TR: March 21-25 Monte Carlo, Low Rolling, Duece, KU Jayhawks

Finally getting caught up and ready to post my first trip report (as reply). As background; 38, wife and I have been married 15 years, had never been to Vegas until March 2008 and this was our third trip.

TR: March 21-25 Monte Carlo, Low Rolling, Duece, KU Jayhawks

well, we%26#39;re waiting...... :)

TR: March 21-25 Monte Carlo, Low Rolling, Duece, KU Jayhawks

Flew out of Denver 3-21 on Southwest, flight was scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. takeoff but was delayed, didn%26#39;t get off the ground until almost 7:00 (one hour of Vegas time already gone). Used time wisely be sitting in the Boulder Brewery with a few Mojo%26#39;s (fine IPA). Flight was great, no problem getting bags and headed to the shuttle.

We%26#39;ve used the shuttle service on our previous trips to get from airport to hotel and never had a problem. This time around, it took over an hour.....cab from now on.

Now on to the hotel ';review';. Booked at Monte Carlo through their Bulbs offer, $160 for four nights. We ';asked'; politely (no sandwich) if there were any complementary upgrades and were informed we could have a strip view for an additional $20 per night........we declined and received a room on the 30th floor, away from the City Center construction and with a nice view of the mountains.

One word as the construction noise. They were working on the floor above and we did awake to the sound of hammers and drills; nothing horrible but if you%26#39;re a light sleep (which we%26#39;re not) it may have been an issue. Previous reports of thin walls are very accurate.

Overall impression of room; very clean, extremely comfortable bed, great housekeeping crew.

Overall impression of hotel; nice, nothing special but comfortable. If was definately worth $40 a night.

There is a lack of food options....we had our Starbucks each morning but the only other places we tried were the asian joint, Dragon Noodle, for a quick sushi fix (decent but nothing to write home about) and one dinner at Cafe, good food, good value, great service.

Next..........walking, then riding the strip!

When I say low roll, I do mean low roll. My wife and I both enjoy the casinos but nothing much more than penny and nickel slots and video poker. Wife loves the Price is Right machines and we knew there were a couple in NYNY the last time so we headed there first. Total bust, never hit anything. I took her $3.50 ticket that she cashed out, took it to a vp machine and hit 4%26#39;s with a kicker and cashed out over $40.00. Had a few drinks, walked around a bit, familiarized ourselves with Monte Carlo and headed to the room around 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

Each morning started the same....coffee and croissant then to the Monte Carlo casino floor to have a couple of bloody mary%26#39;s. Jayhawks played Sunday so we headed to the MC sports book to watch the game. Great bunch of people and KU won......good way to start the day. After the game we headed north and hit Bellagio, always amazing, Caesars, always huge and Mirage. We played and drank our way through each with a stop for gellato and fountains at Bellagio and then headed back to MC around midnight.

Next...........walking is for fools!

I read about The Duece on this forum and what a life saver (at least a back and foot saver). After our morning routine, he headed out Monday with a first stop across the street on the M%26amp;M Store; daughter requested we return with a green plush M%26amp;M and we could not disappoint. We picked up the Duece and headed north.

First stop was Venetian. Thanks to Chi-town tourist, we had passes to Madame Tussauds. Been there once before but they had some new was figures and had fun taking goofy pictures to show the kids.

Signed up for the players card online and we each had our $15 free play. We played for well over two hours and had great drink service. When the money ran out we headed out to catch the Duece downtown.

Our first trip to Vegas we stayed one night downtown. We do enjoy it but much prefer the strip. We again played and drank our way through downtown with the only highlight being my wife taking her Golden Nugget $5 freeplay, hitting a royal straight on VP and then hitting a couple of bonuses on The Price is Right. She turned the free $5 in to $50 and we headed back to the strip.

Took the bus all the way down to Mandalay Bay as our sons souvenier request was a Jake Blues bobble head. OUT OF JAKES!!! What to do? Thankfully they had plenty of Elwood%26#39;s and BONUS, they%26#39;re on clearance!

Spent a few hours in Mandalay with the best drink service of our entire trip. No wins but the vibe was worth staying. Walked through the shops and spent some time in Luxor. Our first tip we stayed at Luxor and we still like it.

From there, on to NYNY. We stayed there our second trip and so far it%26#39;s our favorite. It just fits us. We had dinner at Gonzalez Gonzalez and it%26#39;s still great. Played in NYNY until midnight and headed to MC for bed.

Next......more freeplay, Planet Hollywood and best lunch value we%26#39;ve found.

Hallo, enjoying your trip report, particularly as it virtually mirrors our stay in terms of activity!!!! Looking forward to more.....

Enjoying your TR. Looking forward to more. The KU Jayhawks were one of many teams that killed my brackets!

Hey glad to see you post your report since I was hoping you had a good trip...Whoo Hoo KU!!! :)

Wanting more here!

........sorry for the delay....

Tuesday...last day in Vegas. After the morning routine he headed out and hit Planet Hollywood. Signed up the their players card and received $15 freeplay. Hit a few four of kinds on VP and cashed out over $50. Time to walk the mall. We%26#39;ve walked the Planet Hollywood Mall on each of our previous visits and really enjoy it. Good mix of shops and the people watching is great. Around 2:00 we were both starving and found Ocean One. By no means the best food ever but for us..by far the best meal for the money. Wife had a mahi-mahi sandwich, I had a bbq chicken pizza, we both had water and the bill was less than $15.00 with great service to boot. We%26#39;ll diffently by on our list for next time.

After walking off some of the meal we hopped on the Duece and headed north to Wynn / Encore. $5.00 freeplay for each and we played for quit a while. Both are beautiful properties and if we ever decide to pony up for a room, this would be at the top of the list.

We both enjoyed Planet Hollywood so much we rode bus back down and hung out in the casino for a few more hours spending our own money (gasp) and had a blast. Great drink service and better music. We blew through $20-$30 apiece when I spotted a Monopoly machine that I%26#39;ve read so much about on this board. Wife had a ticket worth a few bucks, threw it in and started hitting bonuses immediately. It was so much fun I had to throw some dollars in the machine next to her. I never hit a thing but wife did cash out $40 after sitting for over an hour.

Both of us starving we headed to Paris to try the Le Burger Brasserie as we received a $10 off coupon from the players card desk.......WOW, one of the best hamburgers I%26#39;ve ever had. Had the blue cheese, avacado, bacon burger and it was awesome. Great service and for the meal........very good prices. We%26#39;ll definately be on the regular rotation next time around.

Played around Paris for awhile (never had much luck there) before heading back to MC to get some sleep before our 5:30 a.m. wakeup call.

Check out of MC was a breeze, no cab issues and flight was smooth and on time.

We%26#39;ve only been back for a few days and we%26#39;re already planning on what we want to do the next time we%26#39;re able to get back.

Viva Las Vegas!!!