St. George, Utah

I headed on a road trip to St. George for a couple of firsts for me. First, driving from my home town and going to two states away. Second, booking on Marriott Villas & Homes.

I normally fly anywhere that requires more than six hours of driving unless it is the only way but this trip was to off road and you can only off road if you bring your own vehicle to Sand Hollow State Park. On the way to St. George, I did a quick pit stop in Las Vegas and was able to stay at the Conrad Las Vegas. Unfortunately, coming in late and leaving early didn't leave me much time to enjoy the hotel. With the new F&B credit for Diamond, I ate at the "Diamond" designated restaurant - Dawg House Saloon. I would have been happier if they had opened it to the other restaurants but it seemed fine to me. What I did find interesting is that the credit varies between the three hotels in Resorts World with the Hilton getting the most credit. I'm not sure why that is the reason as it seems a little backwards.

In St. George, I stayed at "A Cut Above" in the town of Washington, Utah. It is midpoint between St. George and Sand Hollows State Park. The 'villa' is actually a townhouse in a community development. It is supposed to sleep 14 and it can but it seems like a lot of people in one townhouse even though it is spacious. All the upstairs bedrooms (three) sleep four per room which is fine but I'm never a fan of sleeping that many in a bedroom. For my group of 4, it was quite nice. The garage is really tall and can accommodate lifted Jeeps easily. Not having stayed at short term rentals before, it was interesting. Definitely bring your own shampoo kind of situation and there was never enough pot holders or dish towels espcially because there was no dish sponge to wash dishes. So most things went into the dishwasher. There were plenty of laundry pods so either people don't really wash clothes or they really launder alot.

Dining Las Vegas

Dawg House Saloon - I did have enough hotel food credit to order two entrees and a rice kispy treat to go. My out of pocket was probably $5 or $10 after tip. I enjoyed the chicken and waffles and the biscuits and gravy entrees.

Grimaldi's Pizza - Now that Nevada or Arizona are the next closest states with Grimaldi's Pizza, I was able to kill my gift card in Las Vegas. I have always enjoyed their pizza especially pepperoni. NYC peperino is way different than the rest of the nation.

Luv-It Custard - I was curious if Nevada had frozen custard as I've had in the midwest or upstate NY. It isn't quite the same but the service is friendly and it was nice to eat on a hot day.

Dining St. George

Pink Box Doughnuts - Only in Utah, can the average person like sweets more than me. Originally from Las Vegas, there are outposts in Utah. It was actually easier for me to get one in St. George than it is in Las Vegas. With Vegas, transportation is limited if you don't want to spend a fortune on taxis or uber. Since I had time to run around and get groceries for our stay, making a pit stop at Pink Box was easy with their location. Overall, I liked the doughnuts enough but not necessarily go out of my way in Vegas to get them. Not too many places have ube doughnuts and their cronuts are good.

Rowley's Red Barn - Ice cream was my focus and it was good! The bakery part, I didn't investigate much as I wasn't interested in apple pie. The flavors are somewhat seasonal so check their website.

Muddy Bee's Bakery - I was in the plaza rinsing off my vehicle and saw this bakery. I picked up a few items. The service was friendly. The desserts were good enough but I wouldn't seek them out again. They also sell bread stuffs but I didn't try.

Black Bear Diner - I have always enjoyed the chain. I like their pancakes and their chicken fried steak. Solid breakfast diner chain!