This was our first trip back since April 1998.
Luxor
Once again we had a great stay there. We
stayed in a jacuzzi suite in the
pyramid on the 22nd floor North West side
with a lovely view looking out
over the towers and Excaliber.
It seems they have removed (and moved) a
number of slot machines
we enjoyed playing last year. Probably because
they were too loose. In
fact it seems they’ve tightened up the already
tight slots there.
The only real problem we had was at check
out. At 10:30 AM
on Weds there were huge lines of people
waiting to check in which made
it tough for those checking out, and Gold
Chamber was closed. Finally
someone came to the Gold Chamber desk and
I ran to be first in line. It
turned out that it was good I didn’t do
express check out and just leave
because they really screwed up the bill.
We were supposed to be comped
the first two nights and then pay $75 for
the remaining two nights in the
suite (since the regular rate for a suite
is $250 to $350 this was quite a
bargain!). However, even after this was
confirmed when I checked in,
somehow someone managed to screw it up and
there was a $125 charge
for the first two nights and a $89 charge
for the 2nd two nights. I showed
the woman my confirmation letter and she
very quickly and efficiently
straightened it all out.
Bellagio
The thing I noticed about the casino (which
I didn’t realize at first)
is that you don’t hear the slot machine
noise you hear at other casinos.
It’s quiet. And that means no winning noises
either.
And yes, we saw a burly red coated bouncer
deny access to
some woman with her kids despite a plea
to "just see the lobby".
The lobby with its glass flower ceiling (Chihuli?)
was wonderful.
To each side of the reception area are new
works by Robert Rauschenberg
made specifically for Bellagio in which
items in the painting represent
something about Bellagio.
The atrium outside the art museum is light,
open, and airy with lovely
gardens. We were very impressed with the
tile work. One restaurant
we were surprised but happy to see in the
shops area was Olives. Apparently
it’s an outlet of the original Olives from
Charlestown in Boston.
(Where we're from.) It’s one of the most
popular Boston restaurants
and considered one of the best in town.
Sometimes the best finds are the small things
you have to go looking
for. Somewhere off in one of the corridors
away from the casino is a little
place called the Gellato Café. The
pastries and gellato were
to die for and the sandwiches on Foccacia
bread were very good!
The Bellagio Art Museum
We went on a Monday and had only a 2 hour
wait to get in when we
bought our tickets. (I should preface this
by saying I’ve been to most
of the major art museums in America and
Europe and minored in Art History
in college.)
I was pleasantly surprised and very impressed
with
the museum and it’s art. The hushed
silence when you enter is quite a
contrast to the bustle of the atrium area.
There are two small galleries
seperated by a large wall and pre and post
20th century works.
The rooms are darkened and the paintings
are illuminated by small spots around
the room. (There are also many of those
little black camera globes too.)
The lighting was superb because I could
view the paintings from many angles
without any glare from the lights which
often happens at many museums.
It’s a very good survey of western art;
samples from the baroque and
impressionist eras to 20th century modern
works.
These aren't just token show pieces but
masterworks
in their own right. We were particularly
impressed with the Van
Goghs and two wonderful Renoirs which I
never knew existed. One Renoir in
particular depected a palm tree pathway
somewhere in Algiers and displayed
a style of Renoir’s I had never seen. It
was stunning.
Of course one of the irony’s of all this
is that everything in Vegas is a copy but
in the midst of all that
are these originals. :)
They give you a hand held device in which
you listen to Steve Wynn talk,
often at length, about the paintings.
Some of it is informative and other
times I just switched to the next painting.
Once you hear it though his voice
is unmistakable. That night on tv I noticed
his voice narrating an ad
for Sigfried and Roy.
Slots
In general it seems the strip hotels have
tightened up their already tight
slots. It was like trying to squeeze water
from a stone. We had much better
luck and a much better time at older casinos
like the Riviera and the Lucky
Lady. There more often you hear the chink
chink chink of change falling
down a chute than on the strip.
Venetian
My brother heard it was a good place to
play blackjack since they were
training their dealers and he was right.
Within half an hour he won
a nice little sum of money.
Steve Wyrick at the
Lucky Lady
If you want to see a good Las Vegas magic
show without paying the high
prices of the strip then this is it! (With
coupons from Bill Here we got $10
off per ticket and paid $23 each.) Steve
is a nice guy with his own style
and his tricks are top notch. However, you
can see that it’s not a
polished show like the Lance Burton or S&R,
and he’s paying his
dues. He made a few mistakes but fortunately
not when it counted. :)
Grigori Popovich at
Circus Circus
One of the best shows in Las Vegas is also
free! It’s Grigori Popovich and
his trained cats and dogs!! We saw him last
year on Penn and Teller’s Sin
City tv show on cable. We love cats and
knew we had to go!
I had forgotten his name and just called
CC and asked when the
performing cats were on. They gave me show
times for the next few days.
My wife is a cat fanatic and was totally
delighted. It really is quite
something to see cats performing tricks
that most people would say are
impossible; that cats can’t be trained.
We consider ourselves lucky to
have seen the act because he tours a bit.
Emeril’s
Our big splurge (since we didn’t go to new
"O" and Lance Burton
was on vacation) was Emeril’s Fish House
at the MGM. I was surprised
at how casual it was. Plain old shirts (some
Hawaiian) and slacks for guys.
What can I say except that the service and
food was exceptional. The banana cream
pie, his specialty, was out of this world!
Their wine list is staggering but
they have plenty of wine by the glass choices
for between $6 and $10. Total
bill was $130 with tax and tip. We only
had two glasses of wine.
It was a memorable meal.
Rent-an-Elvis
For various reasons my brother hired an
Elvis impersonator.
He found one named Brendan Paul who does
the Elvis role at the
Imperial Palace’s show. The guy was very
nice and did a great job.
If you need to hire an Elvis for your next
wedding in Vegas, he’s the
one to get! He’s not cheap but it will be
worth it!!!
My wife and I would eventually like to hire
him when we renew
our vows in Vegas for our 10th anniversary.
:)
Traffic
Traffic seems to have gotten worse since
we last visited. One day it took
us 10 minutes just to get past Circus Circus
for no reason. Other than
perhaps bad light timing. Another day during
the week it took 20 minutes
to drive the length of the strip from the
Mirage to the Bellagio!!! After the
Bellagio traffic clears out. The night we
went back from the Fremont
experience I figured I’d take 15 and be
up to the Luxor in a jiffy.
Wrong! We left at 10pm and ran into a tremendous
construction backup near Sahara. So we got
out at Sahara and I figured
I’d go up the strip. No such luck! It was
the damn Circus Circus light
backup! So I turned around and went East
down some road and then turned
South onto Paradise. It was smooth sailing
until the Hard Rock in which
there was a huge backup again. It took 15
minutes to get past there and
there was no major traffic associated with
the Hard Rock. It was just the
poor timing of the stupid lights there!!!
Someone at City Hall needs to get
a clue!!!! We got back to Luxor at 10:45.
I remember when that ride from
downtown up the Strip would take 10 minutes!
HA! We felt this frustration
was fraying the magical veneer of Las Vegas.
But we'll be back!
###