since we’ve been home AA have announced that they’re not flying from Stansted anymore – that’s probably because of all the empty seats – shame!
Final thoughts: we still love Las Vegas and will be back in a couple of years. To all of you who think three weeks is too long to be in Vegas I assure you we could have easily done another week or two if we had sufficient funds. Holidaybore was not bored! Really glad we did the 2 night trip to Grand Canyon, a day trip wouldn’t have been enough to really get the feel of the place. Both Polo Towers and Cancun Resort were good places to stay for us. The suite at Monte Carlo was nice but on our next visit we’ll probably try somewhere else if we need a couple nights in a hotel.
Thanks again to all on the forum who suggested things we might not have otherwise done – we enjoyed them all.
I’ve just read through it all again and must apologise for going on about how cheap stuff is in the US. It’s not just the exchange rate because we’ve been travelling to the US for about 12 years and the rates been up and down but everything is genuinely cheaper from food to cars to housing and most especially petrol – at today’s exchange rate we are paying over $10 a gallon.
If any of you have any ideas of how two English people who aren’t millionaires could come and live in America (adopt us?) let us know.

Martin <shapiro_martin@hotmail.com> - Milton Keynes. UK    4276

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