A taste of the highrise lifestyle

Shortly after three o'clock, on July 27, we arrived at Platinum's valet. The bellman unloaded the car while we checked in. Got everything squared away and we were told that the property is smoke-free, if we were to smoke in the room we'd be charged a $250 cleaning fee. We were issued keys to suite 1514, we met up with the bellman and made our way to our room.

We were in love at first sight. In short, the Platinum surpassed our expectations at every level from accomodations to staff. After we tipped the bellman we ran around the room checking out all the bells and whistles. We've stayed in a ton of hotels over the years and our Platinum experience takes top rank. I even enjoyed it more than the Salon Suite at Wynn and the Cariocas Suite at the Rio.

Kitchen with full-size appliances

Living area w/sleeper sofa

Balcony

Views

Bathroom

Bedroom


We had dinner reservations at Lawry's for 5:30, but we were starved so we head over a bit early. Luckily they were able to sit us right away. Dinner was great as always. I really wanted a hot fudge sundae, but decided against it because I failed to save room. Frank ordered it anyway, we shared about half of it. We were too stuffed to finish, but it was mighty tasty. CC Brown's Hot Fudge is possibly the best I've ever tasted.

During dinner, Frank's friends from Phoenix, Matt and Shane, called saying that they were at the Platinum. There was some sort of miscommunication, Frank didn't think they were coming until Saturday. We reserved Friday for us, but I didn't mind and Frank didn't want to put them out. So, we told them we'd meet them when we finished dinner. But we first made a stop at Gold Coast to stock up on beer and Patron. When we got back to the hotel they were there waiting for us. This was the first time they've met face to face. They've been playing Counterstrike together for a couple years now and Shane has known Frank even longer, because they used to play another game together 6 or 7 years ago. Anyhow, they brought along all their pc gear and got set up in the room. While I enjoyed the views from the balcony. A storm rolled and I was psyched. Not often do I catch lightning show, especially with an unobstructed view.

Eventually the guys came out and joined me on the balcony. We shot the shit, did a couple shots, and then decided we wanted to pack up some beers and head to the pool to take advantage of the strip views. No dice, pool was closed. They closed it early because of the high winds and lightning. Oh well, back to the room. More drinking and bullshitting transpired. Another round of shots caused Matt to derail; he ended up falling asleep while hugging the toilet. Frank and Shane moved him to the sofa and I gave him a water and the garbage.

Shortly after, I decided to switch to water to keep from derailment myself. I chilled for a bit, then decided I would take a bath. Shane and Frank went to Ellis Island to grab a bite and do some gambling. After a heavenly soak, I hopped into bed.

I wanted to get up to catch the sunrise, but I slept through it. Had a lazy morning watching TV, enjoyed the view from the bedroom since it was quite toasty on the patio. Later, we headed to the condo and grabbed some Jersey Mike's for lunch. Matt and Shane met up with us at our place. Frank went back to the Platinum with the them for their guys night.

While I waited for Amy and Nicky to arrive. We hit Old Navy, Babies R Us, DSW, and Kohl's. And then had dinner at Carrabba's. Never tried it before, but we thought it was good. I had Chicken stuffed with fontina and prosciutto in a lemon butter sauce and Amy had chicken marinated in olive oil and herbs. We went back to my place, talked for a couple hours and then Nicky was beat so they headed home. It was nice to have a girls night.

Meanwhile, the guys went to American Shooters gun range. Afterwards, another guy from the server came into town from CA. They met for ribs at Ellis Island for dinner, gambled a bit, played Counterstrike and hit the strip club. They ordered room service $70 for 4 hamburgers, ouch. Later, went to bed when the sun came up.

I returned to the Platinum around 9am. Made coffee for the guys and lounged in bed with Frank. Then read the paper and enjoyed the view while they packed their stuff up. We arranged for late check out so we could leave leisurely. They headed off to lunch and then back to the gun range and onto Sahara to play poker. Meanwhile, I headed home.

There is no doubt I'd like to stay at the Platinum again. Rates were $189/night for Friday and Saturday. Can't beat that, it's really the way to go on the weekend. A regular room on the strip on the weekend can easily run that much or more.