Help budgeting a family Vegas Vacation?

[karenbaco]

Going to Vegas/Grand Canyon end of July. Can anyone offer tips on where to stay, how to get around, where to eat, and what to do on a budget? My boys are 13 and 15. I would like to stay somewhere convenient and without a lot of smoke. I know there is smoking everywhere but there must be hotels that are smoke free in the rooms? Our friends are staying at the Mariott Grande Chateau so we'd like to be close to them too if possible. We also plan to rent a car to go to Grand Canyon. Do you recommend having a car sight seeing on the strip? This is our first time there......Any tips are much appreciated.

Please don't tell me Vegas isn't for kids.........we realize the things they will be exposed to and are prepared. However I do not want to stay at a hotel with a lot of "PDA" going on at the pools...lol

 

[LuvOrlando]

Tripadvisor is great for reviews! We will be there with our teens in Aug for an IT convention & since its not heavy for the teens Im relying on a pool & some shows- the CSI one looks great. Have fun

 

[disneymomto5]

So the first time we went to Vegas we didn't get a car and unless I was staying at one hotel or across the street, I'd get a car. The blocks are very long to walk to and the first time we went my feet were killing me! I don't know where the Marriott is but NYNY has several "budget" restaurants and the Monte Carlo has a food court. Excalibur has some reasonable places as well.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I just can't help but think of these guys!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Marriott Grande Chateau is just off the Strip, more or less behind Planet Hollywood. Depending on the exact dates and your budget, you could stay at the Marriott for under $100/night, or PH for $76/night, or Bally's or Monte Carlo between $50-$55/night. Also look into VRBO for the Marriott (it's a time share) or the nearby Polo Towers. Also check the Hard Rock, and maybe the Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, Renaissance, and Springhill Suites on Paradise Road. Same side of the Strip, and all Marriott properties so no smoking in the rooms; only in designated outside areas. Also no casinos.

See cheapovegas.com for free and cheap things to do and places to eat. Can't help you with the Grand Canyon at all

 

[xlxo]

When I did a LAS/West Rim trip 3 years ago....

• Excalibur
  http://www.expedia.ca/Las-Vegas-Hotels-Excalibur-Hotel-Casino.h41308.Hotel-Information
  • I hate smoke and did not notice smoke when I was there. However everyone has different levels of sensitivities.
  • South end of the strip... you can still admire the strip walking up one side and returning on the other side.
  • close to the airport for cheaper cab ride. If the driver takes you through a tunnel from the airport... you've been LONG HAULED!

With regards to Grand Canyon...

• West Rim or South Rim? Both?
  • West is about 2hrs one way.... South Rim is 5 hours one way
• do they allow private cars to the West Rim? Consider 4wheel drive as segments are not paved when I was there 3 years ago.
• do you want a day trip or a South Rim overnighter?
• are you happy just looking at the canyon by land? Would you like a pontoon ride in the river below? How about a helicopter flight? What about a combo?
• do you want the West Rim Skywalk option?
• there are discount bus tours.... pay attention to the bus legroom. Some seats are so tight you can barely recline the seat before the guy behind you complains. Not a good choice for big people. Do some research.

http://www.papillon.com/las-vegas-t...walk-tours/skywalk-getaway-with-heli-and-boat
http://www.grandcanyontours.com/buswrhelo.html
https://www.pinkjeeptourslasvegas.com/grand-canyon-skywalk/

 

[CoP Luv]

We did this same trip a few years ago, but without kids. I pricelined a hotel and got the Tropicana which is on the South end of the strip. It's a lot smaller than the other mega hitels, and we were in the tower closest to the strip, so we walked into the lobby and right up to the elevator without having to go through the smoey casino (I don't like smoke either). I think I paid under $50/night with priceline but had to tack on the resort fee on top of tat. Either way, it was still pretty cheap for a large room overlooking the strip.

We rented a car for our whole stay. DH had been before and said the walks were LONG to any of the other hotels or attractions and it would just be better with a car. Parking was free at the hotels so we didn't need yo worry about that. Again, I used Priceline for that.

We stayed in vegas for one night, and then headed to the South Rim before cominback to Vegas for the weekend. We stayed at the South Rim for two nights in a Holiday Inn just outside of the "gate". The room was really expensive (I think about $200/night but included a continental breakfast) but there are only a few places to stay that are close. It took us 10 minutes from the hotel to park at te grand Canyon. We didn't do any planned/paid excursions since we got there just before sunset the first night and wanted to see the sunrise on day 2 (amazing and would totally reccomend!!!). After heading back to bed for a little while, we went back and started down a trail. I think we hiked for about 2 hours down, rested and had a few sandwhiches on a rock and started back up. We were so glad we didn't go any farther because the hike up was HARD! I think we went on the South Kaibob trail. We brought lots and lots of water and made sure we stopped in the shade many times to drink (we are quite fit but still made this a priority).

We had dinner in one of the restaurants on propety and then headed back to the hotel as we were exhausted. The next day we stopped back in the Canyon for one final look and headed back to Vegas.

We saw to shows in Vegas. One we bought tickets ahead of time and the other we got tickets at the half price booth same day. We ate at Earl of Sandwhich a lot (my fave and breakfast and lunch sandwiches were really reasonable), bought a restaurant.com certificate for a restaurant at the top of THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. We stopped at Whole Foods for lunch on the way back from the Grand Canyon, and I think ate at a nice restaurant in the Venetian one night. We're not big drinkers or gamblers, so we DH did play, we got "free" drinks and that was fine fir me.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[karenbaco]

Wow...thanks so much for the review! Can you tell me how to Priceline the car? Right now we have a car reserved for $325 for the week. So expensive. We reserved a hotel inside Grand Canyon Park (Yavapai Lodge) and plan to do just what you said. See the sunrise! We will only stay 1 night then head back to vegas. I am getting excited. Thanks for the tip on food....I am hoping to get a condo in Vegas with kitchen to save on eating out.

 

[CoP Luv]

Wow...thanks so much for the review! Can you tell me how to Priceline the car? Right now we have a car reserved for $325 for the week. So expensive. We reserved a hotel inside Grand Canyon Park (Yavapai Lodge) and plan to do just what you said. See the sunrise! We will only stay 1 night then head back to vegas. I am getting excited. Thanks for the tip on food....I am hoping to get a condo in Vegas with kitchen to save on eating out.

I only use Priceline for reserving cars at an airport unless I find a great deal (the Transportation board on the DIS has great people with a ton of codes to share). For Priceline, I look at what the going rate is on their site and start bidding at about half. If it doesn't grt accepted, then I try again the next day (you can only bid once per day). I might raise it a dollar or two but usually not. As i get closer to the trip, I might start raising the bid a little each day. The taxes on priceline tend to be much higher of a percentage of your subtotal, so keep that in mind (though you should know your total price before yous submit your bid). You cannot cancel once your bid is accepted, so if you already have a car reserved, check yo make sure you can cancel it before you bid on Priceline.

Meanwhile, i play around with rental car codes and different companies to find the best deal for the dates that I am looking. I book something that I can live with just so I have a reservation while I bid on priceline. Even though I have a reservation, I still check back and see if the rates went down at all. If they do, I cancel and rebook at the better rate. I learned all of this on the transportation board and was able to get a weeklong rental from the Car Care center at WDW for about half as what any other place was willing (and this was without priceline!). The times you reserve and want to return your car actaully can make the price change. So if you are reserving for a week, make sure it is exactly a week, not 6 days and 19 hours or 7 days and 2 hours, for example.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We staying in Vegas with kids, 11 & 8 at the time, just for 1 day/night on our way to Sedona & GC. I knew it wasn't for kids but still was surprised at how "in your face" it is. For example, as we walked along the strip, the "business" cards of topless women litter the street. There were also a group of men standing along the street wearing printed shirts that said, "We'll get a woman to your hotel room in 20 minutes" I really didn't need to see all that.

All of the hotels on the strip had an huge upcharge for any more than 2 guests per room, including children, around $60 pp IIRC. I can only assume this is to discourage families from booking there and that's fine. At least they state it up front.
Anyone looking on Priceline, keep in mind that PL only guarantees bedding for 2 guests. You can request to the hotel that you'd prefer one that sleeps 4 but they don't have to give you one and that would be AFTER you've paid for the non-refundable stay. Considering how the city is geared to couples I figured there probably aren't many 2 queen rooms in each hotel. At least Hotwire allows you to search for 2 adults and 2 kids and will only display in your search results those hotels that will offer that. I was afraid to end up in a seedy area so I skipped the opaque websites.

As for the Hard Rock Hotel, I did check that out while planning since we had stayed at the Orlando HRH at Universal many times and loved it. Their website showed little video clips of girls staggering down the hallway sipping from a bottle of wine. Also huge "pool parties". I think this might have even been on their home page. So again, no thanks. Maybe this is all exaggerated to those who have actually stayed there but it was enough to keep me searching elsewhere.

We ended up staying a bit off the strip at a Hyatt Place. The parking was free, it was a huge non-smoking room, free breakfast and offered a free shuttle to/from the strip. Overall it was a quiet hotel. The pool was tiny but we were only staying 1 night to rest up from the long flight from the east coast before starting our 5 hour drive to Sedona. We broke up the drive by stopping at Hoover Dam for a few hours and did the engineering tour. The inner-nerd in all of us enjoyed it.

 

[robndani]

We just got back 5 days ago (WAAAAH)! I didn't bring my kids, but not because I am against kids in Vegas, we just wanted to relax! We stayed at the Mirage - it's the only place we've ever stayed. We got a really good deal on expedia for room and flights.

A few thoughts: Vegas is EXPENSIVE! Drinks are free if you are gambling, but even a small bottle of water cost us $4.75! If you have a car, try to find a Target to stock up on some things like water and snacks.

NO CAR! Traffic can be terrible! When you're in Vegas you can get a 24 hour bus pass (The Deuce runs 24 hours) for $8 per person and it stops at basically every hotel on the strip.

Another great tip is to sign up for an M Life Players card. There are 2 apps, My Vegas Slots and My Vegas Blackjack. You can play them for free and redeem for real rewards - hotels/meals/shows/etc. I only discovered it 2 weeks before our trip and got 2 bogo buffets - one at Bellagio and one at Mirage. M Life casinos are Mirage, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, Aria, Vdara, Circus Circus, MGM, NYNY, Red Rock and some others!

We were there for the EDC (biggest rave in the world or something). We had no idea, but Vegas was quite crazy (and not a lot phases me). Once that was over and everyone left, it was back to normal crazy LOL. There weren't people making out in the pool or walking around naked or anything. There were lots of kids and everyone was super friendly.

It's smokey everywhere!!!! I would think all the hotels have non-smoking rooms. We stayed in one and it was perfectly fine. People smoke at the pool and basically everywhere.

Also, it's like 110-115 degrees every day. It was like being in a dryer. Even with a breeze, it was a HOT breeze. We walked around at 10:00 and it was still 99!!!! We did have Frog Toggs to keep us cool, which was great! At least it's not humid!!!

Check out Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, The Cirque shows, The aquarium/shark slide at Mandaly, the Dolphin/Tiger Habitat at Mirage, the rides on top of the Stratosphere, the NYNY Roller Coaster and the huge new Ferris Wheel - Those are things your kids would probably like!

HAVE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

 

[taymorel]

We have a 10 year old and we have taken him to Vegas 3 times with us. He loves it. For on strip New York New York was reasonable price. Circus Circus has an inside amusement park that my son loved. Excalibur is family friendly. Also there are other things on strip like M&M store and World of Coke, Bellagio fountains. The Cirque du Soleil show at Treasure Island is awesome and he loved it.

There are also in room babysitting services if you want to go out without the kids (you probably won't need that since your kids are older).

 

[LuvOrlando]

Going in a few weeks, great tips!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We had a car on the strip & while we probably could have done without it, I was glad we had it.

One cheap (free) thing we did was visit the nearby fish hatchery.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We stayed at the Monte Carlo a few years ago and our room was non-smoking. Also, the public areas have such good ventilation systems that you don't notice the smoke in the casinos and places nearly as much as you think you would. If you family likes buffets, several of the hotels have a recpriocal agreement where you pay a set amount per person/day and you can eat at any of the buffets on the list.

We didn't rent a car and ended up taking several cabs because it was just so hot to walk. We went to the car museum at the Imperial Palace for free (I think I printed the coupons from some website before I left), we took a taxi to the Pawn Stars Pawn Shop. The Monte Carlo had a mini-waterpark pool area and that was fantastic for a day.

 

[Kae]

Groupon has some great offsite place that look great.

 

[usnuzuloose]

We stay at the Desert Rose which is right behind The Tropicana and Hooters. It has one and two bedrooms. Couch also converts to a bed. They have a small patio. Full kitchen. They have BBQ's. They have a laundry room, pool, jacuzzi, small child pool. It is really quiet. And very walkable to the strip or catching the bus.

There is the M&M store, Coca Cola store. I love both of them. You can visit the pawn stars shop. Go after 3pm though as the line is really long all day.

You can go to the Stratosphere and see the rides on the outside, or pay the price and go to the top. So much shopping.

If you like Earls Sandwich that is inside Planet Hollywood.

 

[whitney250]

Newer Hotel/Casinos seem to have less of the smoke smog/smell. We stayed at Aria and it wasn't bad at all, but MGM was TERRIBLE, we were all coughing up stuff like we were the ones actually smoking by the end of our 4 day trip. I'm not too sure of the pricing of the rooms, it's been several years since I have been and I wasn't the planner lol. I was 14 my first trip, and it really wasn't too bad as far as "things kids shouldn't see" (just don't take the cards on the strip haha!) but it was miserable walking through the casinos because security followed us every where to make sure we didn't pass a certain line on the floor. There are several shows up and down the strip that are free and are in front of the casinos, like the Bellagio fountains and the Volcano show at the Mirage. There is also Madame Tussads wax museum, the Coke store, M&M store and AWESOME malls. You can zip line on Fremont Street and there is also a pretty cool projection show at night. Circus Circus has an indoor amusement park, (go at halloween for Frightdome, soooo cool) and NY, NY has a roller coaster. Almost all of the casinos I have been to have arcades for the kids.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Groupon has some great offsite place that look great.

Groupon and living social have great discounts for las vegas

 

[LuvOrlando]

I got a book that suggests Tournament of Kings & Tony And Tinas wedding shows with dinner as recommended but not sure of the price- yelp review says discounts are avaliable