Tesla at the Sky Suites (10/4 - 10/8)

Breakfast at Sadelle’s. I also got in an early morning blackjack session and finally booked a win! +2500. I’m still down for the trip but that helped for sure. Headed to the pool shortly.

Didn’t decide yet about the watch. If anyone out there is into watches, that’s the Zenith Defy skeletonized.







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I was told eight floors worth of the Sky Suites are offline for renovations. Housekeeping has been great although they are not doing turndown service. We haven’t tried room service. Mrs Tesla and I were half-kidding over breakfast that we need to stay again to see what a renovated suite looks like.

The Sky Suite lounge has been great too. All the bottled water you want (we loaded up our mini fridge) and two coffee machines that offer a wide range of options. I think the coffee machines are new. The snacks they put out have been surprisingly good.


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Please stand by on this trip report while we take a break at the Sky Pool.


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If the Sky Suites can’t be an every trip event I think the smart move is splurge on one in the summer. The Sky Pool is a great experience and so much better than the regular guest pool. The value proposition is a little less strong without it.

Mrs Tesla and our friends got some good pictures from the Mayfair Supper Club last night, so I’ll share those next. Dinner tonight is Bardot so grab a snack before you scroll down!


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Dinner at Bardot! We got the Beef Wellington for two as our entree and here’s a warning: that thing is a frickin monster. The potatoes are sneaky filling as well. Show up hungry and go with light apps. We did all that and still had to skip dessert.
















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Achievement unlocked. It only took a hellacious blackjack losing streak plus all the money we are spending on our vacation!





Sorry it’s been a little quiet with the updates. We spent most of today at the pool chilling out. But I’m going to make it up to you guys I promise! Tonight is Joel Robuchon and we’re going to take as many pics as we can without looking like rubes.


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Oh do you guys like this watch better than the other one? This is the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 special edition. I tried it on at the Bellagio Omega boutique after being told the Zenith wasn’t happening.

I could still get this tonight if I can convince Mrs Tesla that spending more money is a good response to losing a lot of money gambling. I’ll let you know how that goes.





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The Apollo 8 is hard to come by (they took it out of the safe only after I tried on a few other Dark Side of the Moon models) so it was list price only. The negotiations went well with Mrs Tesla though so here it is! Phone cameras distort wrist shots; it looks much more reasonable size-wise in real life.




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We finally got our photo sharing issues resolved so here are some photos from Joel Robuchon. This was easily one of the best and most elegant meals we’ve ever had. Everything was flawless and amazing!

They gave Mrs Tesla a customized menu wishing her happy birthday. I got a special menu too since I have some food allergies. We mentioned that when we made reservations and they called us a couple days ahead to confirm all that. We opted for the full degustation menu with wine pairings. However they do offer an a la carte menu too.






The full degustation menu is $450 per person. Wine pairings are offered at three price levels with varying levels of prestige and name recognition. We opted for the entry level pairing at $295 each. The second level was (I think) around $600 and the high end option was a cool $1k. However, if you ask nicely they will - for the upcharge - swap in a top end selection. We asked for that with our dessert courses and wound up with Chateau D’Yquem 1997. May be the only time in our lives we will get to taste something like that! And yes it was incredible.

Just to level set: we don’t spend like this normally and we understand how privileged we are to spend on one meal what could feed a family for a month. My intent here is not to flex but share a once in a lifetime experience with other people who are into cool stuff in Las Vegas.

On to the food pictures. Grab a snack before scrolling down.


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As you can see, the presentations are amazing. Everything tasted amazing. The service was amazing too. Not the least bit snobby if you might be put off about that.
















These next photos are of the dessert courses.








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Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts:

Gambling: Let's get this out of the way first, OOOOF. I need to dig out my old stats textbook and do some math to be sure, but I suspect I took a 3 standard dev loss on this trip. It was one of the worst runs of luck playing blackjack I've ever experienced. It was so bad the host took pity on me and comped me $2k on the back end, which never happens for a guy at my betting level.

COVID heebie-jeebies: We were careful about staying masked up indoors, and honestly felt safe most of the trip. At the Aria and the Bellagio, most people walking around were adhering to the mask mandate. Other indoor spots we visited (Caesars/Forum Shops, Resorts World, Venetian) had a mostly masked-up crowd as well. We spent a lot of time outside at the pool which obviously meant no masks; same for walking up and down the Strip. The one big exception was MGM Grand the night we went to Robuchon. We got there early, so ended up walking around to kill time before our reservation. Way too many people with no masks, very crowded: we didn't feel safe until we got inside the restaurant. In fact, now that we're home we decided to hold off seeing anyone for a few days to make sure we aren't sick (Mrs Telsa can get tested at her work so she's doing that too). Maybe that sounds paranoid but we don't want to be the people who get our friends and family sick.

Sky Suites: I already gave my thoughts a few posts ago, but to recap: even if you have to pay instead of being comped, it's absolutely worth it for a special occasion! Not like regular rooms at the Aria are exactly slumming it, but you get picked up and dropped off in a limo, an amazing room, the Sky Suites lounge access, etc. etc. My pro tips would be to shop for lower room rates, and do it during warmer months because the Sky Pool is awesome and (in my mind anyways) probably the biggest perk you get.

Hanging with friends in Vegas: I think everyone on this forum knows that having a good time with your friends is the best thing about a Vegas trip, maybe now more than ever. I think I mentioned we were celebrating Mrs Tesla's major milestone birthday, and a local friend of hers was going to meet us. We we're surprised to find out *another* friend of hers decided last minute to show up in Vegas and surprise her! He literally saw us walking through the lobby in the Aria and ran up to us out of nowhere. (Mrs. Tesla cried, and so did her local friend when the three of us surprised *her*). The four of us had an amazing dinner at Mayfair Supper Club and it felt like the old pre-pandemic days were back, when life seemed so much more carefree and connections like that were so much easier they were easy not to value as much as they should be.

<Schmaltz ahead you've been warned> If someone told me ahead of time I'd get crushed at the blackjack table but have an incredibly happy trip with Mrs Tesla, see old dear friends, and live like royalty for four days, I would have taken the deal. "Better one week lived as an (MGM) lion than a lifetime as a lamb" and so on.

I think that's a good place to wrap it up. I'll pay attention to this thread if people have questions or thoughts though. Take care!

 

Nothing wrong with a Sub! I actually do not own a Rolex but getting into that game now is really tough. Crazy as this might sound I'd love the Z-Blue Milgauss... maybe someday.