Brief trip report with some pics for my recent trip with my wife and a couple friends for friend's 50th, 9/25 - 9/27.

We had originally planned a one-night trip to be there for part of our friend's 50th birthday trip, but my wife actually crushed it when she went down a couple weeks ago on a girls' trip. With the added bankroll, we pushed our trip forward to Sunday, leaving late Tuesday night. Plenty of gambling time.

Flew in at noon on Sunday. My wife is Platinum at Cosmo and the day before we discovered one of the benefits is complementary airport transportation. It's not a HUGE perk since I tipped about what a cab would cost, but it's nice to walk right down the escalator and into the car (they have a fleet of executive transport Escalades, which are pretty sweet).

The check in line was LONGGGG, as long as I'd seen it, but were able to check in through VIP services. Wife's host had booked us a wraparound terrace suite- city view, but we asked for and received a wraparound terrace- fountain view upgrade for free.

Wraparound Terrace- Fountain View review: It's the nicest/best suite I've ever stayed in anywhere, but it's ridiculous for just my wife and I on a trip like this. She stayed in a city view wraparound her recent trip, and frankly I just wanted to see one in person. It's huge, with an entry hallway, kitchen area/wet bar with stools, dining table, massive sectional with a huge TV, and a separate bedroom with a huge bathroom. I was really all about the view:



Given the balcony and the view, I certainly spent a bit more time in the room than normal, gazing out and smoking cigs. But I don't think we'll bother getting it again. Terrace Fountain View Suite is perfectly big enough both inside and on balcony (the wraparound balcony is kind of silly....it's big, but there's like, three pieces of furniture). Might consider wraparound during March Madness if we can get it with the multiple TVs, huge couch, and counterspace, good for a big group. My wife gambles a lot, but I don't think she's to the wraparound during March Madness level. Being up on the 65th floor is pretty cool, though.

First day and night was just the wife and I, and we hit up X Pot. We love hot pot, even cheap cheap hot pot, and make it at home, so thought we needed to at least try X Pot. We did the full shebang Chef's Menu with the additions (the A5 Wagyu sampler, which had a few pieces of Wagyu "sashimi," and a few cubes of the top, top notch stuff; wine pairing; and I think one more I can't remember). It was all very, VERY good, but if we ever went back we would not do the Chef's Menu. Too much that we didn't really care for, and way too much food. It literally might have been the most example meal for two I've ever paid for, and we'd be just as happy with limited choices. The atmosphere at the restaurant is pretty cool, service was great.

They have three different kinds of broth: "classic" chicken, lobster, and a wagyu tomato. I started with the lobster because hey, I love lobster, but turns out I don't like it as a hot pot broth. It was VERY lobster-y. I disliked it so bad I actually asked for another, and got the wagyu tomato. Also not the best choice: too much tomato. The lesson I learned is hot pot is best with just a classic, nonfancy broth.

A few pics-

The A5 sampler:


Can't remember what these are called, but cute little "swan dumplings." Outside was crunchy, inside had a really good meat mixture:



The "normal" wagyu hot pot meat. It was really, REALLY good:


Since I'm on meals, I'll jump to a quick review of Beauty & Essex at Cosmo, which was our last night. No pics. My wife and I had been there before and went nutso on the menu 'cause food comp, and while some things were really good, others were just ok. This time we ordered the "Little French Dips," brown butter scallops, risotto, and the grilled cheese bites (which we actually didn't get. The french dips were delicious, but scallops and risotto were just ok. Scallops were especially disappointing because they were expensive ($38 for three medium size scallops), and honestly not that good. I would have much preferred the simple brown butter scallops I make at home, for much cheaper.

The short review of Beauty & Essex after two visits and several dishes: it's all overpriced, and only some of it (mostly the meats) are good. Probably won't go back a third time.

Ummm, not much else to report. My wife did most of the heavy gambling while my friend and I got drunk I played hours, and hours, and hours of $25 face up pai gow. On Monday I played for 6.5 hours off $200 buy-in, including the bonus bets. A great grinding game.

Here's some slot porn from my wife's play:









The two big ones (that one's pretty good on a $10 bet):





And my one contribution. Didn't end up being a big win, but I'd never seen both a bonus and a "Hold n' Spin" (which we just call "getting the balls") at the same time:



And I think that's it. Oh, we did have the best thing that can happen in Vegas happen: a hand pay 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the airport.

One more: the BetMGM App is the worst. When we were here in March it was William Hill, which was fine, but obviously they've now switched to BetMGM. It crashed 50% of the time, no fast log in, and for an hour period on Monday it couldn't find my location, either on or off WiFI, IN the casino. So much for live betting. The original Oregon Lotto sports betting app was the worst I'd ever experienced for crashing, but BetMGM manages to beat it.

So Cosmo has gone to face up Pai Gow? When I was last there it was still regular.

Not sure when they switched, but it's been face-up since at least last October.

I don't disagree with your take of the wraparound, but I still ask for it every time. Having multiple views of the city is also nice as you can see sunrise and sunset. I do agree that the lack of furniture is puzzling compared to other terraces. The room really shows its value if you are having people up as it has a nice setup for that.

I think the value at Beauty & Essex is in the shareables. That being said I don't think their prices on the entrees are that bad. If they weren't that good, then you should obviously be disappointed.

They do have a cocktail hour of 2-for-1 signature drinks. Combined with shareables and I like the place. But to each their own. If you find a restaurant that is overpriced at Cosmo, then please share




EDIT: And thanks for the X Pot review. I'll eventually check it out.

Yeah, it's been that way for a while. Seems to be changing all over the strip from what I hear?

I like it much, much better. Even the little bit of strategy that's there makes it more fun.

This is a pretty straight forward observation, but I think with pai gow especially your dealer really matters. Monday we had two great dealers (Cosmo puts one dealer at the table for their entire shift, with fill in for breaks) for our marathon, and two great floors. They were talkative, funny, and engaging. Tuesday we had one of the those same dealers in the morning, and had a great time. In the afternoon the dealer was the exact opposite. No talking at all (except to yell at players if they even came close to touching their cards before she had set hers), zero emotion on anything.

You're right re: wraparound. If it's available to us, we'll probably take it. There isn't really a downside, presuming we gamble enough that they don't question giving it to us.

Looking back, I agree it really isn't THAT overpriced across the board, especially for Vegas Strip. I'm holding firm to my position the scallops were overpriced at $38, even for the Strip.

When it comes down to it I'm just not a fan of how they prepare most dishes. My favorite restaurants/chefs are those that create amazing, delicious dishes with simplicity. B&E seems to think a dish needs 502 ingredients, usually wacky combinations. The scallops are a good example. Well-cooked brown butter scallops stand out on their own, but B&E's version adds a jumble of stuff I can't even remember on top, served on a puree that didn't really complement it.

Another example from this meal was the miso salmon. It looked like a mash of ingredients, and tasted like it, too. Can't remember what it all had on it, but it was several ingredients too many, and left it with almost a dull flavor with nothing standing out or enhancing the others.

Oh, and the street corn ravioli, which I had last time. Just a jumble of stuff without good flavor, and the ravioli tasted like something you get frozen.

That's fair assessment and I agree there are some things that are worse when adding too many ingredients (scallops are definitely one of them).



And I obviously meant "If you find a restaurant that is not overpriced at Cosmo, then please share"

Yeah dealers are huge in Pai Gow. Slow ones and ones that don't know how to set their hand the house way or some of the other basic rules can drag a game down. I was last at Cosmo in summer of 21 and they were one of the last non face up spots on the strip I think.

Seems the entire strip is almost all face up. I read that the house advantage is LESS on face up (1.81% vs 2.70%) which is surprising a casino would want to use the game. It seems their thinking is it faster, and no time-consuming calculations regarding commission payouts, no need to stock quarters.

I like face up better myself, but I thought the odds were slightly worse...I'm delighted the odds are actually a little better than regular pai gow.

Yeah, that is pretty interesting that they are all moving to face up, but I suspect they might make more long run for the reasons you point out.

My problem is it's just not as much fun to play without playing the fortune bonus, which I think is something like 9% house edge. A-High pai gow bet is even worse.