3 Days Downtown With a Hint of The Strip

This is long overdue, but here is a recap of my 4th of July weekend in Vegas.

Lyft and Uber is taking over Vegas. I literally walked from the terminal straight to the waiting car and it was only $27 (tip included) to get Downtown. Years past, that would be a $40+ ride.

Spend Friday evening playing Downtown checking out all the new construction and basically getting my bearings again. Didn't drink too much because I had a big Saturday planned.

Friday night stayed at one of my all time favorite spots, Golden Gate. I have no issue with the small room and actually enjoy the old school feel. My room faced Main Street and I was treated to the sounds of motorcycles and drunks all night. All part of the charm of GG. My only issue with the room was about 4 am the AC started blowing hot air. It woke me up, so I just started my day. I did inform the front desk and they said the extreme heat this summer was taking its toll on the AC on the property. Ouch. The other element of GG I noticed was how tight the slots have become over the last few years. I just assume they need all the money possible to pay for the new properties Downtown.

Saturday Uber'd it to the Orleans for breakfast (I am a big fan of coupons, so a lot of my destinations are decided by the value of match play or food coupon). I've never been there but really enjoyed it. The French Market Buffet was spot on and less than $5. Took the shuttle to Gold Coast and finally, for the first time on a WOF slot, spun the wheel for a triple digit win! That was awesome. Headed back Downtown and checked into Downtown Grand.

DTG is a really fun place. My room was not ready but the rep. offered me a coupon book with free food/match play so I hung out at Freedom Beat. Good food, good service and worth the price. By then my room was ready and it was huge and overlooked the pool. Speaking of, Citrus is a great Downtown pool. Highly recommend it. DTG seems to be moving in the right direction. I'm a fan.

The purpose of my trip was to see Brooks and Dunn at Caesars and they delivered a great show. If you like country music, go see them before the residency is over. You will not be disappointed. Leaving the show, I was reminded why I love Downtown. Caesars was slammed with people everywhere and there was a line of sharp dressed millennials waiting to get in Omnia, it was a 3+ hour wait. Wow. The club days are way behind me.

Sunday up and out to Ellis Island for some play and food. They are in the process of updating the off strip Casino and its looking good. I always have fun there. Kudos to the Players Club staff, very cool people. From there checked out SLS for the first time. Eh. It felt like they were trying too hard to be hip. Walked to Lucky Dragon and what a disappointment. The place was empty. As I was signing up for a Players Club Card I asked the woman how her day was and her response "I'm working, how do you think I'm doing?" From there, it got worse. She had extremely broken English, so I had to keep asking her to repeat herself, which obviously frustrated her. From there, I headed to the bar to buy a bottle of water and that alone took 5 mins. I get I may not be the demo they are looking for, but I was excited to check out Lucky Dragon, but left annoyed.

My mood changed with a trip to Franki's Tiki Room. What a neat place. Its officially a spot that will get a visit on each trip. However, give yourself a few seconds to let your eyes adjust, its dark in there. Got a ride back Downtown and spent the rest of Sunday playing around. El Co is always a blast and had a nice little run at 4Q. Packed up and took the Red Eye home late Sunday night.

One observation from Downtown is that there seemed to be more homeless than normal. Maybe I just notice it more as I get older, but they were everywhere. However, it was not enough to slow me down as I had a great trip and can't wait to get back again.

Marko..

 

Agreed. Its clean, cold, not too "busy/cluttered" on the floor. However, the lack of Cust. Service is concerning.