It’s been difficult adjusting to the normal lifestyle post Yelp LA Does Vegas. One minute you’re being fed decadent five-course meals at 5 star restaurants and the next you’re heating up frozen dino chicken nuggets. Life is tough right now.
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Just over a week ago I was enjoying the elite world in Las Vegas courtesy of
and
Hotel and Casino, and I got to bring my friend Young. Out of 2,500 applicants only 15 members from the Yelp community were hand selected to experience a jam-packed itinerary of Yelp mingling, fine dining and booze guzzling. This wasn’t your typical Vegas schedule, this was a classy affair.. for the most part ;)
Day 1 started at 10AM sharp with a
ride to ARIA. After checking in we had some time to relax in our rooms before a private Q&A session with the cast of Cirque du Soleil’s
cast. Young and I were so enamored with the bottle of champagne, box of macaroons, automatic curtains, and additional box of chocolates that we missed it :( We did however, make it in time for the actual Zarkana showing. I had only previously seen O, which I think I liked better, but was still blown away by the music and talent that night. When the show ended I was ready to feast and we made our way to
. You can read my full review on Yelp. We ended the night at
at
and enjoyed a drink before Young and I left for XS.
Day 2 started with brunch at
. You’ll definitely want to check out my Yelp review because my post would be twice as long if I were to repeat that dining experience. All you need to know if that it was worth every calorie and you need to go! I had a few moments of regret after brunch since pool time was scheduled right after, but YOLO. We had a sweet cabana at the ARIA pool and also got entry and a drink ticket to ARIA’s day club
. I’d only been to one other day club and wasn’t a huge fan, but I had a blast despite some warnings people gave me. Donut floaties for the win! After the pool there was a moment of panic as my friends and I thought we had all of our phones and wallets stolen from the cabana, but it turned out that our other (newly made) friends had taken them for our safety. Thanks girls!! <3
We sadly missed the mixology lesson because we spent some time trying to find our things but made it just in time for dinner at
. Another amazing and delicious experience followed by a group photo and a limo bus ride to Hakkasan where our bottle service awaited.
Day 3 was a sad day because it was pretty much waking up, packing and checking out. The bus ride back to LA was a quiet one, though I’m not sure if it was out of sadness, lack of sleep, hangover or all three. It was a bittersweet moment as people left one by one. It was sad for the weekend to be over but it was also an incredible experience and I am so grateful for the amazing new friendships I formed from it. So whether Yelp selects us for another trip or not, we should definitely create our own annual reunion… SYOY! :)