The Frugal Hedonist: Las Vegas

We flew in on a Thursday night and left at midday on Saturday, so we had our two nights (Thursday and Friday) covered, and with the two free breakfasts and the free lunch, we were left with only two dinners and a couple of shows to pay for. Never one to miss a bargain, I did a little online searching and discovered some great deals on those as well.

Almost every one of the fine dining restaurants in the MGM-Grand is participating in a Winter Tasting Menu program through March 31. This program offers a 3-course prix fixe dinner at a special price. We chose celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant for our first night. At the time I booked our reservation, the Winter Tasting Menu at Craftsteak was priced at $75 per person. By the time we arrived, the price had dropped to $60 per person, though the menu hadn't changed!

We opted for the additional $30 per person wine pairings, which were well-chosen and poured with a generous hand (in fact, we were offered "seconds" on some of the wines). At $180 for two, plus tax and tip, it wasn't a cheap meal, but it was a bargain considering the quality and quantity of food, the lovely ambiance and the outstanding service. (In fact, I learned it was half-price: the meal included in the Winter Tasting Menu would normally be $120 per person.)

After dinner we took the Monorail one stop to Bally's to see the 10:30 show of Jubilee!, one of the two remaining "classic" topless showgirl extravaganzas (soon the only one, since Folies Bergere will close forever on March 28). We found the box office, located across the casino floor from the theater, and I used a 2-for-1 coupon (which I'd ordered in advance from VegasResource.com - the coupon was free, I just paid for shipping) to get us tickets for $35 each. With a little cajoling, the box office upgraded us into $90 Premium View seats at no extra charge (no doubt because the theater wasn't close to full and it was 15 minutes before curtain). We ended up in the first row of the best section in the theater, within 10 feet of the showgirls when they danced on the side stages.

The next morning we weren't very hungry, after our huge meal at Craftsteak. At check-in, we had been given a list of restaurants from which to choose our complimentary breakfasts and lunch. Almost all of the restaurants that serve breakfast or lunch in the Wynn or neighboring Encore resort were included. We chose the Society Café at Encore for a light breakfast, and enjoyed it very much. It was quiet (Encore in general was pretty much a ghost town during our stay), the décor was eye-popping, and the quality of the pastries and cappuccino, in particular, was excellent. We each had a very upscale Continental breakfast, which didn't come close to using up the $30 per person credit.

By lunchtime we were getting pretty hungry and we were in the mood for something a little exotic. We chose Wazuzu at Encore, which serves a pan-Asian menu of dishes from Singapore, Thailand, Japan and more. We loved the décor, which was sort of Zen with a lot of orange silk and cream-colored leather (very tasteful for Las Vegas). There were lots of tempting-sounding "small plates" available, and the sushi sounded great, so we just ordered a bunch of stuff and shared it. It was all excellent. The final tab of $130 (with tax and tip) was well over our $45 per person allotment, but the hotel took the whole thing off our bill without a word being said. Wow.

Like MGM-Grand, the Wynn was offering specially priced dinner menus at most of its high-end eateries. For dinner the second night, we chose the Michelin-starred Daniel Boulud Brasserie in the Wynn, which was offering a $42, 3-course prix fixe menu if you ordered before 7:00. This was no problem for us, since we needed to be at a 9:00 show in another hotel. (In fact, as it turned out, we booked a table for 6:30 pm and barely made it to our show.)

By eating so early, though, we ended up with a prime table. We were seated on the outdoor patio, right on the railing overlooking the Wynn's over-the-top waterfall pool, and we ended up experiencing three different light, water and animatronics shows staged at intervals during our meal. (We thought they were kind of hokey, but the people sitting around us were oohhing and ahhhing, so obviously it was just lost on us.)

The prix fixe menu at Daniel Boulud included many tempting choices. It was very tasty and beautifully presented. I can't complain about the value, purely on the basis of the top-notch food, but the service was downright poor. I'm not sure if we were neglected so badly by our server because we had chosen the special menu, but I strongly suspect so. He didn't even offer us the prix fixe menu initially - we had to ask for it, and everything went downhill with him from then on.

That evening we went to see Wayne Brady's improv show at the Venetian. It was the only part of our trip for which we paid full price, and we thought it was worth the $98 per ticket (which has since gone up) for seats in the center of the fourth row, where we had an outstanding view and could participate in the show. At only 75 minutes, though, it's not a full evening. If we'd wanted to save some money on entertainment, we could have attended one of the Cirque du Soleil shows, many of which are offering discounts for the first time ever. (Check out TravelZoo.com for deals on Cirque's Vegas shows.)

On our last morning, facing a trip back home, we decided to eat a nice substantial breakfast. We could have chosen The Buffet at Wynn, which has a great reputation, but we didn't feel like standing in line. Instead we chose Tableau, which is accessed through the private lobby of the exclusive Tower Suites at Wynn. Tableau turned out to be elegant, the food was lovely, and the service was impeccable. The $30 per person credit was more than adequate to cover our breakfast.

All in all, our two-night Las Vegas getaway, at a top hotel, with high-end meals and two shows, cost us about $650 plus airfare. That amount was the cost of two discounted 5-star meals and two shows (one of which was half-price). It's really hard to beat that, if you want a couple of days of sheer hedonism!

The free Wynn offer has been around since late January and was distributed by word of mouth only. It is still available to holders of American Express Platinum cards (the charge cards, which have an annual fee of $450 - not the regular platinum credit cards). You must book by April 23 and complete travel by April 25. There are quite a few blackout dates, including March 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, April 1, 2, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21. Up to two nights are complimentary. If you stay more than 2 nights, the first 2 are free. You can book a standard Resort Room only (which may be upgraded at check-in - we were upgraded to a Strip view). Only one free stay per cardmember is allowed. Taxes are not included. To book, call Platinum Travel Services.