My wife I are fresh off four nights in Vegas. We were originally supposed to travel with two other couples but they had to back out for different reasons. So this was the first time we've ever gone alone.
The first two nights were spent at Mandarin Oriental in City Center and the next two nights were spent at the Skylofts at MGM. I’ll post a day-by-day report that details our hotel stays, our meals, and our pool party/night club experiences.
Day One
We left Charlotte at 7:30 AM on Friday after a free night’s stay at the Ritz Carlton the night before. We flew direct on US Airways and went first class both ways. I know US Airways gets a bad rap at times, but our experience was great overall.
We jumped a long security line at both airports and our luggage was the first off the conveyor following both flights. Our flight to Vegas arrived on time, while our return home arrived 30 minutes early. Their first class prices have come way down recently and we found this to be money well spent for a long flight.
Our driver from Presidential met us in baggage claim and I have no complaints about that experience. I booked a one way Escalade transfer since we’d be taking the Skylofts limo back to the airport. The price was reasonable and our driver was nice enough even if not particularly memorable. Short ride to City Center. Tipped him $20 and made our way into the hotel.
I booked our rooms through the American Express Fine Hotels program, which at Mandarin entitled us to a room upgrade at check-in (if available), a $100 spa credit, a daily breakfast credit and a 4:00 PM late checkout time. Check in is on the 23rd floor and that area provides a great view of the strip. Since it was daytime and was going to be a hot day, they had the shades down but they are sheer so you can still enjoy the view.
We arrived at the hotel around 10:00 AM. While there were some rooms available for immediate check-in, I told the girl at the front desk that we were willing to wait until later in the day to check in if it meant we could get a better room. She informed me that she could upgrade me to a premier room on a high floor, which was a one category jump from the strip view room I booked. So we went changed into our bathing suits, went to Liquid and chose to check in afterward.
I’ll preface this report by saying I’'m good friends with one of the club owners at 1 OAK, and he'’s able to set us up with some very favorable deals at Light Group venues on non-holiday weekends. We still take good care of people from a tip standpoint where appropriate, but these deals save us a ton of money on minimums.
I use Pearce Cleaveland at Liquid and he always takes great care of us. In fact, he made most of our reservations on this trip and was perfect to work with. He had sent me a text the day before letting me know he was holding a cabana for us even though it was just my wife and me. While it was more space than we really needed, it was great to have a shaded area to go into when we got too hot, not to mention the TV, the refrigerator, the outlet charge our phones, etc... We spent most of our time on the daybed and in the small pool in front of the cabana.
Friday was a slower day overall at Liquid but it was perfect for us since we’d been up since about 4:30 EST. We weren’t looking for a blowout party right off the bat. So we enjoyed the cabana, ate some great food and made some new friends in the cabana next to us.
First pitcher of the trip in the cabana at Liquid...
IMG_20130531_122251_zpsa7d06425.jpg
Love the fries at Liquid...
IMG_20130531_144216_zps1103fda9.jpg
Pearce told us they were having the “US Weekly Hot Bodies Issue” party the next day and that it would be slammed. Since we were planning on coming back to Liquid, that was exactly what we wanted to hear. Unfortunately, he also told us they were losing the three smaller cabanas to US Weekly crew, which meant we were going to have a daybed on Saturday. Our spend just wasn’t high enough to justify one of the bigger cabanas on a Saturday. No worries though.
After finishing up at Liquid around 5:00, we headed to Mandarin to check in. Upon arriving in room 1921, we found the room to our liking for the most part. It was a bit on the small side by Vegas standards, but it was designed extremely well. Everything we needed was included in the room from the technology, to high quality linens, to the incredible bathroom. Unfortunately, while the premier room we were given was bigger than the strip view room I booked, the view was a step down. Instead of looking out towards the City Center and the buildings beyond it, our primary view was of the Polo Towers and its surrounding buildings.
That night we had 9:00 reservations at Hakkasan restaurant followed by 1 OAK. Before dinner, we stopped by the Mandarin Bar, which is also on the 23rd floor. It's a laid back atmosphere but the scenery was damn good. The view is also great:
IMG_20130531_204241_zps3a678068.jpg
The vibe at Hakkasan wasn'’t quite what I expected. I thought it would be more like STK as far as the DJ goes, but the level of the music was substantially lower. The restaurant is also difficult to navigate and feels like a maze, but I’m sure we would know our way around better the second time around.
We had a very knowledgeable server and she made some menu recommendations to help us since there were so many choices. We ended up ordering several different items and shared them. While Chinese isn’t our favorite type of food, we did enjoy the meal. On the way out my wife needed to use the bathroom and I was standing near the exit waiting on her, I realized I was right beside Tiesto and a few others I didn’t recognize. Initially, I thought one of others was Calvin Harris, but I don’t think it was. I didn’t want to bother him, so I didn’t ask for a photo or anything like that, but it was pretty cool to see him.
From there we took a car to The Mirage. Since it was just the two of us, my buddy set it up where we could sit at one of the owners tables behind the DJ. Jeff Tomastik, the VIP Director, said they weren’t quite ready for us when we arrived around 11:15 since my buddy’'s partner wasn’t there yet, so we headed to Stack for a couple of drinks and came back around Midnight. On the way in I was able to say hello to Joey Orr. He said he would stop by our table later in the night, which he did, but unfortunately we were already gone by the time he got there.
We had been to 1 OAK before, but this was an even better experience being behind the DJ. Our table looked out over the dance floor and offered us a perfect view of the majority of the club. DJ Karma was on the decks, and his open format style is perfect for our tastes. He played a lot of hip hop but mixed in enough top 40 and house music to please everyone.
View from our table...
IMG_20130531_235258_zpsc242bf7d.jpg
Unfortunately, we were both exhausted because of the time change even before getting to 1 OAK, so we didn’t last nearly as long as we wanted to. We called it a night a little before 2:00 AM and headed back to the hotel.
Coming next: a packed Liquid, a great meal at Mix and an unbelievable night at Light
The first two nights were spent at Mandarin Oriental in City Center and the next two nights were spent at the Skylofts at MGM. I’ll post a day-by-day report that details our hotel stays, our meals, and our pool party/night club experiences.
Day One
We left Charlotte at 7:30 AM on Friday after a free night’s stay at the Ritz Carlton the night before. We flew direct on US Airways and went first class both ways. I know US Airways gets a bad rap at times, but our experience was great overall.
We jumped a long security line at both airports and our luggage was the first off the conveyor following both flights. Our flight to Vegas arrived on time, while our return home arrived 30 minutes early. Their first class prices have come way down recently and we found this to be money well spent for a long flight.
Our driver from Presidential met us in baggage claim and I have no complaints about that experience. I booked a one way Escalade transfer since we’d be taking the Skylofts limo back to the airport. The price was reasonable and our driver was nice enough even if not particularly memorable. Short ride to City Center. Tipped him $20 and made our way into the hotel.
I booked our rooms through the American Express Fine Hotels program, which at Mandarin entitled us to a room upgrade at check-in (if available), a $100 spa credit, a daily breakfast credit and a 4:00 PM late checkout time. Check in is on the 23rd floor and that area provides a great view of the strip. Since it was daytime and was going to be a hot day, they had the shades down but they are sheer so you can still enjoy the view.
We arrived at the hotel around 10:00 AM. While there were some rooms available for immediate check-in, I told the girl at the front desk that we were willing to wait until later in the day to check in if it meant we could get a better room. She informed me that she could upgrade me to a premier room on a high floor, which was a one category jump from the strip view room I booked. So we went changed into our bathing suits, went to Liquid and chose to check in afterward.
I’ll preface this report by saying I’'m good friends with one of the club owners at 1 OAK, and he'’s able to set us up with some very favorable deals at Light Group venues on non-holiday weekends. We still take good care of people from a tip standpoint where appropriate, but these deals save us a ton of money on minimums.
I use Pearce Cleaveland at Liquid and he always takes great care of us. In fact, he made most of our reservations on this trip and was perfect to work with. He had sent me a text the day before letting me know he was holding a cabana for us even though it was just my wife and me. While it was more space than we really needed, it was great to have a shaded area to go into when we got too hot, not to mention the TV, the refrigerator, the outlet charge our phones, etc... We spent most of our time on the daybed and in the small pool in front of the cabana.
Friday was a slower day overall at Liquid but it was perfect for us since we’d been up since about 4:30 EST. We weren’t looking for a blowout party right off the bat. So we enjoyed the cabana, ate some great food and made some new friends in the cabana next to us.
First pitcher of the trip in the cabana at Liquid...
IMG_20130531_122251_zpsa7d06425.jpg
Love the fries at Liquid...
IMG_20130531_144216_zps1103fda9.jpg
Pearce told us they were having the “US Weekly Hot Bodies Issue” party the next day and that it would be slammed. Since we were planning on coming back to Liquid, that was exactly what we wanted to hear. Unfortunately, he also told us they were losing the three smaller cabanas to US Weekly crew, which meant we were going to have a daybed on Saturday. Our spend just wasn’t high enough to justify one of the bigger cabanas on a Saturday. No worries though.
After finishing up at Liquid around 5:00, we headed to Mandarin to check in. Upon arriving in room 1921, we found the room to our liking for the most part. It was a bit on the small side by Vegas standards, but it was designed extremely well. Everything we needed was included in the room from the technology, to high quality linens, to the incredible bathroom. Unfortunately, while the premier room we were given was bigger than the strip view room I booked, the view was a step down. Instead of looking out towards the City Center and the buildings beyond it, our primary view was of the Polo Towers and its surrounding buildings.
That night we had 9:00 reservations at Hakkasan restaurant followed by 1 OAK. Before dinner, we stopped by the Mandarin Bar, which is also on the 23rd floor. It's a laid back atmosphere but the scenery was damn good. The view is also great:
IMG_20130531_204241_zps3a678068.jpg
The vibe at Hakkasan wasn'’t quite what I expected. I thought it would be more like STK as far as the DJ goes, but the level of the music was substantially lower. The restaurant is also difficult to navigate and feels like a maze, but I’m sure we would know our way around better the second time around.
We had a very knowledgeable server and she made some menu recommendations to help us since there were so many choices. We ended up ordering several different items and shared them. While Chinese isn’t our favorite type of food, we did enjoy the meal. On the way out my wife needed to use the bathroom and I was standing near the exit waiting on her, I realized I was right beside Tiesto and a few others I didn’t recognize. Initially, I thought one of others was Calvin Harris, but I don’t think it was. I didn’t want to bother him, so I didn’t ask for a photo or anything like that, but it was pretty cool to see him.
From there we took a car to The Mirage. Since it was just the two of us, my buddy set it up where we could sit at one of the owners tables behind the DJ. Jeff Tomastik, the VIP Director, said they weren’t quite ready for us when we arrived around 11:15 since my buddy’'s partner wasn’t there yet, so we headed to Stack for a couple of drinks and came back around Midnight. On the way in I was able to say hello to Joey Orr. He said he would stop by our table later in the night, which he did, but unfortunately we were already gone by the time he got there.
We had been to 1 OAK before, but this was an even better experience being behind the DJ. Our table looked out over the dance floor and offered us a perfect view of the majority of the club. DJ Karma was on the decks, and his open format style is perfect for our tastes. He played a lot of hip hop but mixed in enough top 40 and house music to please everyone.
View from our table...
IMG_20130531_235258_zpsc242bf7d.jpg
Unfortunately, we were both exhausted because of the time change even before getting to 1 OAK, so we didn’t last nearly as long as we wanted to. We called it a night a little before 2:00 AM and headed back to the hotel.
Coming next: a packed Liquid, a great meal at Mix and an unbelievable night at Light
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