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Trip#4 for 2023 - Vegas Weekend - In general Vegas sucks

Final leg of my 2 week vacation is a weekend in Vegas.  Arrived Thursday night and went to a couple casino bars and met up with friends.  I’ll hit up the buffet then Shin Lim magic show before heading back home.

  • Day 1 - Arrival, Downtown - Golden Nugget - Decent
  • Day 2 - Vegas Strip - Caesars Bacchanal Buffet - Crap
  • Day 3 - Shin Lim @ Mirage - Meh
  • Day 4 - Departure
Overall - Vegas is Meh unless you spend big.
Overall Vegas is no longer worth it unless you plan to spend at least $500-1,000 per day minimum for a good hotel, food and entertainment.
 
I spent $1200 for food, hotel, transportation and a show for a mediocre experience.  You would think I’d get something good out of that?
 
Only highlights was 1 amazing Old Fashioned at Alto Bar in Caesars.  A decent magic show and that's about it.  Only $100 of what I spent was worth it, the other $1100 was a waste.




1st Day - Flight into LAS from LAX, Stayed Downtown at Golden Nugget

I first flew into LAX on ANA and got to ride on the Star Wars themed R2D2 plane.  Kinda cool, only really thing they gave for that is a paper R2D2 coffee cup.  I slept on the ANA flight from Tokyo so missed the meal and ate some tacos in LAX.  Decent Carne Asada.




Took the Uber to Golden Nugget where I would be staying.  Had a Cheeseburger at the Grille in Golden Nugget and it was delicious.  Surprised me as there are so many burger joints yet this one is amazing.

Took it easy and drank a few beers, ate some good food and hung out with friends.  I’ll do more in the morning.






2nd Day - Lunch at California, Dinner at Bacchanal Buffet @ Caesars and drinking at various Strip Casino’s.  

We ate lunch at California.  Had a Loco Moco, it was acceptable.  Best part was the price was reasonable.


Stayed at Bally’s Horseshoe one night.  Walked about to various casinos on the Strip from Paris, Planet Hollywood, Bellagio and more.  Spent most of my time at Caesar’s and Paris.

Had one of the best Old Fashioned ever at Alto’s in Caesar.  Bacchanal Buffet was good, but not sure if it’s worth the $80 price tag.  I’d say $50 was max it was worth.  The Prime Rib was pathetic.

Overall, the Strip is busy and lots of people but fewer and fewer who want to gamble as most are like me and don’t see the point in gambling.


If not for this amazing Old fashioned, I’d have had a miserable evening.


3rd Day - The Henry Breakfast, Shin Lim Show
If you see a show at Mirage Theater make sure you understand the seating layout and 102 is center and where you want to be.  I got section 103 which is right side of the stage and in a stupid row seat so far to the right I’m staring at a TV screen for most of the show.

I also got tickets in error from Seatgeek which is a scalper site and overpriced and charged me $100 for tickets worth $50.  You could get better seats from Ticketmaster.

I got breakfast at The Henry at Cosmopolitan.  Was not worth the $33 I paid for a plate of eggs & bacon.  Mon Ami was better at Paris.  Even Denny’s would be better.



Shin Lim Show at Mirage was okay.  It’s worth $50 and overpaying for $100 on a scalper site just upsets me now as it was crappy seats.  I couldn’t enjoy the show as I kept thinking I paid double for this and half the theatre was empty.

The old fashioned at the Still in Mirage was mediocre.  Too much maple syrup taste.  Ruined my already worsening mood.


Had some pizza and beer at Main Street.  Beer was decent and pizza okay.  The price was good so it made it fair.



4th Day - Departure
I have an early flight out.  This will be my last personal trip to Vegas.  I’ll visit if it’s for business, but otherwise it’s a run down place not worth the price.  It was something special maybe 10-20 years ago.  Now?  No.

My 5th time to Vegas and want it to be last time.  Still, there used to be magic in this place, maybe it requires a lot more money but I'm not sure if I would want to burn $1k per day to make it worth it?  You could go so many other places for that price and have a more interesting and amazing experience.

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