The Southwest Holiday Meltdown Effect - Longer Stay In Vegas & Short Getaway To Sedona Since No Puerto Rico (2022-23)

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After arriving a few days before Christmas in Vegas, I see my cute nephew driving all over my brother's place.  LOL.

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We got lots of gifts and stocking stuffers for my nephew so we told him to keep looking in the magic stocking!

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My brother and I are having a drink and lunch at BJ's here.  I got a Hudson's Whiskey, and he got a beer.

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After two nights at my brother's place, I checked into the Mandalay Bay.  I use the priority check in as a VIP with MGM Rewards.

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The rooms at Mandalay Bay were pretty nice!  Our room was comped too that night since I am Gold with MGM Rewards.

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Our room had a nice view of the pools and the beach at Mandalay Bay.

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I introduced Joy to Egg Slut the next morning at the Cosmopolitan!  She agreed that these are the best egg breakfast sandwiches ever!  I got the one with turkey sausage this time.

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I had to get my usual cereal milk flavored ice cream with corn flakes at the Milk Bar also.

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That is Joy and me at the Crystal's Shoppes at City Center.

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This is the lobby at Aria.  Since I am a MGM Gold member, I get free valet parking at any MGM property so getting around the Strip is a breeze!

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We checked into a one bedroom suite in the Luxor Tower after we left the Mandalay Bay.

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The Luxor Tower Suite was pretty big!  I got a great rate also since I am a MGM Rewards Gold member.

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We had a cool view of Excalibur from our suite at Luxor.

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Joy and I enjoyed dinner at Emeril's on her first night in Vegas.  Emeril's is located at the MGM Grand.  I am drinking a Whistle Pig Farmstock Rye here.

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We started out with a half dozen oysters.

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We ordered the Mediterranean Sea Bass for two and the crab rice for our dinner.  Dinner was about $223 for the two of us.

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I found out there was a MGM Rewards Gold Lounge that we could use at the MGM Grand also.  This would come in handy later after we had to stay here when our Puerto Rico flight was cancelled.

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The concierge at the Mandalay Bay made reservations for us to the House of Blues Foundation Room at the top of Mandalay Bay!

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Joy and I are by the bar and dance floor at the Foundation Room here.

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We ordered the cereal milk assortment of ice cream that included Cap N' Crunch, Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Trix at the Foundation Room.

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Here is a cool picture of the inside of the Luxor pyramid when we headed back from the Foundation Room.

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I got my dad a cool Edible Arrangements on Christmas Eve!

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My nephew was enjoying the Cowboys and Eagles game with me on Christmas Eve!  He said he was rooting for the team in "white."  Yay!

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I wore my new Jordan brand Dak shirt for the Cowboys and Eagles game!

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Joy and I went to Hakksan for Christmas Eve Dinner at the MGM Grand.

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The entrance to Hakksan reminded me of the floral hallway at Catch at Aria.  Yes, I am a fine dining connoisseur.

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I started out with a Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year "Lot B" bourbon.  It was only a $40 pour.

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We got some wok seared scallops to start.

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The Hakka Basket of steamed dumplings was great!  I loved the vibrant colors!

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We also got lobster too!

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We enjoyed our pricey yet memorable meal at Hakkasan!

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The dessert was delicious too!

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Luxor does offer nightly turndown service with the mints at least in the suites.

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Christmas was spent with family at my brother's house.  My nephew loves robot vacuums so they got him the latest Roomba that empties itself.  Aakash wanted to make a video with all his robot vacuums.  LOL.

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Our flight to Puerto Rico was cancelled due to the Southwest Meltdown of 2022!  So, we were stuck in Vegas until at least New Years!

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I was able to book two nights at a very low VIP rate at MGM Grand after I found out our flight to Puerto Rico was cancelled.  The green hue from our window is from all the lights on the outside of the MGM Grand.

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Joy and I went over to the Vice Versa lobby bar at the Vdara to meet some friends who were in town too for drinks after checking in.

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Since we were stuck in Vegas, I wanted to try to get my hands on a Omega + Swatch MoonSwatch.  Joy rushed over to the store around 11:00 when they usually arrive from Switzerland to get me one!

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I asked Joy to get me the Jupiter.  These watches are very hard to get since people line up to wait for the limited inventory.

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I had to wear the watch to lunch at the Wolfgang Puck's Burger joint at MGM Grand.

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Joy and I met our friends for dinner at Javier's the following day.  We had another friend arrive that day too.

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I liked the tequila tree at Javier's!

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My friend took this wide angle photo of Joy and me at Javier's.

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I am drinking mezcal while the others are having a beer and a whiskey!

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I loved having a view of the original Tropicana which was featured in the Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever.

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We decided to take a short road trip to Sedona from Vegas to get a change of scenery.  This is all the snow by Flagstaff, AZ!

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I was able to transfer a free night from Puerto Rico to this Hyatt Residence Club property, Pinon Pointe, in Sedona!

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The views of Sedona from the resort were amazing!

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There was a wine bar in the shops attached to our resort so I tried some Macedonian Pinot.  LOL. What?  It was not bad.

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The concierge made reservations for us at Sound Bites which features amazing views of Sedona!

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I saw they had Codigo Mezcal at Sound Bites so I had to try it!  I think Clooney's Casamigos Mezcal is better.

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The next mornng, we went for a walk to the town to get breakfast.

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Here is a cool holiday decoration we saw in town.

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We found a nice cantina to have breakfast at.  I figure since we were in the Southwest, we needed to try some Mexican food.

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We found a great homemade gelato store and bakery which was featured on Food Network after checking out.

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They had gluten free cupcakes so we got one of the cactus ones on the bottom for Aakash!

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We went across the street to check out the cool shops at this plaza.

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There was a high end spirit store at that mall so I got a bottle of this 25 year old Armagnac.  It was $190 fpr 375 ml!

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Joy and I stayed at the Conrad at Resorts World after returning to Vegas.

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Although I am a HHonors Dimaond guest, I had to pay the $25 for the valet parking at the Conrad, but I prefer valet to self park anyday!  LOL.

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The Conrad lobby had a silver piano that belonged to Liberace!

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The fitness center at the Resorts World complex was amazing!

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They had Theragun units also.

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I liked chilling on the vibrating lounge chair also after my work out!

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I met an old high school buddy for dinner at Lawry's The Prime Rib for dinner that night.  The holiday decorations were cool!

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The dinners come with a hand spun salad over ice which our waitress is preparing for us here.

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The carver brings the prime rib to the table to cut each slice of prime rib!

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I got the Lawry's cut which was about 10 oz.

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They serve Yorkshire pudding with the prime rib also.

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Here is my buddy, Patrick, and me.

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We went to meet some other friends for a drink at Alle which on the 66th floor of the Conrad Hotel.

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The Alle Lounge was very elegant!

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There were amazing views of the Strip from the Alle Lounge!

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The ice in my Whistle Pig had RW inside the large ball! We had a $35 beverage credit with our room rate, but our bill was over a $100!

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That is a shot of the holiday exhibition, Enchant, at Resorts World from Alle.

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Here is a selfie of our friends and us at the Alle Lounge.

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Joy and I are ready for New Year's!  This picture was taken on 12-30-22 however.

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We explored the mall at Resorts World after getting breakfast at Doghaus.  I had a $50 dining credit from my Diamond status with Hilton to use up.

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The mall was all decked out for New Year's Eve!

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We decided to stay at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa for New Year's Eve.

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The Hilton Lake Las Vegas looks like an Italian villa.

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We got upgraded to a nice room with a balcony that overlooked the lake with my Diamond status.

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That was the view from our balcony!

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We went out to explore the Lake Las Vegas Village after checking in.

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We found a great dessert shop in the village.  What's that beautiful building over the lake?

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That is part of the Hilton.  Those rooms are built above the lake!

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We had dinner reservations for New Year's Eve at Rivea at the top of Delano.  This is the lobby for Delano.

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After taking the elevator up to Rivea, we saw Alain Decasse's name.  He has the most Michelin stars of any chef right now.

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Our beautiful hostess showed us to our table in this amazing restaurant!

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Like I said, the restaurant is amazing!

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Once again, the decor is AMAZING and GORGEOUS!

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The view from the top of Delano was amazing as well!

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Joy and I are enjoying our drinks as the three course set menu is being prepared for us!

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I had an amazing Old Fashioned.

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The starter was a lobster salad.

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For our entrees, I got the Wagyu beef.  Joy got the scallops with Ossetra caviar on top.

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The dessert was delicious and had chocolate that said Happy New Year!

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I wore the new watch as I signed off on a $425 dinner!  Life is great for the Roys!

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Joy and I rang in the New Year back at Lake Las Vegas in the village!

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Lake Las Vegas does their fireworks at 9:00 PM to celebrate the East Coast time zone.

    Joy and I were supposed to ring in 2023 in Puerto Rico after failing to go there last year due to the harsh Covid protocols and restrictions the island territory put on, but Southwest had other plans for us!  However, the story for this trip begins in Las Vegas where we planned to spend the holidays with my parents and brother's family.  My company once again gave us the whole week between Christmas and New Year's off so Joy and I both shut down work for 2022 around December 22 and got ready to enjoy the holidays!  Since I am a MGM Rewards Gold member, we got very good offers for the rooms during this time too.

    Our first hotel, the Mandalay Bay, comped our beautiful room the first night.  I think the Mandalay Bay has one of the nicer rooms among the MGM properties in Las Vegas.  I also do not pay any resort fees due to my VIP status.  Moreove, I get free valet parking at any MGM property in Las Vegas so we just pull up, leave the car keys, and head inside to enjoy ourselves.  LOL.

    After Mandalay Bay, we checked into a one bedroom suite at Luxor.  The suite was in their west tower, and it was pretty big.  Moreover, they had a nightly turndown service.  Our nightly rate was very good also.

    Joy and I enjoyed a lot of fine dining on this trip including Emeril's New Orleans Fish House to start off the holiday adventure at the MGM Grand.  While dining there, I found out there was a Gold VIP lounge for us to use too.  We also went to Hakkasan at the MGM Grand for our Christmas Eve dinner.  Moreover, we went to Javier's at Aria with some friends later on that trip.  In addition, I met a buddy of mine from high school at Lawry's The Prime Rib.  Joy and I also met up with an old fraternity brother of mine and his family too at a cool cafe for lunch.  We ate well!

    The best part of the trip was hanging out and bonding with my nephew, Aakash.  He loved having his uncle Anirban there.  Moreover, he warmed up to his aunt Joy.  Aakash even watched some of the Cowboys game with me and was cheering for my Cowboys!  We got him a lot of cool Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers also!  Moreover, I got him a gingerbread house to make!  He loves making Legos so we mostly got him Legos.

    Since Las Vegas attracts so many people, we actually had a bunch of friends in town during that time also so we were very busy socializing too in between our quality family time!

    We were planning to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico after Christmas, but Southwest had a meltdown due to the bad weather and an old software system which grounded most flights for a few days!  So, Joy and I were stuck in Las Vegas.  Fortunately, Hilton and Hyatt both worked with us to cancel our hotel reservations in Puerto Rico.  United told us we had to use up the $3,000 we had spent on the first class tickets for our return flight within one year.  So, overall, we did not lose out on any money.  We also had insurance on one of our tours.  Moreover, I was at ease since my Chase Sapphire Reserve card gives us travel insurance.  However, Southwest really stepped up to the plate and refunded us for the additional hotel, rental car, and flights back home to Sacramento for the five or so extra days we were "stuck" in Las Vegas.

    During the extra time we had to spend in Vegas, Joy and I also went out to Sedona for about two days to just take in the beautiful vistas.  There was a Hyatt Residence Club property which I was able to transfer my free night certificate from Puerto Rico to.  Joy and I loved Sedona!  Sedona has nice high end shops too.  I got an expensive bottle of Armagnac XO to bring home.

    We returned to Las Vegas after Sedona and checked into the Conrad at Resorts World.  This property was more expensive than the others, but Southwest did pay us back for it.  We met up with some more friends at the top of the Resorts World building at a lounge called Alle.  Our room rate had a $35 beverage credit as well as a $50 dining credit since I am a Diamond member.  However, $35 barely covered my Whistle Pig.  LOL.

    For New Year's Eve, we went to the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort.  We got upgraded to a beautiful room overlooking the lake.  For dinner that night, we went to Rivea at Delano.  Rivea is Alain Ducasse's restaurant there.  Moreover, the amazing restauarant is at the top of the hotel with cool views of the Strip!  The food was amazing!  We watched the 9:00 PM fireworks over Lake Las Vegas after dinner before having a quiet New Year's Eve in our room since we had an early flight back home to Sacramento.

Last Updated:  January 12, 2022 10:09 PM
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