Monday, Dec. 28

We left Denver on the 7 a.m. flight on Frontier on Monday, Dec. 28. We arrived before 8 a.m., got our bags and took a cab over to the Venetian. The Venetian was very helpful, checking us in and holding our bags, despite the early hour. The desk told us our room should be ready around noon and all we had to do was go to the keys and mail line so we didn’t have to stand in the registration line again. We went exploring in the hotel as it was the first time we had stayed there, although we had walked through it before. We walked through the Canal shops, watched the gondolas and checked out the restaurants. We grabbed a late breakfast at the Grand Lux Café and around 11 a.m. checked to see if our room was ready. We were very happy to find out that it was and we went to our room on the 33rd floor. The room was beautiful, very spacious, and the bathroom was amazing. We had a great view over the strip and of the new Venezia gardens and pools. After a little relaxation time and a quick nap, we went out to the strip to explore.

We went to Bellagio and saw the gardens – just beautiful, decorated for Christmas. We walked around the Bellagio shops and the hotel a little bit and then went over to Caesars Palace. My husband loved the poker room and went in to play for a little bit. I explored the forum shops and walked around the hotel for a little while, then went and watched him for a bit. After a couple of hours, we went into the forum shops and ate at Bertolini’s, next to Spago. It was fun to sit in the open area and people watch and the food was very good. I had angel hair and my husband had a pesto pizza. After dinner, we walked some more of the shops and ended up walking down to the new Wynn resort. While it was very nice, we liked Bellagio and some others better. The outdoor grounds with the waterfalls and trees looked very beautiful, though. After walking through the casino, we headed back to the Venetian and called it a night.

Tuesday, Dec. 29

We got up early as we planned to go to hiking at Red Rock Canyon for the day. We ate breakfast at Bouchon and it was excellent. I had the homemade granola and a berry croissant and my husband had the omelette special and orange juice. Everything was very good. After we ate, we went down to pick up the car that we had reserved through the hotel. The morning got off to a rough start after dealing with this company. I liked the convenience of picking the car up at the hotel and had called to check on prices. I was surprised to see that it was the same as picking up a car at the airport, but was pleased and we reserved it. Well, for some reason, I was quoted the price without taxes and service charges and the car was a lot more than I had planned on. The clerk was very rude and short with us and I was not pleased with the experience. However, we rented the car and tried to make the most out of the situation.

The drive to Red Rock Canyon was fine and we started the scenic drive. It was a gorgeous day and we stopped at all the points to look around. We found things very well marked and easy to get around. We got out of the car and hiked at the Willow Springs stop and hiked the 3.3 miles to the springs and back. It was very pretty along the base of the red rock and found the trail to not be too difficult. We saw a bighorn sheep at the beginning of the hike and enjoyed the cactus and other plants and shrubs. The hike took us about an hour and 45 minutes, including a stop at the springs before heading back. We were going to do another hike but we enjoyed just driving around and looking at the views. We got toward the end of the drive and saw the wild burros! The burros came up to the car, let people pet them and wandered down the road. It was great. We took our time through the canyon and headed back to the hotel.

After returning the car, my husband watched some football and I got ready for our evening. We had tickets for Mamma Mia and dinner reservations at China Grill at Mandalay Bay. We took the monorail from Harrah’s to MGM Grand and then took the free tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay, which worked out well and took us about 40 minutes all together. The monorail was convenient to go all the way down the strip but it was frustrating to have to walk so long through the hotels to get to it. Our dinner at China Grill was very good. We had the sake marinated chicken, beef and scallion dumplings and wok vegetables. We decided to get an appetizer, one entrée and a side and it was plenty of food for two of us. The atmosphere was nice and the service good. After dinner, we walked over to the theater and had no problem picking up our tickets at will call. Mamma Mia was fantastic and we would definitely recommend the show to anyone. I loved the music and the talent was amazing. After the show, we wandered around the casino, played a few slots and wandered back down the strip. It was a wonderful evening!

Wednesday, Dec. 29

We enjoyed a little extra sleep Wednesday and woke up around 9:30 or so. After we got ready and checked out, we got our bags held and ate a great lunch at Grand Lux. We took some pictures in the Venetian and wandered out to the strip. We went back to Caesar’s and my husband took part in another poker game, although didn’t have quite as much luck! We wandered around Caesars, went back through Bellagio, watched some football, saw the fountains, and walked across to Paris. He found another poker game, while I wandered through the little shops. After Paris, we headed back to the Venetian and caught a cab back to the airport. We arrived back in Denver around 10:45 p.m. with no problems and lots of great memories!



Last thoughts

We really enjoyed the Venetian and didn’t mind the location at all, but we walked a ton and saw a lot during our short trip. It was a beautiful room and the service was very nice. It was great to take a day trip away from the resort. We love to hike and had heard so many nice things about Red Rock Canyon. We were very glad we went. We don’t see a lot of shows but I really wanted to go this time and was so glad we chose Mamma Mia!! It was excellent. The cast is very talented. Dinner before the show was a great debate and many people on Fodor’s recommended Rum Jungle. However, it was closed while we were there so we chose China Grill. It was a little more expensive than I thought it would be after talking to some people (the menus on the web site don’t have prices) but the food was delicious and we enjoyed our experience. Our 5:30 reservation worked out perfectly for the 7:30 show, although we didn’t have coffee or dessert. For those of you who love poker, most of the casinos now have poker rooms with several different games and stakes. Bellagio, Caesars and Mandalay had the biggest, busiest areas. We enjoyed lots of exploring and it was great fun to see the Christmas decorations. It was a fun getaway!

glad you had a good time and liked the Venetian!!!

Sounds like you had fun and I think you split your trip up just right with the day away from the Strip to see some scenery. That is great you saw a big horn, if you look closely you can spot them near the dam as well, but they blend in with the rock that they are sometimes hard to spot. The burros are nice near Red Rock. If you ever come back over the warmer months May-Oct. near Red Rock is the Spring Mountain Park and it is a huge grassy area where they have outdoor concerts (small ones, nice soothing music) or occasionally they have movies (movies under the stars). Anyway, glad you enjoyed yourselves!!!

Thanks for your replies! Yes, we had a great time and enjoyed Red Rock Canyon. We were excited to see the sheep and were hoping to see more but we saw just the one and he was at the very top of one of the rock formations. Hope this report can help someone!

I am so jealous you saw sheep and burros! We didn't see either in RRC when we were there over Thanksgiving(but loved the park anyway).

I might add that it was a different hiking experience than we are used to--we live in VA and all our trails are maintained with plenty of blazes--not so in RRC, only a few rock markings here and there. Made for interesting hiking.

Nice report, thanks for sharing!