For my last night in Las Vegas, I moved over to the Strip and stayed at the Palazzo, which is the sister property of the Venetian. I booked through American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) back in March. I used the original $200 annual credit from an Amex Platinum card which covered the room charge and taxes but not the resort fee. In September, this credit was updated to be a semi-annual $300 credit.

Check-in around 4:30pm was quicker than I expected. While early check-in (based on availability) and late check-out (guaranteed) are published benefits of the FHR program, I didn’t need either for this stay. My room was on the 8th floor. My wife and I actually stayed at this resort in 2010 on a complimentary stay that was offered to us after I gambled a bit on a Carnival cruise (and I mean literally playing blackjack, not taking a chance sailing Carnival – it was fine).

It looked like the suite was the same as 15 years ago. I expect they have replaced the TVs since then. All the rooms at the Venetian and the Palazzo are suites, although the standard ones are just an open large room with a sitting area.

Despite the age of the furnishings and the limited power outlets, the suite was in good shape and everything worked fine. The bed was comfortable so I suppose they have replaced the mattress and pillows at some point.

My view was directly across the Strip to the Treasure Island resort. You can see the Palazzo pool in the foreground.

Amex FHR bookings come with several benefits. The good thing about Vegas hotels is that they are very used to people booking this way and will give you a sheet with the benefits clearly listed at check-in, including which food and beverage outlets are eligible for the dining and breakfast credits.

To reach the resort, I had shared a Lyft from the M Resort with a fellow Zorkfest attendee, who was also staying at Palazzo Sunday night. He had managed to snag a club room with his FHR credit which gave him access to the club lounges in both the Palazzo and the Venetian. We actually met up and had some complimentary drinks and snacks at the Venetian Club before using our $100 resort credits for dinner at Mott 32, the Chinese restaurant in the Grand Canal Shoppes between the two sister resorts. We didn’t use our full credits despite ordering a drink, appetizer and entree each. The food was very good and I recommend this restaurant if you are staying at either resort.

While we were having our pre-dinner drinks, I decided to try and get a ticket to see the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere. I managed to find a ticket to the 8pm show for $108 all-in on Stubhub, about half the regular price. I mainly wanted to check out the Sphere from the inside and this was certainly cheaper than going to see The Eagles.

You can walk to the Sphere from the Palazzo. You turn toward the shared Venetian/Palazzo convention center and then take an indoor bridge over to the Sphere.

The movie was very enjoyable in this format and the extra effects added by the Sphere gave it a different feel. They cut the show down to 75 minutes by cutting out some songs and combining some scenes where they would cut away for reactions in the original movie but keep everyone in the shot for the Sphere version.

I was in the top section which was fine in terms of the view, but it took a long time to get out of there after the show with long escalators and crowds. I got back to the Palazzo and decided to use some of my leftover credit at Black Tap, an outlet of the famous NYC milkshake restaurant. I did not eat the whole thing!

The next morning, I had plans before my flight home so I wanted a quick breakfast. The Grand Lux Cafe was just off the casino and had a buffet, although I decided to order off the menu instead.

The buffet is listed here as the Express Breakfast, but I ordered the smoked salmon platter with a bagel and a cold brew.

Honestly, it was fine. The salmon was good, but the bagel was nothing special. If I had more time, I would have maybe explored the menus at some of the other breakfast options as I had up to $65 (plus whatever was left on my $100 food and beverage credit) to use.

After breakfast, I checked out and walked over to the Hertz rental location in The Venetian. I rented a car for the day for $74 all-in.

I enjoyed my stay at The Palazzo and appreciated the Amex FHR benefits. Keep in mind, tips are not included in the FHR credits, but please still tip the wait staff.

The reason I rented a car was to get out of Vegas and visit the Hoover Dam. I looked into taking a tour, but it seemed more cost-effective to just rent a car and then drive to the airport when I was done visiting the Dam. It took about 45 minutes to get to the Hoover Dam from the Strip. You go through a quick car inspection on the way to the parking garage. It costs $10 to park in the garage and the tour is a pricy $40 per person.

If you don’t want to pay for the tour, you can still walk across the Dam. I was one of the first people through the door at the 9am opening of the visitors center. There is security to enter the building. I paid for the first tour of the day which included an informative movie then at 9:30am our guide collected us and we took an elevator down into the actual Dam. The tour took us through some of the construction tunnels and provided interesting information about the power generation, flood control and other functions of the Dam.

After the tour, we were free to walk around on the top of the Dam. On the way out of the area, I made a quick stop at the nearby Pat Tillman Bridge to get a better picture of the Hoover Dam from the highway overpass.

It took about 40 minutes to get to the airport car rental return. Unfortunately, it was one of the annoying off-site shuttle bus car rental locations. I got through security quickly and expected to have an on-time flight. Unfortunately, I had a long and frustrating afternoon and evening. However, I will have some reviews of the lounges I visited in the next couple of posts.

If you have questions about this post, let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links. I also recommend using CardPointers to track your credit card spending discount offers.