Trip Report #1: Las Vegas

Hello again friends!

Super excited to post my first official trip report on the blog! We took our annual Super Bowl weekend trip to Las Vegas, and while things didn't exactly go as planned we still had a good time. So let's get into it!

Hotel

Park MGM Go Confidently Blog rating: ☀︎☀︎☀︎ I give Park MGM 3 suns. It certainly didn't wow me, but it was a solid option that comes in on the more affordable side. I'll break everything down by category below.

Location: I would consider Park MGM more south strip than mid-strip. It offers a convenient walk to New York-New York, Excalibur and MGM Grand, but is still a bit of hike to get to the true mid-strip hotels like The Cosmo, Bellagio and Planet Hollywood. If you truly want to be in the middle of the action, I'd probably stay elsewhere.

Check in: The check-in process at Park was not my favorite. All guests are essentially required to check in via kiosk, though there is a manned VIP desk reserved for guests who have MGM Gold status or higher. We didn't have a problem checking in at the kiosk, but when we were notified that our room was ready and it was time to return to the kiosk to print our room keys, we had multiple issues. We ended up having to request human assistance twice, and it was a little frustrating that we were only offered help after we were having problems and had asked for it. Had the machine worked correctly the experience would have been better, but I still think that the Park MGM staff could have been a little more proactive about offering assistance.

The room: We stayed in a Park MGM King and while we didn't request or pay for a strip view room, we did end up with a room that faced the strip. We really had no complaints about the room! For what is essentially the most basic room option, we found it to be pretty spacious and enjoyed having a table and seating area by the window. We also really liked the fact that the TV could be pulled out from the wall and moved around to your liking, and that there were ample outlets and USB ports on either side of the bed. The bathroom was also fine, there was no tub but it did have a spacious stand-up shower. I also particularly enjoyed the full length mirror with lights down the side. For my ladies out there, it's a great spot to do your makeup if your man is hogging the bathroom ;).

Bars and restaurants: While we didn't end up dining at any of the restaurants attached to Park MGM, we did think it had a good selection. One of the main highlights as far as dining is concerned is Eataly, which is an Italian food-lover's dream. It's essentially a spacious market and food hall that you can wander through and stop to dine at any of the included restaurants and stalls. As far as bars, the main draw for me was Juniper Cocktail Lounge which is known for tasty gin concoctions and inventive presentation. The space was well appointed and gave me a chill yet classy vibe, but it was definitely a lot smaller than I imagined so plan accordingly if you intend to visit (especially on a weekend) because it fills up fast.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to achieve my usual level of Vegas culinary exploration due to some unforeseen circumstances. My dad ended up in the emergency room Saturday night after collapsing at dinner, so we obviously dropped everything and spent the evening by his side. Thankfully he's doing just fine, but we kept things really simple and relaxed for the rest of the trip after that happened. I don't even think we ended up eating dinner on Saturday night and Sunday we feasted on the amazing catering my aunt had at her Super Bowl party. So while I would have loved to be able to give a more robust trip report, this was a super quick weekend and I'll be making my grand return to Las Vegas this summer for 5 days, so I'll make up for it then. By the way, should you ever be in need of emergency services in Las Vegas (and I certainly hope you never are), Valley Hospital took excellent care of my dad and the doctors and nurses were extremely professional and kind.

Well, as I said earlier, things don't always go according to plan but you just have to roll with it and that's exactly what we did. But don't worry, something tells me I'll be jetting off to somewhere new very soon. Until next time!

xoxo

Nicole