This week Matt and I headed to Las Vegas for a work conference of Matt’s and I just hopped along for the ride. It was the International Builders Show in Vegas that brings apparently around 100k people into the city. The city was bustling! We were there from Monday evening until Thursday morning and got to fit in a decent amount for our short trip, but it did still give me the itch to want to get back out there again soon. We weren’t able to fit in any shows this trip, most of the concerts had just ended (hello Adele and U2) or were taking a break, and we really had a pretty full schedule of work events to hit.
Vegas has always been a place that Matt and I have some fun and fond memories of! I used to go quite a bit back in my twenties, Matt and I both had our own bachelor and bachelorette parties there, we celebrated Matts 50th out here and Matt goes every year for this conference. My oldest brother, Brandon Adams, is also a professional poker player (he doesn’t play that much anymore, but he used to play a lot) and we would come out and watch him play out here some too! He didn’t make this trip with us, but I did ask him to give us some of his current Vegas hot spot recommendations and I shared them all with you guys at the bottom of this post. So if I was planning a trip back soon, those would be the spots I would try and hit.
For our hotel this trip, we stayed at the Park MGM. I would say it was a good (more budget-friendly for being on the strip) hotel. The lobby is big and very nice and they have a casino, Starbucks and one restaurant called Primrose. The rooms were nothing super fancy, but I do think they have been remodeled fairly recently and were plenty nice. The best part of our hotel was the location. It was connected by train to the Aria, Cosmopolitan , Vdara, and Bellagio hotels and was a short drive from the airport. So we loved that part!
Here’s a look at what we did this trip.
Monday evening we arrived SUPER late our time. It was an 8pm arrival Vegas time, which was 10pm our time. But it was Matt’s birthday, so we committed to a dinner reservation at 9:45pm Vegas time (again 11:45pm our time!) with some friends at the Mayfair Supper Club in the Bellagio hotel. It was super late to be eating dinner, but it was fun that the restaurant puts on a show for you; so it helped to keep everyone awake and liven’ up the crowd! The food was okay, we didn’t eat a lot because it was so late. So I feel like we weren’t a good judge of the food. I had a little of the sushi as an appetizer and then split a baked chicken dish with my friend. After dinner, we all just headed right to bed!
Our next day I woke up and met my friend, Laura, for spa appointments at the brand new FountainBleau Hotel. They just opened in December and I was excited to check it out. The hotel feels off the beaten path (past the Wynn and Encore hotel if you are familiar with the Vegas strip), but they definitely spent a ton of money on it and it has a nice vibe!
On the way to the spa, I stopped for a quick cappuccino at the coffee shop right next to the spa and it was so pretty and delicious. I forget the name of the place, but I would recommend it!
Next, I hit the spa and was blown away by the size and the amenities of this place!! I booked an hour long massage that was a mix of a Swedish massage and deep tissue and I had an amazing experience. I loved my massage so much and then enjoyed all the amenities as well. This spa had multiple hot tub/cold plunge areas, saunas, steam rooms, fragrance room, salt room, zero-gravity chairs, heated chairs, and a shower that snows on you!!! It was all pretty hilarious and plenty to choose from. The one thing that is funny about Vegas spas is that they don’t serve and champagne or wine! I guess they want you to fully relax and detox when you are in there, ha!
You can find everything I packed for this trip here and I will link it at the bottom of this post.
Lobby Bar at the FountainBleau
After we enjoyed our time at the Fountain Bleau, I met up with Matt and some of our week friends at the Bellagio hotel. They had secured tables at our favorite little spot in the Bellagio, Petrossian Bar. This is the tiny little piano bar right there at the lobby and casino of the Bellagio hotel. We have spent many of hours at this bar over the last couple of decades and I have lots of fond memories here. The piano man that plays there I am pretty sure has been there forever!! He’s so good.
That evening we made a super quick change in the room to get ready for the evening and met a group of our friends at STK at the Cosmo hotel. This is one of our favorite spots too that is super lively, and has great food!! They basically have a live DJ playing at the restaurant and keep the party hopping!
The next day I was on my own after breakfast. Matt and I grabbed breakfast at our hotel restaurant called the Primrose. The breakfast was great! Then I hopped on the tram at our hotel and went to the Crystal Shoppes that are connected to the Aria hotel. They have a bunch of really high-end shops that I walked around and checked out. I had my eye on a couple of things at the Gucci store that I was eyeing for my birthday. I went home with a fun new pair of mules and a belt!! They had so many cute things there.
I also had to pop into the Chanel store and the Dior store just to try on a few bags for fun!! I never get to touch and feel these bags in person since we don’t have any shopping like this at home, so it was fun to try them on 🙂
After shopping, I hit the hotel lobby bar at the Aria to sit down for a rest and have small bite to eat. I was waiting to catch up with the rest of the crew.
I headed back to our hotel to get ready because we had a party to go to that night at the Barber Shop at the Cosmo hotel. The Barber Shop has a speakeasy behind it which was really cool and they had the party in there.
We got to hang with friends and grabbed a quick bite for dinner after the party at Jaleo , another casual restaurant in the Cosmo hotel. We wanted to try and get into Beauty & Essex which looked like a really fun spot in Cosmo, but they were fully booked.
The next day it was time to pack up and head home!! I was sad to say goodbye to Vegas because it seemed like our trip flew by. I do think 3 or 4 nights is the perfect amount of time out, but next time I go back I went to hit up a few of the shows and maybe a concert! There was a lot we didn’t do.
Linking all my outfits from the trip below…
TRIP RECAP
:: Where We Stayed ::
:: Where We Ate ::
Mayfair Supper Club (Bellagio)
STK (Cosmopolitan)
Jaleo (Cosmopolitan)
:: What We Did ::
We were there for the International Builders Show, so Matt went to the show one day.
Spa at the FountainBleau
Shopping at the Crystal Shops at Aria
Here are a few recommendations from my oldest brother (who wasn’t on this trip with us) but goes out to Vegas a lot and knows the hot spots! We weren’t able to make any of these this trip, but if I was planning a trip to Vegas for fun, this is where I would try to hit…
High End Spots:
Delilah at the Wynn
Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace
Kame Omakase
More Casual Spots:
Sadelle’s Breakfast at Bellagio
Hand Roll bar at Cosmo Hotel
Miznon at Venetian
:: Shop the Post ::
