No matter where you are, the bright lights of Las Vegas are always a beacon for fun, relaxation, and friends. The city and its surroundings are there for you to explore, ingest, and enjoy.
I’ve been to Las Vegas about eight times and each time was individually rewarding. Every visit embedded a new happy memory. Every trip there has been with a different group of friends or family which also adds to the variety, keeping the sins unique, and times noteworthy.
In previous visits, I’ve stayed in a variety of places, the heart of the strip, in old downtown, off the strip, and even in a time-share condo, but this time I wanted to experience the Luxor / Mandalay Bay / Delano part of town. I chose to lodge the Delano as its “All-Suite Sophisticated Comfort” statement on their webpage pulled me in.
With its all-suite boutique offering, Delano Las Vegas offers the utmost in modern luxury and personalized service. From the 725-square-foot suites offering spacious, spa-style baths and separate living rooms to the luxury of 4,500-square-foot Penthouse Suites with every modern enhancement, wherever you may stay, presents intriguing possibilities. – Delano Las Vegas
I was truly impressed with the suite, large bathroom, half bath off of the living room, and the impressive pyramid view. What I wasn’t impressed with was myself for I forgot to tell a Los Angeles friend that was traveling to LV, a place her and her husband visit more than the grocery store. I told her I was at the Delano and she was quite jealous, yelling, “you’re ballin!” into the phone. Yeah, I had made the right choice.
As mentioned, each time I’ve been to Las Vegas, it’s been with different peeps and this time, the trip was a spur of the moment company meeting. Since Instinct has contributing writers from all over the nation, a managing editor (me) living in Fort Lauderdale, and the bosses living in the Los Angeles area, some of us were finally able to meet face-to-face by gathering in Sin City. In order to maximize our time together, we looked at keeping all our activities nestled in the Delano / Mandalay Bay / Luxor area.
One of our nights found us taking in the grandeur of the Las Vegas Skyline at the Skyfall Lounge. A simple reservation call solidified the perfect view of the strip and mountains as the day turned to dusk and into night. Once we were up there, we realized every seat was a perfect spot to enjoy the passing of day into night. From the 64th floor, high above the strip, Skyfall Lounge offers 180-degree views of the city along with an evolving nightlife experience that gradually increases in tempo as the night progresses. The contemporary, theater-style space, designed by Jouin Manku, offers multiple levels creating optimal views of the sparkling Las Vegas skyline from every seat in the room, while an expansive outdoor patio offers a relaxing, fresh-air escape. The décor simulates the beauty of an evening sunset with deep purple, red and honey-gold accents and subtle cloud forms hanging overhead.
There’s a great bar menu at Skyfall Lounge, but we wanted to try out the Libertine Social.
The weather that weekend was perfect in Las Vegas so we relished in the pleasure of sitting on the outdoor balcony of Libertine Social under the Vegas night sky. The back courtyard area we overlooked, with its swaying palm trees and pools, was like we were all at a friend’s home enjoying great libations and amazing mouth tantalizing offerings. Our waiter Dorian was exceptional as he kept the food and drinks coming. We were very gluttonous trying so many of the menu items, but seriously, when so many great options present themselves, what is a poor boy to do?
What should a well-fed, well-rested boy do for an encore the next day? Let’s start off with a massage. Spa Mandalay
I treated myself to a 50-minute Aromatherapy Massage. My massage guru Nopp gave me a massage that was unlike any other as his beginning body preparation moves where remarkably unique and effective and I gave up on predicting his next moves as you can with most masseurs. Nopp, thanks for the relaxing, refreshing, and surprising experience. It will be hard for others to compete, truly.
After the hands-on experience, I had some time to relax near the spa’s hydrotherapy area. My only regret of the entire trip was that I did not schedule more time to relax in the spa. I mean the whole trip was about relaxation and the environment created in this area was one of simple opulence and pampering. Especially after the Nopp massage.
One of the Las Vegas afternoons was to be all about the cabana as we reserved a spot at the at Delano Beach Club (the resort pool at Delano). What I loved about this vacation to Vegas was that it was not all go-go-go. There was time to relax. I had realized that during all of my other trips to Sin City, I had never spent any time by a pool, so that needed changing. We gathered in our cabana, sipped on adult bevvies along with the complimentary waters and sodas, and consumed appetizers while watching the man-candy stroll by. The beauty and relaxation of sitting in the shadow of the golden tower was great, but I was also watching the Patriots game on our own private television. The cabana was a great size for 5 of us, but we could have fit a couple more.
We hated to see some of our people go but it was time to continue our relaxing before we headed out for a little fun.
For nightlife, we were drawn to Piranha. As it was one of the first clubs I visited in Las Vegas many moons ago, I wanted to see how the energy was. The evening was perfect as the club was filled, we were hosted by Hot Chocolate, and Monet X Change was performing.
Monét X Change Sat 9-21-19 from Piranha Nightclub on Vimeo.
I am not sure I made more friends in that short amount of time, ever. Piranha was a success and we didn’t even close down the bar.
When it came time to leave, I was not dreading the flight home for I had purchased what I call the big boy seat for the journey back to Fort Lauderdale. Both to and from Las Vegas, I took my second trip with Spirit Airlines. They call it the Big Front Seat, which is a very inexpensive upgrade in my experiences (between $40 to $100 each way), much cheaper than a first class upgrade on any other airline. Sure, you don’t get the free drinks, but when the cost is one tenth of the regular upgrade to first class, you can afford that drink and then some.
I had already booked my flight when I saw Spirit Airlines rolling out something unique, allowing customers to book travel online. There’s also the company’s recent pledge to provide larger seats.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2fA8OyBKDQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Not only the Big Front seats getting larger, but the other seats on the plane, too.
And wherever you are flying from, there’s a good chance that Spirit may have a flight to Las Vegas for you. Spirit Airlines Launches Two New California Cities with Service to Las Vegas, Partners with Airport to Debut First Self Bag Drop System
In addition to Sacramento and Burbank, Spirit will soon be adding Nashville to its network, which will include nonstop service to and from Las Vegas. As of July 2019, Spirit will have grown nearly 50 percent in Las Vegas compared to its capacity only two years earlier. The airline now employs more than 1,000 people in Las Vegas, and Spirit’s rapid expansion has created nearly 300 additional jobs in the last two years.
“We’re delighted by the growth of direct service to Las Vegas by our partners at Spirit Airlines,” said Chris Meyer, Vice President of Global Sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “In the past year, Spirit has added direct service from five new markets, conveniently and affordably connecting both business and leisure travelers to our destination. Whether you’re visiting for work or play, Vegas changes everything by taking every experience to a new level, and we’re thrilled about the opportunity to continually reach more travelers across the country.” – GlobeNewsWire.com
As mentioned, I think there was only one thing I would change and that was planning more time at the spa. Everything else was just what I needed for a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend.
As usual, I will include some other pics from my trip here.
I’ll be hopping on a Spirit direct flight again in 2020 as the new Raiders Stadium will be completed. Here’s a pic I snapped while in the Uber from the hotel. It’s directly behind Delano / Mandalay Bay / Luxor.
A couple of us arrived early and were ravenous so we stopped at a place that seemed to stand out from the rest, and any place claiming to be the home of the margarita, it had to be good. Hussong’s Cantina was just what the airplane belly needed.
Della’s Kitchen, on the first floor of the Delano, was a great easy breakfast treat. With a glass of champagne and three different types of juices, the smoked pork benedict was soon to follow.
