Skip to main content

Vegas trip report '08

As we spend our last morning in Las Vegas getting ready to head for home, I can't help but feel somewhat disappointed in this years trip.

Oh, I don't know! Maybe I've just become too finicky in my old age, and easily disappointed when things don't meet up to expectations, especially since the Wine Spectator Grand Tour (our main reason for coming to Vegas this year) was great. We got to taste so many top wines you don't often get to taste, including the 2003 Casanova De Neri, Tenuta Nuova Vineyard, Brunello de Montacino, and the 2004 Joseph Phelps Insignia, just to name a few.

Plus we got to see Jersey Boys, which I have been wanting to see for a long while, and by itself may have been worth the trip [IOW, I highly recommend it], so I can't complain too much.

But I remember last years trip to Las Vegas, which incidentally was exactly one year ago this weekend, as being so much more enjoyable, and that was principally due of the choice of hotels.

Since the main reason for coming to Las Vegas this year was to attend Wine Spectator Grand Tour, being held at the Venetian, that is where we decided to stay, instead of the Wynn, where we stayed last year.

But from the moment we arrived at the Venetian, to an entranced mobbed with cars, taxis and limos dropping people off, to the private check in area (I booked the concierge level), which wasn't all that private, to the exorbitantly long walk to get to the room, and then the same exorbitantly long walks back to everything, I just knew I booked the wrong hotel.

Oh I know, you're probably thinking you don't go to Las Vegas to stay in your room. You go for the shows, the gambling and the food, which were good, and even though the Venetian is a very nice hotel, with big and luxurious rooms, it's the overall hotel ambiance that sets the stage for me, and the Venetian just didn't measure up.

Still the trip was worthwhile, I just believe it would have been even more enjoyable, had we stayed at the Wynn.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Comments

Becky said…
So, other than the long walk, you had a good time?
Marc said…
Oh yeah. It was fun, and Jersey Boys definitely made the trip. I just think I would have been happier had I stayed at the Wynn.

Of course some of my disappointment could have had something to do with the fact I didn't win any money. :(
Becky said…
I find it rather ironic that for someone who exercises DAILY you would complain about walking!

You crack me up.
The Venetian tries really hard and certainly is one of the best resorts on the Las Vegas strip. However, I agree: It isn't Wynn.

Wynn Las Vegas is in a class by itself. Not just for Las Vegas, but it holds its own against many of the top resorts in the world. This despite having thousands of rooms (when most top-rated resorts are boutique size).

Steve Wynn knows what he's doing! Couldn't agree with you more.

Ted Newkirk
Managing Editor
http://www.accessvegas.com
Marc said…
Thanks Ted!

It's good to know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Popular posts from this blog

The results are in

And I am iron deficient, big time. [Which would account for my low hemoglobin] Test Result Ref Range IRON 30 59-158 mcg/dL TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY 231 250-420 mcg/dL IRON SAT 13 20-50 % My Ferritin levels were good, but that could be because Ferritin is also an "acute phase reactant", that is sometimes increased with acute or chronic disease. Folate and B12 levels were also within the normal range. The only problem now is determining what is causing the iron deficiency, which in the case of men, is [very] rare. My oncologist has given me a Globin Fecal test to perform, and has scheduled me for a consultation with a colorectal surgeon to discuss performing a colonoscopy, which could be problematic because of my large spleen. In the mean time, I've decided to start taking an iron supplement, it's only the quantity that is causing me some consternation. I've been told by a very knowledgeable person that to overcome an iron deficiency, I need to be taking 300 mg o...

This is just one of those days

It's one of those days you just want to sit around the house and do absolutely nothing, or watch some movies you have recorded. It might even be a good day to read a book, if you were so inclined, which I am not. As you should be able to see from the view out my bedroom window, it is raining outside. The rain started last night, and hasn't let up since. I can't complain too much though, as this is the rainy season, and we do need the rain. Plus Monday's are typically my day off from exercise, so I will surprise everyone, and not complain. I just feel sorry for anyone who might be visiting from, say Argentina, like a friend of mine (fellow MCLer), who happens to be in Cambria today. He might be a little disappointed. Fortunately the rest of the week, when he will be in LA, will be nice, and the real intent of his trip was to visit his son in Tahoe, who works at one of the ski resorts, and ski, so I know he's not complaining too much either. This weather will actually...

When is enough, enough?

Today I learned, Lance Armstrong, the most drug tested athlete in the history of sport, is being accused of doping, again . This time by the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), who claim they have collected blood samples from him in 2009 and 2010 that were “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.” Really! What took them so long? The French have been trying to make allegations of drug doping stick for years, ever since he won his first Tour d'France, but to no avail. And now the USADA claims to have evidence to support that claim, and they've waited almost 3 years before releasing this evidence. Needless to say, I am skeptical. Then there's this from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack eventually would increase Medicare and Social Security spending, slightly. Eventually? What is the CBO suggesting here? That we should encourage smoking, because if we don't, in...