tell me about Vegas???

[Maude4Disney]

Well, after thinking we were going to take the kids to Disney this spring, DH has decided that he and I will be going to Vegas in June to celebrate our 20th. As disappointed as I am about not doing Disney, thinking we will have a hard time getting the whole family there once DS starts college... I am very excited about Vegas. We've never been before. Other than it being HOT, I haven't had much help. Where to stay, what to do... and so on. We are going with our neighbors/best friends for 5 nights/6 days. The only thing I know for sure is that we are renting a car for the day to drive to the Grand Canyon. So, what can you tell me....

 

[AKL_Megs]

DH and I love it, and we go pretty much every other year. We are hoping to go again this summer.

We always stay at MGM Grand, and while we love it, we have come to the decision that until they remodel the BATHROOMS in the room, we won't stay there again. (They were nice in the 90's, now they are just outdated. You'll love them if you are a fan of white marble and gold fixtures. ) The rooms are beautiful, as is the casino (the largest on the Strip), and the pool is amazing, but the bathrooms turn us off.)

DH would like to stay at Bellagio, and I think we might.

We are really big on eating, lounging by the pool, and walking in the evening from casino to casino.

We recommend the Rio buffet... it's called Carnival World and well, it's OUT of this world. It has anything you could imagine wanting to eat and then some.

If we go this summer, I would like to see the new Cirque du Soliel show about Elvis. It's brand new.

We always road trip to Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire. If you like the Grand Canyon, these are GREAT places... and much closer. It's also fun taking a trip to Death Valley. Of course, Hoover Dam is a must see... DH loves it!

Enjoy Vegas, it's magical to us, in a romantic way... we feel "different" there! It's great!

 

[kaytieeldr]

The DIS has its very own Las Vegas forum: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=175 !

We always road trip to Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire. If you like the Grand Canyon, these are GREAT places... and much closer. It's also fun taking a trip to Death Valley. Of course, Hoover Dam is a must see... DH loves it!

Those are all great suggestions - but probably on such a relatively short trip, the OP is only going to have time for one long-distance attraction.

 

[AKL_Megs]

The DIS has its very own Las Vegas forum: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=175 !

Those are all great suggestions - but probably on such a relatively short trip, the OP is only going to have time for one long-distance attraction.

Just throwing them out there... for others too!

 

[cuethemusic]

While i'm not a huge Vegas fan, The Venetian is such a wonderful hotel. Also be sure to check out a cirque du soleil show!

 

[happygirl]

We just go back from Vegas on Sunday, It was so fun.

We stayed at Excailber we got a really good price it was a good hotel make sure you stay in Tower 2 remodel rooms. They are very nice.

We walked the strip and went to Seigfried and Roy Secert Garden it was amazing.

We went to the Medival dinner show at Excailiber it was fun good show the food was just okay.

We went and saw where they tape Pawn stars.

My kids loved looking at the light from the strip it's amazing

We also went to Mandlay bay and looked at the Shark Reef

 

[starann]

I was in LV this past Aug with my mom, we stayed at the MGM, it's at one end of the strip, so we walked A LOT and took the monorail. The monorail is nice but a tad on the expensive side (although if you order tickets in advance, it could be cheaper). Taxi's are REALLY expensive, but we only used a taxi 1 or 2 times (when we went to Rio, which is off the strip, for dinner at the Voo Doo Lounge).


We used a shuttle service from the airport, but after what we paid and how long we waited for the shuttle, we would have paid to have had the taxi from the airport.


We saw Mystere, a Cirque show and it was AMAZING.....I would love to go back jsut to see more shows!!! Sign up at Cirque's website and occassionally they offer discounts. We also saw Terry Fator, which was good as well (but not over Cirque).

We also went to see S&R animals which was nice for something to do during the day.

There are budget boards for Vegas as well (I have them on my other computer).

Jimmy Buffet's was good. We enjoyed lounging at the pool 2 days, and ate lunch outside at the cafe (which had good food!). I wish we did more window shopping, but oh well! Oh and the Venetian has indoor shops (high end), but they have a lil coffee/pizza shop that had the BEST bruschetta I have ever had, and it was a BIG peice for about $1.50!!!!!!! Worth the trip into the shops area!

 

[rszdtrvl]

DH and I just went in January. Our first trip to Las Vegas.

We stayed at Bally's. Great location, room was decent.

We did the Titanic exhibit at Luxor, went to the M&M store, went to the Forum shops at Caesar's Palace and ate at Cheesecake Factory, saw the fountains at Bellagio, ate at Margaritaville (still craving those Volcano Nachos), and did a bit of gambling. We ate at Flavors (the buffet at Harrah's) and don't recommend it.

If we went back, we would stay at Caesar's Palace. We LOVED that hotel! It had everything!

We just had a super quick 2-night trip. It was thrown together in 5 days. LOL. Spur of the moment for our 14th Anniversary.

However, everything was so far away, in our opinion. Next time we go to Nevada, DH wants to go to Reno (where we were married).

 

[LoraJ]

We love Vegas!!! That's where we tied the knot.

When we were there for our wedding, we stayed at THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay and LOVED it! I'd love to stay there again when we go back. I keep saying that we'll stay mid-strip at some point, but we just really love the area by Mandalay Bay.

We always rent a car there. I find it the best way to casino hop when you want to stay out of the heat and don't care for public transportation.

 

[Pakey]

I'm in Las Vegas every few months; sometime for business and sometime for pleasure. I have stayed at almost every Strip hotel and have seen many of the shows and eaten at the nicer restaurants.

My favorite hotel is the Venetian. I love the rooms there and I love the hotel itself; the casino, the shoppes, the restaurants, etc. I like it much more than another of the other hotels although I'm looking forward to trying the new places at the City Center.

My favorite show is Beatles Love. I've enjoyed many shows in Las Vegas (including all of the Cirque shows) but nothing has been quite as amazing as this one.

My favorite place to eat anywhere is in Las Vegas and that's Picasso at Bellagio. For something a bit more reasonably priced, I like Mesa Grill at Ceasars. If you are very adventurous, I'd recommend B&B Ristorante at Venetian; we have had some very interesting dishes there that I've never seen anywhere else. There are some great restaurants in Las Vegas so I would never recommend eating at chains or buffets.

My favorite breakfast place is Bouchon at the Venetian. Between the bellinis and the made to order beignets with the homemade chocolate sauce, I would be satisified is that's all I did the entire time I was in Las Vegas. No matter where I stay, I try to get to Bouchon for one breakfast each trip.

I am not a gambler but I've never been bored in Las Vegas.

 

[Disney Doll]

We stayed at The Paris a couple of years ago. I enjoyed it.
There's a lot to do there without gambling, and your day trip sounds great!

Just one thing...for some reason stuff in Vegas looks clsoer than it actually is. Often, we would say "Oh let's go to The Venetian. It's right there" when, in actuality, it was probably like 2 miles away....

 

[Tina]

Wow. 6 days seems really long for Vegas. Unless you are big gamblers, you may want to have a car for more than one day. Hoover Dam is a great thing to see at least once. I don't know if they still do the tour inside the Dam. I did it before 9/11 and thought it was really cool. I also really enjoy Red Rock. My favorite hotel is Bellagio, but I also like TI (for the simplicity of the layout).

If you decide to only have a car for one day, I recommend choosing a hotel mid-strip with easy access to the Monorail (Paris would be a good choice).

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

We go about once a year. Stayed at the Rio this last time. It's rooms are little dated but still ok. It is off strip but they have a shuttle that runs every 1/2 hour to Harrahs or Paris. If I were staying for 5 or 6 days I would rent a car. Get a compact or something just to do a little running around in. There are a couple of good discount malls with top name outlet stores like Neiman Marcus, etc. I've found some really good buys there - one is about 2 miles south on the strip the other is in Primm Nevada which is about a 1/2 hour drive. You can Valet park at any of the casinos for free - we do tip the attendant (usually $2 or $3) when we pick the car back up. Saves you a ton of walking and the wait for the car usually isn't more than a few minutes.

My favorite places to stay are:
Wynn (beautiful but expensive)
Harrah's (cheap, dated but ok - don't pay for the upgraded rooms they aren't anything special)
Flamingo (GO rooms are cool and worth the extra $$)
Treasure Island (haven't stayed here in a while but it was pretty nice)
MGM (nice but the casino is huge and it's easy to get lost!)

WILL NOT every stay at Luxor or Circus Circus ever again. We stayed at a pyramid room at Luxor and it was dated, dirty, bugs on floor and the kids found "adult" playing cards on the floor (that was the last time went with kids). Circus Circus was cheap but everything smelled like smoke and there were kids running wild everywhere!

 

[Tina]

WILL NOT every stay at Luxor or Circus Circus ever again. We stayed at a pyramid room at Luxor and it was dated, dirty, bugs on floor and the kids found "adult" playing cards on the floor (that was the last time went with kids). Circus Circus was cheap but everything smelled like smoke and there were kids running wild everywhere!

ITA! My last stay was at Luxor and.... WHAT A DUMP! I couldn't wait to get out of that place.

 

[RC Fan]

Wow. 6 days seems really long for Vegas.

Really? I stayed there once for 10 nights, and still wasn't ready to leave. I love Vegas though. Tons of stuff to do, and not just for gamblers.

How fancy a hotel are you looking for OP?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Ah, right - in addition to "how fancy", also, how much are you looking to spend?

 

[Judy from Boise]

The DIS has its very own Las Vegas forum: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=175 !

I second the invitation for all you Vegas experts to come answer questions on our Vegas board

 

[Dan Murphy]

For me, the highlight of a Vegas trip is the trip to the airport to go home, not a Vegas fan.

But I have had to go there a number of times. Most recently a couple weeks ago for an annual seminar I attend. I do enjoy the Cirque shows, saw Beatles Love again. And I enjoy looking at the grandeur of the buildings, etc. I did visit the new Aria at City Centre, would recommend trying that, as well as the new Elvis Cirque. I would have loved to have seen that, but it was not open the few days I was there, still in preview. I think it opens this week on the 18th.

 

[Kteacher]

I'm going to Vegas for the first time in 3 weeks for a conference. I'll be there for a week, but it looks like I won't get to see much besides the conference rooms .

 

[nicolita3]

We have stayed at Luxor, DH and I went in Sept. We love the luxor and I know not to many are fans of it, but they are always having specials and stuff.... I would recomend seeing KA if you are interested in seeing any shows. Both my DH and I loved KA. We also saw Penn and Teller but we love their tv show.