Friday:
On my last full day in Vegas, I set out for appointments to tour several more casinos. While casino-hopping is a popular pastime, virtually all of these hotels, along with the Wynn and Encore toured yesterday, offer enough amenities that one wouldn't need to leave.
Mandalay Bay is the southernmost hotel on the Strip. It's so close to the airport, one can often see it from the arriving plane. At 550 square feet (or about 50 square meters), the standard rooms are among the largest in Vegas. One can certainly not miss the restaurants as their signs are printed in HUGE BOLD LETTERS! The pool complex is rather massive as well and includes an adults-only section where bikini tops are optional. The House of Blues restaurant offers culinary and musical pleasures on a nightly basis. The Eyecandy Sound Lounge is an open-air nightlclub with a relaxed vibe. Next door to Mandalay Bay is "THE Hotel", the non-gaming property and a decidedly mellower vibe.
Next I toured the Monte Carlo. When I last visited this hotel in 2007, I recall thinking that the property was rather dull. Since then, the Monte Carlo has come a long way.Their offerings include Brand, a steakhouse that evolves into an intimate dance club at night; the Minus 5 Lounge, where one can take a break from the desert heat (if one isn't visiting in, say, December), put on a parka and sip frozen drinks; and Jabowockeez, the dance troupe made famous on "America's Got Talent". Monte Carlo's best feature may be its exclusive Hotel 32 floor where guests receive such amenities as a round-trip limousine ride from the airport, daily happy hour and a dedicated concierge. The pool area is relatively small by Vegas standards but features one of two "lazy rivers" on the Strip.
Following a pleasantly tasty refueling at the Monte Carlo buffet, I came across my favorite slot machine, Super Jackpot Party. Having some time to kill before another appointment, I said “What the heck!” and stuck a few dollars in. I started off slow initially, adding to the roughly $50 I had lost over the week. But suddenly I hit on a good bonus round and BAM I win $50 worth of credits! I cash out immediately and call it a week on gambling as I managed to stare down “the house” and call it a draw. A moving walkway connected the Monte Carlo to my next destination. The Aria.
The Aria, part of the new City Center project, is unique from most Vegas hotels on the Strip. For one, its reception area is separate from the casino. The hotel is also LEED-certified which will please environmentally-conscious guests. I was stunned by the rooms' floor-to-ceiling windows and impressed by th touch-screen technology available to control all of the amenities. Numerous sophisticated restaurants abound to please every palate. Also in City Center is the non-gaming hotel Vdara. This all-suite hotel features full kitchen facilities in each unit and the views can be just as stunning as from their neighbor Aria. Their heated outdoor pool area is open year-round. Crystals is City Center's high-end shopping destination and includes actress Eva Longoria's Haze Nightclub.
After touring all of these hotels, it was late in the afternoon. You would think on a Friday night in Vegas, I’d be pumped up. But as it was my sixth day there, I was pretty tired. I ended up sticking close to “home” (Bally’s) and jumped across the “border” to Paris and Le Burger Brasserie for another “Le Turquie” Burger. I was greeted by the same semi-friendly bartender that I met on Sunday. As for the female servers, their football jerseys were replaced by what looked like can-can dancer outfits…not that I was complaining. Afterwards, I went around the corner past Napoleon’s Dueling Piano Lounge - which was hopping pretty well - and got some gelato from the dessert place in Paris. I brought my French haul back to my room at Bally’s and watched some Sports Center before finishing up my packing for the morning.
Next: The Final Chapter...believe it or not.
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