Starting out 2016 at The Cosmopolitan!

Boots and I started planning our trip to Vegas after we were in Las Vegas with our families during Thanksgiving. That trip we were both busy with family activities and only got to see each other briefly during Thanksgiving dinner.  While Boots couldn't arrive until Thursday night due to work commitments I decided to sneak in on Wednesday and have a Vegas day/night all to myself.

My Cosmopolitan offer was for a one bedroom terrace but personally I prefer the studio so that's what I asked for. and received. My personal issue with the one bedroom terrace is the tub/shower being near the balcony and I can never get the blinds shut tightly enough in that area that light doesn't stream in and wake me in the morning.

Rooms were ready when I arrived but I had one of those clerks that didn't want to give a complimentary view upgrade even though I'm gold with Identity so we played what price for a upgraded view and finally settled on $30 per night.  Normally I would have gone through a host for this view but my host had left Cosmopolitan over a year ago and I had never gotten around to having a new one assigned. Fortunately during this trip one of the senior hosts found me while I was playing the Lord of the Rings slot machine and introduced herself to me and the first thing she did was comp off the $30 a night upgraded fee for the view. At the end of my stay she also comped off all food charges and I was impressed with how often she checked in with me during the trip to see if I needed anything.

Usually I eat at the airport before my flight but I had skipped it this time and was really hungry so after dropping off luggage in my room I headed down to The Henry. Talk about timing, I had 2 minutes to order before the kitchen closed so I went with their Cobb Salad. Later I questioned the server about why they were closing so early as it was only 2pm and it turns out on the third Wednesday of every month they close the restaurant early and don't open up until the next morning while they throughly clean it. I'm glad they do that for sanitary reasons, but it was a rushed lunch on my part even though they weren't trying to get me out of there quickly it just felt uncomfortable having then clean around me.

The Henry Cobb Salad! The salad is fine, nothing special but if you are in the mood for a Cobb salad you will like it.

After eating, the first slot machine I went to is one of my favorites, The Walking Dead. It was nice to start out the trip with a win!  Below I have a link to a video of some of my Walking Dead bonuses at Cosmo.

This trip I discovered the fun to be had on playing the Lightning Link Games!

They ended up being one of the few games I could win on this trip!

After a few nice wins, I celebrated with the signature drink at Cosmo, the Cosmopolitan of course!

Here's a video of a couple bonuses if you haven't seen these games yet.

I found the new I Dream of Jeannie Slot Machine which is similar to the original Sex and the City Slot.

Unfortunately no luck for me on it this time or later in the trip when I played it. I do have videos of live play and a few bonuses on my youtube channel if you are curious about this new game.

I played some more games but just wasn't winning so I went back to the Lightning Link games where for the most part I would bet a $1 to $1.50 as I had more luck in that range then at $2.50 or higher.

My largest win was below on $1 bet!!!

Okay, you're thinking all I played was Lightning Link, but not true I was playing other slots like 88 Fortunes but just losing on them which is why I kept going back a lot to Lightning Link this trip as it was one of the few slots I could win on. 

When I tried 88 Fortunes and lost on it I went over to check out Ruby Slippers and a guy playing two of the Wizard of Oz slots recognized me from my videos. Was great to meet you Omar from Alice, Texas! Omar was in Vegas to see Jennifer Lopez perform and later told me in a comment on youtube that her show is great, so J-Lo is now on my bucket list of shows!

I was getting hungry so I went back to my room to enjoy my fountain view from the balcony while ordering room service. I had the shrimp cocktail and the shrimp was huge with a portion of five!

I also enjoyed the turkey club sandwich with fruit.

Before dinner I had been reluctant to leave the Sahara Gold Lightning Link game because the major was maxed out at $1,000.00 the highest it goes to. There was a lady nearby that also was reluctant to leave her machine and I saw her have the slot attendant reserve it for her, so for the first time I did the same! I'm not sure if it's normal to tip or not when you do this but I tipped and my slot attendant seemed very happy about that!

After dinner I returned and they unlocked Sahara Gold for me and while I had some good wins on it I could not hit that Major! Or the Grand for that matter but even though I came one coin away several time from the Grand Jackpot I wasn't ever really thinking that one would hit for me.

After a while as it goes with all slots it became cold and I left to chance my luck with other games. Sex and the City gave me a shoe bonus that was nice.

I found the new Jurassic Park games next to Sex and the City and had several nice hits/bonuses on it!

If you haven't played the new game yet, here's a video for you to check out!

After Jurassic Park I played lots of different games but just lost at all of them, including a few in the new High Limit Lounge. I decided to go get some sleep but before I did it was one last bonus for the night on the Sahara Gold Lightning Link game.

Next morning I woke up and decided to go to Milos for lunch as I love their lunch special.

Milos was packed for lunch, I've never seen it so busy so I ended up at Jaleo which when I was seated had plenty of room. They had a three course prix fixe lunch that I ordered.

Gazpacho with beets, tomatoes and light on the cucumber, pepper and ethereal bread, lol! Yes, the menu calls it ethereal bread! The Gazpacho is very good though I personally prefer less beets and heavier on the tomatoes.

Mixed greens, pine nuts, fried capers, cheese with a romesco and garlic dressing was excellent.

I came to Jaleo because it wasn't busy like Milos and then a group of 60 arrived!

The servers yelled Paella and brought the huge skillet to their tables to show it off to the group. .

Sadly no one came to my table with a huge skillet and yelling Paella, LOL! Chicken and mushroom Paella at Jaleo. It was fine, but for my personal taste I would likely not order this again.

The group was seated as I was having my appetizer and gone before I had finished my Paella. That was amazingly quick service for such a large group!

After lunch I decided to go over to Aria to record some videos for some slot contests we were having on youtube. Of course whenever I pass the Chandelier Lounge I have to take a photo, love the glitz!

Arriving at Aria.

My Dragon Spin Bonus for the Slot Creator's Contest. I finally had my first win in that contest!

Playing Sons of Anarchy for the next Slot Creator's Contest and thought I had a chance at another win but Albert ended up having a big bonus and won by a landslide!

While at Aria I decided to play the new Goldfish Deluxe again but unfortunately not much luck on it. While I was playing there were several employees from Scientific Games around and they were asking those of us playing Goldfish to do a survey for them after we were done. After doing the survey they gave us $10.00. Earlier walking around Aria I noticed that Ruby Slippers 2 was not to be found and sadly had it confirmed by the SG employee that they had finally been replaced. I will miss that game!

After Goldfish and the survey I started walking back to Cosmopolitan and noticed Aria North Valet was temporarily closed while they filmed a scene out there for the new Bourne Identity movie with Matt Damon.

 Last night I had watched from my balcony at 3am how the strip in front of Bellagio and Paris was closed to traffic while they filmed a traffic/chase scene. They also had the Bellagio Fountains going on and off until around 4am and I assume since normally they are shut off at midnight that the movie had made a deal with Bellagio so that it would look like whatever was taking place was earlier in the evening.

Back at Cosmopolitan I headed straight to The Walking Dead slots. After playing for about five minutes the man and woman next to me asked if I was Diana Evoni from youtube! Was lovely to meet Matt and his wife Kristin from Houston! Matt is the one who enjoys watching slot videos, his wife Kristin who plays the slots doesn't know why people want to watch. I know Kristin that's what I thought a few years ago too! I also saw Kristin and Matt the next day when they walked by when I was once again back playing the Walking Dead slots in another section of the casino!

I played a bit of Video Poker at Bond Bar at Cosmo where the first drink is free when you start to play and after that for more free drinks the VP machine gives you a ticket. It's not the amount of money you are playing through the VP machine but steady play so about every 15 minutes you will get a new ticket unless you take a break during play then it resets the timer. I believe the tickets are good for 2 hours after you get them. I've heard that all the bars at Cosmo such as Chandelier will also be getting the ticket system in the future.

My free drink (if you don't count my losses at VP, LOL) at Bond Bar was a spicy tequila drink and very strong. Since I played over 15 minutes and got a ticket which I used for a second one I ended up taking the second drink to play at the new Jurassic Park slot once I got bored with VP.

Where I had the worse bonus ever of only $2.40! It's a good thing that I've had some really good wins on this new Jurassic slot previous to this bonus or I would have written it off after this alleged win which was less then my bet and felt like a bitch slap!

I was really feeling those two drinks I had at Bond Bar. Perhaps I'm a light weight when drinking but for me they were strong and I needed to get some food fast.

I ended up getting room service which was quick and the food was good. I had the marinated Chicken Quesadilla with Corn, Poblanos, Monterey Jack cheese and Chipotle Sour Cream for an appetizer. My entree was Colossal Shrimp with vegetables. The Shrimp lived up to their description they were huge!

After dinner it was time to meet up with Boots who had just arrived. We had a blast catching up with each other and playing slots.

While Boots was having some luck, not much for me. I did get a bonus on the $5 Top Dollar but it was sad. I forget to take photos of the new Cosmopolitan High Limit lounge and it's very nice! They have a area in there with a few snacks too like cookies.

After Boots won at many slots and I lost at them, LOL, we headed back to our rooms to get some sleep.

Next morning Boots and I ate at the Wicked Spoon Buffet.

When this buffet first opened it was great, then it got mediocre, then about a year and half ago it became pretty good again, but sadly the last couple times I have been there it has started to go back to being average again so it's hard for me to recommend it these days.

While we were eating at Wicked Spoon, Ferial (pleasemuum) who likes the blog and my youtube videos recognize me. Was great to meet you Ferial, and I hope you had a winning trip!

After we ate lunch it was slots and more slots!

Unfortunately most of the time I was losing. I did get another bonus on $5 Top Dollar but once again it was not a good one.

Both Boots and I had some wins and were entertained by Ruby Slippers for a while.

Jurassic Park once again came through for me with a nice bonus!

Elton John which in the past has given me some great wins, just doesn't want to put out for me any longer. So sad that Elton has moved on to other gamblers, LOL!

Boots had a terrific bonus on The Walking Dead that I show in a video, while next to her I got a pitiful one that I put in that same video with her good win. Fortunately The Walking Dead later made up for the bad bonus I previously had and gave me a nice one.

I love the ever changing video pillars near registration and that's why you keep seeing photos of them!

Very nice surprise running into Jose & Sarah fans of my YouTube channel who were married the next day at The Cosmopolitan. We became friends on Facebook where I saw their wedding photos and what a fabulous wedding with a beautiful Bride and handsome Groom!

Before dinner that night Boots and I had a drink at the new CliQue lounge at Cosmopolitan where the Book and Stage bar used to be located, not far from registration.

Here's the link to my write up on the lounge, along with photos and a video of the table side mixology!

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2016/02/clique-new-lounge-and-bar-at.html

After drinks it was time to walk over to Mastro's Ocean Club Restaurant at Crystals.

Here's the Monkey at Crystals to celebrate the Year of the Monkey for Chinese New Year!

Lots of photos and some video of our dinner at Mastro's Ocean Club Restaurant at this link on my blog:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2016/02/masters-ocean-club-restaurant-at.html

After dinner Boots and I returned to playing slots and just mainly more losses for me.

The Oompa-Loompa's tried to give me some good wins, but just not enough to help with the earlier losses.

Thankfully Rick and the Zombies threw me a few wins!

Yes, sadly the Major Jackpot I was chasing had been hit by another gambler, however Lightning Link did have a few more wins for me.

Boots really likes the Fire and Rain game so we played that a bit and I finally had a bonus on it!

Around 10:30pm it was time to meet Deann who had just arrived in Vegas and whom I haven't seen for two years!  We went to the new CliQue lounge which I already talked about above and had fun catching up.

After saying goodbye to Deann who was heading out to Bellagio to see the conservatory I started to play and lose on Dragon Spin when Monica and Will walked over and introduced themselves. What a cute and fun couple!

After meeting Monica and Will I caught up with Boots and we played slots together and had lots of fun but for me not much in the way of wins. Since I had a late morning flight I ended up returning to my room and enjoying that fabulous view from my balcony before going to sleep!

Like always lots of fun times on this trip and it was great to spend time with Boots, can't wait until we can schedule another trip together to Vegas!

In the morning I slept in until 9am, packed and headed out using Uber for the airport. I ate breakfast at Sammy's Beach Bar and Grill at the airport and the flight home was uneventful.

 I shall return in April to Cosmopolitan with my Mom as I can't get enough of this view!

In the meantime, keeping to my slacker habit of a late trip report this is being published the day before I return to Vegas. Last year I had met Vegaschic and her crew (sister Angie and BFF Caroline) a couple times and really enjoyed hanging out with them so we made plans for one of my trips to coincide with theirs and it ended up being three nights at Palazzo starting February 20th! Lots of dining and drinking plans, slot play and a couple shows, going to be an awesome trip!