When you're in Vegas, exploring the stunning beauty of Antelope Canyon is a real treat for the eyes. As AWS re:Invent was wrapping up, we wanted to fulfill our wish to explore the grandeur of Vegas. Ayyanar helped book tickets for five of us – Vivek, Jones, Ilan, Ayyanar, and myself. This tour was special because we chose to celebrate Vivek’s birthday.
The tour was a 13-hour package starting at 5:00 AM on December 7, 2024, at the Whynn Hotel. As AWS Heroes, we had our hotel bookings at The Venetian, which is a 10 to 15-minute brisk walk from The Venetian to Whynn. We decided to meet at The Venetian – Grand Lux, our traditional meeting point, at 4:45 AM and then walk towards Whynn. I set my alarm for 4:00 AM, but as usual, my instinct woke me up 10 minutes before the alarm. I started getting ready and noticed some messages being exchanged in the “Explore-Vegas” WhatsApp group between Ayyanar, Jones, and Ilan. This confirmed that everyone was up and getting ready.
At 4:45 AM, I reached Grand Lux, looked around, and found Jones walking towards me a minute later. In the next couple of minutes, Ilan and Ayyanar joined us. That’s when we realized there had been no message or call from Vivek. We started calling his mobile, but there was no answer. Unfortunately, we didn’t have his floor and suite number to knock on his door. We approached the security at the ground floor to check his room number and call on the in-room intercom. Initially, the security was hesitant, but when we explained that we were all set for the Antelope Canyon tour and our friend was not responding, he agreed to check with the Front Desk. I wrote Vivek Raja P S on a piece of paper and asked the security to coordinate with the Front Desk to get the room number. A few minutes later, the security turned towards us and said there was no booking in this name or they couldn’t locate the person.
It was time to split into two groups and act. Ilan and Jones stayed with the security to see if anything was possible, while Ayyanar and I went to the Front Desk to seek help. While walking towards the Front Desk, we further split into two – I went to the Venetian Front Desk, and Ayyanar went to the tour bus boarding point.
At the Front Desk, a receptionist greeted me with a broad smile and asked how she could help. I explained the whole situation and our tour plan, seeking help to wake up our tour buddy, Vivek. With the first name and last name given, she was able to locate the room number and tried calling a couple of times. The phone was ringing, but there was no answer. This was even scarier. I further requested her to escort us with a security and master key to open his room. She hesitated initially but upon my request went to check with her manager. Meanwhile, we heard from Vivek, who called saying he was up and coming down shortly. He explained that his alarm had apparently rung, but his mobile had fallen slightly under the cot, so neither the alarm sound nor our constant phone calls were heard. Finally, our constant phone calls or our telepathy woke him up.
I ran back to our meeting point at Grand Lux, where Ilan and Jones were waiting. I told them to start walking towards Whynn Hotel, the pickup point, and I would come once I got Vivek. But Jones refused, saying let’s go together. Finally, Vivek arrived, and we started walking. But now Ayyanar was still on the way to the pickup location. We started walking and running swiftly, rushing through Venetian Casino, then Palazzo, exiting near Buddy V’s Ristorante, and using the overbridge to continue walking/running. If not for Ilan and myself, Vivek and Jones would have run and caught the bus by now.
By the time we reached Whynn Hotel, Ayyanar alerted us that the tour bus guide refused to wait any longer and was moving towards Treasure Island. We four took a detour and started running towards Treasure Island, using two overbridges to cross the roads and entering Treasure Island. We entered the Treasure Island Casinos and went in search of the hotel lobby to locate the valet parking or tour bus area. It was indeed a treasure hunt in the casino groove, which took a while.
We started hearing from Ayyanar that the tour guide refused to wait, and the bus was going to start. All his pleas, requests, and firefighting to stand by us went in vain. Yes, we missed the bus because we were late by 5 minutes. An expensive lesson learned in the Vegas wilderness! We thought Ayyanar would be on the bus, and we would follow his live location. While we were hunting for a taxi, we learned that he also got down. When we asked why he got down, Ayyanar answered that he couldn’t go without us. That amazed me. We all assembled at the Treasure Island valet parking, tried to make a phone call to the tour guide to wait somewhere so we could reach by taxi. He was definitely a tough nut to crack. No matter how and what we asked, all he reiterated was that there would be no stop for the next 2.5 hours until they reached the Colorado River. Even if we took a taxi and searched for them, the speed at which the bus was traveling couldn’t be matched with a taxi. So please do not try this. From their side, they waited for a few minutes, and since we didn’t make it on time, they departed. So, I am sorry!
The team was disappointed, and we were thinking about what to do. I could see the birthday boy was more disappointed for his late coming and upsetting the plan for everyone. It’s all in the game and a memorable experience for everyone. We went to the Venetian lobby to explore other tour options but didn’t find anything for that day. So, we went to the food court, had the snacks we had packed for our tour, and then chose to explore Vegas with a local hop-on and hop-off bus tour.
Vivek’s mind was still not in the present, and he immediately took ownership of the missed tour and opted to pay back everyone. I had to tell him very strongly that I am elder to him and good to take that cut. I further added that if my son had made this mistake, he wouldn’t pay me back, and so it is with him. However, I still went ahead and made the payment to Ayyanar for four of them. But the entire crew refused to take the money and paid it back.
We are super confident that Vivek will be a super successful executive in the future, and at that time, he can take us to Antelope Canyon again! We spent the whole day together exploring the Vegas Strip and ensured the birthday boy had his portrait taken at the Welcome to Vegas landmark.
We all had our memorable group pic too 🥰
Happy Birthday to you, dear Vivek 💐🎂
Lessons learned:
- Even during tough times, the crew stood by each other, took timely decisions, and acted swiftly, reflecting true leadership and great coordination.
- No one lost their cool to yell at someone or accuse someone of being late or not running, reflecting mutual respect and earned trust.
- Even at a young age, Vivek’s ownership and accountability to quickly transfer the money is commendable.
- The crew’s willingness to share the loss showed maturity and support.
I wanted to sit down and pen this story to cherish the important lessons we learned during this failure situation. I appreciate the crew for their trust, respect, simplicity, ownership, and leadership.
One thing I told myself was to build the stamina and run 5k in AWS re:Invent 2025. Hope you will forget this by next year 😉
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