What happens in Vegas . . .

What happens in Vegas . . . 
My husband and I spent the weekend in Las Vegas at the Red Rock Casino Resort on the west side of town. What a fabulous experience. The rooms are plush with a big screen TV in the bedroom area and a smaller TV in the bathroom area for viewing from the tub. There is a large shower and roman style bathtub along with a separate room for the toilet.  The pool area is amazing.  This photo doesn't do it justice. They have separate areas for private parties with individual pools for wading with just your friends. It's beautiful and some of the lounge chairs are in the water so you can be dangling your feet or hands in the pool while you read your book or sun your body! You can have a view of the pool or a view of the entire Las Vegas valley from your room - either one is amazing!

If you go to the Red Rock Resort, you MUST eat at the Yard House. It's to die for! The menu is huge so we had a hard time deciding. We tried four different things and they were all fabulous!  The New England Clam Chowder started us off and it was delicious! Then we had the Chicken Garlic Noodles appetizer which had edamame, asparagus, shitake mushrooms, and tiny pieces of tofu (my husband didn't even know it was tofu) along with the noodles and chicken. Everything was seasoned perfectly!  We also had fish tacos and pizza and both were delicious (ono)! It's making my mouth water right now and I just ate lunch! Our server understood the value of providing a quality experience. While she was attentive and quick, she was also friendly and fun and never made us feel rushed even though there was a wait to get in.  The Yard House had indoor and outdoor seating, but the outdoor seating is situated surrounded by trees so it is actually cool, even in Vegas.  There is a comfortable waiting area outside by the front door since the place seems to always be packed, but we didn't wait any more than 20 minutes to be seated and our food came amazingly fast. The food and service alone would have provided a quality experience, but the seating was also comfortable and the music playing was like it was from my own iPod. Oh, and they have a lot of different kinds of beer - if you like beer. My husband and I will definitely be back to try the rest of the menu.

There are nine restaurants besides the Food Court inside the resort. Two Starbucks can be found on different levels and there are even movie theaters and a bowling alley. There is a fitness center for guests and a day spa.  You could be completely entertained for your entire stay without even leaving the Red Rock Resort. But if you do leave the resort, there is a SteinMart just down the road on Hualapai and there is a fantastic Italian Restaurant called Mastrioni's just south of that. The entire resort experience was amazing and the room actually costs less than the hotel where we normally stay when we visit Vegas.  Quality Service Lesson:  Wow your guests with a complete experience so they never want to leave!

My Hairdresser - Michelle Barnes
I actually went to Vegas to get my hair permed and we made our stay into a fun weekend. I have known my hairdresser since I was single and I have been married for 26 years - shwow! I include her in my blog because she also understands the importance of quality service for promoting herself as a hairdresser.  The first time she permed my hair, she made up a card for me and wrote on the card which rods and which perm she used so when I came back the next time for a perm, she would know how to do it the same or how to adjust the curliness if I wanted an adjustment. After getting perms from other hair dressers since I moved out of the Las Vegas area, I realized how professional Michelle is. She always makes sure that she puts a towel around my neck instead of just the robe; she uses Vaseline and cotton to keep the solution off my face and neck; and she always keeps the conversation flowing. My perm was perfect, but what was notable was that Michelle called me the day after my perm and asked me if I was happy with it. That's quality service! Quality Service Lesson:  Provide a quality experience and then check back with your customers to be sure they are happy!

Dobash Cake - Best cake in Hawaii

Photo borrowed from Cheftalk.com

If you want to taste the best chocolate cake in the world, either go to King's Bakery on Oahu or use this recipe to make a chocolate dobash cake. It is so yummy! This was my favorite dessert growing up in Hawaii and once I was at the elementary school's bazaar and I won a dobash cake at the cakewalk!  My mom made me share or I would have eaten the whole cake by myself. It's that good! My second favorite dessert in Hawaii was haupia (pronounced how-pee-ah)which is coconut pudding.  Try that one while you're in the kitchen. Sometimes you can find the haupia packet in Walgreens or CVA pharmacy where you just have to add water and let it set. That one is easy and still tastes good.  Just look for the pharmacies that sell Hawaiian products. You can find lots of delicious stuff in those aisles.


Remember - every day is Aloha Friday! Take the Aloha Spirit with you wherever you go and make it a good one!