Tacky can be fun

I can't believe I would join the throngs of losers, literally, who gush about their trip to Vegas. Not that I swore not to enjoy the trip, but I wasn't expecting to like it THAT MUCH!

Is it tacky? Not that much. If the newer hotels continue with the tone they are setting for how future hotels are to look on the Strip, the amount of tackiness will soon be a thing of the past, like Freemont Street. But I would hate for that day when those earlier icons like Flamingo, Circus Circus, Excalibur (uglyyyy), New York (tacky) and Luxor are bulldozed. It won't be Vegas without them, just like it won't be Vegas without the Ratpack, Liberace, the impersonators, the strippers.

Anyway, for the snobs out there who think they can do better than going to Vegas, trust me when I say you just gotta give it a shot at least once in your lifetime. I don't gamble (well, I did a little; and between M and me, lost quite a bit. But it's all relative right?) and thought I wouldn't enjoy myself half as much. Not so.

Being a hotel gawker, this is my slice of heaven. We didn't go to all the hotels on the Strip. We wanted to save some for future visits. Tops on my list are:

Paris: Where we stayed. Our room is circled in red. What a view. We can even hear the cannons and see the Bellagio water show from our room. For my review, see http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=l2xCVVInBHnHjj2YrL5vig

Bellagio: No surprise. The corporation that owns the Bellagio also manages the MGM Grand, and the Mirage. The lobby is magnificent. The glass chandelier sculpture on the ceiling is created by the great glass artist Dan Chihuly, the same fella who crafted the other chandeliers in the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas, and other parts of the world. Breathtaking. Equally breathtaking is the water show. I've seen plenty of these shows and didn't expected to be wowed. But I was blown away. The designers maintained the elegance of the white spot lights on the water without going overboard with lasers and colors. We stayed for 2 more shows, 15 minutes apart. And you have to see them with the music.

Bellagio chandelier

MGM Grand, Mirage, Caesar's Palace: Like the Bellagio, the MGM casino floor is expansive. Not to mention, high stakes! Caesar's was truly the most surprising to me. I thought it was going to be tacky to the highest degree. Sure, there's kitsch, but done so right! There's even a Trojan horse. LOL.

Along the line of doing something tacky, we did the roller coaster at New York, New York. While the hotel and casino is nothing to write home about -- cramped and claustrophobic, the coaster was a thrill. I did a day and a night ride. Re-rides are only half priced and you get to the front of the line, just like at DisneyWorld.

Another thing you got to do in Vegas is EAT. Of course, we did the requisite buffet, but we weren't too fastidous as to which one to do since we were not that famished. We made reservations at Joel Rubochon's French bistro only to bail out later when we saw the price on the tasting menu. Then we tried Bravo's Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak, but was distracted by Michael Mina's Seablue down the path. We ended up at Seablue, for its price and offerings. While Mina is not as huge a celebrity chef like Colicchio and Joel Rubochon, his menu is fantastic, and I was craving a good sea bass. Another great meal I had was at La Burger Brasserie in the Paris hotel. You can build your own burger (like some other burger places in Vegas) and I had my medium-well burger (mmmm, so moist) on a parmesan bread and loaded with arugula, mozzarella and had a fried egg instead of proscuitto. Delish.

But the most surprising thing we found ourselves doing is attending the World Series of Poker Tournament that's going on at the Rio hotel. OMG. We've been watching it on TV all this time, and now's our chance to maybe run into some hot players like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negranu, Phil "unibomber" Laak etc. We didn't see them but I caught the back of the head of that ugly, greasy Scotty Nguyen. Ewwww. And Gus Hansen, he's so handsome. And these 3:

That's Tobey Maguire & a famous Costa Rica player

... and that funny commentator on TV.

And we even got to sit in the ring with the final poker players while the cameras swarm around them. We were there on July 13, 2007. See if you can spot us on TV.

So, there's our Vegas trip in a medium nutshell. I can't wait to return.

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Karen: Oh I knew you would have a good time :) I can't imagine anyone not to... it's fun just to see the women parading their new boobies (you can tell) and half their tops hanging out. Hey, we don't get many of those here in TN and if I do, they're probably real and I'm in the wrong area of town :) Actually, I do see a lot of them at the gym... scary.

But back to Vegas... now you can understand why we've been back twice in two months :) Christmas is fun here... the strip is filled with the Asian and Jewish community while it's gotta' be a ghost town in some other cities :)

I can't wait to go back. My favorite hotel (especially for non-gamblers) is The Signature @ the MGM Grand. You come down to the lobby to a real lobby and you have a small but much quieter pool to hang out at. NO KIDS! No casino... and it's a short walk (on a walkalator) to the casino @ the MGM - and yes you get to use ALL the pools they own too.

Me: Ooh, Christmas. Quieter and definitely cooler. I like the sound of that. And of the Signature. I noticed that the MGM has better room deodorant piped through its casinos compared to some, like Bally's. Ech!