September 27 - October 11, 2006
Yet another Las Vegas trip report! Over the last two years, I've
spent 13 weeks in Las Vegas, plus another week seeing the sights in the
surrounding country. Most people think I'm crazy to spend two
weeks or more on one trip. However, I've never been bored.
My
biggest problem is not getting to do everything I've planned for.
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This was my third stay at Wynn Las Vegas. No doubt about it, this is one nice hotel.
Registration
Registration is a hotel's first chance to make a good impression, and
in the past Wynn had done a poor job. The registration area felt
crowded and
disorganized; I've waited as little as 5 minutes,
and as much as 15 minutes. This isn't bad by local standards, but
I expect better of Wynn.
I'm happy to
report that my experience was much happier this trip. There were
many more registration clerks than in the past, and the wait was very
short -
perhaps a minute or two. I requested a Strip view on a high
floor, and got room 2453.
When I
checked out at the end of my trip, there was no wait at all.
The
Room
My room was about half way
to the top of the hotel - high enough for a good view of the Strip, as
well as the mountains to the west. Everything was in good working
order. Construction on the Venetian's new tower was well
underway,
but didn't yet prove much of an obstruction. As construction
starts early in the morning, noise might be a concern on lower floors,
or in those rooms furthest south; it was barely audible in my
room. If this concerns you, consider asking for a golf course
view.
To quote
from my last report:
"The room is
very large. Ten foot ceilings make it feel larger still.
The walls have a textured, dark bronze wall paper. The ceiling is
white; the furniture is light colored. One wall is completely taken up
by floor to ceiling windows. The curtains (both sheer and solid)
are electronically controlled by buttons near the bed.
There's a
good amount of drawer space. The dresser itself is somewhere
limited, as one side is devoted to a mini bar. However, there are
two very large night stands with drawers. There is a large
closet, with a safe.
The flat
screen TV is mounted on the wall to the left of the bed. It
swivels to provide a good view from the bed, or anywhere else in the
room.
The A/C is
OK, but if the curtains are opened and the sun is shining into the room
it never gets cold - cool, but I like cold.
There's a
desk, a round table, a sofa, and a large oval footstool (or
something). There are three phones, a FAX, and internet
access. There's a fancy clock radio. If you have an iPod, a
cable from the radio will plug into the iPod and play back your iPod's
music.
The bed is
wonderfully comfortable. It has more pillows than anyone needs,
but the turndown service moves most of them off the bed and out of the
way.
The bathroom
is huge. It has a large shower, a very large tub, two sinks with
a center area and chair, a small flat screen TV, and a scale.
The toilet is in a separate room."
The Rest of the Hotel
If you've read my past trip reports, you know that I like Wynn's layout. It has a much more intimate feel than do its competitors. Of course, "intimate" is a questionable term to use when describing a 3000 room hotel, but Wynn does a good job. Its casino is as large as its competitors (see Casino City for size comparisons), yet feels much cozier. Compared to a place like Bellagio, walks are positively short.
I continue to maintain that Wynn has the best set of restaurants in town. Almost every one of its restaurants is the best, or nearly the best, in its class. Exceptions are its mediocre 24 hour cafe, and perhaps its casual Asian restaurant Red 8 (although I haven't tried enough casual Asian restaurants in Las Vegas to know if any others are better).
The pool is
large, and there were plenty of available lounges on a 90 degree day in
late September.
Wynn makes
heavy use of orchids. It seems to have settled on purple Vandas
as its trademark, but there are also plenty of green Cymbidiums and
pink Phalaenopsis. Roses and other flowers make an appearance
here and there.
Early on,
Wynn was criticized with respect to waits for elevators, taxis, and
valet service. I took to timing these services, to see how things
were going. Both this trip and last trip, elevator service was
excellent. I had one wait that was just over 30 seconds; most
were much less. Taxi service was fast, even on weekends. I
managed to avoid major conventions, so I can't say what happens then.
I can't
comment much on valet service. It was fine the one time I used
it, but I've switched to self parking. Wynn's self park garage is
very convenient, and very close to the room elevators, so there's
really
no need for valet.
Click here to see some pictures of
Wynn Las Vegas from my April 2006 trip
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Rock
Scrambling
There's something about rock
scrambling that keeps me coming back for
more. I think it's a combination of the different kind of
challenges it offers. It's physically demanding; the more
difficult scrambles leave me tired and sometimes sore. It's
mentally
challenging, requiring concentration and, sometimes, sphincter
control. It gets me to places most people don't go. At the
end of the day, I'm tired, relaxed, and in a really good mood.
What is rock
scrambling? It's a little like rock climbing, and a little like
hiking. There are
rocks, huge boulders and even small cliffs to climb, but none are so
difficult
as to require ropes. No previous experience is required, but you
need to be in pretty good shape. I don't view it as particularly
dangerous, but
there's always the chance of injury or of getting lost, so don't go
alone. I
highly recommend Neil Sobelson
of Hike
This!. Neil, a licensed guide, has been doing this for a long
time, knows the
area very well, and is just a whole lot of fun to be around.
He'll tailor your scramble to your interests and ability. Oh
yeah, he also does hikes if you're so inclined.
Red Top Bypass Rock Scramble
I've done most of the standard rock scrambles at Red Rock, so Neil
selected one of his custom scrambles - the Red Top Bypass. It's a
moderate scramble - moderate in length, and only moderately
strenuous. Even though Red Rock can sometimes be crowded, on this
scramble you'll be nearly by yourself. It has some great views,
and I highly recommend it.
Click here
for details of
the Red Top Bypass rock scramble
Unnamed Rock Scramble
The other rock scramble doesn't even have a name. It's located in
the Calico Hills area and winds up on an unnamed peak. Along the
way are some great views, including a couple of arches. It's more
difficult than the Red Top Bypass scramble, but not crazy
difficult. This was my favorite outing of the vacation. If
you're interested, just mention this description
to Neil.
Click here
for details of
the unnamed rock scramble
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Hiking
Red Rock Canyon.
Hiking is the next best thing to rock scrambling,
and Red Rock Canyon
is a great
place for both. I had the opportunity to hike with a group,
acting as sort of an assistant, helping to make sure we had the same
number of people at the end of the hike as at the beginning, more or
less. This was another Neil Sobelson special; it even included an
optional rock scrambling portion.
Click here
for a few pictures
Mount Charleston - Mummy Spring Trail.
At around 10,000 feet, the Mount Charleston area is a lot
cooler than Las Vegas - 20 to 30 degrees cooler. By late
September, it was already a little chilly, but was a refreshing change
from town, where temperatures were still hovering around the 90 degree
mark. Mummy Spring Trail is about 6 miles. Actually, it's
about 0.3 miles, but the only way to get there is to hike part of the
North Loop Trail. That adds another 2.7 miles. Then there's
this annoying need to turn around and go back, so the round trip
distance is 6 miles. The hike is too short to merit a label of
strenuous, but it's steep enough and at a high enough altitude to be a
lot harder than one might think.
If you've never hiked at altitude before, it's worth knowing about
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). It can be a serious problem for
mountain climbers, but even at 10,000 feet can make the unlucky few
feel like they have a bad hangover, with headache and nausea leading
the charge. Click
here for more information on AMS. Having felt this way too
many
times before I even realized what it was, I took a prescription drug
called Diamox. Maybe it worked, maybe the placebo effect came to
the rescue; either way, I was fine.
Click here
for details of
the Mummy Spring Trail hike
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Jet Skiing.
It's a little difficult getting good rental information on the
web. Some information is available, but it's often months old,
poorly presented, and incomplete. Not the sort of thing to give
you a nice warm fuzzy feeling, eh? Hint: Las Vegas forums are
your friend. Pick your favorite forum, and ask questions.
That's what I did, and found people to be very helpful. Between
the forums and Google, I found out that there are several places where
one can rent jet skis, also known as personal water craft (PWC).
In the Lake Mead area, two possibilities are Callville Bay Resort &
Marina in the north, and Las Vegas Boat Harbor in the south. Lake
Mead Marina might also have jet skis, but I'm not sure.
I chose Las Vegas Boat Harbor. It was a fairly easy one hour
drive from the Strip. While reservations are not available, on a
warm Saturday morning in late September there were plenty of jet skis
available. The rate was $65 for one hour, with discounts after
that. With tax and gas, it was about $75 for an hour. I
viewed a quick safety video, then a real live human being gave me a
quick review at the dock. No experience is required; however, the
exercise of common sense would be a good thing. Get thrown from a
jet ski going 50 mph, or worse yet hit someone, and the situation will
not be a happy one.
It took a few minutes to get comfortable and to get used to looking out
for choppy water, but after that it was great! The scenery is
dramatic, and, well... it's just fun zooming around on one of these
things. I spent an hour and a quarter on the water (the kind
rental folks had given me a few extra minutes for free), and that was
enough for my first time. And yes, I did get it up to 50 mph for
a few brief seconds.
·
Click here to see
some of the cars and the courses
·
Fire a Machine Gun!
The Gun
Store, 2900
The whole experience was
pretty strange. I got in a short line, filled in a form which in
effect said that I realized guns were dangerous and I might die,
selected a gun (like I really knew the difference between the
choices!), put on ear and eye protection, and I was ready to go.
I chose a Colt M16 9 mm.
Fifty rounds of ammunition cost $40; 100
rounds go for $65. An instructor took me to the firing range and
showed me how to stand, how to hold the gun, and how to aim. Fire
away!
·
Pinball Hall of Fame.
3330
East
Tropicana
Avenue. "Hi, my name is Larry, and I'm a pinball addict.
It's been 176 days since my last pinball..." Yes, it's
true. I became addicted to pinball machines when I was
five. By the time I was 25, I'd take a vacation day from work
just so I could play pinball all day. Many years later I went
cold
turkey, and didn't touch a machine for over a decade. But then
came the Pinball
Hall of Fame (PHoF).
The PHoF is a non-profit enterprise, a labor of
love by Tim Arnold. Ironically, Tim made his fortune operating
video game parlors during the PacMan era. The PHoF houses about
200 machines, from the 1950's through the 1990's. Now here comes
the good part - you get to play them! Six months ago, I visited
the PHoF for the first time. I swore I'd return. And I
did. Several times. If you in any way had a misspent youth,
or wish you had a misspent youth, then you owe it to yourself to visit
this place.
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LOVE. Mirage. The
newest in the Cirque de Soleil empire, this show is based on the music
of The
Beatles. You can surely find as much information as you want by
searching the web, so I'll stick to an evaluation. If you want
acrobatics and humor, see Mystere.
If you want great acrobatics with a watery theme, see O (or Le Rêve). If you want
acrobatics and great technical feats, see KÀ. If you love
Beatles music, see Love.
I enjoyed Love because I like Beatles
music. Yes, there are some pretty interesting acrobatics, but the
heart of the show is the music. The theater has an excellent
sound system, and the choreography does a good job of supporting the
music. Hint: the most expensive seats are very close to the stage
- so close that it can be difficult to take in some of the
acrobatics. I sat in front and enjoyed it a lot, but the next
cheaper seats, about 6 or 7 rows back, are probably better.
·
Phantom of The Opera. Venetian. Not
long ago, there were high hopes for Broadway
plays in Las Vegas. Wynn had Avenue Q, and was adding Spamalot;
Luxor had Hairspray. Well, Avenue Q and Hairspray quickly bit the
dust, and the future is now cloudy. The Venetian has its hopes
pinned on the smash hit Phantom of The Opera. The Vegas version
has been shortened to 90 minutes, which seems to be the fate for all
shows.
The theater was nice. The performers were good. The songs
were adequate. Hmmmm..."nice"; "good"; "adequate".
Doesn't exactly sound like a glowing review. True enough.
I'm not sure why, but I thought it was no more than OK. When I
really enjoy a play, I stop feeling like an observer and start caring
about the characters. That didn't happen here.
·
Lewis Black.
MGM Grand. Lewis Black is a comedian who uses sarcasm to make fun
of of politicians, and anyone else he can think of. He's most
famous for his appearances on The
Daily Show. Go to his web site, and you can hear him talk about such
topics as Iraq, Michael Jackson, and nipple clamps.
I should really like Lewis Black. This is my kind of humor.
Only it wasn't. I was bored. I think I started to
snore. Apologies to those sitting next to me.
·
Sin City Rollergirls.
Back in
April 2006, I first saw the Sin City Rollergirls, aka The Neander
Dolls, aka the SCRG. For details, click here
and scroll about one third of the way
down. It was just a practice session, but brought back fond
memories of roller derby many years ago. The Fates smiled upon me
this trip, and I managed to see an actual match, versus the Angel City
Derby Girls.
If you like to watch highly polished professionals beating the crap out
of each other, then you've got to go see...something else. If you
want to see a bunch of quirky but obviously competitive people playing
for real, see the SCRG. It was fun, and after about the first
period the rules were easy to follow.
The SCRG are having a bit of trouble finding places for their
matches. They had to play this match at Flamingo Banks
Park. Outdoors at night, under the lights, the pictures I took
were pretty lousy, so here's a repeat from my last report:
Want to see more? I'm not sure how long it will be around, but at
the moment you can see a full 2 hour match between the SCRG (wearing
tiger stripes) and the Atlanta Rollergirls (in red). Click
here, and hope that the link still works.
·
Pure Aloha Fall Festival.
Cannery.
A large number of
Hawaiians have moved to Las Vegas, and an even
larger number come for visits. I don't know why, but I'm glad
they have. There are numerous restaurants serving local Hawaiian
food,
several Hawaiian stores, and even a hotel (The California) that caters
to Hawaiians. There are also festivals throughout the
year. The Pure Aloha Festival is held semiannually. The
fall version includes two nights of concerts and two days of what
amounts to a Hawaiian fair: arts and crafts, food, amusement rides,
and entertainment.
I didn't go to the either of the nightly concerts, so I'll restrict my
comments to the festival: don't bother. For $5, I got admission
to a block long area containing booths selling clothing, knick knacks,
and food. Some of the stuff was mildly interesting, but nothing
you couldn't find at Vegas' Hawaiian stores and restaurants. It
just wasn't worth the long drive from the Strip.
·
BODIES: The Exhibition. Tropicana. When I research things
to do, I check multiple sources, and create a brief description for
myself by combining phrases from these sources. This is what I
came up with for Bodies:
"Twenty one whole-body specimens
and more than 260 organs and partial body specimens, preserved through
a process called polymer preservation, in which all body tissue water
has been replaced with silicone rubber. Close look inside
skeletal, muscular, respiratory, and circulatory systems.
Authentic human specimens illustrate the damage caused to organs by
over-eating, lack of exercise and smoking."
That turned out to be pretty accurate.
I know, it's educational and you're on vacation...but see it
anyway. I spent about 45 minutes staring at the bones, ligaments,
tendons, cartilage, organs and other neat stuff, and reading the
explanations.
All you need to start an [insane] asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people. (My Man Godfrey)
I was generally too tired to do much at night. Other than a few shows, covered above, I only managed to make it to The Bar at Times Square, at New York New York. I believe this was the first dueling piano bar in town. It's probably still the most successful, and I've got to believe the most crowded. I give it a qualified thumbs up. If you like a loud, boisterous crowd, it's worth a stop; if you like a classy place with good music, it's not.
Gambling
Never give a sucker an even break. (Poppy, 1936; spoken by W. C. Fields)
Craps. It's fast, noisy and ill mannered - my kind of game. It also doesn't require a lot of concentration, and is a pretty social game. If you've been afraid to try it, STOP and get thee to one of the classes held at some casinos - or simply go to an empty table and ask for help from the dealers while you play for real. You'll be hooked in no time.
This time around, I played at Wynn, Red Rock, Palms, MGM Grand, Mirage and a couple of others. Wynn remains my choice for best dealers and best overall atmosphere; you don't have to be a whale to be treated well here. As might be expected, minimums are high: $10 if you're really lucky, $15 most of the time, and $25 once in a while. Of course, there are higher minimums available if you're so inclined. I saw one table with a $1,000 minimum, and another table was simply blocked off, with a "reserved" sign.
Sigma Derby. I played some slots here and there, but don't have anything worth mentioning, except for Sigma Derby. This nearly extinct beast is the slot machine equivalent of horse racing. Insert one or more quarters, choose the top two out of six horses to finish, and watch the mechanical horses run around the oval. There are ten stations around the track, so it's a communal game. I played at MGM Grand; I believe there's also a machine at the New Frontier.
You know, if you can sort of muscle your way past the gag reflex, all kinds of food possibilities open up. (Ratatouille, 2007)
I've eaten at a lot of restaurants in Las Vegas - more than 70 different places in the last two years. Sometimes it feels like there aren't any interesting places left to try, but I always seem to find some. That's because Las Vegas has become a very exciting town for high end dining. In the last two years, dozens of good restaurants have opened. Some are as good as, or better than, anything the city used to offer; a few can vie for national honors.
I've eaten at so many places, so frequently, that it's become a bit of a problem in writing these reviews. How do I refer to past visits to the same place? How do you know in which trip report to look? I've decided to take all of my restaurant reviews, for all trips, and combine them. This should make it a lot easier to find what you want, as well as providing more details for those places I've visited multiple times. Click on Larry's Las Vegas Restaurant Guide, and a new window will open.
You can still see the reviews from this trip below. However, the eagle eyed may notice that the links lead you to a different web site (including "lasvegasvacation" in the url). I'm using that location for the new restaurant reviews.
Key:  = A restaurant that I have not reviewed in prior trip
reports. |
Guy Savoy.
Caesars Palace. If Guy Savoy had opened two years ago, it would
have been in a class by itself - both in terms of price, and in terms
of the standard to which it aspires. However, Las Vegas has
changed a lot recently, and there are at least a couple of restaurants
in the same category. Still, Guy Savoy is a magic name in his
native France, and there's been a lot of interest in his new
restaurant.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
·
Alex. Wynn Las
Vegas. Six months ago, I tried Alex for the first time, and
decided it was my second favorite restaurant in Las Vegas (behind
Joël Robuchon at The Mansion). I don't make many return
visits, because there are so many new places to try. However, I
decided to make an exception for Alex.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
·
Okada. Wynn Las
Vegas. I like sushi, but it's got to be good. A
mediocre hamburger is still edible, but mediocre sushi is just plain
nasty. Okada has the finest sushi bar in Vegas, and its tasting
menu
is also very good. This trip, I ate at the sushi bar three
times. Even though I'd eaten there 8 or 9 times before, I still
found some new things to try, and learned a few more bits of sushi
trivia.
Click here for a
description of my meals
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Bartolotta. Wynn Las
Vegas. Bartolotta serves Italian food, but places a heavy
emphasis on fresh fish flown in from the Mediterranean.
Most dishes are very simple, with small amounts of light, fresh
sauces. It ain't cheap: select one of the whole fish, or slipper
lobster, a little wine, and dessert, and you could easily spend $150
per person. However, it's worth it. For your money,
you get one of the better meals in Las Vegas. There are only a
handful of restaurants to which I return again and again; Bartolotta is
one of them.
Click here for a
description of my meals
·
Daniel Boulud Brasserie. Wynn Las
Vegas. Las Vegas has been criticized for the high proportion of
absentee chefs - people who have made names for themselves elsewhere,
opened restaurants in Las Vegas, but seldom actually preside over the
kitchen. Steve Wynn decided to do something about it, requiring
that chefs in his restaurants actually spend most of their time in the
restaurant. Daniel Boulud Brasserie is the exception. My
understanding is that Steve Wynn had talked to Daniel Boulud before the
onsite chef decision had been made. While I agree with Wynn's
policy, this restaurant still works.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
Social House. Treasure
Island. This is part of TI's continuing makeover. It offers
a modern take on Japanese food, as well as the obligatory sushi
bar. However, Social House is a little more than that.
Operated by the same people that run Pure
at Caesars Palace, it's designed to be half restaurant and half
lounge. At night, the dining tables convert into cocktail tables.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
Strip
Steak. Mandalay
Bay. Strip Steak opened while I was in town. It's a new
member of
Michael Mina's empire - the first one specializing in steaks.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
Ichiza. 4335 Spring Mountain
Road, Suite 205, http://www.ichiza.com/.
Ichiza is an izakaya - a
traditional Japanese drinking spot that also serves food. While
some of the dishes will be familiar, many are very different from
Japanese dishes usually encountered in the United States.
Click here for a
description
Café
Ba Ba Reeba. Fashion Show Mall. This informal
restaurant specializes in tapas.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
·
Country Club Grill.
Wynn Las
Vegas. This surprisingly good restaurant is attached to Wynn's
golf club. Don't let that stop you from eating here. My
past meals have been very good, and it's a particularly pleasant place
for breakfast.
This trip's breakfast was marred by a service lapse (pancakes allowed
to cool off before being served), but I still like the place.
Click here for a
description of my meals
·
Tableau. Wynn Las
Vegas. Tableau is another restaurant that exceeded my
expectations the first time I ate there. I'd recommended its
tasting menu for dinner although, like most Wynn restaurants, its
expensive. I'd describe the food as new American. Tableau
also serves breakfast and lunch. This trip, I ate breakfast,
brunch, and lunch at Tableau.
Click here for a
description of my meals
·
Postrio. Venetian.
I suffer from Wolfgang Puck overload. His name pops up so often
that the idea of going to one of his restaurants is unappealing - and I haven't even eaten at any of his
places. Then, one day I was listening to old restaurant reviews
from KNPR, Las Vegas' National Public Radio station. Food critic
John Curtas picked Postrio as restaurant of the year for 2004, and
named one of Postrio's dishes the best entrée of 2005. I
decided it was time to give Mr. Puck a chance.
Click here for a full
description of my meal
·
Bouchon.
Click here for a
description of my meals (including one dinner)
Ghirardelli
Ice Cream. Harrah's Carnaval Court. What is
Nature's most perfect food? It's obviously either ice cream or
chocolate, but why decide? Get a hot fudge sundae and have the
best of both worlds.
Click here for a
description
Miscellany
·
Five
Hundy By Midnight. If you like all things Las Vegas, make sure to check
out this podcast. Tim and Michele Dressen offer a funny, quirky,
frequently informative series. Why, just before this trip they
taught me a new name for an age old game: "thong / not-a-thong /
not-a-thing."
Highlights
Rock scrambles at Red Rock Canyon
Dinner at Guy Savoy
Dinner at Alex
Wynn Las Vegas
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