Dan Griffin's Blog
Comments on security, PKI, smart cards, cryptography, and entrepreneurship.
A review of Vegas
March 31, 2008
I recently completed my first stay at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas
(http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/#home), and I must say that it did not live
up to its buzz. I remember reading somewhere that it’s five-star,
five-diamonds, but only after having stayed there did I realize that
those ratings only apply to the “tower suites” and not to the main part
of the hotel. The thing is, at those prices, I should be excused for not
realizing the difference. In the future, I’ll stay elsewhere on the
strip.
The trip definitely had highlights, though, not the least of which were
the nickel slot machines which offer wild-card poker (which the Wynn
didn’t have). Endless fun!
And here’s a little secret for drinking on the cheap: once you’ve gotten
the attention of the cocktail waitress, which admittedly can be somewhat
difficult when you’re in the low-rent part of the casino, tip her well -
at least a $5 bill per visit. Duh! Then she’ll magically reappear every
time your drink is getting low. I saw so many people make this mistake.
Either just being cheap or forgetting how expensive drinks are now in
Vegas (at least $10, unless you’re drinking domestic macro-brew, in
which case who cares), they stiff the cocktail waitress on the casino
floor. Makes no sense!
Saw the “Ka” show from Cirque du Soleil (man, it’s painful just typing
that)
(http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/ka/home/in
tro.htm) at the MGM. That was pretty cool. Though, honestly, we decided
to splurge a little and sit way up front, we were actually too close.
It’s one thing to be able to see the looks on their faces, but it’s
another when you can’t take in the whole scene, you know?
Aside from nickel slots, the real come-from-behind winner activity was
Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian (http://www.phantomlasvegas.com), a
last-minute decision on our part. It’s a classic musical staged for the
SportsCenter generation, which is to say it’s short and fast-paced. If
you have any tolerance whatsoever for the soundtrack, I guarantee you’ll
like it. We sat really close again for this one, and way off to one side
even, and it worked out great except for one scene where the Phantom was
behind a prop for a minute, only visible from farther back in the
theatre. My one additional complaint: I think Christine was being
played by an understudy (at least I hope so). She hit all of the held
notes beautifully, but flatted some of the shorter ’stepping-stone’
ones. Either tired or inexperience I guess. The guy playing the Phantom
was a certified badass, though.
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