Trip Report - Venetian - 8/18-8/22 Final (very long)

Ok - here goes - last part!

Woke up Sunday morning pretty early...by now we were a bit more rested and I have a hard time sleeping in since I%26#39;m used to getting up at 5:30 am. Decided to try out the Venezia pool garden. It wasn%26#39;t crowded at all, but there wasn%26#39;t much sun yet. The lounge chairs are very comfy, towels are ample and the main pool is a decent size. There are also several jacuzis that surround the main pool. Lots of trees and fountains as well. A bonus that we did not get to take advantage of was the fact that this pool area is open until 10:30 pm. Swam a bit and then headed out for the day.

Went to Mandalay Bay with the intention of seeing the Shark Reef. However there was a really long line and I didn%26#39;t feel that strongly about seeing it due to mixed reviews here. Instead we went downstairs and looked around. Of course I had to make a stop at the $10 blackjack table. I played one on one with Jose. Very stoic and not at all pleasant. However - winning $150 made up for his lack of personality. I took my winnings and we departed. From there we went over to Hooters. Mostly I think because DH wanted to take a look. If you havent seen it - Hooters Casino looks just like a giant Hooters restaurant. And talk about smokey! My eyes were burning! I sat down at the $5 blackjack table - DH made his way towards the nickel Wheel of Fortune slots. I was in for $100 and doing quite well when DH came over and showed me his $269 voucher just 10 minutes after leaving me... I made some remark about him being a jerk ;-) and he went off. Another 10 minutes pass, he returns and shows me a $251 voucher... again a nasty remark. But I was up as well to the tune of $300. We decided to stop while we were ahead - just over $800! We dont bring much to gamble with so thats a lot. FYI - Hooters has a few tables where actual calendar girls do the dealing. These tables seemed quite popular.

From there we went to meet our friends at the Fontana Bar at Bellagio. This is a very nice lounge with live bands and it has an outside patio that overlooks the fountains. We sat outside where we could listen to the band through outdoor speakers. DH and friend bought a cigar from the menu I had a Primo Margarita...must say it was one of the best I ever had. And at the bargain price of $14 it had better be! I had 2! Good service there and the view of the show is excellent. We were there at sunset and caught a couple shows just as the lights were coming up. After that we ate at The Buffet there. I dont recall what its called, but it was awesome. The crab legs are cold, but grabbing a dish of the hot drawn butter pretty much fixes that! They had all the usual items including sashimi, sushi, prime rib... and since it was Sunday it was a bit cheaper - in the area of $26. Left there and headed to the Stardust to see Hypnolarious XXX. Lets just say it was amusing overall, very funny at times and probably not quite worth the $42 price tag. It was my first hypnosis show and I think I would have been better off with one of the bigger names - maybe Anthony Cools.

Monday morning we again had a light breakfast in the concierge lounge and walked across the street to the Mirage. I wanted to go to the Secret Garden / Dolphin Habitat since I hadn%26#39;t been in a while. On the way there stopped off at a casino war table, threw down $50 and doubled it. Grabbed my $100 chip and left. The Secret Garden is now up to $15 for admission. Some people may think its pricey, but I love dolphins so I gladly paid. I like the fact that they don%26#39;t do ';shows';, but rather have training sessions where you can see natural dolphin behavior. One of the dolphins tossed me a ball while I sat there watching...it was a definite ';awww'; moment. Obviously since its daytime, most of the cats were dozing - a couple looked up as this wierd guy kept making very loud elephant noises. I can only imagine what the animals thought...something like shut the hel! up. Left there and stopped at that same casino war table. Gave back my $100 rather quickly!

Monday evening ...last night here. How fast it goes. We had tickets to see LaReve at the Wynn. I wont go into too much detail as I have posted a review in the show section. Anyway - since it was our friends%26#39; anniversary I thought it would be nice to get a limo. I inquired with the concierge about getting one. Susie was able to get us a nice stretch for an hour at $65. Coming from Chicago - thats an absolute steal! She also told us we could take a bottle of champagne from the bar. Turns out she was wrong, but they let us take it anyway. They just dont like whole bottles leaving the floor. Our limo arrived promptly at 8pm. We went and picked up our friends at the Stardust and they surprised us with some fresh sushi! So we headed off down the strip with Rich from Ambassador Limo. He was great. Tells some great stories and his timing was amazing. Not only did he catch the Sirens at TI and some awesome explosions, but we were at the Bellagio just in time for the fountains. He got us to the Wynn in an hour exactly.

After the show we walked back to the Venetian. I think my luck had finally run out because I had not won the last few tables I sat at. Lost about $200 and decided to go to bed. Tuesday morning we got up, packed and checked out. Met our friends at the Paris. Last year we ate at the buffet on a sunday and had an awesome brunch. This year, we missed the breakfast cutoff and had to settle for lunch. Not impressed at all. I would not go back unless it was for sunday breakfast and included the champagne.

Stopped back in at Hooters and as I said, luck was no longer with me. Dropped another $150 at the blackjack table and DH couldn%26#39;t get anything from the Wheel of Fortune machines. Drove down to the Callaway Golf Center and picked up some goodies for my son and returned our car. FYI - DO NOT forget to fill your tanks... I have never forgotten until this time and will NEVER forget again. 10 gallons at $6.45/gallon is very painful.

Security was fair. However - the couple items they let pass in Chicago - they didn%26#39;t let pass at McCarran. My fault, but I lost a sample size mascara, lip gloss and nail polish. The nail polish had been from my manicure at the Canyon Ranch Spa..totally forgot it was in there. The painful loss was an estee lauder concealer. Ladies - you%26#39;ll understand why that was painful if you%26#39;ve ever purchased it! I tried to argue that one because you couldn%26#39;t actually open the tube - it was sealed. Of course I lost, but I was very angry with the agnet who stared me in the eye, winked and then dumped the stuff in the trash without ever taking her eyes off mine. I just think that was uncalled for. I told her as much as DH dragged me away.

All in all - a great trip. Came home with a little bit of money and a lot of great memories. Thanks to some of you here for suggestions, reviews, other TRs...all very helpful. SS - I really tried to get to EI, but we never had the time. Next time I am making it my mission to head over there.

Trip Report - Venetian - 8/18-8/22 Final (very long)

Power without responsibilty really suc ..well you know!

Since there%26#39;s been nothing on the news, I%26#39;m assuming you didn%26#39;t blow up the airport with your Ester Lauder sealed concealer.

Great read.

Glad you came home with a few bucks and kudos for being at the top of the gene pool.

I do not suffer fools and I don%26#39;t say it nearly as well as you do.

Trip Report - Venetian - 8/18-8/22 Final (very long)

Wanted to read your review of La Reve but couldn%26#39;t find it in ';Attractions'; section (I will be going in October). Am I not looking in the right place? Great trip report!

Hi Huny,

Nice report, I read all parts.

If you dont mind me asking, how long did it take to get to the Callaway Centre. I may do the 9hole par3 there on my next trip. Got to have a couple of hours of the beer somewhere!

I ran into that same TSA agent yesterday and her skin looked fabulous!

Great trip report...one of the best that I have read on this forum. Thanks for sharing.

JCLFC - The Callaway place is not far down at all. Once you%26#39;re past Mandalay Bay its maybe another mile or so down the road. Very easy to get there. They have a really nice pro shop and the course looks decent. Folks there were very helpful.

Brian - I couldnt find it either, but it was there...got the email conf. and everything. Anyway - below is text of what I thought about La Reve from another posting. It pretty mcuh mirrirs what I said in the review, but more summarized...

For all practical purposes - LaReve most certainly is CDS. Created by the same man, Franco Dragone, who created ';O';. Not sure why they split, but its all the same. LaReve is a rambling, 90 minute romp through the apparent crack induced dreams of a hot babe in a red dress. Lots of diving and jumping into the water. For some reason 4 men dressed in 50%26#39;s style garb run around the audience looking for bald men to place red swimming caps on and then later the entire cast will chastise the unlucky man who dares to remove it. There are numerous arial stunts as well as the diving...the theatre in the round setting makes all seats excellent, but I wasnt sure what I was looking at. Stay away from the first 5 rows - you will get wet. about 1/2 way up is best.

I was more impressed at the diving skills. I even managed to fall asleep for a moment and awoke to a bare breasted woman running around on stage. When I asked why she was nude - hubby said ';dont know, dont care...she just is.'; I guess thats Vegas for you. Our limo driver to the show that night said Ka was better.

SftbllHuny, I really, really enjoyed your TR. I am planning (since yesterday, LOL) for a solo trip in 3 weeks. Your report reminded me of some things that I can do myself that DH wouldn%26#39;t care for. I will definitely go to the Secret Gardent and the Titanic exhibit. Thanks again for taking the time and for putting up with all the grief. Sheesh!!

SH-Great trip report! Don%26#39;t let anyone here get you down. When people have problems with your success it is only because of what is lacking in their own lives. I unfortunately think people will now think twice before writing a trip report. Kind of sad because we all love trip reports.

Sweetsherry-We tried the tea at the Four Seasons a few years ago.

It was very good. The service was great. And it was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the strip.