Las Vegas isn’t the most traditional of places to spend Christmas; New Year’s Eve, perhaps, but not Christmas. I spent Christmas there because San Francisco depresses me during most of the holidays, because my closest relatives are scattered throughout California, Washington, Hawaii and the Midwest (and I don’t drive or relish spending $200+ to visit), because generally none of my friends invite me over in San Francisco and because I didn’t want to be around children. Surprisingly, Las Vegas is becoming more and more of a family destination, so there were a fair amount of families with children, many in strollers, over Christmas. Las Vegas is probably more cost-effective for a family of 4 than somewhere like Disneyland. There were also a fair amount of people in wheelchairs or those little cart things. While I don’t think rolling around Las Vegas in those would be fun for me personally, I suppose it would be easy to park yourself at a slot machine or a blackjack table for hours without anyone else having to worry about you and you being completely content to be left alone.
My Las Vegas Christmas mini-trip consisted of me thoroughly enjoying my suite at The Venetian, eating at some nice restaurants, taking advantage of free drinks offered by The Venetian via their Passaporto di Winter (basically, a coupon book) and taking pictures. Two or three days/nights in Las Vegas is most likely my limit. Then again, I’ve never tried to tough it out there for an entire week. Beings two of my former boyfriends were compulsive gamblers, I’m not much of a gambler. Though I love to play poker and blackjack, I prefer to play amongst friends and not go to Las Vegas and try my luck for money.
My suite at The Venetian had 3 TVs (one in the living room area, one in front of my bed and one in the bathroom), 2 telephones (one next to my bed and one in the bathroom), 2 sinks, 2 robes, a separate shower and bathtub, remote-controlled blinds, one of those make-up mirrors that changes the lighting for the time of day or location that you’ll be at, a nice big sofa, a dining table and chairs, a mini bar and just plenty of space to stretch out and throw my things around. The king-size bed is very comfortable; it was a shame to be in it alone. Since I stayed there before, I like to take plenty of hot baths while watching the TV in the bathroom, wrap myself up in a robe and lounge.
My favorite drink that the various bars in The Venetian offer during the holiday season is called the Gondolier Blanco. It’s made with 1/3 white chocolate liquer, 1/3 peppermint schnapps, 1/3 creme de cacao and is served in a martini glass rimmed in crushed peppermint. I had at least 5 of them over the course of 2 days.
Restaurant-wise, I had my Christmas Eve dinner, my Christmas Day lunch and my Christmas Day dinner all lined up. Christmas Eve dinner was at Canaletto, an Italian restaurant in The Venetian. It has outdoor seating, so one can sit “outdoors” overlooking their version of St. Mark’s Square, which is actually very nice. When they first seated me, there was live classical music being played in the square. Later I heard Eros Ramazotti being played in the background. My Christmas Eve dinner was called Coe Secoe e Amarone; risotto with beef tenderloin, porcini mushrooms, Amarone, Grana Padano and garnished with rosemary. It was perfection. I had a glass of prosecco as well. Service was slow, but very nice. The Passaporto di Venice gave me a 10% discount off of my tab there. Christmas Day lunch was at Emeril’s Table 10 in The Palazzo. Rather than go with an entree, I opted for an appetizer, a side and a dessert. The Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo with steamed rice was good; not the best I’ve ever had, but good. The Truffle Mac-N-Cheese was quite buttery and rich; so much so that I couldn’t even make my way through half of it after eating the gumbo. What I actually was craving there was Emeril’s Banana Cream Pie. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to finish it, but made a good attempt at half of it. Even so, it didn’t seem as good as the last time. Service was very good and relatively quick. Christmas Day dinner was at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris casino, home to my favorite filet mignon ever. I ordered the Fall Mushroom Soup (mushroom soup with creme fraiche and chives), then the filet mignon with merlot butter, as well as a glass of merlot. The soup was wonderful; I finished every last drop. They’d also given me a warm baguette with butter, though the butter was cold. I loaded up on that, too. The amuse bouche was like a cole slaw with possibly a hint of horseradish; I liked it. The filet mignon came with some French fries and spinach leaves. I’d asked that my filet be prepared medium. The last few times I may have asked for it medium well because it was a tad too pink for me this time. Also, since I’d been happily scarfing down the amuse bouche, the bread and butter, and the soup, I only made it 2/3 of the way through the filet mignon. I barely ate any of the French fries and didn’t touch the spinach leaves at all. Oh, there was also that glass of merlot, which I probably should have switched to something else. Service was excellent, but a little slow because they were extremely busy.
In case you’re wondering, as with everything, Las Vegas is over-the-top for the holidays. The Venetian/The Palazzo had a Winter Carnival that starts sometime around Thanksgiving, I believe. They have an outdoor skating rink, plenty of live musical performances, a huge Christmas tree outside, a “parade” of performers 3 times daily, opulent decorations inside and “elves” running around. The Bellagio had a walk-through snow globe thingy, in addition to their huge tree and equally huge holiday display. I was inside Caesar’s Palace and Paris briefly, but Christmas decorations were all over Las Vegas. In addition, most restaurants offered special holiday pre-fixe meals and special holiday cocktails. Honestly, both Las Vegas and Honolulu felt much more festive than San Francisco.
My stay was over too quickly, especially when I crawled out of bed at 4:00 a.m. this morning. I’d taken a hot bath the night before (no surprise there), so packed my things, rolled my suitcase downstairs to check out and was outside waiting for Super Shuttle by 5:10 a.m. I really enjoyed the fact that it’s relatively quiet at that time of morning, but the heat lamps were going in the outdoor area, plus they were piping Italian love songs and Italian pop music. It fit the mood.
Maybe Las Vegas might tickle my fancy next year for Christmas, too!
Inside The Venetian at St. Mark’s Square
A Gondola Waiting To Whisk You Away
Ready for Christmas Day Lunch at Table 10
Enjoying a Gondolier Blanco
Christmas Decorations Inside The Bellagio
A Performer at The Venetian
La Tour Eiffel at Paris