Shodan: Sneaky in Las Vegas

Cafe Society
1

Shhhhhh…

I am going to try and get away with something. I would like to surprise the Lovely and Talented Mrs. Shodan with a weekend in Vegas - in June, when she is done with her various jobs and tasks for the summer. The idea is to hand her the packed suitcase on Friday afternoon and whisk her off for the weekend. I will have champagne and a present arranged at the hotel, and generally spoil and pamper her for a few days.

I have never been to Vegas, and I have a few questions, if any of the Dope would care to enlighten me.
[ul][li]What hotel would you recommend? I have done a little searching, and I think $1000 should cover our airfare and hotel. Where would you stay in that range?[/li][li]Do we need a car? Both of us are good walkers, and I expect we will wander the Strip for much of our entertainment, but I would also like to see Hoover Dam. Is there a shuttle there, or could we take the bus? Or should I rent a car?[/li][li]Is it difficult to get tickets to the shows? I doubt we would go to the top-rank shows, but I think a magic show and a comedy club would be fun. We both like that kind of thing. Is there a concierge at the various hotels who can arrange this? Again, would I need a car to get to most of the shows, or could we walk?[/li][li]Neither of us are gamblers, but I want at least to try it. I am a cheapskate - do you think $400 is enough to budget for the whole trip? [/li][li]Anything else I am missing? Shows I shouldn’t miss, restaurants to avoid, whatever?[/ul][/li]
I suck royally at this kind of thing - I tried to surprise her with a weekend at a B&B a few years back. Major husband points, but she figured me out pretty quick. This time I am going to try and hide the credit card charges better than last time, and the kids don’t need babysitting (to say the least - my daughter is going to pack for my wife, and generally aid and abet me in my nefarious schemes, which she thinks is kind of cute).

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Regards,
Shodan

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Our favorite places to stay are Caesars and Wynn/Encore. Caesars is center Strip, so you can walk to a dozen other casinos easily. If you want to see the dam, then renting a car is the way to go. But you really don’t need one for the Strip. I recommend cabs for getting around. Saves you sanity.

Show tickets are available everywhere. There are half-price places that sell unsold tickets the day of the show. Lots of choices. Cirque has shows at every hotel, every motel and the odd roadside stand if you like that sort of thing.

Check out DMark’s site for more details on everything.

eta: Looking for that url, I also noticed that if you search for “dmark vegas site,” you get a plethora of threads giving advice for Vegas. Good advice is given.

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I stayed at the Venetian last month. It was spectacular. Rooms in July start at around $220. No need for a car, IMO. Walk, take a taxi, or even the monorail. I got front row seats for The Blue Man Group two hours before the show with no problems. If you’re into magic and comedy, Penn and Teller would be worth it at around $80 a ticket. There are bus tours out to the dam. I don’t gamble, so my advice isn’t worth giving.

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On the gambling budget, it depends on what you play, and whether $400 is intended to cover one person, or two. I’ve heard it can be difficult, but not impossible to find $5 table games–meaning that the minimum bet is $5 per hand for things like blackjack, three card poker, etc. Sometimes, at least in Tunica, you can find a $3 table in the middle of the day and middle of the week. Might want to spend a little time learning what is called “Basic Strategy” for blackjack–it covers when to hit, stand, split, or double down. If you can play perfect basic strategy, you can reduce the house edge considerably. Don’t bother trying to count cards. If you’ve never played at all before, you won’t be able to do it. Hell, I play fairly often, and I can’t do it. At a $5 table, most people will buy in to the game with $100. Playing $5 per hand, with the occasional split or double and basic strategy, theat should be enough to last for a couple of hours…maybe longer.

Slots used to be called “one armed bandits” for a reason. They’re sucker bets, but can be fun. Look for penny slots if you can find them and want to try your luck.

Best advice I can give you–consider your gambling budget an entertainment expense, and when you lose whatever amount you’ve budgeted either for a gaming session or for the trip, walk away. You’re done.

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The only places in Vegas you’ll find $5 tables these days are downtown or at Casino Royalle. Dives, IOW. Penny slots can be very entertaining.

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Ya know, I’ve always sorta wanted to go to Vegas, but the more I learn about it, the more I think Tunica or the Mississippi Gulf Coast is a better deal. $5 tables are common…usually at least one for each type of game, sometimes more. Comp meals are easy to get…the Horseshoe advertises that they’ll comp a buffet after only 30 minutes at a table game, and the other places aren’t that much tougher. I mostly go to Tunica, and I never pay for rooms, meals, or booze. The only money I spend is gas to get there and gambling money. I suppose the shows are fewer and less impressive, but I’m going there to gamble, so that doesn’t matter to me.

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Vegas is a creepy, evil place. Suppose you turn out to like gambling? Cirque de Soliel usually has a great show, you need tickets months in advance. Best thing to do in Vegas and it isn’t evil. Great shopping in the Ceaser’s Forum mall. Good food is available too.

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I’m in Vegas all the damned time because of work, so I’ve stayed just about everywhere. My absolute FAVORITE place to stay is The Signature at the MGM Grand. Basically, these are three towers (with a private, gated entrance off the strip) directly behind and attached to the MGM with a moving walk way. You can get right to the restaurants, casino floor, spa, etc. with a less than five minute “walk”- basically, you get all the amenities of the MGM without all the… yucky Vegas part.

The Signature is beautiful- each room is actually a condo unit that either is owned by the hotel or that the owner puts into the hotel rental pool. They have studios (super large), one, and two bedrooms- all of which have a small kitchenette, plasma tvs, huge beds, and amazing bathrooms (sep shower and HUGE jacuzzi tub). It’s all very modern in design, but comfortable. Oh, and some of the rooms have gorgeous balconies that over look the Strip or mountains.

The service as the Signature is also amazing- I’ve never had better any place that I’ve stayed in the world. Each tower has its own valet, so you never get stuck waiting more than a minute (literally). Each tower also has its own pool- when you walk in, the attendant will go put chair covers on for you, give you big fluffy towels, and basically wait on you with whatever you need.

Ok, I’ll stop. My point is that I love the Signature. Check out the official website for deals, though I’ve noticed some of the best deals are through Booking.com. This place also has some good deals. Should be noted, though, that some owners rent the places out themselves, so check out vacation rental sites (like this one). Since they are rented by the owner, remember the prices are negotiable. I’ve seen places as low as $50 a night in low season, they seem to hover around $120 a night usually, though.

I’d rent a car to go to the Dam, but I hate tour groups. It’s literally about 20 minutes away, but it might be fun to get to stop and take pictures in the desert (there are some cool, panoramic views of the dam and desert on the way there). Even if you just rent the car for half a day, you’d be set.

Tickets to shows- right across from the Monte Carlo, in what’s called the Hawaiian Marketplace, is a half price ticket booth. It’s this place. The deal is that you can only get tickets for the same day (so go early in the morning to get good stuff)- but really, I’ve seen Cirque for $40 (four times, all the tickets bought that day, not months in advance-- some times parties up to 6 people), the impersonator show at the Stratosphere (cheesy, but good) for $20, wax museum tickets for $12, etc. They also have great coupons for restaurants, too. Oh, and concert tickets and stuff.

Have fun!!!

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Jeeze, if I surprised MY wife with a trip to Vegas, she’d surprise me with a trip to Reno for a divorce. She hates the place.

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Wow, that’s peeing all over this thread. As far as I know, your wife isn’t Shodan’s wife, so why’d you have to say that?

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PS: The Forum Shops are fun, but expensive as hell. I am a well seasoned shopper who wastes far too much money each day after work, but even I avoid the Forum Shops. Fact is, the stuff there is marked up significantly from the same store, 10 minutes away. Don’t get me wrong- fun as hell to look, but I don’t buy anything there.

There are two outlet malls in Vegas. One north of the strip on Charleston, which I refer to as “the fancy mall.” The Premium Outlets has slightly higher end stuff, but still at totally killer deals.

My preferred outlet, due to my high level of cheap, is The Las Vegas Outlet Center South of the Strip. I call this the ghetto outlet mall, as most of the stores are. . . well, ghetto. There are some gems, though, namely the Saks 5th Avenue Outlet. Wifey can do some nice shopping at HUUUUGE discounts. I’m talking $1200 designer shoes on super epic clearance for $50 kind of huge discounts. It’s a great place- they have tons of beautiful jewelery insanely cheap, too.

If you guys are antique nerds at all (like me!), near the ghetto outlet is this enormous antique store, run by the nicest folks. They have tons of cool stuff, too. Here it is on Yelp, though I don’t know what that bad reviewer was expecting at an antique mall. . .:stuck_out_tongue:

Anyway, there’s my shopping tips, as a seasoned Vegas shopper!

No kidding. Plus, I think he needs to tell his wife to stop being such a . . . er, not nice lady. … when someone is trying to do something nice for her.

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Penn & Teller are great, and I second the recommendation.

On a smaller budget, though, and for something to do in the afternoon, I’d be remiss not to put in a plug for my friend Mac King at Bally’s.

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Wayne Brady’s show at the Venetian is pretty good, too. For cheap entertainment, there are the Bellagio Fountains, Sirens at the TI, and the Pinball Museum, which has moved to right across the street from the Liberace Museum.

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And the Atomic Testing Museum, which is right off the Strip and super freaking cool (I went on my 21st bday. Who’s awesome? This girl.). Their site.

PS: Every show mentioned so far I have personally seen at the half price ticket place.

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[quote=“Shodan, post:1, topic:531988”]

[li]Do we need a car? Both of us are good walkers, and I expect we will wander the Strip for much of our entertainment, but I would also like to see Hoover Dam. Is there a shuttle there, or could we take the bus? Or should I rent a car?[/li][/QUOTE]
There are day-trip buses to Hoover Dam. I left in the morning and was back by 2pm or so. Parking is a nightmare in Vegas so definitely do the cab/walk/transit thing. The LV monorail is a great way to go up and down key points in the strip, and there’s also a free tram that connects Mandalay/Luxor/Excalibur. Even if you plan on walking, give yourself a break because everything is much farther apart than it appears, either by map or the eye. It can be really deceptive, so don’t be afraid to cab one way and then walk back (or vice versa) just to give yourself a break.

Just a block away from each other are the Pinball Hall of Fame (featuring working games dating back to the 1940s) and The Liberace Museum, which is a Vegas classic in its ultra-campy, kitschy irresistability. You can walk from one to the other, but will need a cab to get out there in the first place.

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And because nobody else has mentioned it, The Fremont St. Experience is free and a must-see.

Also, TravelZoo has lots of good Vegas deals.

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And a key thing to add to this with Blackjack - if you aren’t sure what to do, ask the dealer. S/he’ll always tell you what the book says to do. The house doesn’t care if you win or lose a particular hand, especially not at the $5 or $10 tables. They just want you to enjoy yourself and stay at the table.

My rule for a table is not to sit down without enough for 10 hands at least - 20 is better. You can certainly make $100 last on a $5 table for long enough to enjoy a few free beverages and check off the “I’ve gambled in Vegas” line on your bucket list.

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:confused:

I always see people say this and it amazes me- every single hotel has free valet. You just tip them a few dollars. You literally pull right up to the front door, drop your car off, and walk in. I don’t know how it could be any easier?

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Fair enough. It’s definitely been a while since I did it, so YMMV I suppose. But I think it’s as much the traffic as the parking, and if you don’t have a definite game plan to your exploring of the strip, then it’s easier to just leave from where you are then to have to return to where you’ve parked (especially if it’s 5 or 6 resorts away). And I seem to remember the nightly parking fee at the hotel you’re staying at is usually astronomical. But if your stay involves enough side trips, then it may be worth it (I was just in Vegas two weeks ago and I was still amazed how much the cab fares added up).

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Weird, I’ve stayed at virtually every hotel on the Strip, as well as quite a few off- I’ve never once been charged a parking fee. I literally can’t think of a single one. Maybe that was an older policy they’ve done away with? I mean, some places add a $5-$15 a night fee for. . .what do they call it? Facilities fee or something. Resort fee. Whatever. Everybody gets charged that whether you park or not though.

I wont lie, traffic on the strip is the worst- mostly due to the rubber necking tourists. Unfortunately, our office is right off the Strip, so I’m pretty much back and forth through that area a few times a day. That said, with a little creativity, you can circumnavigate the mess, mostly.