Trip Report | Las Vegas — plan it petersons

Overview

I’m still smiling from our recent trip to Las Vegas with five of my girlfriends (who all recently turned 40, along with yours truly) and three of our husbands. There were a total of 9 of us. I have to say, everyone had a fantastic time and we curated a balanced itinerary of pool time and party time. When you’re blessed with the greatest friends who have similar interests and view a splurge-worthy vacation in a similar way, it just couldn’t be more perfect!

Accommodations

Las Vegas is a little tricky to hack for accommodations if you want to stay on the Strip, which our whole group did. There is a Hyatt Place in Las Vegas, but it’s not directly on the Strip and it’s certainly nothing luxurious. Because this trip was a big celebration, Mark and I decided to stay at the Bellagio. He was adamant about wanting to stay there because it’s his favorite hotel on the Strip and it’s close to just about everything. I was happy to oblige!

One couple also stayed at the Bellagio, another couple stayed at the Cosmopolitan, and the three single ladies stayed in a suite at the Vdara. All were beautiful and super convenient to everything on the Strip. There was actually an indoor walkway between all three resorts, so even though we weren’t staying together at the same place, it was quite easy to visit each other’s rooms! And our friends staying at the Vdara suite had a large kitchen/living room/dining room area where we congregated as a group a few times throughout the weekend.

Mark and I made a last-minute decision to extend our trip by one night because the flights home Sunday morning left super early (we don’t typically like super early flights, and especially not after a night out in Vegas). For our last night, I booked us a room at the Hyatt Place. I wanted to scope it out, plus it’s just a few minutes from the airport which made it super convenient for our last night there.

The Bellagio is a luxury hotel and casino located in the Las Vegas Strip. It’s known for its elegance and sophistication and iconic Italian-style features: stunning accommodations, architecture and design, entertainment, dining, high-end shopping, expansive casino, and of course the famous fountains that have choreographed music and light shows. We paid about $400/night for a standard king room and we stayed 3 nights.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas is not quite as luxurious as the Bellagio (lol) but it was clean, relatively modern, and offered all that we needed. It’s close to the Strip, but not in the heart of it (we took a ~10 minute Uber the night we stayed there to get to and from Caesar’s Palace). It’s also a few minutes away from the airport, so it was super convenient to wake up here the morning of our flight home. It offers an outdoor pool, fitness center, and like all Hyatt Places, free breakfast. If you have Chase Ultimate Rewards and/or Hyatt points, and if you want a free stay in Las Vegas, this place fits the bill at 9,000 points/night and $0.

This couch pulls out into a sofa bed, making this room perfect for families.

Dining & Activities

Ahhh, the reason I truly love Vegas: dining and entertainment. We visited some incredible spots during our stay!

Day 1:

Chelsea Pool at the Cosmopolitan - An awesome way to kick off the trip, we posted up at the Chelsea Pool and waited for everyone in the group to arrive and join us.

Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan - This is a uniquely designed 3-level lounge dripping with crystals from giant chandeliers. So pretty! Great place for a drink if you’re staying at or passing through the Cosmo.

Scarpetta at the Cosmopolitan - Italian at its finest, we dined on house-made pastas and sauces made with locally sourced ingredients. Tagliolini with prawns, capers and a lemon butter sauce…cavatappi with homemade sausage ragout…you really can’t go wrong with whatever you choose. Next time, I’d love to order a sampling of different pastas and entrees and try all of it. And I won’t skip the nutella bamboloni (donuts) next time either!

The Sphere - The husbands on the trip decided we had to experience the Sphere, and Dead & Company happened to be performing while we were there. They’re a Grateful Dead “spinoff” band including a few original members plus a few new ones (one happens to be John Mayer), and they primarily perform Grateful Dead cover songs. Mark and I aren’t dead heads by any means (lol), but the experience itself was incredible. If you aren’t familiar with the Sphere, it’s a spherically shaped entertainment venue that holds around 20,000 people. It opened in 2023 and is adjacent to the Venetian. Covered entirely in a high-definition LED screen on the outside, you can spot its distinct and futuristic design from far away. It also has a wrap-around LED screen inside which makes for a really unique experience as a viewer. I had heard that it can bring on motion sickness for some, but that wasn’t at all the case. A couple people in our group are sensitive to motion and they were perfectly fine. I did find it super cold inside though, so next time I would bring a jacket with me. We would highly, highly recommend seeing a show there!

Day 2:

Pool at the Bellagio - The atmosphere is super chill and zen and perfect for a quiet day. You can eat at their onsite restaurant, Como, or the waitresses will deliver food to you poolside. We noshed on turkey club sandwiches, Greek salads, chips and guac, and lots of High Noons.

Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio - Prime is a renowned fine-dining restaurant with elegant decor and impeccable service. We started with oysters, burrata and asparagus with warm mustard sauce as appetizers. We dined on filet, fresh seafood, parmesan-crusted chicken, and shared truffle mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and glazed mushrooms as sides. It was mind-blowing! They even seated our group in a private dining room, just adding to the already amazing experience.

“O” by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio - Mark and I saw this show about 10 years ago and we remembered absolutely loving it. It didn’t disappoint and our friends loved it too! Pronounced “eau,” the French word for water, it’s an aquatic-themed theatrical performance that showcases highly-skilled aerial acts, diving, and synchronized swimming. Like most Cirque shows, O is very visually stunning and dream-like in feel. Really breathtaking. It’s a must-see show if you’re visiting! 10/10!

Pinky Ring by Bruno Mars at the Bellagio - We just loved this place. Dark, dramatic jazz club, velvet couches, a swoon-worthy live band, it was such a vibe. Kind of an old Hollywood glam feel. Highly recommend as a place to spend the evening after dinner (the live band came on around 10:00) or between dinner and a nightclub to have cocktails and listen to music. We ended up going back a few times during our stay!

Hakkasan Nightclub at MGM Grand - Some friends on the trip had a connection at Hakkasan, so we went there after the Cirque show. It’s one of the premier nightclub experiences in Vegas spanning five different levels of high-energy music, luxurious design, and top-tier entertainment. Steve Aoki who’s one of their resident DJ’s was there that night - although we didn’t see him since he came on around…2 am? And we’re old. :) Still, we had so much fun singing, dancing and sipping on cocktails!

Day 3:

Liquid Pool Lounge at the Aria - This was a wild day. We rented a cabana and enjoyed food, drinks and dancing the entire day at the pool. By the end, around 5pm, it was super crowded like the photos on their site. But it was epic and we all agreed we’d go to a pool party again next time, either at Liquid or another place! A few of the ladies reported that their bathing suits were ruined (almost bleached out) from the pool, so do keep that in mind. Super-strength chlorine I guess? :)

Komodo at Fontainebleau - Dark, moody, stunningly glam restaurant at the brand new Fontainebleau which opened about six months prior to our visit. Their fresh sushi is flown in from Japan daily, so we ordered an omakase for the table to share because how could you pass that up? We also sampled Korean fried chicken, veggie fried rice, surf and turf fried rice, edamame, dumplings, and let’s not forget the dessert platter! Iykyk. :) We also sampled some of their cocktails and even ordered celebratory espresso martini shots for the table at our waiter’s suggestion. Highly, highly recommend this place if you’re a fan of Asian food and a dramatic vibe. Note, however, that the Fontainebleau is not directly on the strip. We took an Uber from the Bellagio and arrived in about 10 minutes.

Day 4:

Our friends left this day, but Mark and I extended our trip to have one more day of vacation!

Pool at the Bellagio - We spent our last day in relaxation mode back at the Bellagio pool and had lunch at Como restaurant. I got the Greek salad again because it was just that good the first time.

Brasserie B at Caesars Palace - Between the pool and dinner, we checked into the Hyatt Place, showered, and took an Uber to Caesars Palace for dinner and a show. Brasserie B is a newly opened French-inspired restaurant by Bobby Flay. The atmosphere wasn’t quite what I expected - it could have been more French imo - but the food was amazing and the service was good. If it had been more crowded, I bet the ambiance would have been better, but there were only a few other tables of diners there. We started with the roasted prawns appetizer which was to die for. I had the roast chicken (classic) and Mark opted for the Dover sole which was hand de-boned at the table. We also shared the fries and creamed spinach for our sides. So so good!

Absinthe at Caesars Palace - I can really only explain this as a raunchy Cirque du Soleil! Part burlesque, part circus act, part stand-up comedy. I heard this show was super entertaining (and super inappropriate), so we decided to spend our last evening in Vegas seeing it. If only our friends had still been with us, we would have died laughing with them. Next time! Absinthe is located in a circus tent-type structure outside of Caesars Palace. It’s surrounded by a really cute biergarten with food trucks serving drinks and snacks, so we hung out here for a bit between dinner and the start of the show.

Our private dining room at Prime Steakhouse

Hakkasan nightclub (photo cred: Tao Group)

The dudes of the weekend, inside the suite at the Vdara

Dark moody vibes at Komodo at Fontainebleau

Como poolside cafe at the Bellagio (photo cred: Bellagio)

The Greek salad at Como I’ve been dreaming of :)

Tips for Next Time

Honestly, I can’t think of much that I would change about this trip! It was pretty epic - the perfect mix of downtime at the pool, incredible food, shows, entertainment, and nightlife.

Next time I’d love to visit the Venetian for a gondola ride (cheesy but fun!) and take a spin in the High Roller (the London Eye-type ferris wheel overlooking the Strip). Seeing another show at the Sphere would be awesome and another Cirque du Soleil show too!

Also, Lady Gaga was in town for a residency during our stay, but wasn’t performing the nights we were there. It would be amazing to see a show like that next time. The concierge at MGM Grand gave us a printed calendar that listed the shows and entertainment by day for all of their properties, which was so useful! I wondered why they don’t have it published online because it would have been so helpful for planning our trip! Next time, I’ll email one of the hotels and ask for it in advance.

Conclusion

We love Las Vegas and always have a blast there. Having said that, 4 nights is probably my max! I was ready to get home to a slower pace and temperatures lower than 110 degrees (thank goodness for pools and AC). :) Can’t wait to go back in another few years hopefully!

Points & Miles Breakdown

Accommodations - 3 nights at the Bellagio for $400/night; 1 night at Hyatt Place for 9,000 points and $0.

Flights - Paid 47,446 Southwest points for two nonstop roundtrip ticket from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas. This included one ticket paid for with points and one companion pass. Also paid a total of $22.40 in taxes and fees. Had we paid in cash, our tickets would have cost $1,290.

To earn Southwest points, Mark and I either apply for Southwest cards or we transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points from Chase to top off our Southwest accounts. We also have a companion pass, meaning that we pay for one ticket (using points of course) and the other ticket is free (we just have to pay the taxes).

If you are interested in learning more about racking up points and miles, let me know! I’d love to help strategize credit card welcome bonuses with you and I’m happy to answer any questions.

Trip Report | Las Vegas

❤️ Liz

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