This covers 3 trips: Venetian in March with the family, solo trip in June, and family trip in July.

Hotel

Venetian—Venezia tower (March). Don’t stay at the Venezia tower!!! It sucks!!! Stay at the regular Venetian tower instead!! All I wanted was some packages to be delivered and some room service, and I had to wait an hour for each. Maybe they didn’t hire any additional staff when the new tower went up. Or maybe it just takes the staff too long to take the elevator to the Venezia lobby, walk all the way down a long hallway, then take another elevator to the room. I chose the Venezia because you get access to an additional pool area, but then read here later that all guests have access to it? The room is very spacious and well appointed, but I think it’s basically the same as a regular Venetian room. Strangely, I had free high speed internet throughout my stay. I can’t believe they charge more for the Venezia tower.

Bellagio spa tower (June). I like what they’ve done with the place. The walkway to the tower is filled with light and has chairs and tables that look out onto the pool area. Great place to enjoy some ice cream from the new candy shop. I did not notice a difference in the quality of the new areas, but then again I don’t usually notice such details. The rooms themselves seem the same as the original tower, except perhaps a little smaller, even though they are advertised as having the same sq footage. Perhaps they used more space for the bathroom. Service was great. No problems getting packages delivered, towels delivered, or odd requests for the time to clean the room.

Mandalay Bay (July). I think this will be my last stay here. I chose it because the family I was traveling with needed something close to the pool and not too pricey. But I found the beds very hard, just like last year. Also, even though the room is supposed to be large, it feels a little cramped, I think because of the strange location of the bathroom doors. This location requires extra space between the bathrooms and the bed, and that space seems wasted to me. While Mandalay may have started out as an upscale place, I think they are now more focused on the conventioneers and events, and just want to pack people in and out. Although maybe the real reason I don’t like them is that they are a Pepsi-only establishment. (more…)

I’m filing audio trip reports from Vegas via my podcast, Five Hundy by Midnight.

One of the highlights of the trip so far was getting up this morning, grabbing a copy of the Las Vegas Review Journal and reading the feature article on the front of the Living section. It’s all about podcasting, and more than half of it centers around my podcast.

Check out his awesome Vegas Podcast Five Hundy by Midnight.