jjskribs said:
If you have been would you mind sharing your favorite hotel and the good/bad about it. We are thinking we want to stay on the "Strip."
If you're not planning on renting a car, then you probably should stay on the Strip. You should probably stay on the Strip regardless. We made that mistake our first trip out and have never made it again.
Mandalay Bay: My current favorite resort in Las Vegas. The place is gorgeous! The service and staff are phenomenal. The wave pool and pool area is wonderful to spend some time at. The casino is a fairly good in the sese that you actaully can win a bit of money. Entertainment at the hotel is superb- dining, aquarium exhibit, etc. I loved the room we had- it looked down the Strip. Just amazing to watch the lights come on at night. Bathroom is great, too
Aladdin: My least favorite. We stayed here right when it opened. I thought the place was...tacky. It has big fake jewels on the walls inside. The pool area is outside on the 12 or 14th floor. Although a great view, it is
hot and they don't do anything to keep the concrete from burning your feet. DH did very well at their casino one night though and made about $4,000. Rooms and bathrooms were quite nice.
Mirage: Perhaps my second favorite. I remember loving the rooms becuase there was a bit of a canopy over them. Fairly standard sized bathroom- but the last time we stayed there was 1999 for a swim meet. Things could have changed. The pool area is great and the in-house entertainment is awesome- the Secret Garden, dolphins, etc. I loved Seigfreid and Roy. We saw them six times over the years and it's still heartbreaking to not associate their show with the hotel for us. Don't bet that you'll make much money at their casino though.
Bellagio: I was so excited to stay here and found the place really wasn't that fabulous. DH loved the wall of mirrors in the room though
I didn't like the feeling that you were being nickeled and dimed everywhere you went in the hotel. I was not as impressed with the rooms as the Mandalay Bay even. The pool area is stately and aesthetically pleasing. It's nice to that you can just up and move to another pool if you want a quiet pool. We found them all to be uncomfortably cold though. Like shivering while in them cold! Again, don't bet that you'll win much from them. Shopping is great though- Armani, Tiffany & Co., etc.
Hilton Flamingo: Shocked myself and
loved this one! It's got a great central location. The pool area is just incredible. Just about the time you start thinking this is getting a little too warm, misters start spraying from the palm trees. They are all sorts of wild birds around, too, from flamingos to penguins. I remember the rooms being comfortable although not much else about them. The casino was a good one as far as having a good time- win a little/lose a little. The pool is why you go to the Hilton in this case though!
Ceasar's Palace: A lot of fun! There's something nice about staying i such an icon. The pools are great, the rooms are large and comfortable, the shopping is some of the best in Vegas, and the pools are so much fun! This might be a great option for your first trip to Vegas. There are almost always the big ticket shows in and out of Ceasar's, too. We saw Chuck Berry and Little Richard on the drop of a dime becuase we were hotel guests. The show was sold out except to guests. There are perks in other words.
Excalibur: So-so. When we were kids, it was a lot of fun becuase of the big arcade. These days, it looks like it's heyday has long since passed. The room are more the standard hotel sized rooms, as are the bathrooms. I can't remember anything about the pool. It seemed like we were always leaving the Excalibur to find entertainment. It is located well for walking to some of the other big hotels, though. There's a moving walkway that connects Luxor, Excalibur, and the Mandalay that goes inside the hotels, and on the outside, there's a "Monorail". I wouldn't suggest this one for adults.
Palace Station: Off the strip and stripped down. Just don't do it.
Luxor: Cool hotel, excpet we won't ever stay there again. I had someone spit from one of balconies in the main pyramid into my food at the restaurant below. It wasn't a one time thing either. The rooms in the pyramid are really cool though. The view is really something. There's a lot by way of entertainment within the hotel itself. Pools are really cool. Fun hotel.
I'm itching to stay at the Palms or the Wynn at this point
What shows are not to be missed? Which of the Cirque shows would you recommend?
Danny Gans: At the Mirage. Family friend. Go see him
Blue Man Group: We saw them while they were still at Luxor. I think they are over in the Venetian (Paris?) at this point. I loved the show. DH and my Mom hated it. It's quirky, but the showmanship and talent are undeniable.
Mama Mia! I was brought up on ABBA songs so this show is great for us. In general, it's an incredible show. We saw it first in Vags and haven't missed it on tour since then. A lot of fun- can't go wrong here. At the New York, New York.
Mystere: At the Treasure Island. The first Cirque show we ever saw- nearly 10 years ago- annnd we've take anyone travelling with us there for ages. It's a fun and light-hearted show.
O: Bellagio. Fantastic, but overwhelming the first time. It's also very dark and sinister. My sister's significant other is in the cast and he had explain a lot to me. Get your tickets
EARLY. Call the day they go on sale or your out of luck almost. This one qualifies as a must see becuase it's not going to tour...
Chippendales: 
My mom and I quite enjoyed ourselves. At the Rio.
Lance Burton: Monte Carlo (very nice hotel at great prices BTW!). Not as high-octane as Seigfried and Roy were, but if you want a magic show, this is a good one to see. It's a small and intimate theater and he does a really good job at making it feel even smaller. He's been around for years, so he must be doing something right! My brother
loved him!
Jubilee: The epitome of old Las Vegas shows and show girls.
-If you can get tickets to see Elton John, I would put that on my list of things to do.
-Wayne Brady (From
Whose Line Is It Anyway?) is unbelievable. He came to the Naval Academy when DH was still a student. We were both aching we were laughing so hard. We've seen some of the other
Whose Line guys on tour over the years and they've never disappointed. I think Wayne does shows at the Mirage, but it's a catch-if-catch-can type thing.
-There's a ton of new Cirque shows out that are supposed to be top rate. I saw them in a flight magazine. See if you can find reviews for them. If you can only go to one Cirque, put
O on the priority list.
A few notes:
-Don't take anything out of the minibars to admire it and look at it and thenn try to put it back in. Most of them charge automatically to the room charges at the front desk. Once you take it out, you pay for it.
-Allot entertainment money for gambling. Don't forget to budget for it.
-If you're going it the summer, it's
hot 
and crowded. If you can delay until later fall, do so. Otherwise, spring time is great. It's not pukey hot yet but very comfortable.
-If you're looking to go to the big ticket shows, get your reservations ahead of time. Same goes for dining at the "it" restaurants.
-Factor in travel time to and from your locations. It's no easy walk on the Strip becuase some of these hotel facades are a quarter mile long. There are plenty of taxis around.
-Try to get out of the city for at least one day and into the desert. The Hoover Dam is quite a sight. There are some fantastic day rafting trips you ca take down the Colorado River that start at the Dam (well, they used to before 9/11). We did one and were back in time for Seigfried and Roy that night- early morning though. And the water is cold
Lake Meade has all sorts of recreational activities.
-If you want to add the Grand Canyon into this trip, give yourself a few days there and plan to leave from/fly into Phoenix depending on when in the trip you'd be doing it. It's too far a drive to plan a day trip; not to mention it's too beautiful to cut it short. Phoenix is a lot closer than going back to Vegas though for flights.
-Check the websites for discounts- everything from the hotel website itself to the Sherman's Travel and Expedia site for package deals. A lot of times, they hotel won't offer you the discounted room rates, but you if mention, "I saw on your website a promotion from $--- per night that applies to our travel dates," it's valid and they honor it. Print a copy of anything like that you use though in case there was to be a problem at check in.
-Understand that you will not do and see everything while you are there. We've been there a lot (as you can probably tell) and still have things on our to do list!
-Check the listings to see if there are any special single-night headliners in while you're there. You don't want to get there and find their names plastered on the hotel signage and not have a way to get tickets.
-Freemont Street is a lot of fun, and the light show is really cool. You're not going to go through the best neighborhoods to get there though!
-Traffic is horrendous! It gridlocks at night. Plan accordingly.
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HAVE AN AWSOME TRIP! 
with the figures. They were cracking up other people walking through the museum. I highly recommend this!
