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From: Joe Marley on 13 Jul 2010 04:47
This was really two trips about a week apart but it's just easier to
combine them into one report.
I arrived in Vegas with a quasi-high maintenance female pal and
immediately met the imfamous DoubleDownNow of this group who was staying
in the Venetian. Through his vast resources he snagged a sub-$100 a day
rate at the Encore for us. We checked in and soon after visited the
pool.

Encore

The female pal was thrilled with the Encore from start to finish -- and
noticed things I wouldn't have.-- such as that one could get to the room
from the front desk area without laboring through a casino maze. The
Encore is decorated similarly to the Wynn but with a slightly hipper
vibe -- Lot's of red floral & butterfly carpet and black faux croc
wallcoverings with white trim. It sounds awful but it looks great.
The room had electric drapes and a few other gadgets, a fantastic
mattress and a very nice sitting area by the window.

The Encore casino is a smaller, less busy version of the Wynn with
similar minimums. I'm not sure why it needed to exist but its certainly
pleasant.

The Encore pool is gorgeous. The main pool is very similar to the Wynn
but quiet, pleasant, and largely child-free. Around the bend is the
Euopean/Topless pool. There the vibe changes dramatically as every male
between the ages of 21-50 is camped out in sunglases scanning for the
occasional "European bather." This sees to make all but the most
committed exhibitionist females uncomfortable so there were few indulgng
the crowd. There's a nice bar and some $10 craps tables and $15
blackjack towards the center of the pool which makes topless craps
theretically possible. The Beach Club was open but none of us felt the
need to shell out the $20 cover to check out another pool.

DoubledownNow rejoined us later at Sinatra's for the price fix tasting
menu and wine pairing -- a delight and a bargain if you don't mind
eating a bit early -- I think the cut off was 7:45 to get seated for it
but double check -- i could have been earlier. One of our party is a
sometimes vegitarian and Sinatra's was kind enough to adapt the menu to
her needs.

We ate another night at SW and it, too was terrific with people raving
about the potatos of all things. Just one note --- if you want to sit
on the outdoor terrace by the lake it's smoking so you have to deal with
the occasional cigarette or sit inside.

We went over to the Mirage to see Terry Fador the following night --
This is a great show (impressions with pupits) and one of the best
you'll see in Vegas (as long a you speak English -- an Asian couple in
front of us was clueless. I now understand why the Cirque shows
proliferated as they work for everyone). We cabbed it over to the
HardRock to eat at their steakhouse who's name escapes me at the moment
-- its a number maybe Eighty-eight? It was great. We ordered a big
raw bar appitizer, champagne, and mostly seafood entres and everybody
enjoyed the meal thoroughly except for Doubledownow's date who --I
think-- ate one shrimp and a sip of champagne because she was entered in
a bikini contest the following day. The bill was also pretty reasonable
for both food and drink -- (as compared to other casino restaurants)
this place is a find.

A few odds and ends before leaving Encore - the pool drinks were good
but a sandwich ordered off the pool menu was pretty meager. The Wynn
lunch buffet was good as always. Encore is arguably the nicest place to
stay on the Strip right now. On to Aria.

Aria

The women departed and friend Scott arrived after getting longhauled
through the tunnel from the airport to Aria. I made sure that cabbie
got the exact fare and no tip right to the quarter. We checked into
Aria in City Center. There's nothing specifically horrible about Aria
except that its in City Center. But there's nothing to specifically
recommend either. Everything is built on a huge scale which makes
walking to your elevator or the buffet or the pool a chore. The room
was nice and looks like a better appointed, bigger verson of the
renovated Mirage rooms - kind of art deco hip. Lots of electronic
gizmos and a modern, if a little stark all stone bathroom.

The pool is very large and pretty nice. The casino is elegant but very
dark and huge. It had surprisingly low minimums ($5 craps) during the
day. The buffet was very good for both breakfast and lunch. Todd
English's pub was OK but kind of lacking in atmosphere (like an airport
British pub) and a bit overpriced. As I said earlier, there's nothing
terrible about Aria but there's nothing to really gush over with it
either. Everything is nice enough, although built on an enormous scale
but its all rather bland. I came away thinking that this is what some
"show resort" that was built for foreigners in a communist country
would look like. And as said before, Aria has one huge drawback -- if
you stay there you're trapped in the middle of City Center. If you're
there anyway eat the buffet but don't enter City Center if you can avoid
it.

Crystals/City Center

Crystals (the mall) and City Center are a disaster. Picture huge
cavernous expanses of white sheetrock leading through a maze wth an
occasional near empty store broken up only by completely empty
restaurants on teakwood landings in the center. It reminded me of the
city in the 70s movie Logan's Run. When you try to get out of Crystals
on foot, you need to actually climb dirty outdoor stairs similar to
those of a Myan pyramid in order to get back down to the Strip. I'm 46
and in 102 degree heat it was daunting to me -- I can only imagine what
a thrill it is for kids and some seniors. There's only two ways out
without scaling the pyramid. One is to take the tram to Bellagio or
Monte Carlo -- in itself a walk and a pain. The other "secret" way is
to go into the Tiffanys store in Crystals and go down their spiral
starcase and out the front door to the Strip.(I'm sure they're thrilled
that I'm sharing this but at least their otherwise empty store will see
some traffic).

Pawn Stars

Scott had come to Vegas because he emailed photos of an object to Pawn
Stars and they had an interest in buying it. He got on the show and I'm
obliged to secrecy as to any spcifics of his deal until the show airs.

The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop is located on Las Vegas Blvd about 6
blocks south of Freemont. You can take the Duece to it from the Strip
area. It's a functioning pawn shop (we saw people sell stuff and a guy
buy a 10K Rolex while we were there). I met Rick and Chumly and they
were both very nice guys and will pose for pictures if they're there. I
didn't meet "The Old Man." -- I'm told he's in during morning hours and
leaves about 1PM. Lots of the stuff they've bought on the show (the
south pole marker; the hill climbng mini bike, etc.) is on display at
the store. And if you see something you like, every price is very
negotiable -- 20% below the tag is only a starting point. As you'd
guess, they sell shirts, magnets, shot glasses, etc. and they'll
autograph them for you on the spot.

Freemont Street/Hogs & Heffers

We walked from the Pawn shop down to Freemont. They're doing a "Summer
of the 70s" theme with tribute bands and the occasional genuine 70s
artist performing on the stage. (Blue Oyster Cult plays labor day
weekend -- I think). We went over to Hogs and Heffers bar (the original
Coyote Ugly-type bar) just off Freemont toward the shuttered Lady Luck)
for one drink but stayed all night drinking shots and singing along to
the Smokey & the Bandit theme, Convoy, and Johnny Cash with our
megaphone equipped foul-mouthed barmaids Tiffany and Angel who
occasionally hopped up on the bar.

Bills/Big Elvis

I take everybody I'm in Vegas with to see Big Elvis at Bills -- its the
best free act in the city and Big Elvis has shed enough weight that he's
now animated and just a great entertainer. Scott paticipated in the
show and went home with photos and a certificate to prove it. A related
note -- Bills has some very good classic rock cover bands (one was
called StageFright) playing at night where Big Elvis performs. Its a
great place to grab a cheap beer and relax a while.

The Tropicana

An inadvertant booking error had me scrambling for rooms for an extra
weekend and with less than 24 hours notice I was able to book the
Tropicana through TripRes.com (A good site) for an average of under $40
a night Thurs through Monday (plus the $9 resort fee). I have a lot of
good things to say about the Trop, alhough not about the room. My room
was in the Island Tower and was outfitted before Reagan's first term and
minimally maintained since then. But that's where the criticism stops.
And remember, a room at a 50-year old Howard Johnson in Clifton NJ costs
more.

The rest of the property is shaping up very nicely. The pool has been
renovated and is IMO one of the nicest on the Strip because in addition
to being huge it has real grass and flowers and combines that old Vegas
feel with the new higher end resort look (chase lounges with cushions
and terry cloth covers -- even Encore didn't have that). There was a
free Saki tasting event going on the first evening I checked in at the
pool (BTW Saki cocktails taste awful but have some appeal when served by
bikini-clad Latin hostesses -- go figure.)

The previosly tacky walkway to the pool is now covered in white marble
and the casino is getting a badly needed facelift as is the exterior of
the property. The hotel and casino staff seem to have been retrained in
the Steve Wynn school of friendly attentiveness and it all combines to
give a good impression. $5 craps 24/7 is also a plus. If you are
bargain hunting this should be your new destination -- Next trip (sans
female -- who now doesn't want to stay anywhere but the Encore) I think
I'm going to pay a little more and try to get a renovated room here.

Harrah's 24 Hour Buffet pass; TI Buffet

Harrah's offers a 24 hour buffet pass for $35.00 (if you have a Harrahs
card; $40 if you don't) good at all their properties. I got one & if
you're so inclined to do so my suggestion is to get it as late as
possible on the first night so you can do a
dinner-breakfast-lunch-dinner deal and really maxize your investment. I
wound up using it three times (Paris dinner; Planet Hollywood Lunch; &
Harrahs dinner) so I got my moneys worth. The Paris buffet has declined
a little (dreaded peel and eat shrimp now served). The Planet Hollywood
formerly Alladin buffet is still as good as always. Harrah's was fine
too.

The TI buffet is not worth eating unless you want sushi. It's some
Japanese-fusion themed buffet with meager offerings. Other than the
sushi (not my cup of tea) and the salads prepared to order gimick in
lieu of a salad bar (my cobb salad was nice) it's not worth your time or
your money.

The Peppermill, on the other hand, is always worth a trip for their
omlets, among ther things (try the Maserati omlet) I sat down at the
counter after Sunday mass at the cathederal only to experience a freak
black out on that portion of the Strip. BTW, whether you're Catholic or
Agnostic or whatever one interesting thing to check out at the
Cathederal (just past the Wynn on Cathederal Drive) is that ithe Church
has one stained glass window featuring al the casinos at the time it was
erected (the Landmark, Dunes, etc.) because it was built with donations
from the casino owners at the time. Only in Vegas.

Gambling took a back seat to other pursuits this trip which may have
been a good thing given most of the luck I was having. Fortunately, a
relative of mine is getting married in Excalibur th end of this month so
I'll be back soon enough.



From: dixie hollins on 13 Jul 2010 05:55
Joe, the best written report I have read on this website in the last
six months. Thank you so much. dixie.
From: George Leppla on 13 Jul 2010 08:41
On 7/13/2010 3:47 AM, Joe Marley wrote:
> This was really two trips about a week apart but it's just easier to
> combine them into one report.


Great report... thanks for taking the time.

I am glad to hear about the rejuvenation of the Trop. I wish someone
would do the same thing to the Plaza.

George L
From: Thomas W. on 13 Jul 2010 11:36
George Leppla <george(a)cruisemaster.com> wrote:
> On 7/13/2010 3:47 AM, Joe Marley wrote:
>> This was really two trips about a week apart but it's just easier to
>> combine them into one report.
>
>
> Great report... thanks for taking the time.
>
> I am glad to hear about the rejuvenation of the Trop. I wish someone
> would do the same thing to the Plaza.
>
> George L

Wonderful report, Joe. Where did you find that great Encore rate?

Thomas
From: JK Coney on 13 Jul 2010 11:37
Thanks for the effort!

--
JK Sinrod
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com


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