Post Mortem, 12/2015.

Good, drama free trip. Lot of drinking, lot of steak.

Got to town on time Wed, jumped over to the Cosmo, asked at checkin if there were any upgrades available. Was told a $45 upgrade to a Fountains-facing 1 bedroom terrace suite was available.

Sold!

Holy shit, easily the nicest hotel room I've ever been in, hands down. The above photo was my exact view. I took about 50 pictures. Big, roomy, lots of living space. Huge tub/shower area with a Strip view. Room amenities were awesome. Easy in/out on the elevators.

I always say it doesn't matter what kind of room I have in Vegas because I'm hardly in them, but my opinion on that has changed. It is SO worth getting a nice room. For a first Cosmopolitan stay experience it was mind-blowing.

So, anyway, the trip.

Honestly most of it went as planned. I hung at Vesper for an hour or so before heading off that first night to Mirage to do the Tom Colicchio Steak thing. Steak was OK, little undercooked. Chef's can't seem to get medium well right on a steak - theme of this trip. The steak fries I ordered were actually better than the steak. Had a couple glasses of wine and headed out. Went in and had a couple drinks at the new Center bar, it's nice in a generic way. Just a big, square, open bar.

Rest of the night's a little fuzzy, didn't really gamble much. When I did play I won little chunks here and there to make it so I didn't lose much. I ended up back at Cosmo to Vesper it up then rambled up to the suite fairly late as I remember.

Xmas Eve, woke up feeling OK around 9:30a, really took my sweet ass time getting ready to go out because I couldn't take my eyes off the view and the how awesome the suite was. Headed down around 10:30 to start working my way south on the Strip to be in position for my Star Wars viewing. Had one at Vesper, then Twin Peaks at Miracle Mile, then at the contrived Pete Rose sports bar before heading to the theatre.

The movie is good, tons of references to the old movies (maybe too many), but overall better by leaps and bounds than any of the prequels.

Then it was over to take the tram to get to Luxor in time for my 2nd steak of the trip. This one was an Australian Wagyu that cost $70 or something. It was OK, this one was OVERcooked, and looked like it had been run over by a truck, but it was tasty enough. Even with the $75 off I still spent $120 with tip, but oh well, it's Vegas.

Then as was the plan it was up to the new Skyfall bar at Delano. The bar is less lame looking now and the amazing view is still intact. Place was dead as it was the night before Xmas, so just had one and took a few pics and got out of there.

Then once again as it was the plan I went over to Monte Carlo to cash in my whiskey tasting reward. I had expected a few little tasters of maybe 3 whiskeys...dude pours me 4 full shots of quality whiskey and plops them in front of me. This was a bad move on my part. I got through barely two of them before tapping out. I'm getting VERY drunk at this point.

BUT, there was no slowing down. I go from MC into Aria and have several, including several shots, at the new-ish Alibi bar. Total dickhead bartender working there. No social skills. I'm even more plowed at this point, yet stop at Todd English PUB for one more on my way back to Cosmo. Ugh. Am somehow managing to still win a little on slots as I am only down about $300 for the whole trip at this point.

At this point it's only around 10p, maybe 10:30. I'm not ready to call it a night but I head up to the room to take pics of the fountains at night that I promised this girl I've been texting. I do that, drunkenly, then decide to lay on my couch in the living room and have a beer from the minibar in the room. It all hits me. I passed out. Woke up a couple hours later but was in no position to strap it up and head back downstairs. Went to bed at about midnight. In Vegas. But looking back it was a good decision.

Wake up Xmas morning pretty wrecked. Lay around in bed for an hour trying to get some more sleep with no success, so I get up and start the process of cleaning up and checking out of the suite. I was so gutted to leave that room, thought about just keeping it for the next two nights but I would have had to forfeit the $200+ I had in the Palms reservation.

So goodbye room, head downstairs to get breakfast and a mimosa before heading over to Palms. Was probably literally alcohol poisoned at that point. I start having cold sweats at the bar of the Henry with hundreds of Xmas brunchers around. Felt awful for about a half hour, but then the food and mimosa and cold water kicked in and I started to feel better. So I have one more drink at Chandelier and it's off to Palms.

I decide to walk it.

I'm a fucking idiot.

Nearly 2 miles later with my legs about to break down and my ears damn near hypothermic I roll into Palms. Place was a ghost town. Very slow. Most restaurants closed. Got a corner room with a decent view, but man, after the Cosmo suite the Palms is a big letdown. room door dirty from abuse, half the lights in the room don't work, dirty windows, etc. I mean, it was FINE, but I had just come from maybe one of the best suites in the world, certainly in Vegas. Couldn't compare.

So it was drop off the bag, throw on a new undershirt, and back down to watch the Dubs and Cavs play. Went into Tonic bar outside their sportsbook, super dead but comfortable enough to watch most of the game. Dubs win, back upstairs to grab a jacket then off to NYNY (in a cab!) to do the dinner reservation at Gallagher's. Hit Nine Fine first to have a couple shots, good company in the bartenders there brings me back. The top floor bar is the place to go. Threw a couple hundie in the slots, now I'm not winning anything.

Did the steak thing at Gallagher's, typically great steak and service. A little undercooked again, but by far the best of the 3 I had on the trip. Went back up to Nine Fine to talk a bit more with Matt, then headed up the Strip towards Cosmo again. Majorly fuzzy how this night ended. I had been drinking 3 days straight at this point and I was breaking down. Never got goofy or barfy during the trip, just have memory holes. Anyway, somehow made it back to the Palms and racked out. Started to take a hit on the bankroll from slots at this point.

Day 4. Woke up around 10a feeling surprisingly strong, so maybe was in bed reasonably early the night before. Got up, cleaned up, headed down to the Strip. This was my "fuck around" day where I had no plan, so decided to stop first at the Linq where I had somehow acquired a $26 cashout voucher during the previous 3 days. Blew that and another hundie quickly, and decided to get breakfast/lunch at Off the Strip. Meh food, meh service.

Then did the short walk in the Linq to check out AmeriCAN, the new place that took over for BLVD Cocktail. Slow, but a personable and cute bartender made me stick around a lot longer than I had intended. Didn't leave until 4:30p or so. Then headed up to Rockhouse, one of my fave spots, and also stayed there for a couple hours. A little voice was telling me to "eat", and I kept ignoring it. Then went down to Whiskey Room to sit in there for the last time, they close soon to be replaced by something else.

The night closed where it all started, the Cosmo. Played some more bad slots, had a (bad) drink in the 2nd floor Chandelier, then finished it off at Vesper. This day flew by, I told myself I needed to be in bed by 1a so I could have a few hours of sleep before the early flight back. Back to Palms, one more hundie lost in the slots, to bed by 1:30a.

And so it was over. Pretty rough morning getting up and to the airport, didn't eat anything after the brunch earlier Sat so I was very hungover, sure I smelled like a distillery on the flight but eh, it's Vegas.

So the trip basically went to plan but it was a good plan. Nothing bad happened, a few good things happened, and it was enjoyable all around. I came back with $2300 of $4K, so that's a win. Crowds were light enough that I didn't have the frustration issues from my last trip again. Don't think I'll ever stay at the Palms again unless they want to straight up comp me. The distance from the Strip, along with the cabs you have to pay for make it a downer. Nice enough place, It just doesn't have enough going on to make it a destination.

The Cosmo, on the other hand, is cemented as probably my favorite place in the universe.

Next trip, definitely May, maybe one sooner (March?). Need a little "away" time to clear the cobwebs from this one.