I used to not like Vegas, thinking it was more a place for hard-core partyers than a goody two-shoes like me who didn’t like to smoke or gamble or rub up against strangers in crowded clubs. That is until I went there earlier this year, staying at Caesar’s Palace and gorging myself in a foodie’s paradise of Payard Patisserie, Bradley Ogden, Beijing Noodle No. 9 and Guy Savoy. Oh my! Now all I can think about is when I can go back. All that yummy food in one place. Of course my bf still hates Vegas so I have to find someone else who’s up for it. Hmm.
And now Caesar’s has made my need even more urgent with its vacation specials inspired by this summer’s hit movie, The Hangover. There’s a minimum two-night stay and prices begin at $120 an evening but you get a $50 food and beverage credit. But if you get the Ultimate Hangover Package (price begins at $200), you get a two-night stay in a Double Bay suite with a $50 credit at the brand-new Serendipity 3, two VIP passes to Pure Nightclub and two passes to Venus Pool with a $50 pool credit (Frrrozen Hot Chocolate!). It sounds so indulgent. I’d probably just stick to the more affordable plain Hangover package.
For added enticement, Payard Patisserie is now offering a $19 three-course prix-fixe lunch menu where you can start with an heirloom caprese salad, fill up on a flat iron steak and finish off with a decadent Payard pastry. But definitely visit the chocolate shop while you’re at it. And I also highly recommend the brunch. Mmm, Payard chocolate waffle.
Also, restaurant Bradley Ogden is showcasing its summer menu through September 21 with the likes of sweet yellow corn soup with spiced popcorn and mascarpone agnolotti with brown butter sauce.
OK, who’s down for Vegas before summer’s end?
Caesars Palace Las Vegas
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109 (map)
Twitter: @CaesarsPalace
When I told my L.A. cocktail enthusiast friends that I was spending my Fourth of July/bday weekend up in San Francisco, they all told me that I had to get myself to Heaven’s Dog right quick. “You’re in SF?” Johnny the Fish of Social Domain texted me as soon as I had Twittered I was in the Tonga Room post hotel check-in. “Get to Heaven’s Dog for cocktails immediately.” OK, OK, I obliged, Sheesh. I had managed to drag my bff, an SF local, and her work buddies to HD in SOMA as well. Surprisingly none had ever been there for cocktails considering it’s close to where they work.
For a Thursday night before a holiday weekend, the lounge area wasn’t too packed and there were actually seats available at the bar. However, we squeezed our group of six into a seating area comprised of a small couch and ottomans since it was the 
only place left for a group of our size. An annoying group of double-dating couples had snagged the bigger seating area before us.
I got over that right away as soon as the cocktail menu was handed to me. Sooo many yummy-sounding drinks and all for only $10 each! I recognized Remember the Maine, which I had had at the Varnish, but everything else sounded exciting and new.
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I used to think cruise ships were for old folks. My parents are always going on them. And remember An Affair to Remember? The Love Boat? Cruising was big back in the day, not so much now.
But then one of my bro’s friends wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday on a cruise to Ensenada. Since the party organizer, Walt Hawkins, is also a travel agent, he took care of everything, booking our party of 40+ on a Carnival Paradise weekend cruise.
Each person paid about $400 and since we had booked our tickets wayyy in advance last year, we were rewarded with a cabin upgrade and a $50 credit! Right now there’s actually a summer special going on through August 31 with this same deal. Go on a Bahama cruise for $279 or a Baja one for $299, both with cash back.
It’s a bargain considering the accommodations for three nights, all the food you can eat (more on that later) and even shows! Plus you’re on the ocean which wasn’t as sickening as I thought.
So the only things you really pay for are extras like cocktails, espresso drinks and exercise classes in the gym. But you can get your breakfast and lunch in this cafeteria-type setting which has a buffet station, a salad bar, drink fountain and even a 24/7 soft serve ice cream dispenser. It’s almost like a Vegas buffet.
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Before this trip, this was my idea of nightlife in Vegas: packed meat market bars, bad drinks, and drunk men trying to rub their junk on even drunker girls. Fortunately this hosted vacay courtesy of Caesars Palace showed me another side to those sparkly lights that I’ve only seen in movies and the pages of Us Weekly.
Cher at the Colosseum
After our dinner at Rao’s we rushed over to the Colosseum to catch Cher. It was all so surreal and yet so Vegas, made all the more perfect with the promise of Bob Mackey costumes. Most of the giddy audience was already seated when we arrived. The venue looked sold out. Luckily for us, our seats were in front orchestra 4 putting us a mere 12 (?) rows away from the lady herself. Tickets in this section normally cost $227.27!
Apparently you can do a dinner and show package which can be a deal if you choose wisely. For instance, you can do the higher priced show ticket ($190) and dinner at the Bradley Ogden lounge ($40) where you can enjoy the best burger ever and only pay a bit more than if you just bought a ticket to the show. Believe me, that house-ground steak burger is awesome.
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I swore off Vegas ever since that extremely annoying bachelorette party I was forced to take part in three years ago. “Vegas is for smokers, gamblers, people who can’t hold their liquor, loose men/women and senior citizens anyway,” I said. What sort of fun could I possibly have in Sin City when I don’t fall into any of the above categories? Well, OK, maybe one.
But then I got invited to be part of a hosted media trip to Caesars Palace. “Too bad I don’t like Vegas,” I Twittered. However friends then proceeded to badger me and call me names and since I cave under peer pressure I cashed in some vacay hours, borrowed a car from work, enlisted Sarah of The Delicious Life/TasteSpotting as my road trip companion and off we went.
And…it was THE best Vegas trip ever. Not only in the history of my life but probably the history of the world. Yeah, it was pretty awesome.
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Photos by P.S. Photos
See that person falling out of the raft on the right side of the above photo? H’yeah. That’s our W.E.T. rafting guide, the one whose expertise we relied on to get us through some hairy class IV rapids and 19 miles of the American River (near Colfax in NorCal). It’s OK to laugh; he made it back in the raft. The other guides in the three other rafts got wind of this and razzed him the rest of the trip, saying 
that he owed them beer for the blunder. Funny thing is, he was the only one who fell out of our raft during the entire journey.
I thought for sure I’d be the one to fall out seeing as how it was my first time ever river rafting. I don’t swim or really do anything resembling a water sport. And yet, this was on my list of things to do before I die because it sounded and looked so fun and exciting.
No one in our group told me the differences between the different classes of rapids or that there were different trips we could go on depending on our level of expertise, and I was glad that I was left ignorant of this. I probably would have wussied out and opted for the baby beginner (Class III) trip and then would have missed out on the Tunnel Chute — think Disneyland’s Splash Mountain but as a 15-foot-wide slide with 100 times that amount of water shooting all around you.
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Flickr Shot by LilHils
So as I was planning my trip to NYC my huge dilemma was figuring out how to get to LAX for less than $50. The last time I took a taxi from my place in West LA, the fare plus tip was about $60, and no I didn’t tip big. So no taxi for me this time.
I then looked into the possibility of taking a shuttle like PrimeTime or Super Shuttle but the reviews on Yelp weren’t just complaints but full-out rants about how much these services suck. And no one wants to take a sidetrip to Reseda to drop off other passengers when they just want to go straight home.
So it was good ol’ Parking Lot C for me: $10 a day. This was just fine except for the ubercrowded shuttle getting to the terminals. And when I returned to L.A. and waited for the bus in Terminal 6 for about 20 minutes. Fuhgeddaboudit! By the time the bus got to me after going through all the other terminals first, it was packed tightly with travelers and their luggage.
As I was wedged in between two smelly guys, this LAX FlyAway ad in the bus caught my eye. LAX FlyAway now has a Westwood stop, in addition to its Union Station and Van Nuys stops! Westwood service doesn’t start until June 14, but good to know for future travel. Service to and from the airport is $8.
Apparently, you can park in UCLA Parking Structure 32 (and Structure 36 beginning July 1) over the weekend from Friday at 3pm to Monday at 7am for $6 a day. Unfortunately you can’t park there any other days so maybe get dropped off.
FYI, the buses depart every 30 minutes from 5am to 1am so that does require some thinking ahead unlike for Parking Lot C where the buses depart every 15 minutes or so. However, tickets and baggage check-in are available in Structure 32 for $5 extra (I know, boo!!) to help move things along.
So if this service was in effect in time for my New York trip it would cost me about $26 for three days of parking and service to and from the airport. My parking total for Lot C? $36 and an hour and a half worth of headaches.
