Vegas in May at Cosmo and Palazzo

Originally I didn't intend to go to Vegas in May, I was going to skip that month but when I found out that I could see my friend Boots before she returned home, that Gwen, Gator and his family, Jon, Jeff, Roz, Albert and other friends were going to be there resistance was futile.

The plan was to stay 2 nights at Cosmopolitan and then since Gwen and the Gators were staying at MGM Grand I was going to stay there for the first time on a offer that was 2 comped nights with resort credit, however I was only going to sleep there the one night unless I was getting nightclub noise at Cosmo. Yes, I was anticipating nightclub noise issues at Cosmo due to the tweets I was reading about it.

My Southwest flight on Wednesday, May 28th out of San Jose was on time and everything went smoothly. Taxi line was short and my driver didn't try to long haul me. I arrived at Cosmo at 11am, and quickly went through registration with a lovely one bedroom terrace fountain view room on the 36th floor.

I only had time to drop off my luggage as I was meeting my friend Boots for lunch at the Wicked Spoon. Boots had already been at Cosmo for 3 nights and was leaving for the airport in a couple hours.

For those of you who are Gold or Platinum level with the Cosmopolitan Identity player's club you can buy the Wicked Spoon Buffet 2 for 1, but unfortunately as we found out when we tried to do that, you have to check in with the player's club first, they won't do it at the Wicked Spoon cashier desk.  Neither one of us wanted to  make the trek back downstairs so Boots who was treating me to lunch ended up paying full price.

It was great to see Boots again since we hadn't seen each other since February. I just wish I had been able to arrive a day earlier to spend more time with her. While Boots lives in San Francisco and I'm only about 40 minutes south of there, it's easier to actually meet up most of the time in Vegas!

I had eaten at Wicked Spoon in April and in my opinion it's one of the better strip buffets with a large selection of items. If you want to see additional photos and comments for the Wicked Spoon Buffet I wrote about it here last month:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/wicked-spoon-buffet-at-cosmopolitan-re.html

As always I had a great time catching up with Boots and she gave me some advice on some slots that she had done well on in case they were still active with their bonuses. We also had a chat about all the noise she had been hearing late at night from the new Drais nightclub that is on the roof of Cromwell.

After lunch Boots and I said goodbye as she was checking out and leaving for the airport. I returned to my room to unpack my clothes and guess what I heard from my bedroom? Yes, music and noise from the rooftop pool of Cromwell. Deciding if it was going to be that noisy in the daytime I wouldn't be able to sleep later that night I went downstairs to registration and tried my best to get a room that wouldn't hear loud music until 5am in the morning. The nice guy I had at registration honestly did his best, and found me a terrace one bedroom as far from the strip as you can get and still have a fountain view and it was on the 59th floor! Great room and view so I changed and unpacked.

My offer from Cosmo this time was 2 comped nights, with $190 free play and 2 comped tickets for Vegas Nocturne at Rose.Rabbit.Lie. I was taking my friend Terri and we had decided to do it Thursday evening for the 7:30pm show. To get the comped tickets I had to go get a comp slip from the Identity Player's Club desk and then go to the second floor box office desk of Rose. Rabbit. Lie to get assigned seats. When I arrived at the desk there wasn't a line and I received seats in the first row with one seat being on the aisle.

The Slot Fanatics Annual Spring Meet Trip!

Seems my motivation these days to finish my last trip report is another trip, so I guess I need more trips to Vegas as this one is pretty late. 

The plans for my April Las Vegas Trip started last year in the fall when Slot Fanatics announced their annual Spring Meet and Greet. This year the main schedule was the following:

Thursday, April 3^rd

11:00am Tour of Bally Technologies

2:00PM: Tour of Aristocrat Slots
Organized by Rob (NYphinix)

8:30 – 9:00PM: Check-In for Slot Fanatics’ Vegas Week - Kick Off
Check-in table located at Luxor, in front of their High Limit Room
Conducted by Joey & Deb

9:00PM: High Limit Pull
Located at Luxor’s High Limit Room ($25 per Share)
Conducted by Slotspert

10:00PM: “Toast to Slot Fanatics”
Located at Luxor’s Centra Bar (2 Drink Minimum)
Conducted by LAURIEK1 – Toast given by (Deb & Joey)

Friday, April 4^th

11:00AM: Downtown Stumble Buffet
Located @ Main Street Station Casino’s
Garden Court Buffet ($15)
Conducted by Joey

12:00PM: High Limit Pull Stumble Kick Off
Immediately following breakfast.
Conducted by CennPennTraveler

CPT’s Las Vegas Downtown Stumble
Full stumble schedule TBD
Conducted by CennPennTraveler

8:00PM: Plaza Hotel & Casino
Shuttle Service to Las Vegas Sign (Free)

Las Vegas Sign
Mini Bus will transport us from The Plaza Hotel at 8PM
and head to the Las Vegas sign for a group photo.

Mini Bus Drop-Off @ Main hotel locations
Saturday, April 5^th

1:00PM: Slot Fanatics Afternoon Tea
Located at Bellagio’s Petrossian Bar
Conducted by Mauretania

Sunday, April 6^th

12:00PM: Jazz Brunch
Located at Wynn’s Country Club (Aprox. $65)
Conducted by clemi

There were also a couple unofficial events as Shamus from Player's Life and also a member of Slot Fanatics had organized our yearly spring tour of WMS slots for Wednesday night April 2nd at 7pm and we had a ECC (Exotic Cocktail Club) meet at Wynn's Parasol Bar on Sunday the 6th at 3pm. 

After months of chatting with friends online about the April Meet I was eager to fly out to Las Vegas for the fun to start, so I flew out early on Tuesday, April 1st from San Jose on Southwest and had a uneventful flight, which to me is always the best kind to have.

Ken (CPT or CennPennTraveler) was staying at the Paris Hotel that night so since I had a comp for it and had never stayed there before my first night was at Paris. It didn't take long for me to get my luggage and the taxi driver took me straight to Paris with no tunnel or other detours. Thanks to my text to Ken while I was in the taxi he was waiting for me and ready to point me in the correct direction for registration, room elevators, and was also kind enough to help me with my luggage.

Thanks to the Total Rewards Credit Card I was Platinum with TR so was able to use that line at registration and also was given a complimentary upgrade to a Red Room Luxury with a great view of the Bellagio Fountains.

The Red Room was very nice, though I had a issue with the safe that besides taking a number combination you also use your room key with it. Not sure if it was me or if the safe was broken but I couldn't get it to work.

My other issue was the old fashion lighting in the room was not always shining where I wanted it to but still a nice room and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Red Room to others or stay in it again myself.

After dropping my luggage off we walked from Paris to Caesar's Palace for the Bacchanal Buffet as Ken was on east coast time and I was getting hungry too. Thanks to the TR credit card I had a coupon to turn in at the CP Total Reward desk for two 24 hour buffet passes so Ken and I were set up for meals for the next 24 hours.

Wynn Buffet re-visited April 7th, 2014

During my April trip I ate at Aria's, Cosmopolitan's Wicked Spoon, Paris, Bacchanal and Wynn Buffets! Never in all the years of visiting Vegas have I eaten at so many buffets during one trip.

All the buffets mentioned ended up being comped so I wasn't taking in consideration cost when I ate at them. For those of you who will be paying for whatever buffet you decide to go to most of the above are in the same general price range when you eat at them during the weekday with the exception of Caesar's Bacchanal buffet which is pricier then the others. While paying more doesn't guarantee better food or a wider variety of choices, in the case of the current Bacchanal buffet it is larger and in my opinion has better quality food then the other buffets, so it's my number one choice if price isn't a consideration and you don't mind the possibility of waiting in a long line. If you are a Total Reward's Card Member and Platinum level or above there are VIP lines for you at Bacchanal.

Among the rest of the buffets and with the understanding that everyone's taste is different, it's my opinion that after Bacchanal my second choice would be Cosmopolitan's Wicked Spoon Buffet. I have photos and comments of that buffet at this link:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/wicked-spoon-buffet-at-cosmopolitan-re.html

After Wicked Spoon my 3rd choice would be Wynn's Buffet. The food is fresh, the selection is good, the desserts are tasty with a nice selection of sugar free desserts among them and our service was good.

 The following photos will give you an idea of what types of foods are served for lunch during the weekday.

 For more detail click on the photos to enlarge them.