Yeah, so you're thinking that I must be some stuck up person griping about $100 a night at the Venetian. It's not the money, it's the other sutff that seriously bothered me.
Recently, the Venetian offered a deal where you pay the temperature of the day (in advance). This is to book the hotel in off months. But the offer stated that you get one of the new rooms and for $20 more, you can upgrade to a Bella suite. I figured that I could do this once I saw what kind of room I got when I checked in. Once the front desk clerk saw my room rate, he turned into a real jerk. He tried to con me into paying an additional $40 a night for a better view. He gave me a room with a crappy view. I complained to the MOD and got a slightly better room on the same (4th) floor. I should've upgraded online, you pay twice as much in person. They nickel and dime you to death.

Good points: Big room, slightly modern comfortable furniture. Big bathroom, good toiletries, nice slippers, vanity stool is a plus. DVD player, Automatic draperies. Good a/c system. Good access to 24 hr food and market goods. Convenient to shops. Good gym and spa facility. Responsive maintenance and housekeeping when called.

Not-so-good: Lighting is bad, room looks dark. Cabinets, no dresser drawers, hard to see and grab your clothes. No Ipod, just CD alarm. Cheap hairdryer. Crappy showerhead. average tubs. Dirty carpet. Horrible valet and parking. Super slow check-in. No personal service. Long walk to elevator. Over the top with all the cheesey Italian decor, performers and overall style.

You have to maneuver around the casino floor to get to everything. Parking is the worst on the strip. You'll wait forever to retrieve your car. Getting a cab isn't too easy either. The gym is $30 a day. It has a climbing wall but that costs extra. The locker rooms are nice and offer a ton of toiletries, robes, slippers, hot tub, sauna and steam room. Pay the money if you have to check out at 11am but your flight is later in the day. It'll give you a place to relax, shower, change and fix you hair.
The rooms are supposed to be recently refurbished but they are doing one item at a time. We had some issues and ended up getting a new lamp and a cordless phone, which eventually will end in all the rooms. The sheets are scratchy, not soft. Room service sucks, go to the 24hr Grand Lux Cafe for late nite eating. Bouchon and Morels are the best of all the restaurants. (See my other reviews on restaurants).
The pool is crowded on weekends. The Palazzo pool is in the shade early in the day and for families. Best advice, get to the pool early and make sure to ask for a chair cover. Good landscaping, decent chairs, nice bar. Tao Beach is for the young, rich, sleazy, decadent and good looking. If you're not hot, you better be rich. Daybeds (not cabanas) require a resv and a $450 bar tab minimum on weekends. There's a major construction project over your head with a big banner to try and hide it. The pool is tiny and has a tanning oil slick on top. But if you're at Tao Beach, you ain't there to cool off.

Overall, I got a deal for the caliber of hotel the Venetian is. But if I had paid any more, I would have felt ripped off. I'll opt for the Palazzo or Palms Place next time even at twice the price.

The husband really wanted to see this show. Blue Man is performed by three mute men. The trio is covered in blue paint. In the show they use a lot of odd props like paint balls, PVC piping, Captain Crunch, and tons of paper. There is also a large portion of audience participation. The tickets were about $69 per person and we had awful seats. We were so high that I couldn't even read all of their signs. The show was high energy and had some really great parts, like when they put paint inside the drums and it splattered all over. The people towards the front are given plastic rain ponchos to protect them from the paint. The show is great for a family, and I'm sure kids would love to towards the front and be in the middle of all the action. The staff were very high energy and really great. We paid around $70 for seats in the upper balcony and the seats on the floor towards the front run around $125. If I were to go again, I would spend the money for better seats. I also filled out the survey card. They called me at home about four weeks later and I did quick interview (5 - 10 minutes). About four weeks after that we got a gift box of a T-shirt and CD in the mail. I was a little disappointed with the overall show. And my husband said that he would "highly recommend" the show.

The gondola rides, a little steep at $20 person but worth it to try it once! Romantic way to spend the afternoon, you make an appointment through their office (at the far end of the canal) and it's about a 20-minute ride while you cruse and listen to your guide sing romantic songs in opera.

The Phantom was really wonderful. Staging was astounding and just as good as seeing it in Toronto. Our seats were perfect, couldn't ask for a better view.

I loved walking through the shops at the Venetian Resort and Casino. It took me back to my vacation in Italy. I also enjoyed the area that replicated all of the cathedrals in Italy. If you have never visited Italy and can't afford to travel to Europe, the Venetian Hotel is the next best thing. My husband and I took a gondola ride through the hotel. The man sang to us. It was very romantic. The casino at the Venetian is inviting. I appreciated that the casino was not very smoke-filled. And the suites in the towers are beautiful. It is well worth the trip to Vegas.