Headed out for a Sun - Fri trip in August with a buddy. I'm expecting lots of poker (1-2/3), plenty of cigars, bourbon and red meat. We're booked at Aria, it was the best compromise of price/location.

I haven't been out there in a few years, but last time the Aria seemed like a busy enough room. I'd call the Borgata (AC) my home casino, and like that there are always games, places for cigars, casual dining options etc. Bellagio would be another option, for about $20 more a night.

Just wanted to check/confirm a few things with the resident experts.

A. Aria and Bellagio are fine choices for seasoned non-regular 1-2/3 players. Looks like at least a partial outside walk to cross Harmon.

B. I've generally tried to get to the Casa Fuente @ Caesars for a Mojito or two when enjoying my own cigars. Looks like an Uber ride away from Aria. Suggestions on nice places for cigar smoking? I'll bring my own, fine to buy a couple drinks. If there is a cool night, I'm sure we'll head to the fountains to burn one.

C. I've been to some great steakhouses, and for the most part find them all comparable. Not enough difference for me to insist on one over another. My wife and I were usually good with the steakhouse wherever we were staying. I'm assuming JG Steakhouse won't disappoint @ Aria.

D. I'm not baller enough to eat that well each night, so we'll also be checking out places for casual stuff, or steakhouses with a great (and less expensive) burger option. I've read through some of the Casual dining thread, figure to put a few places on the 'lets see if we can get there list.
i. Ellis Island - Village Pub or BBQ?
ii. Five 50 or SecretPizza? /snobON - Maybe skip pizza not from NJ/NY?
iii. Ocean One for lunch
iv. Hattie B's
v. Cleaver


E. I keep seeing that the $20 trick isn't a thing anymore. Inflation? Think $50 works at Aria? Freerolling? No chance they keep it without an upgrade?



Thanks.

RHUMBAR at Mirage for cigar smoking.

Everything else looks good.

This comes down to personal preference, but for me Five50 wins over Secret pizza all day.

JG is obviously a very good place but not even in top 10 places for steaks. Not too big of a difference between that and Cut.

As for 1/3, both Aria and Bellagio has at least 1 table going 24/7/365, no problem at all to get in any time of the day.

The $20 trick didn´t work for me at the Mirage, didnt even consider trying it at the Bellagio.

In, looks like an awesome trip! GL

As far as food, i love Secret’s white pizza amd rate it high, but their plain / pep won’t compare to ny slices.

Strongly consider brunch at Bardot. You’ll be right there and it’s great imo

A.) There is also a monorail/tram in the back that connects Aria to the Bellagio.

E.) Still worked in May. Sandwiched $20 between my ID and CC and was greeted with a "thank you for acknowledging my service". I wonder if more people are saying something along those lines to make it clear it's a tip and it's not getting returned if they aren't able to upgrade.

Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio.

I'm a little surprised a guy from NY/NJ is focused on getting pizza in Las Vegas.

Hey OP,

I was a manger at Casa Fuente for many years. '07-'12 and then recently from '18-'19. Have we met?

Name is Mario

Thanks Cowboy. Looks like a nice spot for sure.


Close means we'll do what's convenient, if we do pizza. As alluded to by another poster, people from our area don't normally get pizza (or bagels) elsewhere. But I think it's going to be a loooong week and it will something to break for and occupy some time.

I know people love Cut. I haven't been. I suppose we'll discuss it, unless you think that Cut isn't Top 10, in which case I'm curious for your Top choices. The wife and I loved the steakhouses at Wynn/Encore and MGM Grand (Craft) more than the others. But we also really enjoyed a lot of others (Double Eagle, Delmonico, Mesa).


Thanks. Maybe instead of pizza we'll venture out for Steak and Shake...

Bardot... will do. We can brunch

Thanks.

Sweet... monorail/tram FTW!!!

Cool. I read that response as "I'm keeping this as a tip, it's not going to the hotel towards an upgrade". Unsure what the response is if they can't upgrade? Do you mind sharing the upgrade details (how long were you there, which level was booked, where did you end up, what is your mlife status)?


TY. Noted. Bellagio Steak > Aria Steak

Fair enough question. I've read through some of the recent Casual Dining thread, and both places were mentioned as being good. At least I didn't ask about the bagel spots

Hi Mario,

Maybe we met in the '07-'12 shift. I was out for the RTDA about 10 years ago and spent a few nights there. I have a good friend that was in the business and played lackey for him. Generally we sat outside the shop, drank Mojitos and smoked cigars. I did pickup some Casa Fuente's there, before I was able to find them semi-locally. I would not have been a box purchaser.

Still there?

Blue

Cut is in the top 10 definitely, was maybe formulating it badly.

Are there any good areas to smoke cigars at the Caesar properties?

Sounds like a great Vegas trip. As you said Casa Fuente is a must (best mojito in town), Davidoff outside of the Fashion Show Mall is also a decent option. Rhumbar is an outdoor bar at Mirage that really caters to cigar smokers, and another interesting option is that Mr Chows has a patio lounge for after dinner that I have enjoyed a cigar too. Most places are quite friendly for cigar smokers, including any of the outdoor clubs, but those four places are definitely happy to have cigar smokers.

As far as burgers go, two places you need to check out that I think have the best in Vegas. First one BBDs at palace station. They have three different types of burgers, expensive and really tasty premium steak burger, but the griddle burger is my absolute favorite. Other place is nomad bar. This burger is a little on small side but has amazing flavor.

What type of cigars do you enjoy?

I was in LV recently. Went to Monte Cristo at Ceasers, next to Homestead. Very good selection. Drinks fine, and seating, TV , atmosphere all good.

Thanks. Will look into those soon. On vacay now, intermittent WiFi.


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A variety of brands, mostly med-full and with some spice. I dig all the DTT (Saka) stuff, smoke a lot of la Duena and other things in that same style.


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In! For dining what about something off strip? Vegas has some great off strip food options.

Just recently made my final exit. I'm in the mortgage business here in Vegas and it was time I hit it 100% full time. Definitely down for a meet-up, though.

Back from a great week (other than my play at the tables). Sorry for not checking back in.


Trip report:

Poker: 7 sessions, 5@Aria, 2@Bellagio If things had gone better the first 24 hours, I probably would have played more sessions and longer hours. Disappointed not to put in more hours at the table, but had a great time off the tables.

Staff at Aria was remarkably professional to my untrained eye. Never waited too long to sit, and I think they would have texted me if I wanted to leave the immediate area.
Staff at Bellagio, not quite as much. Brush openly complained about the bravo system and lack of funds being put into the room/casino. Dealers not always focused, floors listening to players instead of dealers.

Chips were similar and I seemed unreasonably focused on the fact they weren't clay. I don't know if they are clay, or some kind of hybrid, but I thought I remembered them differently. Now that I'm home and looking at the ones I got a while ago, they are the same as the current ones. I do like blue $1 chips.

Hungry at the tables:
Aria, I opted to walk to 50-50 for a couple of slices one night, fast enough and I ate them at an empty table watching some Pineapple Open Face Chinese poker. Burger Lounge another night.

Bellagio - I think there were a few options for tableside service. I only asked about Snacks.

A mixture of player types at both, it took me too long to get my poker bearings/legs. I did manage to make some decent plays, catch some decent hands and knew when to get up most sessions.


Cigars (& drinks):
Lift Lounge @ Aria - Our first cigars of the trip. Located near the (regular) guest elevators, lots of cocktail tables, a couple of couches, a nice drink list and pleasant waitresses. We spent a good amount of cigar time there, as it also allowed my buddy to be plugged in for some FFB stuff. Balvienie doublewood is always good. The Old Fashioneds were hit or miss, as were the mojitos. The popcorn was a tasty snack, although we didn't always have it offered.

Pool Lounge Bar @ Aria - It was suggested that we enjoy a morning cigar at the pool. We found the bar that services the pool (waitresses ans guests) and they have tables, shade and misters. A couple times was enough for me, my buddy was more interested in getting some sun (under the umbrellas still gets some sun I guess). Iced teas were nice, the mojito was OK.

Chandelier @ Cosmo - Decided to head over for breakfast and spend some time in a Cosmopolitan lounge. Ended up at the Chandelier, lots of small comfortable areas. It was early, just soft drinks here. When I looked it up for the proper name, I see that we missed out on going to the upper levels here.

Sports Book Lounge @ Bellagio - Headed over to watch the NYG and NYM on a Thursday night. The Sports Book doesn't allow smoking, so we camped in the smaller bar adjoining. Close to the poker room as well. Comfortable reclined chairs, multiple TVs, our problem was with the NFL who only shows some preeeason games nationally (according to a suit). I was planning to play poker, and just had soft drinks.



BURGERS:
Cafe Aria - Waitress confirmed the burgers were great, we ordered and waited a long time for overcooked burgers and undercooked fries. Waitress apologized, brought new crispy fries, comped the meal and gave us comps for another meal. We used it for breakfast the next day. Chicken and waffles were good. We tipped $20 each meal, as we didn't pay for either. If the burgers came out medium rare or medium they would have been very good.

Burger Lounge @ Aria - Cowboy burgers with bbq sauce and onion rings were sloppy, but tasty. Onion rings and fries were well done. A bit expensive, but it is very convenient.

Holsteins @ Cosmo - Recommended from a friend when he hear we were out there. What a great meal. Burger was amazing, although my buddy thought the cheese was a bit overpowering. Fries, rings and sauces were great. So were the beers. Pricey, but I'll be back.

Snacks @ Bellagio - Hungry @ poker, I was going to walk to snacks, but the line looked very long. I stopped back at the brush, who gave me a menu and would send a food waitress. The burger was great, the fries awesome, I used poker comps to pay for most of it. Very happy.



We didn't leave the Aria/Bellagio/Vdara/Cosmo complex. Maybe next trip we'll venture out further.

We also didn't get to any fancy dinners. Shorts and sandals all week.

Thanks for posting an after trip report.

Too often, people say they are going to Vegas and will do a trip report, but don't post a report.

Sounds like my kind of trip. If you're like hot dogs, do yourself a favor next time and walk across the street to Ballys and have Dirt Dog. Based on your food choices it seems like it would be up your alley. Great food.

Good Stuff, thanks for the update.

You don't have to quote his entire post just to respond with that short thing.

What is it with people who joined in September of 2007?

haha I'm gonna quote the easiest way possible, click quote and type, anything else is above my mental capacity lol

No problem. I know what you mean, but I still enjoyed reading other peoples plans, and comments from others prior to the trips. I did mean to post when there, but just didn't get it done. Then didn't want to post crappy stuff, then decided to post crappy stuff anyway


Yeah, I've been known to travel for hot dogs... when the two of us go back again (probably in at least a couple years), we may make more of an effort to plan to get 'off campus' at least once We did talk about getting some shake shack, but didn't even make that trip


No problem. Hope it helps someone else down the road. I've been helped a lot from this forum. Just trying to PIF.

LOL. Yeah, I don't get it either. It's a PITA if reading on a phone, but nbd when at an actual computer. No, I'm not why I capitalize one but not the other.


It took me a while, but even better than quote, is reply. Reply is the button on the right, where quote is the one on the left. Multi-quote is the middle and is really an advanced topic

I do quote and multi-quote when I think the response is either not to the OP, or if there is too much for me to remember and I'm replying to multiple topics/people. Also better to multi-quote than repeatedly quote/reply.