Hello Ladies,
Back from Vegas! Quite a change from the upper 90 degree weather to the 60s here in Virginia. Broke this up in parts, as it's appearing to be a little long.
We flew in on Saturday, rented a car and found our way to the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino (this is not the same as The Hotel at Mandalay Bay) where we were to stay. Of the hotels along the strip, it is the first big hotel one comes to after leaving the airport, a very short drive. Not bad.
First impressions, and even second impressions, are not reliable. From the outside - Wow three towers radiating from a central axis, but trying to find the entrance to the place was a trip in itself. There was no direct entrance off the strip (Las Vegas Blvd) but we found the self parking garage in the rear of the hotel. We ended up parking there and left the luggage in the car.
Entering from the garage we found ourselves having to navigate the Casino to find the registration desk. Like most of the casinos, signs pointing the right direction were few and misleading, as they took around the casino floor whereas we could have walk another direction and got there quicker.
After waiting in line, like forever, we registered and in the handouts was a tiny map of the hotel and casino‛s layout. The place was different than you see in the movies. They didn‛t ask if we had luggage, nor ask if we need help with it. At no point did I see anyone looking or acting like a bellboy.
After getting our room keycards, we went to check it out before going to get the luggage. There are three towers, and we were staying on the 28th floor. The elevators to our floor were direct from the CL (casino level) to 17, then went to each floor starting at 17 up to 32. There was a very long line to even get on one of the 8 elevators that went to our floor, so that took forever just to get near one much less on one.
So far, although the place look real nice, I was not overly impressed with things so far and had reservations about recommending this hotel to anyone. But, once we got settled in and after a few days of visiting other hotels and casinos, I would say this is the place to stay. We didn‛t get around to all the hotels, however.
Later that day, we were to have dinner at a steak place on the strip (Smith & Wollensky) as recommended by my sister-in-law. While we were getting unpacked, my daughter called. She had to call my cell phone, because my wife hadn‛t turned hers on yet. She was a little upset that she had to call me to talk to my wife, because she was trying to surprise me with her visit to Vegas. Anyway, I knew nothing was up until we suddenly had a change in dinner plans, and were now headed to a Japanese place (Hikari Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar on Buffalo Dr. (good thing we had a car and a street map).
At first, I though our daughter had just made arrangements for my birthday, but that was still a few days away. But when we walked in and checked on the reservations it was for 4. Aha!
Now, I‛m a little concerned. The next evening was to be my night out to La Cage, enfemme, and my daughter (unlike my son) does not know of my CDing.
Part 2 to follow, maybe .