our 1st Vegas trip in Sept- need advice

miss missy

Is this the Dis Board Desperate Housewives?!
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Hi all :wave2:

My BF and I are going to Vegas at the end of Sept :cool1: :thumbsup2

We will be there Tues till Tues :)

Neither of us have gone before. We do like casinos :) And we are thrilled to be able to take this last minute trip. We need to book the hotel, but there are sooo many that we don't know what is best for us. We are researching, but it is so much to learn :confused: and we need to book one soon as the trip is coming fast.

Any help would be appreciated!! Here is what I can tell you...

We were hoping we did not need a rental, would like to be on or very close to the main strip.
We love walking so no problem there.
We may sit by the pool, but not often.
We love nice clean hotels :) :)
We want to see shows. Carrot Top is my all time fav so def going to Luxor for that!! YAY :cheer2::yay: Not sure what else to see. Not big Beatles fans so what Cirque should we see? What other shows? Already saw Blue Man
We are simple beer drinkers :drinking1
We are know to be up till all hours in the am when in a casino, and then sleep in late.
We will want to do rides!!
Shopping- heck ya!!! all kinds lol !!


Any advice on where to stay??

We peeked at MGM Grande and Luxor, Excalibar... and others and got anywhere from 500.00's to 1100.00's. We are thinking 700.00-900.00 for the week would be ok. Staying Tues to Tues makes for some decent prices. So what is your best hotel choices?? Again, looking for on or near strip, CLEAN, safe for walking- even late night. We love the Epcot/Spa feel with a mix of night lights and liveliness. Oh and we love seeing rock bands :rockband: we are :hyper2:

There is Rock Vegas at Mandalay Bay the weekend we are there. Thinking it might be fun so we could get a package and stay there???

HELP!!! PLEASE!! lol thanks all!!
 
We go two to three times a year and are a great deal older than you, so though we don't stay at these properties, I assure you they are TONS of fun for your age -

Luxor - would be just fine - remember, there is a free monorail between Luxor and Mandalay Bay (and Excalibur). You can get good deals there.

Mandalay Bay is kind of swanky - you would like it, they are famous for their huge "river" swimming areas. They also have a shark tank - it can be spendy and they are just about the furthest out - but, as I said, they connect via free monorail.

You would probably love Planet Hollywood, which is geared to young twenties through thirties - very lively and fun. Lots of music.

We are old and like quiet so we stay (nowadays) at Monte Carlo - you would not be too happy there. But they do have a great pub with lots of brews!


The bottom line is - as you have seen - there are SO MANY choices and lots of them are just fine!! So find one - focus on four things - say, Music, Clean, Location, Price (or pick your own) - make a quick chart - then pick the one that fits your criteria.

:hippie:
 
And you absolutely will not need to rent a car - there are monorails, buses and trams all over.
 
We stay at New York, New York and have always been pleased with that hotel. My favorite thing there is the Dueling Piano Bar (The Bar @ Times Square). That is always a great time. If you try it, go Thurs, Fri, Sat or Sun and ask if Joey is playing. He also plays electric guitar, which really gets the crowd amped up (no pun intended, LOL).
 


Congrats on going to your first trip to Vegas. You'll have a blast. To answer your questions, you won't need a rental car to get around as there are some trams but most people use taxis. Keep in mind those taxi rides can get quite expensive if you're traveling down the strip on a friday or saturday night trying to get to your destination. It's not because of the distance the taxi will be driving but because of the wait times due to traffic. I still don't recommend renting a car. Now if you're driving to Vegas, then I would say use your car because parking at the casinos are plenty with easy access.

As far as trying t get the best hotel deal, I would recommend you visit the hotels' websites and sign up on their newsletter. This way, they'll send you emails with promotions. Your other option is to sign up for their free players card (even if you don't plan on gambling or gmabling a lot). This will get you some good deals. Vegas is one of our favorite spots and we have a players club and we constantly get promotions and deals to go to vegas so that might save you some money. Also, with you going off season, your hotel prices should be a lot less.

As far as where to stay, that's a really open question and I'll try to give you some guidance. Obviously many factors come into play when deciding which hotel to stay at. We generally always try and stay at the Bellagio. We used to stay at the MGM and Excalibur but don't stay there anymore. Excalibur is kind of on the lower end of the quality scale but will get the job done if you want a fair place to just sleep. Luxor is ok too. Keep in mind that the MGM, Luxor, and Excalibur are on the south side of the strip and far away from the newer hotels such as Wynn, Aria, Venetian, and Bellagio. It's also far away for the Caesar Forum Shops and the mall next to Treasure Island so that's something to think about. You can walk to these locations from those hotels but that's a far walk. Keep in mind that one hotel takes up a huge footprint so even going from one hotel to the next is not like walking a city block. It's huge.

As far as shows, I'm not a fan of Carrot Top so I can't comment on that show as I've never seen it but if you've never been to a Vegas show, I would recommend the Bellagio "O" show as your first experience. It's a great show especially for a Vegas first timer.

If you're into the club scene or the partying scene, I would probably recommend staying at the Hard Rock Hotel or the Palms. They're off the strip but get a lot of party action. If you want to stay on the strip, the Bellagio, Wynn, and the Venetian have good club scenes and are very nice hotels. Keep in mind, in case you didn't know, The Venetian rooms all start as suites whereas the other hotels, you have to upgrade to suites so something to consider when looking at prices.

Mandalay Bay has the best pool but I think the Hard Rock Hotel has the best scene at the pool.

If you have other questions, let me know. We love Vegas and we've been there so many times that we now just go for 1 night when we go. The way we see it, every extra day we spend in Vegas is one more day we lose from our life. :)

Good luck and have fun.

Hi all :wave2:

My BF and I are going to Vegas at the end of Sept :cool1: :thumbsup2

We will be there Tues till Tues :)

Neither of us have gone before. We do like casinos :) And we are thrilled to be able to take this last minute trip. We need to book the hotel, but there are sooo many that we don't know what is best for us. We are researching, but it is so much to learn :confused: and we need to book one soon as the trip is coming fast.

Any help would be appreciated!! Here is what I can tell you...

We were hoping we did not need a rental, would like to be on or very close to the main strip.
We love walking so no problem there.
We may sit by the pool, but not often.
We love nice clean hotels :) :)
We want to see shows. Carrot Top is my all time fav so def going to Luxor for that!! YAY :cheer2::yay: Not sure what else to see. Not big Beatles fans so what Cirque should we see? What other shows? Already saw Blue Man
We are simple beer drinkers :drinking1
We are know to be up till all hours in the am when in a casino, and then sleep in late.
We will want to do rides!!
Shopping- heck ya!!! all kinds lol !!


Any advice on where to stay??

We peeked at MGM Grande and Luxor, Excalibar... and others and got anywhere from 500.00's to 1100.00's. We are thinking 700.00-900.00 for the week would be ok. Staying Tues to Tues makes for some decent prices. So what is your best hotel choices?? Again, looking for on or near strip, CLEAN, safe for walking- even late night. We love the Epcot/Spa feel with a mix of night lights and liveliness. Oh and we love seeing rock bands :rockband: we are :hyper2:

There is Rock Vegas at Mandalay Bay the weekend we are there. Thinking it might be fun so we could get a package and stay there???

HELP!!! PLEASE!! lol thanks all!!
 
We go two to three times a year and are a great deal older than you, so though we don't stay at these properties, I assure you they are TONS of fun for your age -

You would probably love Planet Hollywood, which is geared to young twenties through thirties - very lively and fun. Lots of music.

The bottom line is - as you have seen - there are SO MANY choices and lots of them are just fine!! So find one - focus on four things - say, Music, Clean, Location, Price (or pick your own) - make a quick chart - then pick the one that fits your criteria.

:hippie:

Thanks so much!! I am :lmao: that I gave the impression that we are that young :rotfl2: We are 45 and 49!! :rotfl: and I became a grandmother at 39!! We def try to keep young though :goodvibes

A chart!! I am LMAO because I am the nerd that does just that!! When I plan Disney (we go verrryyyy often) I am all about spreadsheets ;) Yes, a chart is in order!!
 
Ok- you don't need a car- especially if you like to walk, we have gone from one end of strip to the other on foot (depending on weather, not in 100+) I love to people watch so being on the street is so much fun to me. I would totally recommend staying MID STRIP- if you stay at Luxor or Mandaly Bay I think you will be sorry, stay away from the other end of strip (Circus Circus/Strat) nasty- I wouldn't stay there (if your looking for rides, hit the Strat for the rollercoaster and other rides on top. NYNY has an awesome rollercoaster, but again I wouldn't stay there, too far to the end, I like center strip- Depending on your budget I would recommend- $$$ Caesars, $$ Harrahs and $ Flamingo- out of these 3 the best pool is def. Flamingo, but can get very crowded- I would say if your not really interested in the pool fo for Harrahs, REASONABLE ROOMS, clean, safe and you can't beat the location- center strip.

As far as shows go- I would say (in this order) 1- Jersey Boys, 2- LOVE (Cirq) 3- Absentine (FUNNY!!) 4- KA (Cirq) - I would say Vegas has WAAAY to many CIRQ shows, Personally I think youve seen one, seen them all. You sound young so I would say def. Absentine! It's a funny show, but if your offended by language skip it- it's pretty bad (but I am not offended easily so it was great) just don't get VVIP seats unless you want to be part of the show, because they WILL pick on you..

As far as music / Bars go... THEY ARE EVERYWHERE, Live music everywhere- check Ticketmaster to see what big shows are in town, maybe you can catch a concert while your there- we have never been that luck to actually be there the same time as a group we like. But don't worry about mapping out the bars, you will find them all over- The big clubs (Pure.. Sugar Factory etc..) ask someone else, don't do them, but if you plan on doing them- bring the shortest dress you own and the highest heels LOL

Have a blast! Vegas is my favorite place in the world- LOVE the activity- always something to see or do!! Feel free to PM me or ask anything! more than happy to answer- just got back this week! Know the place very well!!
 


Thanks so much everyone!! Like I said, I love that you all think we are younger than we are :thumbsup2 but we do tend to have more fun that many youngsters LOL.

Halfmonkey- Bellagio, Wynn, and the Venetian- all sounds good. I read that the Venetian is pretty good choice for "couples". The Bellagio sounds great too! I need to look into the Wynn still. Which do you think would be good?

I did start signing up for newsletters for deals. Not many came so far, I thought there would be more. Which ones do you suggest?

Player cards?? I did the "M" card, but what others are there? Is there a main player card that covers more casinos?

The O show sounds great! We will hit that for sure! Awe- Carrot Top is hysterical!! Have you seen him live? On TV doesn't give you a good idea of what his show is, it is one that you have to see live!! I cry laughing the whole time!! I have seen him many times before he got big enough to have a Vegas gig :)

Rides!!?? What rides are musts and what are don't bother???

Thanks so much for your help!! We are excited for this new adventure :banana:
 
We love Vegas!! DH & I go as often as possible.

We have only stayed at Bellagio and Monte Carlo. Bellagio is our absolute favorite Vegas hotel, but we cant afford to stay there everytime we go :sad2:

MGM, NY NY, Paris, Mandalay Bay, Venetian, Wynn, Ceasars Palace, Aria are all nice. Mandalay Bay has a younger vibe to it, as does Cosmopolitan and also Planet Hollywood. We didnt care for Luxor or Bally's when we walked through them b/c they were really smoky! :sick:

Cirque shows...we have seen Ka (our absolute fave!!!!!!!), O and Zumanity.

We NEVER rent a car in Vegas. We usually have a sedan pick us up at the airport (same for return) or you can take a shuttle (cant remember the name of the company). As far as travel in town, you can get tickets for "the deuce". This is their bus system. Tickets are super cheap and you can go up and down the strip, downtown & I think the mall.
 
Hey there,

Congrats on your first Vegas trip (and a whole week too). There is so much to do and see that I cannot cover it in these few lines. Think about the first times at Disney and what more you could have done and seen by the time you got home.

If you are mainly walking then the center of the strip is where you want to stay. It is a long way from either of the ends. My wife and I have stayed at many places and price ranges. We just want a clean room and don't care as much about the amenities as we can find whatever we want at another place. One thing to consider is that alot of hotels charge a $20 daily resort fee on top of the room charge so keep that in mind when booking. MGM Properties charge it, Caesars Properties don't. We have also started a week at Mandalay and finished at Paris. If you don't mind a mid-week move it can be fun to try a couple of places.

Favorite show so far was 'O' at Bellagio but all Cirque shows are great. Shows that have been in Vegas for a long time, including Carrot Top, can be purchased at half price on the day of the show by visiting a Tix4Tonight booth (many on the strip).

Lots of beer to be had in Las Vegas. On your first night you should grab a big can of beer and walk along the strip and people watch while drinking it. Even after all these years my wife still can't beleive all the people drinking while walking on the sidewalk. There is a liquor store on Flamingo just east of the strip that has large cans for just over $2. If you want to sit and enjoy your drinks, The Pub at Monte Carlo has over 300 beer to choose from.

Restaurant choices are endless from cheap to very expensive. You can ask at hotel concierge desks for information or ask here and I'm sure many of us could post our favorites if we know what you are looking for.

Many other options as far as recreation as well. Shopping is huge in Vegas and a couple of spots are the Fashion Show Mall and the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. Also a few outlet malls in the area. There are also many excursions like Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam or Red Rock Canyon. The tour companies will pick you up at the hotel.

Keep planning and look at as much as you can so you can narrow it down to just a couple of thousand things LOL. Have fun and enjoy.
 
I don't think you'll go wrong with either of those hotels as they're all considered the high end hotels on the strip. Wynn tries to be the highest end. We've received many deals to stay at the Wynn and they were really great deals but each time the deals came, we already had stuff planned so we actually never took advantage of the deals but the lobby and casino area are very nice. We've stayed at Bellagio and Venetian/Palazzo many times. The Palazzo is the newest edition to the Venetian and it's nice. Keep in mind that if you stay at the Veneitan or the Palazzo, you have access to both casinos because they're attached.

As far as news letter, just visit the casino's website and sign up. You might not be getting too many offers right now because it is summer time and it's approaching Labor Day weekend which is a huge SoCal Vegas vacation trip. Once Labor Day passes and the schools start up again, I think you'll be getting some offers.

As far as players card, we actually only have one. I think it's the MGM group or something like that but it covers Bellagio and Aria as well as many others. Frankly, we've been there so many times, we don't really care for the other casinos anymore and just stick with our favorites and the players card covers the Bellagio and Aria since they're sister hotels. We do need to sign up for the Venetian/Palazzo hotel as well.

I know who Carrot Top is but he doesn't do it for us. Seinfeld does do shows there so if you're into Seinfeld, I would recommend trying to see if he's there during the week tat you're in Vegas. We've seen "O", Mystere, and the Elvis show and I liked "O" the best. It's also a unique in that it takes place in water.

I've actually never riden one ride in Vegas but I hear the Stratosphere has two rides at the very top of their needle that are pretty intense. There are some roller coasters around town but they're all just basic roller coasters whereas the Stratospehere has two rides on the top that are pretty unique. I would check that but again, I've never been myself so I can't confirm if they're actually worth it.

Thanks so much everyone!! Like I said, I love that you all think we are younger than we are :thumbsup2 but we do tend to have more fun that many youngsters LOL.

Halfmonkey- Bellagio, Wynn, and the Venetian- all sounds good. I read that the Venetian is pretty good choice for "couples". The Bellagio sounds great too! I need to look into the Wynn still. Which do you think would be good?

I did start signing up for newsletters for deals. Not many came so far, I thought there would be more. Which ones do you suggest?

Player cards?? I did the "M" card, but what others are there? Is there a main player card that covers more casinos?

The O show sounds great! We will hit that for sure! Awe- Carrot Top is hysterical!! Have you seen him live? On TV doesn't give you a good idea of what his show is, it is one that you have to see live!! I cry laughing the whole time!! I have seen him many times before he got big enough to have a Vegas gig :)

Rides!!?? What rides are musts and what are don't bother???

Thanks so much for your help!! We are excited for this new adventure :banana:
 
hotel deals, use Travelzoo.com --> Las Vegas. TOOOONS of good deals.

Be aware, some hotels require you to pay Resort Fees. Be sure u check before u arrive and find out u have to pay an extra $20 a day for it.

Wynn hotel: HUUUGE ROOMS, would love to stay there again but its a bit pricey.
Rio: big room, but pointless. Blackjack tables are $25... Has a really good buffet.
Luxor: used to like it when i was a kid. Now, its meh. Get tower room because pyramid rooms can get very humid and mucky. But its a nice experience.
Excalibur: smells... but cheap. Its got a nice kids place to play those silly games.
TI: a very smaller on strip hotel... i find it pretty easy to navigate. mid to upper strip.
 
I would recommend doing something like the priceline negotiating for the strip hotels. I've heard of some great prices by using that. We have never had to use a rental when staying in Vegas. Just grab a cab from the airport. My wife and I wanted to do all of the rides as well so we just bought day tickets for the monorail and took that up and down the strip.

Have a great time and dont party too hard!!!:lmao::cool1:

Hi all :wave2:

My BF and I are going to Vegas at the end of Sept :cool1: :thumbsup2

We will be there Tues till Tues :)

Neither of us have gone before. We do like casinos :) And we are thrilled to be able to take this last minute trip. We need to book the hotel, but there are sooo many that we don't know what is best for us. We are researching, but it is so much to learn :confused: and we need to book one soon as the trip is coming fast.

Any help would be appreciated!! Here is what I can tell you...

We were hoping we did not need a rental, would like to be on or very close to the main strip.
We love walking so no problem there.
We may sit by the pool, but not often.
We love nice clean hotels :) :)
We want to see shows. Carrot Top is my all time fav so def going to Luxor for that!! YAY :cheer2::yay: Not sure what else to see. Not big Beatles fans so what Cirque should we see? What other shows? Already saw Blue Man
We are simple beer drinkers :drinking1
We are know to be up till all hours in the am when in a casino, and then sleep in late.
We will want to do rides!!
Shopping- heck ya!!! all kinds lol !!


Any advice on where to stay??

We peeked at MGM Grande and Luxor, Excalibar... and others and got anywhere from 500.00's to 1100.00's. We are thinking 700.00-900.00 for the week would be ok. Staying Tues to Tues makes for some decent prices. So what is your best hotel choices?? Again, looking for on or near strip, CLEAN, safe for walking- even late night. We love the Epcot/Spa feel with a mix of night lights and liveliness. Oh and we love seeing rock bands :rockband: we are :hyper2:

There is Rock Vegas at Mandalay Bay the weekend we are there. Thinking it might be fun so we could get a package and stay there???

HELP!!! PLEASE!! lol thanks all!!
 
Thanks everyone for all the tips :)

Question, it looks like the big hotels have a good cancellation policy, think I should book one for now and change if I need to? Anyone do this before?
 
Thanks everyone for all the tips :)

Question, it looks like the big hotels have a good cancellation policy, think I should book one for now and change if I need to? Anyone do this before?

you can... just make sure u write down what day you need to cancel it by. usually within 72 hours...

http://www.l*******************/ <-- im going to vegas end of this month. I found my code on this website.
 
Ok so far I find a lot of promo from direct hotel sites are sold out for my dates 9-25--10-02. Hmmm

But the best I found is using YUUPON... anyone know of it?

I am getting Harrah's:

Room Type: Classic room with 25% off and Coupon Book for 985.60 (tax included) . Doesn't say what coupon book has in it?? If I go to Harrah's site same room is $1,282.40!! (tax included) What gives?

What is the difference of Palms and Palms Place?
Palms Place comes up in "strip 4+ stars" search on YUUPON, the rate is 613.69!! (tax included) +20-per day fee total 753.69

Palms is coming up
Room Type:Deluxe $690.62 (tax included) with Breakfast Buffet ! +20-per day fee total 830.62

I like the Palms Place price for on the strip! No coupon book or anything though.

Other sites- MGM New Tower Queen 722.40 (tax included) +25-per day fee total 897.40

What do you guys think?

Just spent 2 hours searching. yikes!
 
Have no idea why my link didnt work...

las vegas advisor dot com

that site has a ton of promotional codes... look around. I know for Palms, u can save like $20... i was playing with the codes earlier with your dates...
 
Have no idea why my link didnt work...

las vegas advisor dot com

that site has a ton of promotional codes... look around. I know for Palms, u can save like $20... i was playing with the codes earlier with your dates...

I got it :) Loooking now. Thanks!!

The site is a member site so probably doesn't link. Are you a member?
 
thought I would share this with you guys...

It is a list of all the hotels with their ratings. If you go to top 5 and under there, click on "All Hotel Ratings & Comments" there is some good rating info there :)

http://www.ratelasvegas.com/

Just more to read lol
 
I got it :) Loooking now. Thanks!!

The site is a member site so probably doesn't link. Are you a member?

nope, i didnt need to sign up to look at the rates though... Typically i use travelzoo but since im going on a holiday, travelzoo doesnt have much promotion. Friend told me about that website later to help me get get $77 per night vs the $110 i was paying per night...

14 days to go! :P :jumping3:
 

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