I stayed at the Imperial Palace for my honeymoon. It was cheap, and the room was crappy, but we were only in the room long enough to sleep, and er, consummate our marriage. It is in the middle of the strip, across the street from Caesar’s, in walking distance of a lot. One thing that was cool, and I don’t know if they still do it, is the Time Share demonstrations. We spent about an hour one morning talking to someone about a Timeshare, and got free tickets to one of the casino shows that night. It was worth it for us, because we were on a really slim budget…
As for nekkid ladies, I wasn’t going to piss off Mrs. Fop that early in the marriage…
One more entertainment suggestion - and I cannot stress this enough: go see Kà, the Cirque du Soleil Show at the MGM Grand. I have never been blown away this much by any other performance. Incredible staging, acrobatics, music (they have surround speakers in every seat!), visuals, it’s a 90 minute rollercoaster ride. Much more fun than losing the same amount of money at a black jack table in the same time.
There are half-price ticket kiosks along the Strip–they sell tickets to almost all the shows at a reduced price. If you have a few different shows you’re interested in, check out the kiosks early in the day and see what you can get.
Champagne brunches are awesome. You get a brunch buffet, and for an extra $5 you get unlimited champagne. Nothing like being drunk before noon! My favorites are Bellagio (great food but a bit pricey) and Spice Market.
My favorite place last time was PJ Clarke’s at the forum shoppes at Caesar’s. Their happy hour, from 2:45-6:00 every day but Saturday, was $1 oysters and half-price drinks. My husband and I were there every day, ruining our appetite for dinner. The bartender was awesome–perfect blend of nice and snarky–and the last day he comped us a plate of oysters.
I’ll second the recommendation for Ka. It’s great. Staying at the MGM Grand isn’t a bad idea, if you can get a good rate, especially in the Signature at MGM.
Personally, I think that 5 days is a LONG time in Vegas, unless you really try to see a few shows, or get out of town for a tour/hike/jetski/what have you, or have a lot of money for excellent food. I’ve been several times, and three nights is about as much as I want to experience, given my budget, which is usually similar to yours.
The Imperial Palace is usually my go-to place for gambling on the cheap. I like the MGM Grand for their poker room (at least a couple of years ago). I don’t play craps, but most places have it.
I’d recommend the Spearmint Rhino for the visual entertainment. I’d advise against walking out of there at 6:30AM, though. The sun shines brightly on your moral failings…
The dancing girl shows are pretty fun, too. Seems more classy, somehow…
I highly recommend Absinthe - bawdy, funny, dirty circus with lots of great acts. And I agree, don’t stay in the Excalibur whatever you do. We stayed in the Bellagio; wonderful central location. Caesar’s Palace is good too.
Was just at the M Resort for St. Pat’s Weekend; I usually go 3-4 times a year, especially now since I can get two free nights there each time…even weekends. Beautiful hotel (opened in 2009), beautiful casino, beautiful waitresses. The Studio B BuffetNEVER disappoints. They are now serving lobster during the weekend dinners. We had dinner at Anthony’s which was excellent as well…a little pricey…but it was for my wife’s birthday and the dinner was excellent.
And the cocktail waitresses there are beautiful…as usual.
Two questions: is the Imperial Palace a dump?
-do the strip eateries still advertise lobster and steak dinners? (tasteless rock losbster tails and tough filets)?
Last time I checked, there were some great deals going on sweet rooms at the Venetian if you combined the hotel with the airfare. Look at a site like southwestvacations.com or something for combined rates. They sometimes throw in free show tickets, too.
What I’ve always liked best about Vegas are the shows. See what’s running when you’re there, purchase advance tickets for the ones you definitely can’t miss, and just buy from the strip brokers for others. Recommended: anything by Cirque du Soleil, Terry Fator, Phantom. Don’t forget about the little afternoon shows (usually the musical-showgirl types) if you need something to fill up your day.
Be smart about taxis. You’ll spend less if you plan ahead to avoid the Strip. So, if you need to go from, say, MGM to Caesar’s, don’t tell the driver that, because you’ll spend an extra seven bucks just crossing the Strip traffic. Have him take you to the Flamingo, which is on the same side of the Strip as the MGM. That way, he can take the back streets and never has to enter the Strip, and you can just walk across the street, easy peasy. Also, don’t take taxis to strip clubs. The clubs may have free limos that will come and pick you up. Tell the guy at the taxi stand where you’re going, and he’ll call the limo. Give him a chunk of the money you would have spent on a taxi for being a nice guy.
Oh yeah, a note in closing: you can walk down the Strip with an alcoholic drink in your hand and drink it openly, but you cannot get in a car with it.
Hmmm, 30 posts into a Straight Dope thread about Vegas and nobody’s mentioned Penn and Teller yet? They’re at the Rio, a little off-strip, but they have a free shuttle from Harrah’s. When I went, I also picked up a discount to the Rio buffet from the half-price ticket place, it’s still good.
When I was there last year, I did go to the Fantasy topless show at the Luxor, oddly enough the male comedian portion kinda stole the show–not that the girls weren’t attractive and…talented…but he kind of stole the show.
Was also tempted to go to the vampire-themed topless show at the Stratosphere, just because it sounded so cheezy.
Sit outside at Mon ami gabi at Paris. Wonderful people watching and you get to watch the bellagio fountains. Bellagio buffet is nice but pricey. Monte Carlo is midstrip and convient. Go to the half price ticket stores in the morning for deals on show tickets. I don’t gamble hardly at all anymore. It’s all about food and shows. Caesers palace is waaaay too fuckin huge. I avoid that like the plague although bobby flats restaurant there I had possibly the tastiest drink I ever had. Some peach concoction.
I’ve done the Southwest package, and it was pretty good. I’ve stayed at the Excalibur, MGM, Caesar’s, and another one now dead. Excalibur was fine. Caesars had its advantages but it falls in the model of the expensive hotel which feels it can charge you every time you go to the john. My understanding is that Vegas is really hurting now, so you should be able to get a good deal. I stayed at Circus Circus decades ago, and we walked through it the last time we went and it looked really crappy. I believe it is going to be torn down.
As for getting around, I like the monorail. Traffic on the strip is awful, and you can get places on the monorail more cheaply than a cab and a lot faster. Never tried the Deuce.
And if you get tired of cards and titties, go to the Atomic Testing Museum not far from the Strip. Very nice, and not very crowded to say the least.
We enjoyed Hoover Dam, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it if you don’t have a car. If you do, there are a lot of nice casinos on the outskirts more for the locals than the tourists. But they don’t quite have the glitz of the casinos on the strip. I know too much probability to gamble very much, but I do enjoy the absurdity of New York, New York and Paris.
A number of people have commented on it being a dump. Depends if you want to pay for the likes of expensive hotels where you get huge flash casinos and expensive shops on the bottom floor. Imperial Palace has a good burger place (which I used about 4 times in 7 days), a Hash House agogo, for excellent breakfasts. Just avoid the buffet.
For me the basic room at the Bellagio was pretty much the same as the Imperial Palace, but never get the basic room at the IP, get the deluxe, the basic is at the back and has problems with parking lot noise.
Personally, when I walked out my room in the Bellagio, I got bored of the 10 minute walk through the huge casino down past the fountains to a bit of strip with nothing on. IP has 2 minute walk to the centre of the strip.
But of course the real appeal of the IP is that it can be up to 1/5th of the price of the Bellagio. Me, personally, I pay to fly in a higher class and save money on the hotel.
M Resort also has Hash House a Go Go as well…excellent breakfast dishes that pretty much feeds 2 people unless your tipping the scales over 350-400lbs., then the portion of food is right in your wheelhouse. Actually, all the restaurants and Buffets at the M kick ass…it’s just that the location is so far south on the strip, that you’ll pretty much stay there or use taxi/rental every day when you are there. No shows, very few shops, but those are things I don’t miss…but for you OP, it’s probably not the perfect choice for you.
I’m going to throw in another vote for the Imperial Palace. It’s a decent basic room and the price is really cheap for the great location. I think what people are calling the basic room are the Capri rooms but they’ve been torn down so you’re pretty safe in getting the cheap room now.
Bill’s is nicer and seems to run about $50 a night outside of weekends. Being a small hotel, it’s a very quick trip to get from your room to the strip. This is something you’ll really appreciate after you’ve been there a couple of days and have a bad case of Vegas Feet.
If you stay at any of the CET-owned hotels mentioned in an earlier post, there’s no resort fee. Most, if not all, of the others have them and it can really add on to your room cost.
You might also consider checking out sites like SmarterTravel.com for discounts on room rates.
I’d advise the bus over the monorail. The monorails are located WAAAAY in the back and have limited stops. They’re also more expensive than the bus.
Another good place to eat is the Earl of Sandwich in Planet Hollywood. It’s open 24 hours and you get a pretty good sandwich for under $7.
Two important pieces of advice: 1) Wear comfortable shoes and 2) Everything is much further apart than it looks. In case you ignore either of these, bring some bandaids for the inevitable blisters you’ll get on your feet. What the hell, bring them anyway. You’ll be doing a LOT of walking.
