Review - 3 Night Stay a Encore

Finished my blog post of my stay at Encore. Text version here or go to the link for text and photos:

Review Encore Stay

"Long anticipated 3 night stay! Top notch!"

I've been looking forward to staying at the Encore resort for a while now. It has always been on my list of places to check out but we always went with other options in the past. I finally got to stay for 3 nights here in December and it was better than I was hoping it would be! I have been making my way through a variety of Las Vegas hotels looking for a place I can consider my "home resort" and stop hotel hopping and this is it!

The hotels we have stayed with in the past are NYNY, Mirage, Vdara, Mandalay Bay, THE Hotel/Delano, Bellagio and on this trip we also used a comp room at Paris (but we did not sleep in it).

The check in line around 3pm was medium length but moved fairly quickly and I was with an agent under 10 minutes. This was a very nice improvement and huge contrast to the 45 minutes we spent waiting in line to check in at the Bellagio on our previous trip to Vegas. :/

My room in the Encore hotel was a Panoramic designated room which is to say that it was on one of the higher up floors. We had sweeping views of the mountains in the distance which were lovely. The house keeping staff keeps the rooms immaculate and they pay a lot of attention to the little details! There are many decorative beveled edges on furniture and fixtures (easy to collect dust) and especially on black, dust is highlighted. There was almost no dust to be seen and that was impressive! (Bellagio disappointed me with their layers of old dust.)

Besides the incredible attention to detail from the house keeping staff, the room itself is gorgeous and very modern! I believe they were just renovated earlier in 2015. A mirrored wall does a fantastic job of keeping the room light and bright. Artwork and decor around the room are sophisticated and tasteful. The curtains are motorized and my husband enjoyed the blackout qualities of them very much. Some hotel rooms leave a gap at the edges of the windows but that did not happen here.

The number one modern technology feature that impressed me was the inclusion of power stations at three different areas - at the desk and on either side of the bed. Each power station includes two USB charging ports and two regular electrical outlets. I also noticed an additional electrical outlet accessible on the base of the bedside lamp. You will not lack for places to plug your electronics and devices in! I always pack my own own power strip when I travel but did not need it at all this time!

The WiFi signal in the hotel was strong and I did not have any problems connecting or logging in. You do need to log in each day which is a minor inconvenience.

I found the bed to be comfortable with a foam cushion topping a firm mattress. The pillows on the bed are feather pillows which we were not too satisfied with after the 1st night. I called for alternate pillows and they sent up a pair of foam pillows instead which were better. Again, the house keeping staff who took my call and brought the pillows up were very attentive and timely and inquired if I needed anything else.

The mini bar is the touch scale charging system which I have come to expect in most all hotel rooms by now. In case you have not encountered this before, all of the food on the counter and drinks in the mini bar are sitting on weight sensitive bases. As soon as the weight is removed, you have a few seconds to replace or it will automatically get charged to your room. Unless you really want to buy a $6 tiny box of gummy bears, my suggestion is "look but don't touch".

I was in love with the spacious and very clean bathroom! The water pressure and temperature were very good - no sporadic service like other hotels we have experienced. A pair of luxury bathrobes are provided for your use during your stay. They are silky on the outside and warm & plushy on the inside though you could wear it inside out if you prefer.

In the hotel, we ate lunch at Wazuzu, the asian fusion restaurant and at Zoozacrackers, the Jewish style deli. Both were good! I've been to Wazuzu before and had been looking forward to having the authentic and delicious tonkotsu ramen again. My husband tried the Drunken Noodles which I also had on my radar from seeing it on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network. It also did not disappoint and was just the right amount of savory and spicy. We expected the meal here to be on the high end and we were not wrong. About $65 for two, ouch.

At Zuzacrackers I ordered the potato latkes as well as the matzo ball soup. I enjoyed the potato latkes (potato pancake) very much and the chicken soup however the matzo ball, though tasty, was overwhelmingly gigantic and dominated the soup bowl. Next time, I think I'll skip the matzo ball and just go for the chicken noodle soup. We also had coffee with our meal which you can bring back (here or at the coffee shop) for a refill at no charge. We found our deli meal to be somewhat reasonably priced under $40 for the two of us.

We also ate at the buffet on our last night. The wait was very long and we came back multiple times checking to see how much less the wait was. It went slowly down from 90 minutes, to 60 minutes to 45 minutes to 30 minutes. We got in line at 30 minutes. But the gal at the front of the line was off on her wait time estimate and it took us an hour to get through to the front. :/ I think if we had known ahead of time that the line time was still actually very long, we would have paid for the VIP passes to get to the front of the line.

Overall I was really impressed with my entire stay at the Encore. The atmosphere and furnishings are undeniably elegant, sophisticated and not over the top. The employees here were all friendly and perform their job functions well. Housekeeping and maintenance are on top of the high quality of the guest experience. I'm really looking forward to the next time I am able to book a stay here again!

I stayed there once a couple years ago. Everything was very nice. As you would expect from a Steve Wynn property...

Except those pillows! They were awful! I should have done what you did and called for different ones (didn't even know that was an option).

Quote: ams288

I stayed there once a couple years ago. Everything was very nice. As you would expect from a Steve Wynn property...

Except those pillows! They were awful! I should have done what you did and called for different ones (didn't even know that was an option).

My favorite pillow setup is Atlantis Paradise Island. Each bed has 3 pillows: one soft, one medium, and one firm. Use the one that suits you!

Quote: Chereya

I finally got to stay for 3 nights here in December and it was better than I was hoping it would be! I have been making my way through a variety of Las Vegas hotels looking for a place I can consider my "home resort" and stop hotel hopping and this is it!

You do need to log in each day which is a minor inconvenience.

Unless you really want to buy a $6 tiny box of gummy bears, my suggestion is "look but don't touch".

We expected the meal here to be on the high end and we were not wrong. About $65 for two, ouch.

We found our deli meal to be somewhat reasonably priced under $40 for the two of us.

We got in line at 30 minutes. But the gal at the front of the line was off on her wait time estimate and it took us an hour to get through to the front.

Nice report. But as you point out, still a few things they could improve upon, right ?

We stayed there a few years ago and it was very nice. I remember the parking garage was very easy in and out. I also remember Mrs. Q played some VP at a bar with max coin-in and a diet coke there wasn't comped, it was $ 5.

Of course, plenty of choices in Vegas to suit the preferences of every visitor !

Thanks for the pillow tip! I'll be staying there Jan 23. Pillows are important to me!

Did you do much walking? We found that Encore is about 5 minutes further from anywhere you want to be on the strip as opposed to the Wynn.

Thanks for the warning about line for the buffet. I understand they've just re-done it and it's getting good buzz which doesn't help wait times. We get a free buffet with our upcoming stay so we'll try to be choosy about the time we go.

--helpmespock

Quote: JohnnyQ

Nice report. But as you point out, still a few things they could improve upon, right ?

We stayed there a few years ago and it was very nice. I remember the parking garage was very easy in and out. I also remember Mrs. Q played some VP at a bar with max coin-in and a diet coke there wasn't comped, it was $ 5.

Of course, plenty of choices in Vegas to suit the preferences of every visitor !

Sure - there are always things to improve upon. Everyone does have different preferences and no one place, thing or experience can be "perfect" for everyone. :) But I think this is as perfect as I can expect for my preferences and I no longer have an urge to check other hotels out to sleep in. I think as long as they keep giving me $109 night offers with bonus perks ($100 slot play, 2 buffets), I'm pretty good. I'm not going to worry about my level of play or reaching a minimum amount of points on my player card in an effort to get more.

Quote: helpmespock

Did you do much walking? We found that Encore is about 5 minutes further from anywhere you want to be on the strip as opposed to the Wynn.

--helpmespock

Being in the Encore and having to walk through to the Wynn side to get out was not that much of an inconvenience - everything is much farther than it appears once you get out onto the street anyway. I did walk across the street to the drug store (CVS?) by myself one morning while DH was sleeping in. It was windy and extra dry and we needed to buy some overpriced lip balm. :/ I have short legs so it probably took me about 20 minutes to walk over each way. I was gone for about an hour and I didn't stop to play any slots, haha. It's probably no different than staying at MGM for instance and the casino that you have to get through is HUGE. I've never stayed in a room at MGM but that was the impression that I got about staying there or at the Signature tower which is even further back.

Always my go to location even when I am a local now. Especially during the summer I would stay at the Encore for six days a month from June to August to escape the summer heat. Even the most basic room at the Encore is the suite which is more than enough for me. My only gripe is that Encore is warmer than the Wynn and there are many times I sweat a lot in my sleep.

Love Wazuzu. $65 for two? Pricey but there are times I spent more than that just dining on my own at times. Wynncore prices are over the top I have to agree. The crispy brussel sprouts with the sweet soy reduction is to die for! The Salt and Pepper Prawns and Crispy Panko Crusted Sea Bass are my personal favorites. Yet I am not a fan of their curries though. It is good but yet not on point. Also I love going to Mizumi. And Allegro is awesome especially for a very early meal around 3am.

Also like the gym better than the one on the Wynn side. That little touch of free fruits and water is pretty cool.

I rank the Buffet at the Wynn/Encore probably in the top 2 in my opinion. Love the petite portion sizes. Food quality is very good. Wait time, well, I was lucky that I went just right before a show was about to end. Hence, breezed through the main line in under 25minutes. Sometimes you get lucky.

Stayed at Encore a few years ago and loved the place with the exception of the much longer walk to get anyway. Would definitely stay at Wynn instead for that reason alone.