I have been to Vegas over 40 times. Yes, I count as do many Vegasholics. Let’s face it, there are people that love Vegas and people that hate Vegas. There are far fewer people in the middle. I am on the love side. Most likely if you are reading this you are on the love side too. However, in case you are on the dislike side or, one of those unicorns that’s in the middle, please keep reading. Maybe I can bring you over to the good side with my trip report!?
To me the ideal Vegas trip is 3 nights. Three nights is long enough to get real comfortable with the hotel, where the gym is, what the different bars offer, check out a couple of the food options, etc…. Plus, more than three days and three nights of constant partying is hard for this old guy! So three nights is my go-to length of stays. However, I recently tried something new.
We have teenage kids so we can go out to date night whenever we want as the kids are happy at home but, on the other hand, they never go to sleep before us so we never get that alone time if you know what I mean. In addition, we really love the Las Vegas Knights hockey team. I’ll talk about them more another day but just watch the opening night ceremonies, from two years ago, which was just 10 days after the One October shooting in Vegas. If that doesn’t make you tear up you aren’t human! You can still donate to the Vegas Strong fund so check that out here. #Vegasstrong
So we love Vegas, we love the Knights and we love date nights. I decided to check into doing a one-night getaway to LV to go to a Knight’s game mid-week. Let me start by telling you it was so great it will be happening again but let me break it down for you. When we go on the weekends the strip hotels are $200-300 and more per night, plus resort fees, plus tax, plus, plus, plus. I am not going to lie a weekend in Vegas is not cheap. So, my thought process went, why not try a mid-week game!?
So they recently had a Tuesday night game. I reached out to a friend that has season tickets and they gave me a deal I could not refuse for two excellent tickets. I then went to Southwest.com because that’s the best way to fly from NorCal to Sin City. Weekends can easily be $400+ round trip but on this Tuesday/Wednesday the trip was under $200 round trip. I think it was $161 if I recall. I then went to mlife.com as we have status with MGM and low and behold I could book the Park MGM for $54 + fees so basically $100 a night but, remember, the hotel is right next door to T-mobile Arena (aka: The Fortress).
Well, last minute change of plans as we had sick kids. My wife is so cool she insisted I go without her. Hopefully she meant it because I went! I connected with a college buddy who was free, on short notice, to take her seat.
The flight was around noon which got me to LV about 1:30. I took a cab from the airport to Park MGM and the driver long-hauled me. That means what should have been a $15 trip became a $27 trip. Sort of a jerk move on his part but whatever. I normally would have given him $20 ($15 + $5 tip) but instead gave him zero tip and a sneer as I wanted him to know that I knew what he had done. I didn’t go further than that as it’s vacation and I wasn’t paying attention. When you leave the airport tell the driver not to take the freeway.
So I checked into my room at Park MGM which was very nice. They spent like $500 mil last year fixing the place up and it shows. The old Monte Carlo is totally re-done and it’s not just a coat of paint and new carpet. That place looks good! Check-in was flawless as it was electronic. I didn’t worry about any kind of upgrades or playing the “twenty dollar bill trick” or anything like that. It was just me so whatever room it was would be great and I didn’t plan to spend a ton of time in there! So I went to my room, threw my backpack down, and went out for a quick lunch.
I walked next door to NYNY as I new they had a Mexican restaurant with fresh, tableside, guacamole. Gonzalez y Gonzalez, which sounds like a law firm in El Paso, is a solid Mexican restaurant. However, for me, any restaurant that makes tableside guac is solid. I ordered a Modelo Especial and my guac. I quickly ate and then headed off for my next adventure.
It was 70-something degrees and sunny so I went in search of the pool at Park MGM. Most of the pooldeck was closed down but one pool was open. They had limited services (i.e. no poolside waitress) but that was probably good. I sat in sun for a short bit, jumped in the hot tub, and then moved on to my next activity. By now it was probably 4:00 or so.
So, I don’t know about where you live but where I live there isn’t a lot happening at 4:00 on a Tuesday. Well, go to the Park area on the strip in Vegas and it is a P-A-R-T-Y! The Park is between Park MGM, NYNY and the T-Mobile arena. There are several restaurants and bars along with tables and outside vendors. Being a game day they had a table set up selling Vegas Golden Knight’s merch and someone else selling beer. Plus, all the restaurants were pouring. However, the best thing was there was a live band playing cover tunes. Remember, it’s Tuesday at 4:00 and it’s rockin’ like New Year’s Eve at Time Square! That’s why I love Vegas. It’s always a party!
I sipped a “free” beer I got inside, in the casino, and listened to the music and people watched. The Toronto Maple Leafs were in town and I have to give credit to them as there were a TON of blue shirts there! The Maple Leafs fans came out. Now, of course, I should add that it was about 40 degrees in Toronto and 70 in Vegas so that’s not a tough choice but you get the point. Props to the Leaf’s fans!
I went back inside for another “free” beer and then headed to the arena about 5:30. I think they opened the doors at 5:45 but before that they had an emcee in the area, outside the main doors of T-Mobile, welcoming fans. An especially classy move was the welcoming of the opposing fans which came across as very sincere. This was appropriate since almost all Canadians are nice so they deserve a nice welcome! I chatted with a couple people in line and took a few pictures outside. T-mobile is unofficially called the Fortress when the Knights play. At just after 5:45 I walked into the Fortress for the first time. The vibe was strong from moment one!
As I said the emcee outside was friendly. The metal detector employee was friendly. The ticket taker was friendly. The ushers greeting people and giving directions were friendly. Basically, I felt very welcomed to this beautiful arena. I had heard that the Hyde Lounge on the 5th floor was something to see so I headed for an elevator. I passed a DJ spinning tunes along the walkway, found an elevator, and made my way to the 5th. I am glad I did. It really was beautiful up there! It was like a nightclub, with a DJ, roped off tables, bouncers, and bottle service… all with a view, albeit a high view, of the ice below.
I was meeting my friends at the Bud Light Lounge (whatever that was) so I headed back down. By the way, no wait for the elevator going up or down which was nice. I went in search of the Bud Light Lounge and found it! Turns out the Bud Light Lounge is a private club for people who have seats in a couple of the center sections of the arena. It has an exclusive feel though it’s just regular food and drink inside. I enjoyed it though and look forward to my next visit to the Fortress and seats in section 16 or 17!
I had a good chicken sandwich and a Bud Light (hey, when in Rome….) and met up with my friends. Fun catching up but today’s blog is about hockey not friends. I went to sit in my seat which was down aisle 16 (center ice) and about the 10th row. If you like sports these seats are OFF THE HOOK!
Ok, I just remembered this was a post about 24 hours in Vegas and not about going to a hockey game so let sum up the hockey game by saying it was AWESOME BABY! Awesome with a capital A! Seriously the energy and vibe, on a Tuesday night, against a bad team, and it was still incredible. Other than playoff games the energy was the best I have ever seen in a sports venue. The Knights won and the fans went home happy!
So it was almost 10:00 when we left the arena and normally I would go to bed. However, this is 24 hours in Vegas so the party must go on! We went back to Park MGM and grabbed the best salad I have had in years. I wish I took a picture. It was at the fast-food type place next to the Moneyline sports book. It wasn’t cheap but it was seriously top notch! I threw that down and then went off to win a few more bucks at video poker. Ok, well at least I won some “free” beers!
I stayed up past my bedtime but still woke up early. I hit the gym at Park MGM and it was ok. It wasn’t great but it was fine. It got the job done. It was then breakfast time. As it was raining I decided to stay local and went to Primrose. Breakfast was expensive but very good quality. Lox platter plus fresh brewed iced tea. I think it was 35 bucks with tip. Lol.
I went back out to the casino to pass a little time and then jumped into a cab back to McCarran. The cabbie drove me direct rather than longhauling me so that was nice. A twenty included a generous tip!
I walked around the airport a bit, lost ten bucks fast, and then jumped on my bird bound for NorCal. I was back home about 26 hours after I left!
I will do this trip again but hopefully next time with my best friend – the wiff!
Until next time….