Vegas with Teens - Would you splurge?

[kandb]

Mandalay Bay has the best pool and lazy river. But it’s at the southern end of the strip so not close to the action. This time we’re at the Palazzo. I booked on Hotwire and paid between $115 to $150 a night not including resort fees.

Thanks I am going to check hotwire out as soon as we know our definite dates (as soon as I book airfare). When you pay for your room via hotwire, do they let you know the room right away? I am hoping to get a decent rate because I don't think the 3rd week of August will be a super busy time for Vegas but I might be wrong. I wonder if there is a calendar that lets you know the busiest times for Vegas? like they have for WDW.

 

[kymom99]

What’s your price range? Aria, Paris, the Linq, Mirage, Planet Hollywood are all fine and center strip. Ceasars,Nobu, Venetian, Palazzo, Bellagio, Wynn and Encore if you want nicer 5 star accommodations.[

Be careful of the Venetian and the like. They are so big it takes forever to work your way through them and out to the strip. My friends stayed at Venetian and said they would never do it again. The mirage is center strip and actually very easy to navigate.

 

[Ngwira]

I know this is an older post (not that old) but we are planning 5 days in Vegas as part of our trip out west. There seems like a lot to do in Vegas. We have 3 children (16,16,10). Any suggestions on what part of Vegas to stay in? If we stay in the middle of the strip are most places walkable? I guess we could uber if we needed to?

Stay away from Circus Circus no matter how cheap.. Elara by Hilton is also fine d centrally located.

 

[kandb]

What’s your price range? Aria, Paris, the Linq, Mirage, Planet Hollywood are all fine and center strip. Ceasars,Nobu, Venetian, Palazzo, Bellagio, Wynn and Encore if you want nicer 5 star accommodations.[

We definitely want a very nice hotel, so probably 5 star. I am hoping to pay around/below $200/night. I want a hotel with a very nice pool because I am sure we will spend a lot of time in it. My FIL lives in LBI, so probably not far from you. We live in Bergen County.

 

[NinaBella]

Can't believe we're headed back to Vegas for Spring Break in less than 3 months!! Bumping this thread. I have breakfast reservations at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris and a lunch reservation at Yardbird at the Venetian. We plan to eat at Caesars Bacchanal Buffet! This time were headed to Valley of Fire and Bryce and Zion National Parks!

Hilarious, we are headed back in March for Spring Break as well. It will be DD 16th birthday and she picked Vegas. Slightly different, DH and DS are not coming. My oldest son who is 26 is coming with us.

We decided to stay at the Bellagio again since DH isn't coming and I am already familiar with it. I did consider the Venetian or Palazzo. Upgraded to have a guaranteed fountain view. We got lucky last time with the room upgrade, but it will be March Madness and I doubt I will get so lucky. The Venetian lobby to me last time seemed huge and I don't want to have to search and wander around another huge hotel to find my morning coffee, etc. I already know the Bellagio layout and like to drink my coffee in the atrium gardens when it is almost empty an the horticulturalists are working on touching up the flowers. DD seeps in so having my coffee there allows her to sleep in more.

Only reservation I have made so far is for the Cirque du Soleil Beatles Love. We saw Michael Jackson One last time. Oldest DS loves the Beatles. I did buy seats in the "Golden Circle" so it should be a treat. DD wants to jump off the Stratosphere and to the SlotZilla Zipline, so I have to make reservations for those. I wish she was old enough for a mom/daughter spa day but the nice hotel spa's are 18 and up because it is "clothing optional." We will probably still get our nails done. The Bellagio main pool is heated to 80 degrees and it is only open for guests, they do not sell tickets to non-guests like other hotels. We did not make it to the Fashion Mall on the last trip, so we will go there this time. Oldest DS and DD wants Sushi. I will not eat Sushi so I told them to research a place we can make a reservation. Other than that, I plan on just doing less expensive food like in the food courts. The three of us are light eaters and typically never finish our food, so any buffet would be a waste of money.

 

[Ngwira]

Thanks I am going to check hotwire out as soon as we know our definite dates (as soon as I book airfare). When you pay for your room via hotwire, do they let you know the room right away? I am hoping to get a decent rate because I don't think the 3rd week of August will be a super busy time for Vegas but I might be wrong. I wonder if there is a calendar that lets you know the busiest times for Vegas? like they have for WDW.

There is a calendar that shows you when all of the big conferences are in Vegas. That’ll let you know when prices go through the roof. Also avoid Super Bowl, New Years etc... you can do a google search.

 

[kandb]

Stay away from Circus Circus no matter how cheap.. Elara by Hilton is also fine d centrally located.

I go to the Borgata sometimes and have an MLife card. I think I might be able to get a discount at one of their hotels but who knows, Hotwire might be cheaper. I will do a lot of research. Thanks for your help.

 

[Ngwira]

Be careful of the Venetian and the like. They are so big it takes forever to work your way through them and out to the strip. My friends stayed at Venetian and said they would never do it again. The mirage is center strip and actually very easy to navigate.

We didn’t think Venetian was too bad. Most Vegas hotels are massive.

 

[Ngwira]

Thanks I am going to check hotwire out as soon as we know our definite dates (as soon as I book airfare). When you pay for your room via hotwire, do they let you know the room right away? I am hoping to get a decent rate because I don't think the 3rd week of August will be a super busy time for Vegas but I might be wrong. I wonder if there is a calendar that lets you know the busiest times for Vegas? like they have for WDW.

Nope. Hotwire is opaque booking sight. But you can pretty much see which 4 hotels you will get or go to betterbidding.com for help. The Palazzo is under “fashion show mall area, all suites, 5 star hotel”.

 

[Ngwira]

I go to the Borgata sometimes and have an MLife card. I think I might be able to get a discount at one of their hotels but who knows, Hotwire might be cheaper. I will do a lot of research. Thanks for your help.

bellagio, Luxor, Excalibur,mandalay bay, Delano, are all mlife properties.

 

[Ngwira]

We definitely want a very nice hotel, so probably 5 star. I am hoping to pay around/below $200/night. I want a hotel with a very nice pool because I am sure we will spend a lot of time in it. My FIL lives in LBI, so probably not far from you. We live in Bergen County.

I work in Ocean County. Small world.

 

[Ngwira]

Hilarious, we are headed back in March for Spring Break as well. It will be DD 16th birthday and she picked Vegas. Slightly different, DH and DS are not coming. My oldest son who is 26 is coming with us.

We decided to stay at the Bellagio again since DH isn't coming and I am already familiar with it. I did consider the Venetian or Palazzo. Upgraded to have a guaranteed fountain view. We got lucky last time with the room upgrade, but it will be March Madness and I doubt I will get so lucky. The Venetian lobby to me last time seemed huge and I don't want to have to search and wander around another huge hotel to find my morning coffee, etc. I already know the Bellagio layout and like to drink my coffee in the atrium gardens when it is almost empty an the horticulturalists are working on touching up the flowers. DD seeps in so having my coffee there allows her to sleep in more.

Only reservation I have made so far is for the Cirque du Soleil Beatles Love. We saw Michael Jackson One last time. Oldest DS loves the Beatles. I did buy seats in the "Golden Circle" so it should be a treat. DD wants to jump off the Stratosphere and to the SlotZilla Zipline, so I have to make reservations for those. I wish she was old enough for a mom/daughter spa day but the nice hotel spa's are 18 and up because it is "clothing optional." We will probably still get our nails done. The Bellagio main pool is heated to 80 degrees and it is only open for guests, they do not sell tickets to non-guests like other hotels. We did not make it to the Fashion Mall on the last trip, so we will go there this time. Oldest DS and DD wants Sushi. I will not eat Sushi so I told them to research a place we can make a reservation. Other than that, I plan on just doing less expensive food like in the food courts. The three of us are light eaters and typically never finish our food, so any buffet would be a waste of money.

Sounds wonderful. We did the bellagio in 2017 and it’s a beautiful hotel. Didn’t get to try the pool since we were sightseeing but it looked gorgeous. I’m excited to try the spa and pool facilities at the Palazzo-Canyon Ranch Spa is supposedly top notch and the reason why the resort fee is $45 a night.

 

[NinaBella]

There are free shows in Vegas? I was told most shows are $100+. Where do you find free shows? Thanks for any info.

My last trip, we did not see any free shows. I hear there are free shows, but you will have to just stand around and just wait for the scheduled time. I

We actually did not take this trip, but I think we plan to stay at NYNY when we go as it seems to be walkable to a lot of things the kids would enjoy - roller coaster and arcade at NYNY, Titanic exhibit at Luxor, sharks at Mandalay Bay.

We walked in NYNY. It was very crowded and loud. Kids running everywhere. I personally would never want to stay there. One lady ran into me and bumped my shoulder, then she punched me in my back like it was my fault. Seriously, I almost got into a fight. It wasn't hard as she was slightly out of reach, but very rude. If DH hadn't had me keep going, she would have gotten beat.

 

[webcreatrix]

We walked in NYNY. It was very crowded and loud. Kids running everywhere. I personally would never want to stay there. One lady ran into me and bumped my shoulder, then she punched me in my back like it was my fault. Seriously, I almost got into a fight. It wasn't hard as she was slightly out of reach, but very rude. If DH hadn't had me keep going, she would have gotten beat.

I've never stayed there, so good to know. We'd prefer something a bit more relaxing, I think.

 

[NinaBella]

Mandalay Bay has the best pool and lazy river. But it’s at the southern end of the strip so not close to the action. This time we’re at the Palazzo. I booked on Hotwire and paid between $115 to $150 a night not including resort fees.

I posted this before somewhere. I really did not like Mandalay Bay. While we were waiting for the Michael Jackson One show, the hotel seemed dirty. I complained about several hotels to DH, who didn't seem to notice the bad smells, etc. But he said inside Mandalay Bay, the smell did bother him. It has very poor lighting and ventilation. The floor looked like it had not been cleaned in quite some time.

 

[NinaBella]

Sounds wonderful. We did the bellagio in 2017 and it’s a beautiful hotel. Didn’t get to try the pool since we were sightseeing but it looked gorgeous. I’m excited to try the spa and pool facilities at the Palazzo-Canyon Ranch Spa is supposedly top notch and the reason why the resort fee is $45 a night.

Do you know of any Spa's that will allow a 16 year old girl in with her mom? I have yet to find one.

 

[Ngwira]

I posted this before somewhere. I really did not like Mandalay Bay. While we were waiting for the Michael Jackson One show, the hotel seemed dirty. I complained about several hotels to DH, who didn't seem to notice the bad smells, etc. But he said inside Mandalay Bay, the smell did bother him. It has very poor lighting and ventilation. The floor looked like it had not been cleaned in quite some time.

We stayed at the Delano which is the all suites sister property so didn’t notice anything like that. The pool area is top notch though, especially for kids.

 

[NinaBella]

Oh my... temps will be in the low 100s in August... we initially went in June 2017 and it was 115 degrees. Last year we went in February and had 80 degree temps. This year, April and hoping for 80s.

I am really hoping for warm weather. Even with the Bellagio heated pool at 80 degrees, if the weather is not warm, we will not go in. We are like this in Orlando too. We let the kids swim in the winter months once at a Disney hotel and my son ended up with pneumonia. So, we don't go into pools (even heated ones) in cool weather. We will be there the third week of March, which is DD's birthday week and Spring Break.

 

[Ngwira]

Do you know of any Spa's that will allow a 16 year old girl in with her mom? I have yet to find one.

I don’t unfortunately lol... DH will watch our girls while I do the spa!

 

[Ngwira]

I am really hoping for warm weather. Even with the Bellagio heated pool at 80 degrees, if the weather is not warm, we will not go in. We are like this in Orlando too. We let the kids swim in the winter months once at a Disney hotel and my son ended up with pneumonia. So, we don't go into pools (even heated ones) in cool weather. We will be there the third week of March, which is DD's birthday week and Spring Break.

I hope you luck out like we did last year. It was 80 degrees the first week of February. This trip is after Easter in late April so should be warm. Hoping the National Parks are up and running by then.