Trip Reports - Shopping week in Vegas

My skies are friendlier than your skies

It was holiday shopping week in Vegas so I booked a flight on National Airlines with plans for Hunnybear and Kevin and Katie to come meet me for the weekend. Rumor was that RichG would also be in the area to visit his money and I was looking forward to seeing him again. I reserved a taxi for 6:15 for the 7:10 a.m. flight and it showed up right on time and dropped me at the uncrowded Arrivals level to save time ($13 including tip). There was one person in front of me in the First Class line but the First Class agent took the next economy passenger instead. When a second agent waved to the next economy passenger in line the customer refused to go and instead pointed to the First Class line! The agents finally figured out they had First Class customers waiting and took us next. Thanks to doc, I had booked First Class for the price of coach on www.biztravel.com (http://www.biztravel.com) the previous day. I got a window bulkhead seat and headed to gate 61.

The line at security was short and the metal detector was set not to beep my belt buckle today so I made it through quickly. We began boarding shortly after I arrived and I was the first one on the plane, trundling down the Jetway and turning left into the gorgeous light-tan-leather First Class section of the 757. An attractive stewardess snappily dressed in a blue butler’s uniform took my coat and brought me a glass of water in a real glass. I was in seat 1A but I noticed that seats 1D and F had storage space in front of them and thus might be preferred. I had so much legroom my feet barely could touch the bulkhead. I was considering moving across the aisle when a uniformed pilot plopped down in 1F at the last minute—a United pilot! I grinned uncontrollably. Not even United’s own pilots wanted to fly the Shuttle.

We took off right on time. As soon as we were in the air we got a hot towel followed by drinks (coffee and water) and a plate of hot breakfast rolls including a croissant, muffin, and half a bagel with butter, jam, and cream cheese. By the time I had finished stuffing my face we had begun our descent.

I took the free tram to baggage claim and found my limo driver waiting for me. He grabbed my bag and escorted me down to Ground Zero to the gold MGM Town Car and whisked me to the hotel. It was too early for petit fours in the VIP lounge so I just checked in. My host had reserved a player’s suite for me and since I was so early they gave me one on the fourth floor because it would be clean soonest. The room turned out to be in a very odd location, the last room in the hallway that connected the new MGM Grand with the old Marina hotel, now the MGM’s Emerald Towers. For some reason there was a private elevator that only went between the first and fourth floors right across the hall from my suite. It emptied out near Gatsby’s and not far from the high-limit slot area so it was actually pretty convenient. The room was beautiful, decorated in the style of Swiss artist Gustav Klimt whose most famous work is the painting “The Kiss.” The view left much to be desired, looking out onto the exhaust fans of the adjoining building, but as I didn’t plan to be spending much time in it I just dumped my bags and headed down to the casino.

I had expected a hoovering to compensate for my good fortune last trip and my expectations were met. Despite my hitting a Straight Flush, there was nothing much doing and I fed the hungry machine with no more success for a few hours. Lunch was at Studio Café where I had a very nice patty melt. After continued lack of success at video poker I decided to go to the spa for a workout. They had the good exercise machines with Internet surfing built in so I did 35 minutes on the steps while reading www.flyertalk.com (http://www.flyertalk.com) and I got so caught up in the outrage at how Delta treats its best customers that the workout was over before I knew it. What a great invention!

I checked out the holiday shopping. Every few dollars you gamble earned a shopping point that could be spent on anything from T-shirts to Mercedes. I didn’t quite have enough for a Mercedes so I checked out some of the electronic equipment and computers but didn’t buy anything yet. My evening video-poker session was the reverse of the morning. I hit everything. In fact I hit four Deuces eight times. Too bad I wasn’t playing Deuces Wild. But I won back almost everything I had lost in the morning before I called it quits at midnight. I had a Manhattan and went back to Studio Café for a midnight supper of surf and turf: a four-ounce filet mignon and half a dozen yummy shrimp. I signed the check and went to bed.


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I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com (http://www.liontales.com)

Say hi to my money as well. They got it all last week.

If you get a chance, go to Renoir. Very $, but I went last week and the food was awesome. Also had VIP passes for Studio 54. Great place to people watch but not neary as cool as the Foundation Room of the House of Blues. That is the on the very top floor of Mandalay and was by far the coolest bar I have been to in Las Vegas.

"They had the good exercise machines with Internet surfing built in so I did 35 minutes on the steps while reading www.flyertalk.com (http://www.flyertalk.com) and I got so caught up in the outrage at how Delta treats its best customers that the workout was over before I knew it."

It's a real shame, isn't it? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Oh, and thanks for the plug! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

"Thanks to doc, I had booked First Class for the price of coach on www.biztravel.com (http://www.biztravel.com) the previous day."

Glad it worked out okay! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Enjoy the trip and please return at least as "wealthy" as you are now! And I don't mean just healthy wealthy! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

QL: Will you be in town Tuesday the December 14th or shall we move the OMNI prize ceremoney to Las vegas?

- proud subscriber of Liontales

Yes, Yes!!! Move them to Las Vegas!!!


QL: Will you be in town Tuesday the December 14th or shall we move the OMNI prize ceremoney to Las vegas?


I'll be in Vegas from Dec 10th till the 15th! I vote Vegas http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Ummm...I think December 14th is a Thursday though. ;-)

Unfortunately I'll be on the Grand Princess with Arnie and Gary the week of Dec. 15. December is always tough to get people together isn't it?

So much fun when you’re winning

The sun broke over the exhaust vents on the gravel roof, mixing with the green spotlight that shone into the picture window of my suite on the lowest floor of MGM Grand Las Vegas. I took a grand look at the colors of dawn, knowing I would not be seeing much more of nature today. Call me Ishmael, but today was a day for the pure enjoyment of the hunt, man against the beast, the quest for the big fish. Today was a day to play video poker.

My morning session, as expected, had the fickle bandit retracting her generous favors of the previous night. She was showing me she was not easy, was a challenge, something to be valued and desired and not taken for granted. So I took a lunch break and went to Emeril’s for a smoked-duck salad and half a pound of their delicious peel-and-eat shrimp, compliments of the casino. After lunch I visited the holiday gift shop, where my spending points were increasing rapidly, and considered the options. They had quite a lot of lion-logoed apparel, always a good choice, and a bunch of electronics from Sony. I could also get anything from beleaguered computer manufacturer Dell, founder of the latest round of NASDAQ selloffs. I pondered the choices and went back for an afternoon session with my bête noir.

Walking away from the five-play machine had been a good thing. She might have wanted me to believe she wasn’t easy pickings but I had sent her the same message by getting up and walking. How many of her suitors continue to shower her with money and gifts regardless of how she treats them? Not me. But now I was back. This time she tantalized me early on by dealing me the highest expected value non-paying hand, the 10-J-Q-K of Diamonds (actually the other suits work just as well). I held them but didn’t even get the Straight Flush let alone the Royal. Still, she was in much better spirits, keeping me even with dealt Full Houses and many quads. Then she let me have the J-Q-K-A of Hearts, teasingly paired with the Ace of Spades. I wisely tossed my made high pair and kept four to the Royal. Boom. The beautiful Ten of Hearts snuggled right into its nesting place on the bottom line and I had my first Royal of the trip. Gambling is so much fun when you are winning.

I relaxed in my suite and looked up some airfares on the Internet, then decided to try the sushi at Grand Wok, the aptly named Chinese/Sushi restaurant in MGM Grand (though not as aptly named as the one in the new Seattle ballpark, “Intentional Wok”). I sat at the bar and had some decent sashimi and a couple pieces of sushi that were good but not up to the taste of a connoisseur who frequented the finest establishments of the Coast. Fortunately no one like that was with me so I just enjoyed the meal.

I tried for an evening session but she was playing hard-to-get, alternating between long streaks of paying absolutely nothing and payoffs just over the IRS limit that caused me to wait for a hand-pay. Then the bill validator filled up and I knew from experience it took 45 minutes to get all the slot technicians, security guards, supervisors, and cashiers together to empty it so I called it quits. I went to the Cabaret bar and ordered a Belvedere martini from a good bartender then headed up to get a good night’s sleep.


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I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com (http://www.liontales.com)

Doh! Just my luck! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I will volunteer to keep watch over your hunnypoker machine from any unwanted suitors. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

JETTROOP: LOL! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
ISHMAEL: 5-star!

It been so long since I've read Moby Dick, refresh my memory: Did Ahab win, or did the whale???

QL, have fun getting fitted for your peg leg.

Thursday is the new Friday

In the midst of an uneventful video-poker day I took a limo ride to the airport to purchase a future United Airlines ticket using some of the stack of vouchers I had been accumulating because the inconvenience. The trick to McCarran Airport is never to follow the signs. Like the signs in Seattle leading to freeway on-ramps, they eventually get you there but always take you by the longest route to get where you’re going. To get from Ground Zero to ticketing, don’t follow the signs leading up a two-story escalator, across a skybridge, and down again. Instead, take the elevator up one floor and walk through baggage claim and across the street. Likewise to get from the ticket counter to the gates, cross the street and go up one level.

I found the United ticket counter to be packed with economy passengers being slowly processed and rebooked due to weather in San Francisco. There was a special, empty line for purchasing tickets so I waited there until one of the positions cleared. I approached the agent, whose overhead sign read “First Class/Premier Purchase Tickets.” Since I was all of the above I smiled and said hello. He frowned and said if I had a ticket to purchase I needed to wait for one of the other agents. “What’s that sign above your head then?” I cleverly retorted. He flipped it over so it said, “Position Open.” “Must be left over from some bygone era,” I said, and returned to the line. Soon, however, an agent whose sign didn’t say “Purchase Tickets” waved me over and helped me. She determined that I could use a maximum of two of the four coupons for this one flight so I saved the other two and signed a charge slip for $84 for a round-trip from LA to Fort Lauderdale and confirmed my upgrade on three of the four segments.

Lunch was at Studio Café. I had a shrimp cocktail and a Cobb Salad, both very good with excellent service as usual. I played some more video poker and then Shirley gave me a tour of the Mansion, the extremely luxurious super-high-roller area where she and Bob occasionally stayed. It was truly amazing. Vases of rare orchids adorned the antique Italian tables scattered throughout the halls. Room after room was filled with fine art, plush chairs, and handmade tapestries from the Old World. A temperature-controlled atrium with a glass roof was kept at a constant 74-78 degrees year-round and a private restaurant and spa were available for any needs of the super-VIPs staying there. We finished up in Shirley’s favorite part of the hotel-within-a-hotel, a private screening room with a dozen overstuffed armchairs and a theater-sized projection screen to view the Mansion’s library of tapes and DVDs. We popped in a disc of the Bee Gees concert here at MGM Grand and watched the opening number. I left Shirley relaxing there and got lost trying to find my way out of this incredible place.

RichG and I were supposed to have dinner at Mark Miller’s Coyote Grill Room but upon arrival he had severe jet lag and begged out. Instead, I played video poker till late and went back to Studio Café for dinner since everything else was closed. I tried the New York steak with a crab-cake appetizer, both excellent. The crab cakes were big enough to be an entrée for sure—lion sized. A stream of stunning girls in evening gowns filtered into Studio Café from the Studio 54 dance club for a couple bites each of dinner while they talked on their cell phones to one another. It was Thursday but since Thursday is the new Friday the joint was already hopping in preparation for the extended weekend so I got a show with dinner. As a rule I don’t eat dessert so I skipped the lion-sized chocolate cake à la mode and headed by the high-limit room on my way upstairs. I found Bob Dancer playing in the high-limit room and we chatted for a while, then I went up to bed in joyous anticipation of Hunnybear’s arrival tomorrow.


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I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com (http://www.liontales.com)

Day of the Grand Hoover

Friday was the day of the Grand Hoover so I was glad when RichG came by to pry me from the one-armed bandit’s clutches. We did a walking tour of the hotel restaurants and then ended up in the Coyote Café for a great lunch. We started with chips and salsa and guacamole and then I had the excellent carne asada while RichG enjoyed his fish. I needed to move into a bigger suite in preparation for the arrival of Kevin and Katie so RichG helped me schlep my stuff up to the 27th floor where we walked all the way down the and of a Grand corridor to a stunning two-bedroom suite with a 270-degree view centered on the airport. RichG gave a running commentary of the aircraft on short final while I unpacked.

The hoovering continued until I finally cried “uncle” around seven. Hunnybear’s National flight was on indefinite delay so RichG and I had dinner by ourselves at Studio Café. He had a shrimp cocktail and patty melt while I tried the Duet, a burger topped with crabcake, cheese, and avocado on an English muffin. It was grand. I tried to get RichG to try the lion-sized chocolate cake but as a rule he didn’t eat dessert.

Hunnybear, stuck in LA, finally hopped on a United Shuttle and got here three hours late. Kevin and Katie arrived shortly thereafter. Hunnybear and Katie had a bite in Studio Café while Kevin and I tore up the Pai Gow Poker tables. When the girls came back there was no room at low-stakes Pai Gow Poker for four people so we went to the fun pit by the sports book and sat down to play blackjack. We kept winning and the pit boss came by to scrutinize us. I asked if they were going to kick us out for winning too much and he said we could win as much as we could carry so we continued unabated. We had a great time and the dealer could not make a hand so we played until the wee hours then went up to retire in preparation for a full day of Vegas enjoyment tomorrow.


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I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com (http://www.liontales.com)

1. If Herman Melville were alive today, Call me Ishmael would have been a giveaway of a marketing tie-in with Nokia. Come to think of it, under the circumstances, Inmarsat.

2. You had to know I wouldn't let you get away with "big fish". You want big fish? Go to Burger King. And don't try to get there on the Pequod.

Lovin’ Cowboy

I got up early to play some video poker, thinking today could not possibly be as bad as yesterday, the day of the Grand Hoover. Before Hunnybear, Kevin, and Katie woke up I had hit a small hand-pay on my main machine, moved to a second one and hit the same hand on it, and played a little on a third machine. I got my payoffs, moved back to the original machine, and repeated the process. I was amassing a good bit of cash but it was going back into the vacuum hose as quickly as I was earning it. Then for the third time, I hit both five-play machines and moved to the three-play while I waited to be paid. The first hand I was dealt the Ten, Jack, Queen, and Ace of Hearts and the Ace of Clubs. Once again I threw away the pair—and there came the lovin’ cowboy on the middle line for the Royal Flush jackpot.

Hunnybear and Katie enjoyed the Grand Spa while Kevin and I enjoyed gambling. When the girls finished up, looking more beautiful than ever if that were possible, we went to the shopping area as it was the last day to redeem points. We got a nice suede MGM jacket for Katie and a baseball jacket for yours truly along with a couple gifts for friends. The bulk of the points I sold to a whale for cash, given that it wasn’t really free money but a part of my loss to the casino. When the shopping was done we took a limo to Venetian to show Katie, who lived with husband Kevin in Minneapolis, the Grand Canal Shops. “Nothing like this in Edina,” I told her, and we walked under the faux blue sky past singing gondoliers dressed in red-and-white-striped shirts. We attempted to repeat our blackjack success of the previous night but Tawah, our dealer, was not in the fun pit so we got hoovered. I had just a few shopping points to redeem at Venetian so we got an oil lamp. We took the limo back to MGM and got dressed for dinner.

Fine dining tonight was at the elegant Gatsby’s. Katie had never had caviar so we started with an order of Beluga along with a bottle of Taittinger La Française champagne. Service in Gatsby’s was tag-team style. Our main waitress Maria and our Sommelier Patrick orchestrated an army of servers and bussers to create a grand dining experience. For starters I had foie gras. It came with one piece seared and one made as a pâté, but I don’t care for pâté so I ordered two pieces of seared foie gras instead. It was sublime. For the entrée Kevin, Hunnybear and I had filet mignon with a side of braised short ribs and Katie had a salmon Wellington. In the ’80s, when Italian winemaker Angelo Gaja was becoming a legend in his own vine, I went around to all the Safeway stores in Seattle and bought out their stock of Gaja for under $30 a bottle. It had been years since I had any so we took advantage of MGM’s hospitality and had a couple bottles, one Barbaresco and one Cabernet. The Cabernet was merely great but the Barbaresco was the best wine ever.

As a rule I don’t eat dessert but they had a bananas Foster soufflé so we ordered just one to share, along with a chocolate peanut-butter cake and a trio of lemon treats. The meal was wonderful, the wine phenomenal, and the company perfect. The bill came to $1250, making the tip, even adjusted for the philosophy that the waiter doesn’t have to do any more work to pour a $350 bottle of wine than to pour a $20 bottle, as much as many whole dinners.

Entertainment tonight was Mystere at Treasure Island. The limo took us there in time to pick up the tickets from the VIP desk and take the tram to Mirage to see the white tigers. We got back in plenty of time for the show, which I was seeing for the third time and everyone loved. It was after midnight when the limo picked us up and returned us to MGM where we hastened to bed and had a grand night’s sleep.


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I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com (http://www.liontales.com)

[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 12-04-2000).]

Return of the Compmeister

I got up early to play some video poker before everyone got up. All I needed was one Royal to get even for the trip but no dice. We had reservations for 9:30 brunch at Brown Derby and when Hunnybear and I got there RichG, Kevin, and Katie were waiting in the lounge. We were seated immediately despite having brought one more person that the reservation indicated. Kevin stood by his chair, hesitated, and said, “Why am I thinking about sitting down?” He immediately headed for the buffet and we all followed him. Highlights of the Brown Derby brunch, which was only $29.95 if you were seated before 10 a.m., were carved rack of lamb, king crab legs, sashimi, and roasted duck breast with bing cherries. The desserts were plentiful and I had a couple pieces of cake even though as a rule I don’t eat dessert. They had the white domed petit fours that I so enjoyed at the VIP lounge and it turned out they made them there at Brown Derby. Hunnybear had the famous tiramisu in the chocolate brown derby cup. It was all good.

It was time to pack RichG, Kevin and Katie off to the airport so we bid them a teary farewell. The hotel was full of cowboys and models because the National Rodeo Finals, known for some reason as the National Finals Rodeo, was in town and MGM Grand was hosting some kind of model search. You could hear the sound of necks snapping as the two groups passed through the hallways without otherwise interacting.

Hunnybear and I got haircuts but hers took a lot longer than mine because I don’t have that much hair so I played some video poker while she was in the salon and won back most of what I had lost in the morning session. I hit two Straight Flushes but didn’t even come close to the elusive Royal.

Arnie the Compmeister was coming into town with his friends from Boston just as we were leaving and was meeting us for a late comp lunch at Emeril’s. We all ordered the lobster except the more levelheaded Hunnybear who had a salad. None of us ate dessert as we all had another meal scheduled later in the day. Arnie and the gang had a comp dinner coming up at Michaels, where Caesar salad for two costs $18—per person. Gotta have a comp.

After lunch Arnie wanted to see me hit a Royal so with an audience I played a bit more video poker and got hoovered. Hunnybear couldn’t stand to watch the bloodbath and went up to start packing. Around 4:30 I threw in the towel, asked my host to make my bill go away, got my cashback, and went up to pack. I thought I heard the evil machine calling after me, “Many such trips are possible,” as the sound of it digesting my money faded away into the jingling and clanging of the casino.

Hunnybear and I took the limo to Ground Zero and took the tram to Terminal D where we checked in at the National Club. We got drinks from the airline agent pretending to be a bartender and saw a pair of dollars lying on the bar as I showed her how to make a Manhattan. “Do you take tips?” I asked her. “Yeah,” she said. I guess everyone takes tips in Vegas but for some reason it didn’t seem appropriate to tip an agent manning the club lounge who just happens to pour drinks in addition to checking people in and so on. I whipped out a couple Georges and left them on the bar anyway.

By the time I dialed up in the club and posted my Lion Tale it was time to board so we got on the 757 and turned left to take seats 6A and C. We arrived too late for preflight drinks but they brought us a couple bottles of water and took our orders for after takeoff. Once again they had the cheese plate but no hot towel this time. One of the stewardesses was kind of ditzy. She told someone to sit down until the seatbelt sign was off, but it was already off. Then I stood up to wait for the lavatory and she told me to wait behind the curtain. I asked why and she said that’s the policy. I said, “Can’t I just wait in my seat?” And sat right down where I was standing. “Oh, is that your seat? I’m sorry!” Apparently the week’s hoovering had taken its toll on my appearance and I did not look First Class.

We arrived early at LAX and as usual had a very short taxi. For some reason United’s flights always land at the farthest possible runway and taxi all the way around the airport to get to the gate. National always seems to pull out of the runway and right into the gate. They bought the cheapest gate, though, the one that you need to be towed into, so it takes an extra couple minutes to get there.

We had arranged to meet Sisko, an artist-bartender from Seattle who was in town accepting an award, and Andrew, who was en route to Thailand, at Encounters. We were first to arrive so we staked out a table with a great view of the airplane we had landed in and shortly thereafter Sisko arrived. We had Blue Moon margaritas and waited for Andrew to arrive, which he did just a few minutes behind schedule. The food there was quite good for an airport restaurant although it was a little pricey for dinner. I had a caramelized salmon that was good if a bit more well done than I liked. As a rule I don’t eat dessert but we shared just one chocolate stratosphere just because we liked the name and chocolate. We grabbed a cab and dropped Sisko and Andrew at their respective terminals before heading home to Marina del Rey.

The end.

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I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com (http://www.liontales.com)

that was ME that the FA told to sit down!
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I think you need a sponsor for your Vegas trips and casino travels in general -- my recommendation is the "Hoover" vacuum cleaner company.

What and who is your "host"?
Does he pay everything, and why?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

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Goldlust

A host is a casino employee who gets comps for players. The more you gamble (not necessarily lose, just play) the more comps you get.