Already in the routine of waking up in time to see the sunrise, we capitalised on being awake to head over to the famous breakfast buffet at the Paris Hotel. The length of the queue is misleading: both the selection of and food itself is just average. I enjoyed the caramel sauce for the waffles; Vicky worried that they were cooking that raw chicken a bit too close to the cooked sausages.
After breakfast, we took a visit to the Bellagio Hotel and marvelled again at the fountains. Inside, we found elegance comparable, if not better than, the Venetian Hotel. The Bellagio also afforded us good views of the Paris Hotel and the Eiffel Tower: whether half-size or two-thirds (it varies on the guidebook you read), it’s an impressive structure, if somewhat lost in the Vegas skyline.
It was time for a trip up the Eiffel Tower: after visiting the real thing a month earlier, I’m pleased to report this one has a few improvements: not least, hardly any queue and a single lift to the top, rather than the confusing and queue-friendly multi-instalment arrangement in the original. It was great to take a view of Vegas from the top of the tower but truthfully, the real tower is a better spectacle in every respect.
Afterwards, we took a visit to the Wynn Resort, which felt even smarter inside than the Bellagio Hotel, but perhaps with a little less atmosphere. I guess any hotel which is topped with the signature of the developer can’t be perfect. But then again, this is Vegas – they’ve build another wing next door, and it’s called “Encore”, again written in Mr Wynn’s handwriting. Why not?
By this time, it was about 12pm and the heat outside was quite stifling. We retired back to the MGM for the afternoon, wanting to prepare ourselves for dinner in the Eiffel Tower Restaurant later in the evening. In the end, we took too long before having an afternoon snack in the Studio Café. At least the service was great: the waitress helpfully suggested that 12 chicken pieces would be too many. Unfortunately, as it turns out, 6 chicken pieces was also too many to avoid spoiling dinner.
Dinner at 9pm was a mixed affair. There’s no doubting that the Paris benefits massively from being opposite the Bellagio fountains. Diners delight in having a great view of the show which runs every 15 minutes. Service itself was mixed. The waiters were polite and efficient, but we found ourselves stranded on arrival and I always felt like something of a second-class citizen after ordering a single glass a wine ($16) from a wine menu that included a bottle for $19,000. No wonder the wine waiter didn’t spend too long at our table.
Our late afternoon spoiled our dinner massively: despite ordering modest food (me, smoked salmon and chicken; Vicky, shrimp & spaghetti and halibut & chorizo) we were completely unable to eat any substantial part of it. It was such a shame, because there was no doubting that the Paris’ chicken was streets ahead of the MGM’s. C’est la vie.
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