Las Vegas, please help

[kristen821]

My husband and I are going on our first kid free mini vacation in February. We are thinking Las Vegas. We'll only be going for 3-4 nights and I need a ton of help. I have never been there and need to know where to stay and what to do. We will have a decent amount of money to spend but I don't want to go broke. Any help would be appreciated

 

[usnuzuloose]

Are you looking to stay on the strip? You can sign up for emails for deals at the hotels. What do you like doing? Vegas has a ton of shopping. Lots of eating. Hotels on the strip offer free shows in the evening. Will you have a car? It would help to know what you like to do.

 

[kaligal]

I would suggest winning a lot of money. I think that would make the trip more fun.

 

[kristen821]

Winning a lot of money would be great, but chances are that won't happen My husband and I are complete opposites, but we will probably compromise on what we do. I like shows, site seeing and shopping. He likes the club scene, and gambling. I plan on going to the stratosphere, which we both would like. If the parking isn't crazy I would like to rent a car. I was thinking we would stay on the strip, but would be open to other options too.

 

[tennisfan]

If you only plan to go on the Strip then you shouldn't need a car, in my experience we just walked or jumped on the bus. The Stratosphere is an ok hotel, I stayed there but would choose one more central on the strip next time as it is at the far end away from the rest.

 

[RC Fan]

I'd stay mid-Strip. Start researching the area now, and sign up for the applicable hotel deals. You will only need to sign up at MGM Mirage, CET and possibly Cosmo. I always read reviews on TripAdvisor as well.

 

[MIGrandma]

DH and I went to Las Vegas for his 50th birthday 5 years ago. We spent 3 nights there, and did not have a car. We flew in, took the airport shuttle to our hotel (Harrah's, on the strip) and we either walked where we wanted to go or took the transportation monorail that is behind the hotels if we wanted to go somewhere that was too far to walk.

We are not big gamblers so didn't do much of that at all, maybe about $20 worth. We did a lot of the free stuff. Many of the hotels have free things, and it's just fun to walk around and look at how they're decorated too. We enjoyed the lion exhibit at MGM, and walking around the Venetian (and took a gondola ride and our operator sang "Happy Birthday" to DH in Italian), went up to the viewing area of the Eiffel Tower, etc.,

DH wanted to have his birthday dinner at Margaritaville which was just a couple blocks from our hotel, and we had a couple meals at our hotel at Toby Keith's Bar, and ate at the hotel's buffet too. Went to a comedy show at the Tropicana.

We thought 3 nights was the perfect amount of time. We'd like to go back again, and take in some of the bigger shows next time.

 

[lizabu]

We're planning a trip for DHs b-day so I will be watching this thread. Costco has a city pass that seems interesting. I really want to stay at Paris because I can't afford to go to the real Paris...lol. There's this buffet of buffets deal that seems interesting. You should sign up for their Players club because it gets you discounts to various things. For example Buffet of buffets if I think $5 less if you have a membership. It gives you 24 hour unlimited access to all the Buffets at 6 different places (we like food). There are a lot of websites that give you tips too. Like theres one website that tells you where to get the cheapest drinks etc. We really want to see Celene Dion and eat at Chef Ramsey's restaurant. We're big Hell's Kitchen fans. There is a deal I saw too where you can get your room with the Celene Dion tickets included or if you don't like her you could see Shania twain or Elton John. I really want to see a Cirque de Soliel show too but I haven't really seen any great deals or strategies on that.

 

[Rebecca Pocahontas]

If you are staying on the strip you definitely don't need a car! Trust me you will walk everywhere if you are only on that one road! Just make sure you go over to the Bellagio at night and state at the fountain for about 5 minutes!

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

We went to Las Vegas last Februaty with daughter so didn't do the Gambling. Our spurge was "O" by Cirque Du Soleil. It is a watershow and amazing. We had front row seats a bit to the side but still front row made it even more incredible.
We toured the Venetian and a Gondola ride would have been fun if we had had the extra money.
We had the Buffet at the Flamingoes where half the fun was touring the courtyard of Koi ponds and birds. We went to Atomic testing museum which has now expanded to UFO museum also. We went a little distance to the Chocolate factory/ Cacti museum in Henderson.
There were many more street permormers/panhandlers than husband had ever seen in Vegas. Maybe a sign of the economy but each had a gimmick, not just asking for money.

 

[Danauk]

I agree with everyone that has said to choose a mid strip hotel, we love the Bellagio for its theaming and location. If you are interested in going to see a Cirque du Soleil show sign up Cirque club on their website and then you get access to offers for their various shows. I often read the forums on Las Vegas message boards as they have plenty of tips for things to do and see whilst there. They have quite a few food reviews as well to help you with your meal choices.

 

[mom2travel]

DH and I went to Vegas last year - added a few days to the end of a conference. We stayed at the Aria where the conference was held. I would definitely stay mid- strip and not rent a car.

We saw Cirque's Love - it was a great show! We also saw a comedian. We're not gamblers so just spent a little bit of time in the casino. We hung out by our pool one day. Another day, we walked the strip sight-seeing and had lunch at Margaritavillle.

Have fun!

 

[eliza61]

Absolutely love Vegas. We've been twice, the first time a few years back for NYE. We've stayed at the Monte Carlo and Paris.

things to do:

1) EAT!! LOL. Vegas has a plethora of restaurants almost every casino on the strip has at least 6. The great thing about that is the competition is fierce so restaurants are fabulous. and I'm not talking about the headliner chef places, I'm talking the sports bars down to the buffets are really good.

2) Shows. Cirque du soliel has a ton, comedians of every variety, lounge singers and major stars. You could easily go to a show every night.

3) window shop!! Wanna see how the other half lives? go down to the Wynn hotel or the Bellagio or the Venetian. Talk about high end toys. Even if you can't afford that 25,000 dollar gold watch, we had a ton of fun looking.

4) explore all the various casinos. NY, NY, Paris casino, the Bellagio, Wynn, The Venetian. We spent a couple of days simply wandering. take a Gandala ride through one, watch the fountain presentation at the Bellagio

Can you tell I love Vegas!!

 

[clarkshel]

I've been to Vegas a few times and my wife has been 4 or 5 times with her friends. I've stayed at the Paris, NY NY, and Treasure Island.

1. You have to do the Bellagio Buffet, it is incredible and one of the better ones on the strip

2. The O show is excellent. So is the Cirque show at NY NY. Can't remember the name, but it is an adult theme one.

3. Renting a car would be a waste as other posters have mentioned. Also the monorail is a waste of money, IMO. There is a the Deuce double decker bus that goes up and down the strip. I think you can get an all day pass for $5. It goes all the way to downtown Vegas, that has the old casinos. You should go here at least once at night. They have a few blocks that are covered and show an amazing light show at night.

4. The Excalibur has a cheap buffet, but IMO, it is not very good. I would avoid this.

5. The Paris hotel has an amazing steak place. Best steak I have ever had.

6. There are places up and down the strip that sell tickets to shows at greatly reduced prices. They are usually for shows that same day. You can see signs or these everywhere.

7. You can take a cab to the outlet mall. It is not too far away from the strip. I heard this mall is pretty good if you are into shopping. The fashion mall is at the end of the strip, next to Treasure Island.

These are the main tips I can think of right now. There is soI much to do in Vegas.

 

[Sabeking]

Good Restaurants:

Aureole: In Mandalay Bay- expensive but awesome; they have a "wine angel" that retrieves wine on a pulley system in the middle of the restaurant.

Rao': Ceasars- Made after the orginal Rao's in NY. The orginal has only 10 tables and they are taken by the same families each night of the week. You absolutely cannot get in unless you know someone. You can however get in this one. It was started by the son of the orginal I believe. Awesome Italian!

Olives:Venetian- Good food and good view!

Hope this helps

 

[Albort]

Would suggest going mid-week, hotels are a lot cheaper so you may be able to snag a 5 star hotel mid strip for under $100. as for hotel deals, i suggest sites like travelzoo or google las vegas hotel promo codes.

 

[kristen821]

Thanks so much for all your responses. It helped so much. I will look for a hotel mid strip and ditch the car idea.

Has anyone done the helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon? Is it worth the money?

You all gave me a lot to look into. Thank you!

 

[Danauk]

We have done the Grand Canyon helicopter tour twice with Sundance and loved it both times. The 1st time we did the lunch tour so we flew out to the canyon, landed for a picnic lunch and then flew back. The 2nd time we did the skywalk and raft ride with the helicopter tour. I prefered the 1st experience better as it seemed more personal. I would recommend using Sundance as their service both times was really good.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Just a couple of hints -
Most of the little places on the strip that sell discount tickets have strings attached. Like a timeshare presentation and things like that. We learned early on to avoid them. You can usually get deals through the hotel. If you stay somewhere like Harrah's which is mid strip - go on line and register for their players club card. You'll get discounts and free meals - we even get free rooms. We are going for a week in January and only paying for Friday night- getting the other 5 nights for free.

Oh and if you take a taxi from the airport, tell them to take the back roads to the hotels - all have a rear access road. Going down the strip in a taxi is fun but can be very expensive as the traffic is always bad.

The buses run down the strip all the time and are relatively cheap. I think it is $1.50 each time you get on but you can ride all the way downtown if you want.

 

[maelstrom]

Make sure you visit Fremont Street to see "old" Las Vegas. If you visit at night, you can see the Fremont Street Experience, which is a light show on the canopy over Fremont Street. Also, if you've seen the miniseries of "The Stand", the final showdown with Randall Flagg takes place on Fremont Street in front of The Plaza casino & hotel.

Something that way too many people don't know about is the Neon Museum. They have rescued tons of old Las Vegas casino signs and they have a neon graveyard that you can tour. I've done this and it was awesome, but I will caution you that the neon graveyard is a big asphalt lot and it gets HOT... my shirt was completely soaked through. Dress sparingly and bring two bottles of ice cold water with you.
http://www.neonmuseum.org