Caught the 8.05am British Airways flight from Edinburgh down to London Heathrow which was delayed by about an hour due to air traffic control regulations. Transferred over to terminal 3 and had a quick bite to eat then boarded our flight for Las Vegas. We sat on the runway there as well - this time the pilot was waiting for the engineers to fit a spare part to his seat. Watched 3 films and managed to sleep for an hour out of the ten and a half hour flight. Landed about 15 minutes late and caught the CX bus to Downtown and checked in to the California Hotel. We were allocated a twin bedded room as there were no king bed rooms available.
The room was very nice but we could hear the noise from the disco on Fremont Street so we returned to registration and the girl put a king bed room on hold for us for tomorrow. Showered then played slots for a while as it is Young At Heart day and you get multiple times your points then a mystery gift when you get to 20 points. We received a buy one get one free voucher for Main Street Station breakfast or lunch buffet whilst playing in the Cal and 20,000 points (worth $20) when playing at MSS. Called it a night and went to bed exhausted. I slept with ear plugs in so it wasn't too bad.
Thursday 3rd May
Woke up early then went for breakfast at the McDs at the D and who should we bump into there but our good friends from Wales who we are going to see the Beatles Love show with on Monday. We chatted for ages over breakfast then walked them to their hotel - Downtown Grand - before returning to spend time at our pool. We then went down to registration to see if our new room was ready. We were told by a different girl that we would have to check out of our current room before we could get our new room which was not ready yet. We duly packed and waited in the lobby occasionally asking if the room had been cleaned yet. At 3pm after waiting well over 2 hours we asked again and we were told no it wasn't ready so Jim asked to speak to a manager. He apologised for the delay and looked to see what he could do and immediately handed over the keys to our room and gave us a $25 food credit for the inconvenience. Don't know how the room had miraculously become ready - we will never know. Unpacked and discovered that the noise wasn't that much quieter in that room but by that time we'd unpacked so we felt resigned to accept that it wouldn't get any better in a different room. Had dinner in the Market Cafe with the food credit
then got ready to go and play slots. Dropped in at registration to thank the girl who had originally checked us in and she asked if everything was OK so we told her what had happened and that the new room wasn't any quieter so she checked her computer and asked if we wanted to try another room and gave us a key to look at it. It was in the premium tower and there was no noise from Fremont Street so we decided to move again!
Once settled into the new room we played slots for a while before bed.
Friday 4th May
Had a better night's sleep except for the noise from the trains which isn't as bad as the noise from Fremont Street. Had a 2 for 1 breakfast buffet in MSS then relaxed at the pool for a while.
Walked to the bus station and renewed our over 60 reduced fare bus passes and bought our 15 day bus passes for $17 each. Caught 2 buses to the LVA offices to purchase their coupon book then returned and called into Binions to redeem a $50 food credit reward from playing the Binions app. We ate in their Cafe and both had soup then Jim had a steak and I had pot roast. We shared a large slice of chocolate cake for dessert and the bill came to just under $50. Played slots and had some luck for a change. As you can see we are very low rollers 😊
Saturday 5th May
Met up with our Canadian friends, Sandy and Tom, for breakfast at the Plaza McDs and chatted for ages.
We parted company and then we made our way to Sam's Town where we played $10 and received $10 with an LVA coupon. We watched the Kentucky Derby then went for a 2 for 1 dinner buffet with an LVA coupon. Visited the Wal-Mart opposite and bought various items. Caught the BHX bus back to our hotel and relaxed before playing slots.
Sunday 6th May
Had breakfast then did free play in Binions, 4 Queens and Downtown Grand courtesy of the LVA coupon book. Returned to our room as I wasn't feeling too good and I had an upset stomach. Slept for a few hours and felt a bit better. Had a light bite to eat at Subway in the Plaza then walked down to El Cortez to do free play there too. Walked back to our hotel, showered and played slots at night.
Monday 7th May
Had breakfast then relaxed at the pool. What's Apped our son back home then played the 1 pm bingo session at the Plaza (no luck as usual!). Relaxed then redeemed a $25 food credit from the Binions app and ate in the Deli. (I ate half of it before I remembered to take a photo - this is the Reuben Sandwich.)
Met up with our friends from Wales at the bus stop and caught the Deuce to the Mirage to see the Beatles Love show courtesy of a myvegas reward. This is the 8th time we have seen the show and it never fails to leave us in awe.
Returned to our hotel and played slots.
Tuesday 8th May
Had breakfast then relaxed at the pool for a while. Caught the SDX to the Strip and filmed and took photos of the Bellagio conservatory and chocolate shop. Then watched a fountain show.
Caught the free tram from the Bellagio to what was the Monte Carlo hotel, which is now called the Park MGM, and walked to Excalibur for a free dinner buffet courtesy of myvegas.
Played the slots in the Cal and MSS at night.
Wednesday 9th May
Had breakfast then put 20 points on Jim's players card as part of the Young At Heart promotion and went to see what mystery gift he received. It was another buy one get one breakfast or lunch buffet at MSS. Walked down to the Downtown Grand to accompany our friends onto the WAX bus to the airport as they are going home today. Left them at terminal 3 and caught the WAX bus back to Fremont Street. Played 20 points on my players card in the Fremont Hotel casino and I received a buy one get one free breakfast or lunch buffet at the Fremont Hotel. Used the voucher for MSS for a late lunch then visited the players club at 5pm but didn't win one of the prizes in the draw. Caught 2 buses over to the Palace Station and managed to see the new pool area thanks to a security guard. They seem to be very strict about liquids you take with you to the pool as he wouldn't allow someone in with a bottle of orange juice 😒
Took part in the free slot tournament for seniors then returned to our hotel. Played slots at night with the usual outcome.
Thursday 10th May
Had breakfast then accompanied our Canadian friends, Sandy and Tom, on the WAX bus to the airport as they hadn't used the local buses before and were unsure of where to get on and off. Returned and nipped over to the Palace Station to see if Jim had won anything in the previous day's slot tournament as he was top in his heat but he just missed out. Went to the MSS buffet for a late lunch buffet with $15 off courtesy of the Young At Heart promotion and paid with points. Relaxed in our room and did some laundry before playing slots at night.
Friday 11th May
Had breakfast then relaxed at the pool. Caught the SDX to the Fashion Show Mall then walked to the Mirage for the Magical Technical Tour (backstage tour) of the Beatles Love show at 1pm. It was a very interesting and informative tour which explained all about the sound system and how the stage worked.
Called in at the Forum Shops for Jim to buy a new baseball cap then crossed over to Casino Royale where he bought a Las Vegas sweatshirt. Whilst there we decided to buy tickets at the Tix4tonight stand to the new show WOW at the Rio for that night and exchanged them for actual seat tickets at the Linq promenade. Returned to Downtown and ate in Binions cafe with a $50 food credit from playing the Binions app. Jim had the Rib Eye Steak Frites and I had the Creamy Shrimp Alfredo.
Rested in our room then caught the SDX then the 202 over to the Rio. The show was like a variety show with water reminiscent of the Ultimate Variety Show at Planet Hollywood or Splash at the Riviera with various acts from roller skaters to plate spinners to crossbow shooters.
Returned to our hotel and played slots at night.
Saturday 12th May
Had breakfast then we were going to take the HDX to Sunset from the back of the D but discovered that the road was blocked off due to a parade of marching bands along 4th Street. We stood and watched the parade (found out later it was Helldorado Days Parade)
then walked to the bus station to be sure of catching the next HDX to Sunset. Visited the 99c store and Wal-Mart before catching the bus back to our hotel. Ate in the Binions cafe using a $25 food credit reward from the Binions app. First photo is the Downtown Tuna Melt and the second is the Frank 'n' Burger.
Played slots at the Fremont casino for a change but it was really busy as it was a Saturday night so we didn't stay long. Ended our night playing slots at MSS.
Sunday 13th May
Had breakfast then went for a walk down to the Container Park to see if we could get a ride on the little autonomous car.
We waited for quite a while but it didn't show up so we returned to our hotel and relaxed at the pool. Ate at the Binions Deli with a $25 food credit reward from the Binions app. This is the soup and half sandwich (turkey on rye).
Played slots in MSS and the Cal and had mostly bad luck except for a bonus on a Pompeii slot.
Monday 14th May
Had breakfast then relaxed at the pool. Caught a bus to the Strip and walked through the Bellagio and into the Cosmopolitan briefly.
Filmed another fountain show then walked over to Caesars Palace stopping off to take photos of the new Gordon Ramsay restaurant Hell's Kitchen.
This last photo is of the two cranes blocking off a lane of Las Vegas Boulevard whilst they build the zip line in the Linq Promenade totalling spoiling that area in my opinion 😡 In time there will be 10 side by side zip lines ruining what used to be a lovely view of the High Roller. Redeemed a free dinner buffet for each of us at the Mirage courtesy of myvegas.
Walked over to the Venetian then through to the Palazzo
and finally the Wynn taking film and photos.
Caught the SDX back to our hotel, rested, showered and played slots.
Tuesday 15th May
Had breakfast then caught the SDX to the memorial garden set up in memory of the 58 people who lost their lives at the Route 91 Harvest music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay on the 1st October last year. It was very emotional and it didn't seem appropriate to take photos. For information if anyone is thinking of visiting the memorial garden by car there is a dedicated car park adjacent. Returned to our room and packed one of our suitcases in preparation for our move to the Silver Sevens Hotel tomorrow. Caught the BHX to Sam's Town where we met up with our friends, Ann and Alan from Las Vegas, for a coffee and a chat for a few hours. Caught the bus back and played slots at night.
Wednesday 16th May
Had breakfast then returned to our room to pack for our change of hotel. Caught a bus outside the California to the bus station (Bonneville) then transferred onto the 108 which dropped us off at the Silver Sevens. Checked in early and the very pleasant girl at registration gave us a nice room on the top floor (3rd floor) with a view of the Hard Rock Hotel. The room had seen better days but you only get what you pay for.
Unpacked and had a look round then had a 2 for 1 buffet with a LVA coupon book voucher in the Silver Sevens. We then walked up to Ellis Island and both redeemed a play $10 get $10 courtesy of an LVA coupon which resulted in a $40 profit. Walked back to our hotel, showered, then played slots. We lost as always and had a bad end to the night when our slot ticket was swallowed up in a slot machine and the attendant more or less didn't believe that we had put one in. It was eventually sorted out by a different slot attendant after they checked their computer but it wasn't a pleasant experience by any means. To cap it all off the rickety old elevator closest to our room was out of order so we had to walk a mile to get to another elevator which shook it's way up to the 3rd floor where we had to walk another mile to get to our room!
Thursday 17th May
Caught the 202 bus over to the Gold Coast for a buy one get one free breakfast with an LVA coupon and paid with points. We each redeemed a play $10 get $10 LVA coupon there and then caught the 104 bus to the Orleans and did the same there. Returned to our hotel and relaxed for a while then caught the CX bus to Fremont Street for our last reward from Binions - a $25 food credit at the Deli. Caught the SDX then the 202 over to the Gold Coast and played slots there. If anyone is wondering about the shuttle services that are now provided by the Coast hotels I took a photo of the timetable
Friday 18th May
Caught the 202 to the Gold Coast for a buy one get one free buffet breakfast with an LVA coupon and paid with points then caught the 104 and the 201 to Hooters where we each redeemed a $10 get $10 LVA coupon. Returned to our hotel and packed our suitcases ready for tomorrow. Had a coffee and a sandwich in our room, showered then caught the 202 over to the Gold Coast again and played slots there with one good win when we were only playing 10c
We really enjoyed playing at the Gold Coast as there were loads of the slot machines that we liked. There is also a fun gaming pit called the hippy pit which plays 60s music all the time
Saturday 19th May
Had a buy one get one free brunch buffet in our hotel with an LVA coupon then finished off packing and checked out. Caught the 108 bus to the airport and eventually checked in for our flight home and we were greeted by this photo at the airport.
Flights were on time but didn't get much sleep so we were exhausted when we got home.
Final thoughts:-
The reason we spent 3 nights at the Silver Sevens was down to the Electric Daisy Carnival which was moved from June to May. We had already booked our flights from 2 - 19 May before they announced the change and would have liked to have spent all 17 nights at the California Hotel but sadly the last 3 nights were an extortionate price due to the EDC so we were forced to look for somewhere else to stay and the Silver Sevens was our best option plus it was on the bus route to the airport. It has clearly seen better days but our room was OK and the bed was comfortable. There were quite a few young people staying in the Silver Sevens, who were going to the EDC - they didn't make much noise but left a trail of glitter wherever they went 😁
The Binions app is definitely worth playing. We had only been playing it a few months and we had enough for 1 x $50 and 2 x $25 each which paid for 6 meals. You can also redeem awards for the Benny's Smokin BBQ and Binions Steakhouse plus $100 or $50 off rooms at the 4 Queens.
The California Hotel caters mainly to elderly Hawaiians who book a package holiday hence the picture on the inside of the elevators.
The Cal provides function suites for them to have high school reunions etc and whilst we were there they cleared all our favourite slots from the mezzanine floor to provide more banqueting space for them.
They also blocked off the escalator the day before we left to relocate it.
The California, Main Street Station and the Fremont now charge a resort fee of $14.99 plus tax. We were lucky we booked before they implemented the change on 16th April so we didn't have to pay it.
As the Sigma Derby horse racing slot is so popular in the D and the MGM Grand there is a new breed of horse racing slot appearing in a lot of hotels. We first saw it in the D and then the Mirage and we found it in quite a few other hotels before we left. It's called Fortune Cup and the minimum bet on it is $1.
