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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Las Vegas June 2013 Trip Report Part 1 Aria Casino & Hotel

This is our Third Las Vegas Trip Report Blog
This June 2013 tour of our 14 day stay starts with 
Part 1 - 8 nights at the Aria Hotel & Casino 
on the Las Vegas Strip



  As is now becoming the norm we again booked this holiday through www.dialaflight.com We always check around the best site/s on the web for the best deals but our agent Finn Conlon always gets us the best deal.  
Over the years we have tried several other travel companies, but in most recent years Finn continues to get the optimum deal for us. You can always get to speak to him - unless he is on vacation himself; he also is quick to respond to emails and ultimately so far our holidays have always gone to plan or better. So special thanks to Finn for another excellent trip!
Ready for the pick up - Glorious Devon morning
Saturday 1st June - The Trek begins from Devon to Gatwick Airport London.
  Simon our taxi driver arrives to pick us up at 9.45am. We sometimes get the train, but because we booked this trip only a few weeks ago, the train worked out more expensive than a taxi for the 4 of us, to Gatwick airport, it’s about a 4 hour drive, but this is past by good conversation and a pit stop, we also play games like guess the number of strawberry sellers on route (A303), etc, all good fun, the drive was better than expected, as this was the last Saturday of half term, the Bath show and a major horse race meeting near the airport.
Simon arrives on time to whisk us away...
  We arrived at the south terminal, headed off to see if we could check-in. Unfortunately, Virgin Atlantic have changed their twilight check in, it now starts at 5pm not 12 noon anymore; a bit of a pain, but no worries we are on holiday now, so will check in at the hotel and come back later. Just means we had to drag our bags with us for a little bit longer. This time we are staying at the new Premier Inn North terminal, (Hilton way too expensive for just a overnight crash, this time). 
Nice quiet Tram ride to the North Terminal for the Premier Inn - nicely avoided the rush hour
  We found it very easily, you can see it from the tram that links the South to the North terminal, mind you seeing it and actually getting to it was slightly different, but not too bad, once we had figured out how to exit the terminal, you just cross the road and there you are.
Premier Inn seen in the distance as you approach by Tram
 The reason for showing these stages is that before we did this trip when searching on Google Earth etc... the Premier Inn was not that apparent so hoped we would see something obvious when we got here... especially as there is another one just a short distance away to add to the confusion.
Looks much easier to get to Premier Inn, now we are closer
Lift is easier - at far end
And there you are - Voila! as not seen on Google

You go in via the ground floor, reception is on a higher floor, so with bags we headed for the lifts this took an age to get one, but don’t let that put you off. 
 

 


 








 The check in was quick the staff were very helpful and the rooms and beds were clean and comfy and just what you need for an overnight rest before a long flight.






   
We had two rooms 1 twin for the boys and 1 double for us, cost £45 per room, so a good deal. It was all convenient and you could see the airplanes take off.  

 
  





  We got ourselves organised and chilled down with a glass of wine, watched a bit of TV, then just after 5pm, we headed back to the South Terminal to check in and get some dinner, check in was smooth, no queue, bags now gone, that’s what I like about the twilight check in, all done, so enjoy, all we have to do now is arrive back at the airport about 1 hour before departure to get through security and head to the gate.
Amstel V's Staropramen
Real Ale for this pair









   Headed over to Weatherspoon's the Beehive, ordered 4 beers 2 double burger ultimate' for Nix and Simon and 2 chicken melts for Lesley and Ollie, all very good, except when the person cleared away the plates and managed to drop some cutlery and spray Simon with tomato ketchup! Thank goodness for wet wipes.
 







   Another beer later - well, all but Lesley, then back to the hotel for some TV, watched the voice, Lesley had a soak in the bath, we both had a good night’s sleep, which was unusual before a flight, could be the Camomile tea Lesley brought with her.
 






Sunday 2nd June - The Long Flight ahead... Vegas here we come...
All up bright and breezy, checked out no problems, well, just the lifts again, many folks get in a lift, but doesn’t always go where you think it should, it also stops on every floor, if folks hit the call button on each floor, even if it’s totally full, also try using the lift when you have checked out, (which you need to, as reception is I think on the 2nd or 3rd floor), all lifts are key activated! 

   After a while I thought no worries we can use the stairs, but yes you guessed it, they too are also key activated, so could not even walk out, but we managed to get out - tailgating someone else with a key, and would stay again despite the lift scenario.
  Got through security all okay, flight on time, all aboard then off we go, flight very long, but I guess bearable, food just okay. Seats, I think they are smaller since the massive Virgin Refurb programme - I wonder if Richard has tried a flight sitting next to someone who overfills their own seat and sticking their elbows into your ribcage on a full flight with no where else to go? - Leg room, definitely getting smaller, but on the way to Las Vegas it never seems as bad. I guess the excitement, dulls the pain of the flight.

   








However, the entertainment is good, many films to choose, when and which you like and you can pause them, so all good, watched Jack Reacher and the Guilt trip, both good. Apart from the entertainment the new seat back information with regard to the flight is interesting as above.










Arrived just after 2pm, (9pm UK time), we got off as quickly as possible, we were in seats mid 20’s so near the front for disembarking and were hence able to miss the majority of the queue at immigration, sailed through, the boys went off to baggage, to retrieve bags.

 Lesley and I went to customs, which was a very smooth experience the officers were friendly and cheerful singing Lionel Richie’s song, “Hello is it me your looking for” to us, so a really nice welcome to Las Vegas. From landing to Limo took 45 minutes, so great, let’s get to a casino, (back to second home).


 Limo waiting, we have used Presidential Limo’s for some time now, never let us down. Our driver, (I failed to remember his name this time), did laugh as we all appeared with jumpers and jackets on, as we stepped out of the terminal, we were hit by temperatures of 40 degrees, and actually saw the sun, so folks it does exist outside of the UK! So quickly stripped off as many items of clothing as the law would allow.
The excitement is now showing - the stretch Limo is great - as usual.
  Great ride to the Aria – we do love this resort, we booked 2 standard rooms, but were upgraded to City View rooms, so a great view, what a bonus, rooms 15090 /15104, we were able to check in at invited guests, so missed queues, you can do this if you are Gold M life - even if you book via an agent, as we do. Just email guest services they will marry up your booking with your M Life acccount, which will let you check in faster. 
Note: you can Skype most hotels for free from the UK which is very useful!

  Next step open champagne from the limo and chill for a while whilst we adjust to Las Vegas after a very long journey. All four enjoyed the chill down, but quickly decided to unpack, shower and head out to the casino. Its around 6pm now (2 a.m. UK time, so starting to feel tired, but eager to make the most of our first night).


I headed on down to the Casino floor and started with "The Mummy" slot, and let the others catch up...
when they were ready....
 
 Mummy Slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas

1st spin and banged straight in to a Bonus, just to warm things up..... usual couple of spin out spins then moved on....
  
Dragon Slot win - Aria Las Vegas
3rd spin in - just lowered bet from 80c to 40c and it gave a semi decent win.
 Zeus free spins bonus - Aria Las Vegas
Not a very inspirational win on this Zeus slot, but shows how it can go - still, a win is win.
Wheel Of Fortune Bonus Spin - Aria Las Vegas
No guesses for where the wheel is going to stop this time around....
Wheel Of Fortune (2) Bonus Spin - Aria Las Vegas
This was the same bank of machines as the 1st hit on the Vid above, and it decided to hit the Bonus wheel spin again for us - what do you think it will land on this time?
Wheel Of Fortune Bonus Spin (3) - Aria Las Vegas
Same bank of  $WOF slots, moved around the carousel and quickly hit into another bonus spin again, on this 3rd slot in the bank of machines. However, this one was also awarded an additional secret spin Bonus...
 Megabucks Slot Win - Aria Las Vegas
 1st spin on the Megabucks and boom - hit $64 straight off.  We are all having fun, no losses yet, Lesley and I decided to chip in together for a few spins together for a while. We had a small win on the Megabucks to get things kick started....
Pink Diamonds Bonus - Aria Las Vega


  Still Sunday 2nd June 2013 for the start of our 14 night tour of Fabulous Las Vegas. Our 1st evening here is moving on nicely here at the Aria. We next headed over to one of our favourites and got 12 free spins on the Pink Diamonds (3D), so up a little already. 
  Wild Red Sevens Slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas

Following a few spins and some
random small returns we soon hit into another handy free spins Bonus win, it all adds up..... and stems potential losses.


Ollie decided to check out the Monte Carlo, this casino is joined to the Aria by a walk through, we said we would follow shortly. Which we did, we didn’t find him, but did catch up with Simon, who had also moved over to the Monte Carlo, as someone had tried to chat him up in the Aria, not sure how that happened? 

White Fire Diamond Quickhits Bonus Feature - Monte Carlo Las Vegas
 The 3 of us chipped in together for some "mixed social slotting" and started with the Quickhits.  1st spin and "boom" straight in with this Bonus spins hit! Things warming up a bit now....then a re-trigger too....can it get better as this our 1st night in Vegas goes on....
 $ Wheel Of Fortune Bonus Spin (1) - Monte Carlo Las Vegas
Next we did a few spins on the Megabucks, but no luck. Then we moved to the Wheel of Fortune.  and we bit into this bonus almost immediately... 
$ Wheel Of Fortune Bonus Spin (2) - Monte Carlo Las Vegas
....and then we bit into this second bonus immediately on the same machine, after doing a spin out spin, before moving to the next machine to us, on the same bank...
 $Wheel Of Fortune Bonus (3) - Monte Carlo - Las Vegas

  I used the words "we carefully moved across to this machine" in the vid, as a lady was on it before us and I think she might have lost a lot of money and moved off in disgust, when she saw us hitting the previous 2 bonus's "bang" straight in. This may have helped us win large on this one and as we had by now had a few cocktails / real ale (which the waitress can get you in the Monte - particularly like "Shock Top" and "Fat Tyre" and I do like the occasional "Blue Moon" on tap), on top of the Champagne, you could tell how happy we were at this stage from the Vid, so a good result and nice start to our 2 week vacation.
 
Ollie now appeared, having mainly played Poker. It was off to bed, remember we have been  on the go now for nearly 24 hours non stop. At this point, we cashed out, got a slice of pizza each - well Simon had a Stromboli, at the Monte Carlo food court. All good, back to the Aria for some much needed sleep.
City View from the room
Monday 3rd June – Day 2 (Aria) but Our 1st Full day in Las Vegas for this trip
Slept from 10pm to 2.30 am, not good, did not get much sleep after this, always a problem to start with, as 2.30am in Las Vegas is around 10.30am UK time, so our brains are saying time to get up! Anyway, we hung on until around 6pm, before getting coffee. 
Breakfast at the Aria (Ollie)
Got up slowly, Nixy slightly hungover (on the first night!). Boys also up, so we decided to check out the Aria Breakfast buffet, it was not bad at all, good selection of freshly cooked food, service was good. Thought it was a bit pricey, especially had to ask for eggs Benedict and you are only a stone’s throw from the Bellagio or the Cosmopolitan buffet, which for us are better vfm options. But we were adequately fed, the place is bright and well spaced out. Not sure I would try the dinner buffet, I think this it way to pricey in terms of value for money as the Bellagio was about a dollar difference.

   We thought we would have a few warm up spins in the Aria before heading over to the Bellagio where Lesley hit the DaVinci Diamonds last time for over $2,500, plus the cocktails are among the best quality in Las Vegas.
 Jewel Of The Dragon Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
  I started with the JOTD above and quickly hit into the bonus - what I liked about this slot bonus was the "Wilds" can be stopped with the button if you get the timing right and you are quick enough as there are blocks / chunks of wilds which scroll quickly down. If / when you manage to either manually stop them or they just randomly stop in situ for you, they will then "lock in" for the rest of the Bonus.... so try to get them in early if you can. Not bad for a 40c bet, to start the day with.....
 Life of Luxury slot bonus - Aria Las Vegas
 Still keeping to my morning bet minimum, I soon hit this on the Life of Luxury slots, which was a spinning streaks bonus spins win - if you watch the vid you will see why it is called "spinning streaks".
A shot of the Bellagio from the moving walkway


 After a few spins in the Aria, we then wandered over to the Bellagio. Good cocktail service, they do the best strawberry Daiquiris in town. Simon broke even, the rest of us down just a tad, but the cocktails made up for this....
 Barnum & Bailey Slot Bonus - Bellagio Las Vegas  Ringling Brothers Greatest Show on Earth
 Wheel Of Fortune Triple Spin -  Bellagio Las Vegas
 From the Bellagio, we decided to check out Planet Hollywood and of course the great ABC store to stock up with beer, water and snacks, for the room. 
Leaving the Bellagio via the moving walkway taking in the view of the Paris Casino en-route to Planet Hollywood

Simon with feet up taking in the view from the Aria
 Simon picked up a few bits for his mates in the sports shop. Back to the Aria, our room was not serviced, not good, especially as the tip was taken, boys room was done.
 
 Superman II Honeymoon Suite Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
 I went down to the Aria Casino to have a little play and left the others in their room/s. I headed over to try out the Superman II slot and hit into this bonus called the "Honeymoon suite".
 
 The Amulet & The Charm Slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
Nice Bonus, with 7 free games with stacked wilds and scatter bucks (these are a neat touch which I liked a lot), really not a bad win for a 40c bet!
 
 Jackpot Party Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
On this Jackpot Party slot Bonus I didn't video all the picks as I did not think it would amount to anything, so not a bad win for a 40c bet.
Mummy Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
 The outcome didn't really match the expectation on this bonus but the video effects were interesting.
 
 Tiki Beach slot Bonus win - Aria Las Vegas
 This Tiki slot Bonus could have been better but it was mildly entertaining and was not too bad a return for 40c.

 It was late afternoon, by now, we all fell asleep, waking around 1.30am.....  what a waste of our second night in Vegas, (jet lag can be an issue sometimes). But we had had 10 hours sleep. What to do, as sleep, was not going to return.


Tuesday 4th June - Day 3 (Aria) very early hours of the morning (due to Jet lag mis-timing)
     So given it was now effectively the next day albeit around 2:30 a.m. in the morning, I decided to hit the casino floor. 
Night view from our room taken when we woke and before I set off down to the Casino
Lesley got up, did some washing, read her book, whilst eating chocolate and drinking beer, occasionally checking out the great view of the strip - from the floor to ceiling windows.  She did also get a little more sleep, the boys stayed in bed the whole time. 
 
  Hangover slot - Leslie Chow's locked Wild's 
Freaky Free Games Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
This is now around 2:40 a.m. on Tuesday 4th June 2013, day 3 of our 14 night stay in Vegas.
This is my absolute all time most favourite slot machine Bonus, a real hoot - We also love the Hangover Films. Not my best win but a tidy sum nevertheless. Always good when I also get the extra Deal in the desert Bonus too...
 
 Wild Red Sevens Bonus Win - Aria Las Vegas
Straight from the Hangover Bonus onto this bonus game..... 25c denom max bet free spins bonus.
Sex & the City Slot - Change Of A Dress Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
   If I had more wisely chosen one of the other Girls We would have started with a better chance - the Bonuses on this slot seem to have a relationship to particular Girls, so if you know your stuff you can maximise your luck a bit more.... Not a show I watch, but the slot is actually a bit of fun and normally fair returns when I play them....not too shabby for a 50c push!
 
Superman II Slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
  I had this same Honeymoon Suite - Superman and Lois Lane - bonus a couple of days ago and this payout was slightly better due to some slightly better picking choices. You can hear me thanking the cocktail waitress in the background on this one... not bad for 50c push.
WOF Bonus spin - Aria Las Vegas
Straight from the Superman Bonus onto this WOF and immediately hit the wheel spin bonus......the fun continues here at the Aria....
 
Twilight Zone 3D bonus "Wheel spin" - Aria Las Vegas
My picking skills were a bit under par on this one and has to rank as one of the most worthless bonuses I ever had - for warned is for armed - However, I do manage to do better on the next spin though......
 
Twilight Zone 3D bonus "Spiral Of Infinity" - Aria Las Vegas
  Having just got a really poor Bonus wheel spin as seen on the previous Vid (due to my bad picking) after 4 more spins(@ 90c ea) I suddenly hit this "Spiral Of Infinity" Bonus totally out of the blue...which redeemed my enjoyment of this slot machine.....which the few videos I captured belie, as this gave me a lot of fun play before I cashed in a nice bit of wedge....in particular the sudden random bonuses of which there were a number of different kinds making it interesting and great fun to play, with the 3D visualisations being the icing on the cake...
 
Twilight Zone 3D "The Blink of an Eye" bonus - Aria Las Vegas
  Following on from the  "Spiral Of Infinity" Bonus a few more spins again and I suddenly hit this "The Blink of an Eye" bonus again out of the blue...continuing my enjoyment of this slot machine.....
 
The Twilight Zone 3D "The Flight of Imagination" Bonus - Aria Las Vegas

  Following on from the "The Blink of an Eye"  Bonus, the next 2 spins on again and I suddenly hit this "The Flight of Imagination" bonus. Also on this slot you can use one of the buttons to set the dimension 1st, 2nd or 3rd depending on  whether you prefer frequent low paid wins, less frequent moderate wins or low frequency higher paid wins. I was shooting down the middle on this and had quite a long go on the two machines they had in the Aria before cashing out a tidy sum.
  
Diamond Quickhits Bonus spins - Aria Las Vegas
Following on from the Twilight Zone session on both Machines and maxing it out before moving to this Diamond Quickhits machine which on 1st spin went straight in on Max bet and Boom...Golden Bell Free Games.....   the fun continues here at the Aria.... and now around 3:40 a.m.
 
 Dragon's Vault slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
Just gone 5:00 am on Tuesday 4th June 2013, got up at 2:30 due to Jet Lag 8 hrs behind the UK time.....  This Free Games Feature has 2 stacked Wild reels on every free spin.... all said and done an unfortunate payout, but you can see how the Bonus works if you feel like trying it for yourself? Not sure I will bother next time...
 
  Montezuma slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
 ....another unfortunate payout but you can see how the Bonus works if you feel like trying it for yourself? again not sure I will bother next time... this must have been Montezuma's revenge...

Spartacus Compilation - Aria Las Vegas
....at the start of this compilation the time was approx 6:10 a.m..... 
I do like the WMS Colossal reel slots in particular Spartacus, some others I also like are Lil' Red and Van Helsing but to name a few. This is a small sample of 4 separate chunks together covering a real time period of approx. 20 mins mainly winning play on the same machine. 
When I put the denomination up more it cooled, when I put it down it played, but the payouts were not exceptional - however, this type of solid play is good for racking up points and good fun....3 separate sets of 8 bonus spins plus a single hit... you do need to be careful / disciplined on these though as it is very easy to get "rinsed" quickly, from what I have seen.

 I appeared back in the room at 7am, just in time to get coffee for the crew, and Lesley was just getting up! I did get a little rest whilst Lesley got herself ready. 
 
 Video Poker - Aria Las Vegas - hand pay Jackpot $4,000
After a freshen up, I Went back down to the Casino to catch up with the Boys who went down at around 8:00a.m. ....as they had been in bed for 16 hours, while Lesly finished getting ready, and planned to meet us down there. As I was sat on Spartacus slot mainly up at the time - the boys came walking towards me looking pleased as punch, and I soon found out why... 
 
   ......they had decided to chip in together and play video poker, $1 machine on max bet. They were doing well and made their $100 each into $280, they had agreed to play until they hit $300 then quit and cash out, but what happened, next?  They hit a Straight Royal Flush for a hand pay of $4,000 - to the uninitiated this is the highest poker hand you can get. 

One of the warm up hands Quad Queens for $125 - just before hitting the Jackpot
From what we gathered, the whole casino heard Ollie’s elation, what a result. When Lesley caught up with us around 10 am, she knew from their face’s they had had a win, but not sure on the amount until they spilled it all out! So an excellent result for the start of our second day. 
Ollie with his hand pay Jackpot
Simon with the shared hand pay Jackpot


 








  
We had a few more spins then headed out to the Cosmopolitan. 
Heading into the Cosmo...
Going down into the Casino area...

 










We visited the Cosmopolitan to check our rooms for when we finish at the Aria.......
We had a few spins, and great cocktails, they do amazing chocolate martini’s and Cosmopolitan.
 
Elvis Slot Bonus - Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
  Lesley and I hit the slots - Viva Las Vegas Bonus spins, Ok for a 40c bet and one chip away from going to the next pay level on what is usually the best of the Elvis Bonus round's you can get on this machine (in my view).
Crystal Sevens Slot Bonus - Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
Just moved over to here from the Elvis slot machine and a few spins in hit this bonus.......
nice Quad Kings hit...
and a Full House....















The boys hit the Video Poker and continue their luck...
then into another Full House
Chocolate Martini time!














Still in the Cosmo, decided we needed food, so thought we would check out Holstein’s.
 
We think Holsteins is very nice!

Brothers in arms like it here too!


 This is a high end burger joint, that also serves great top quality beers (you really need to check the list out) and alcoholic milk shakes, what more can one ask for....
 
Ollie's finger of approval!
The taste is to die for...Excellent start!









Ollie and I shared the lobster rolls to start....they come as a pair...
 
Spud eats his in a blurr.....
Lesley takes her time to savour the moment










 While Simon and Lesley shared the pork belly rolls, amazing!
Chicken fillet Carbonara bun

"Gold Standard" Burger









....then Ollie had the Chicken fillet Carbonara bun, the rest of us had the "Gold Standard" burger, all with fries, the food was absolutely lovely, will definitely visit this place again, they even let you sample beer to find the one that suits you best.
Sampling another of the hand crafted beers
Fat and full we headed back to the Aria.
 Secret Spins WOF Slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
  We clubbed in together and played the wheel of fortune secret spins to start the ball rolling quickly biting into this bonus....
 Top Dollar Bonus - Aria Las Vegas
We then moved onto the Top Dollar machine and again only a few spins in hit the bonus round....
 Mr Chow Slot Bonus - Aria Las Vegas

moving on swiftly to one of our all time favourites the Hangover slot machine (from the films of the same name) .... second spin in and we hit the feature and got the best one - the Mr Chow bonus! The fun continues... watch the vid to see if we get the additional "Deal in the Desert" bonus award? and if we did - did we find the right "Doug"?

We cashed out, no losses, then back to our rooms for a rest as we are going to the Michael Jackson the One show at the Mandalay Bay tonight and need to stay awake. Oh did stop in the Aria shop – Elements for a few pressies. 
King of Pop Slot Bonus - Mandalay Bay
We all caught the tram across to the Mandalay Bay to catch the MJ "One" Preview show - but on the way had to play his named slot machine 1st and quickly hit the Bonus...
 Jewel Of the Dragon  Bonus - Mandalay Bay Las Vegas
Managed to bite into the bonus on the this Jewel of the dragon slot and as mentioned earlier even though I was low rolling on this for a bit of fun it was a nice payout - I was getting the timing well on stopping  the fixed wilds in position which helped get a higher than average win. 
Michael Jackson the One show AMAZING, a great production from Cirque du Soleil, a real wow factor, well worth seeing. Especially the holographic effects and associated dancing, not to mention the music, well everything really....
Back to Aria, all tired, so off to bed.

This is report Continues in Part 2
of our Third Las Vegas Trip Report Blog
Wednesday 5th June 2013