Movin' on up, to a big old penthouse, in the sky

Jason and Yvonne decided to get away for a day a couple weeks ago during spring break. We both felt like we just needed some quiet time alone -- to take a break from the pressures of closing out the last job, starting a new job, travel, shuttling kids to school and ballgames, and a lot of big decisions that are weighing on our minds.

Rather than go out of town, we took advantage of great rates at the Trump Las Vegas -- they called it their "One Suite Deal" -- $89 for a suite on the Strip.

It was too good to pass up, so we went out of town, in town.

Ironically, it was the both time for either of us to stay in a Las Vegas hotel. Yvonne has lived here for 13 years and visited for most of her life. Jason has lived here for 29 years. It was about time.

So we get to our room, a simple studio suite with a view of the city. But when we got to the room, it looked like a hotel the Who had partied in circa 1974. Mattresses were up against the wall, garbage was on the floor...you get the idea. We returned to the front desk, where the clerk was very apologetic. She promised to make it up to us.

Did she ever. We were upgraded to a 56th floor premium suite with south Strip view. It was unbelievable. We were right on top of Treasure Island, with the Wynn, Encore, Palazzo Tower, Caesar's Palace, and the rest all at our feet.




The master bathroom (there were two) was about as big as our first apartment. Everything was marble, glass, big screen plasma televisions, high end appliances...luxury all the way. Since this was a big step up for us, we tried another first: room service. We felt like big shots eating salmon, roast chicken, grilled veggies, and cheesecake while overlooking the Vegas Strip.



Not that our $149 a night room discounted to $89 wouldn't have been fine, but the $500 a night room discounted for $89 was better.

We could get used to the high life. But not too used to it. When we got to our upgraded room, the first thing Jason said was, "If I had known we'd have such a great room, I would have brought the kids. How fun would that be?"

(Bonus points to anyone who recognized this blog entry's headline as a line from the theme song to "The Jeffersons." We were fortunate, and nostalgic.)