Back to HOT Las Vegas: We Can't Get Enough

I've been to Las Vegas a lot. Too many times to count at this point. Due to close proximity to San Diego it was always a popular getaway spot. And then my parents moved there. Last year I went three times!!  Over the years I've stayed at Flamingo, Tropicana, The Orleans, Monte Carlo (which is now Park MGM), Polo Towers, Planet Hollywood, Bellagio, Excalibur, Hilton Grand Vacation Resort, The Venetian, Treasure Island, Palazzo, Caesar's Palace, and this time we added Mandalay Bay to the list. 

My younger sister was in Vegas for her yearly six week stay with my parents, so off we went to join her there. Three nights in Vegas. Two nights at my parents house and one night on the strip. I'm good with just one night. I could probably even do two, but in short spurts Las Vegas just doesn't get old for me. I love the hot summer nights, the pool day with the expensive drinks, the good food and overall opulence of the place. Most weekend nights at home, I'd rather be sat on a couch drinking wine and watching a movie. I enjoy going out when it happens, I just don't have the energy or the desire to do it all that often. A Las Vegas night on the strip gives me that one night I party it up and stay out. The staying out is not nearly as wild or as late as it used to be, but I still have a blast and I enjoy the opportunity to see how long I can hang.

On Saturday morning after a nail painting session we checked in and headed straight to the pool because of course. The pool area at Mandalay Bay is pretty great. They have a wave pool, a lazy river, and multiple other pools so there is plenty of room for everyone to hang. They are not even trying to offer you any shade. Never mind that it's 107 degrees outside! I'll never understand how people can lay out in that type of heat under the sun for extended periods of time. I start sweating after five minutes. The lounger is just a place to put my stuff, because it's too hot to actually lounge. Unless you pay for a cabana you are in the pool, because that's the ONLY way to beat the heat. We had a fun time in the pool though. Time flew by and then we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner reservations. The rooms at Mandalay Bay are nice. They are a decent size. Nothing spectacular, although I imagine that I have been quite spoiled by the Venetian/Palazzo and the newly remodeled rooms at Caesar's Palace. And being towards the edge of the strip is no big deal because there is a free shuttle available. Hotel Room Tour here.

 

MJ picked Tom Coliccio's CraftSteak at MGM Grand. Yes, my eyeballs about fell out of my head when I saw the prices on the menu, but also yes, it was very good and I'd recommend going if you don't mind spending a lot of money on food. At those prices it had better be good and it really was. That food was delicious. Every single thing we got was so tasty. The service was excellent. It was an amazing fine dining experience. And much thanks to MJ for footing the bill. Food tour here.

For someone as cheap as I am you'd think that I would never want to go to Vegas because there are so many ways that they throw you to the wolves with ridiculous money grabs. Let me list the ways:

-Most of the restaurants on the strip are pretty pricey. Food and drink will cost you. Sometimes the cost for a single drink is not much less than a whole food item.

-On top of resort fees and all the other fees, most of the hotels charge for parking now. This was not always the case. They hose you at every other level so it was nice and a bit shocking they offered free parking for as long as they did, but those days are over. $15.00 charge for that.

-Every inch of the mini fridge in our hotel was packed with alcohol for purchase. They even had the nerve to have a sign up saying that they could charge you $50.00 per day for storing items in the fridge. WTH? It's over 100 degrees outside you know people are drinking alcohol and you can't even provide me a free place to keep water cold? We did put a few water bottles in there and it is possible that it tripped the system because they tried to charge me $12 for a Sierra Mist and $10.00 for a sparkling water we did not drink.

-It's hot as hell, but they'd much rather let you burn than provide any umbrellas or shade at the pool because they want you to pay for it. Cabana's at Mandalay Bay cost $650.00. There were exactly two small permanent shade structures in the entire pool area, that were taken of course. And that was it. Burn baby burn!!

-Of course you can't bring in your own food and drink because they want you to pay for that too. The drinks at Mandalay were only $23.00 each! Yes, I said only because last time they were closer to $28.00.

And did I mention our round trip tickets there from San Diego were $400 each? We booked it exactly four weeks out. Maybe that was too late? And sure I had the audacity to want to depart San Diego in the evening after working hours, and not want to leave Las Vegas to return home at 6:00 AM, but I've flown across the entire United States for that price. We had $200.00 off vouchers from Southwest cancelling our flights last year, otherwise I probably would not have been able to stomach paying that much.

Can Vegas be expensive? Yes. Are there ways to cut costs? Yes. For example, choosing a Friday night (or any other night for that matter) rather than a Saturday night saves money on hotel. There are less expensive non fine dining restaurants to eat at, but unless you want one of the fast food places it's still a bit on the high end. Is it annoying how much of a money grab the place is? Yes. Will I keep going back. YES! I still love it and we have our eye on the Bellagio for our next strip night. 

We didn't make it very long staying out much past dinner, but we'll try again next time.

We spent the rest of the time at mom and dad's. We all went to breakfast on our last morning there. It was a great visit. I'm always happy when I get a chance to spend time with family. Thanks goodness there were no major travel issues this time around. One short time change on the way there, and then it took a long time to depart so we arrived home a bit late, but no big deal. 

 

 

I got to see my family in May too! Little sis was in town for a wedding, so mom and dad came to visit and we got to spend Mother's Day together.