nevada – Page 4 – Elsie Hui

November 26, 2011November 27, 2011

Lupo – Wolfgang Puck

Dinner in Vegas is always interesting, but we made it over to the Mandalay Bay Resort where we decided to eat at Wolfgang Puck‘s first Italian Restaurant called Trattoria del Lupo. We didn’t make any reservations, but the wait was about 30 minutes – which isn’t bad considering last time we went to Vegas, we had to have reservations for every dinner place we ate at – otherwise, they had nothing available! The dining room at Lupo was quite large, and they were able to squish a lot of tables in to accommodate a lot of seating.

Our first impression when we finally got in was it was quite dark and romantic. It was interesting as we sat at the tables behind the bar, and the hostess had to ull out the table to let us sit into the banquettes – and then after seated, they pushed the table back in.

Lupo - Breadsticks with white bean sauce and roasted garlic in evoo

The service was great, and after we were seated, we were brought our drinks and awesome Breadsticks. The breadsticks were really thin and long, and from the look, you can immediately tell they were home-made. These long crispy breadsticks was accompanied with roasted garlic and olive oil dip and white bean sauce. It was really fun to break off pieces of this delicious bread and dip into either sauce.

The dinner entrees was excellent! I ordered the Bucatini all’ “Amatriciana” which was house made pasta with roasted onions, pancetta, tomatoes, chili flakes, basil and pecorino. Pecorino would be sheep or ewe’s milk cheese (a hard cheese), and even though I thought it would be strong, they didn’t use a lot, so the dish was perfectly balanced, especially with the saltiness of the pancetta. This dish was excellent, the texture of the pasta was really good, and all the ingredients was fresh – and the plate of pasta just seemed really light. It was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve had in a long time – if not ever!

The other entrees we enjoyed was Scialatielli “Ai Quattro Passi” which was also house made thick noodle pasta but with “Quattro Passi”, sausage bolognese, cream, basil and Parmesan cheese. This is a much heavier pasta dish that really fills you right up – not only was it a nice meaty dish with the sausage bolognese, but it had a nice thick cream sauce. The flavours of the meat sauce was so hearty and excellent, it really was a dish to remember!

Finally, the last dish was not a pasta dish, but it was Filetto d’Agnello which was marinated bone-in lamb loin with garlic spinach, chanterelle mushrooms, tomatoes and Gorgonzola cheese.

Overall, we were extremely satisfied with Lupo and will be returning in the near future as they were able to provide us with great food, great service and all for a really great price! We were really shocked about the quality and the portion size from Lupo, so we have no negative thoughts to tell you about!

Trattoria del Lupo

3950 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas
(702) 740-5522

November 25, 2011April 4, 2012

MGM Grand Tower Deluxe King Suite

Recently, I went to Las Vegas for a very short get-away and I stayed at the MGM Grand Resort right on the Strip. It’s closer to the South end, but it was a nice location regardless!

The immaculate detailing of the hotel room itself, let alone the rest of the resort was great! The suite was tastefully decorated and the use of their signature Lion Head symbol throughout the hotel was great!

One of my favourite features of the room, that is slightly useless – but wonderful would be the light on top of the TV Armoire! When you open up the doors it would expose the TV, and there is a little push button that says “LIGHT” and it illuminates the top of the armoire. I chose to use this light while I was out of the hotel room, so when I return, it wouldn’t be pitch black. It was a great alternative as I didn’t need to turn on all the lights.

The bathroom was really large, and the shower was a low tub walk in bath with a shower faucet. The low tub really makes it accessible for those guests with limited mobility – even though I did bang my arm on the handrail that was on the shower walls a few times, it is a necessary feature for hotel & resort bathrooms. The tub area was tiled with large tiles and enhanced with smaller and darker tiles that really gave a modern feel to the bathroom. The sink area offered a lot of counter top space and room for you to sprawl out if you wanted to. Or, if you were rooming for other people, it made it easy for everyone to have their belongings out and still have room to work with.

MGM Grand Tower Deluxe King Bathroom Amenities

The bathroom amenities is one of my favourite memories of this resort. They are all Jasmine scented and when you wash your hands or anything like that, you immediately get a subtle scent of Jasmine – which reminds me of the Jasmine Tea that I drink at home. It was really heavenly scent that wasn’t over powering in any way. The soap that they use in the shower was a lovely Jasmine scented body massage bar, so it actually had the beads built into the soap. It was a nice touch and much appreciated after long walk up and down the strip to increase circulation.

The room is quite spacious and it has a wonderful lounging area with a large canape but a lot like a chaise longue. It was really nice and it added dimension and visual interest to what could be your “standard” hotel room. The room also had a large desk and the working surface was huge! I was able to have my laptop out and some of my work – and I didn’t feel cluttered at all! This is a great hotel room and even though it’s already not my first time there, I would be back again! The bed was large and luxurious and very comfortable. I’d fall asleep in no time with a king bed complete with 4 king sized pillows! The comforter was the right size and thickness and everything was really clean!

I booked myself my stay online with Las Vegas Hotel Casino Deals, and it was wonderful! My last stay in Vegas, I stayed at the Aria Resort & Casino, and it was another wonderful experience!

The room in MGM Grand doesn’t have as many in room amenities as some other resorts. This room did have an in-suite safe which was large enough to fit my laptop, and all the belongings I needed locked up. The room didn’t have a mini fridge which would have come handy as I did want to bring some left over dinners with me this one evening. The high speed internet that you pay for with the room classified under “Resort Fee” was super slow. I would understand if it was free and slow, but it was a slow and choppy internet which I wasn’t really happy about. But, I guess when you’re in Vegas, you’re not in your room a lot. I was wanting to update my blog throughout the trip so I could stay on top of things but I had to revert to making a list and doing it when I got home because of the internet problem. The hotel wasn’t super busy until Wednesday (Right before American Thanksgiving & Black Friday), so it wasn’t like there were a lot of guests connected onto the internet.

The housekeeping staff was excellent as well. They kept my room clean, and fulfilled all my requests! The towers were big and fluffy, and it was just a great stay overall!

April 27, 2011June 2, 2019

Aria Resort & Casino – City Center, Las Vegas

Since ARIA was being built, I’ve always stared at it from the platform outside Planet Hollywood near P.F. Changs just wondering what kind of a resort it would be. A few years later, it was complete, and all I wanted to do then was to experience this resort.

In April 2011, I finally found the perfect excuse to visit the resort — and found a great rate!! I quickly booked it room in January, and never stopped thinking about it. Now that I’ve left, I still haven’t stopped thinking about ARIA.

This resort truly was a dream come true! The smell of floral and green tea as you enter the resort was always refreshing. The layout of the Casino was optimal, and there were a lot of dining options as well. Even the path going to the pool area looked top notch!

Our room, we did receive a complimentary upgrade to a city view in a Deluxe Room City View with a King bed. The one thing that made me nervous was the stocked mini bar in the suite. Apparently, you’d get charged if you picked anything up — or even place anything near it to trigger it’s sensors. It was too advanced, and that frightened me a little.

The description states that there is a laptop sized in-room safe. I still don’t know where that is, but it wasn’t important, as the laptop I brought with me was old and slow… really not something anyone wants! 🙂