Travel FanboyEditor’s note: Listener James is back with another insightful trip report. He added some compliments to me at the end of the original version. I omitted them as I have a big enough head already. Enjoy!
I went to Las Vegas Memorial Day week. The first night I said downtown at the Cal. I have never stayed here before but I really enjoyed my stay. The newly remodeled rooms are very nice. Modern furnishing, the bathroom is large and well designed, as well as having a spacious enough room. The view was like all hotels downtown nothing special. I have always found the food offerings here solid. We ate at the California Noodle House. This is a very underrated Asian restaurant. Good food large selection and reasonable price, the average price for dinner $16. The gaming selection both tables and machines are great. Low limit table games is an added bonus. Drinking at the Cal is always affordable with beers on a Saturday only $3 for the special. Other good features are the connection via sky bridge to Main Street. The pool is a pool but one of the few in downtown.
While downtown I finally did the Mob Museum. I really enjoyed this and learned lots that I did not know about the mob. They have many interactive attractions. I recommend visitors do this at least one time. We spent about 3 hours there then off to Container Park to have drinks at Oak and Ivy. This is my favorite bar in Las Vegas the best hand crafted drinks in town as far as I am concerned.
The next day we were off to Sam’s Town. I have never stayed there before but wanted to try something different. This was different, not near as much energy as downtown but the hotel was nice. A very large casino floor with many video poker and slot machines. I looked over the property checked out the bowling alley, food court and restaurants. The layout of the property is different than most with many nooks and crannies which made it kind of fun to explore. Overall a fine enough property.
Next, we were off to SLS to have a few cocktails at Monkey Bar and eat at Cleo. During the entire month of May SLS had 50% off all restaurants (except Bazaar Meat) and bars for retired or active duty military. We took advantage of this. The drinks at Monkey Bar where very good as normal and the food at Cleo (Mediterranean food) was excellent. I have never eaten there and thought it may not be there for long with rumors of a sale in the air. I am very glad I got to try this restaurant before it closes and with drinks and food being 50% this was well worth the trip.
On day three we checked into our final hotel for the trip the Flamingo. We had strip view go rooms. Many people have stayed in these rooms so I will not go into great detail. We went to Top Golf for the second time and had another great time. This is well worth the money especially if prior to noon since it is a lower rate. My wife also had a Groupon for a massage at the Palms. She said this was one of the best experience in Vegas she has had. A wonderful massage and access to all the amenities. I took advantage of the Travelzoo food deal for BLT Steak again and was not disappointed.
On our last day we had a cabana reserved with a Groupon for Bally’s pool. There was a problem with the reservation and we could not get the cabana, but the pool manager did a great job. We got a refund on the cabana and he gave us 2 day beds and free bottle of vodka. The pool is not a party pool but is a relaxing pool a good place to spend a day.
A few other notable events. I played more video poker bar top at the Cosmo and 3535 at the Linq. I really prefer Cosmo not only for the drinks but for the ticket voucher system. It takes all the guess work out of if you can get a free drink. As you know all Caesars properties have the light system so you never know if you light is on, the ticket system is much better and more user-friendly. I also went to Ellis Island for the Vegas Fanboy deal and got a free beer and shot. Thank you for that.
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