Tell me about Vegas

In My Humble Opinion
1

So, Himself has to go to a camera seminar thing on March 1 in Las Vegas. Score!

Thing is, neither of us have been to Vegas, and as I investigate I keep finding unpleasantness. For example, it looked like we could get a super deal at the Luxor, which sounds awesome - I mean, how Vegas can you get? But I read the reviews and they’re all “it’s moldy”. Ick.

So some questions. First of all, do we need a car?

If we don’t have a car, is location really super important, and if so where? He’s a super cheapskate, and frankly I’m more willing to spend money on France than on Las Vegas, you know. But I don’t want a moldy room! We’re going to want to see all the Strip stuff, but we’re also going to want to see anything else interesting - I’m sure we’ll do the dam, but there has to be more going on in Vegas than just that, right? Museums?

I’ve heard you don’t want to walk between enormous hotels because they’re more enormous than you realize. Is there an alternative?

I’m looking at a 5 night stay with hotel, car, and a room - there’s a lot in the 450, 460 range at the Riviera, Palace Station Hotel, Imperial Palace, and Circus Circus. Are those bad hotels? Could we stay at one of them and not be in the middle of nowhere? If we have a car, can we park it? The MGM Grand is 564 - is it a hundred dollars better?

In short, any recommendations? Unskippable shows? (I’ll spend the money if it’s worth it.) Should we go for longer or shorter? This isn’t the kind of trip I’m used to planning - I’m always in charge of churches and museums, and this is, you know, giant fake pyramids.

2

I am not a frequent Vegas Visitor, but I was there relatively recently and had friends staying at the Luxor (I stayed at the Tropicana). The Trpicana was a bit of a dive, but no worse than your average Holiday Inn I suppose. The Luxor room that my friends had was nicer.

Of all the hotels we visited the one that impressed my most (and seemed reasonable) was the Rio. It’s off the strip, but was very nice and I had the best meal of my entire last visit in their Diner neir the Penn and Teller theater. (Well, the best normal meal. We did a few “fancy” meals that were better, but I am not counting those.) At the end of the day the hotel room is probably just going to be a place to crash, so find something that is relatively cheep and don’t knock yourself out.

I really enjoyed the Penn and Teller show when I went. I also ejoyed poking around the strip and doing silly things like taking a gondola ride at the Venitian and riding the thrill rides at the top of the Stratosphere.

I went into Circus Circus, but it was a bit of a dump. The MGM Grand was a nice hotel to visit (and made awesome Bloody Mary’s) but I don’t think I would want to stay there.

If you are into Cirque at all go see one of their shows. If you haven’t seen one in person they are spectacular. Love is supposed to be great, as is O, but Cirque is always fantastic.

If you are into Showgirls, I saw the Crazy Horse Review also, and it was ok. It wasn’t great and it was a tad expensive for the quality of the show, but it was good. Very arty. And the do amazing things with light.

Others will come along to give more/better advice soon.

3

DMark will be along shortly to plug his website, but in the meantime, I’ll offer some suggestions. We hit Vegas 5-6 times a year, so we are up-to-date on what is sorta happening, sometimes, I think.

Cheap mid-Strip hotel: Imperial Palace. It has the slowest elevators on the planet, but it’s right across the street from Caesar’s, and an easy walk from Flamingo, Venetian, TI, Mirage, Bill’s, Harrah’s, Bellagio, Bally’s, and Paris. Don’t eat there, for Ghu’s sake, but instead hit Margaritaville at Flamingo. Great breakfast omelettes!

The monorail offers great value if you are staying mainly in the Strip area. Buy a 5 day pass and avoid all traffic. You won’t need a car unless you are heading out of town for something.

Shows: Depends on what you like. Something for everyone. Hit the kiosks for half-price tickets to that day’s shows if you want to save big. All of the Cirque shows are good, although I prefer Ka and Love.

Join the Harrah’s Total Rewards program if you are planning any gambling whatsoever. They give all sorts of offers and specials to members, and you can earn comp cash to use in any affiliated restaurant.

Check out Cheapovegas.com for some bargains.

Restaurants are sublime. Be sure to budget some serious coin for some of the best food in the world.

4

This is DMark’s site, chock full of good info: dmarkslasvegas.com.

We went to Las Vegas a few months ago, but had only one night to spend and it wasn’t enough. We stayed at the MGM Grand and walked a long way looking at hotels. My husband played blackjack at the Luxor, we had a good meal and that was about it!

5

I stayed in the Luxor pyramid in July '07, and I didn’t notice any mold. The room seemed perfectly adequate to me. I did notice that nearly every customer review site for any Vegas hotel seems to contain about 20% complaints about the state of rooms, so apparently you have a chance of getting a bum one no matter where you stay. I personally would rate the Luxor well above the Imperial Palace, but I don’t have personal experience of the other ones you mention.

One thing. The Luxor is on the far south end of the Strip, so a couple miles from the heart of the action. Enclosed walkways and a monorail connect it to the nearest hotels: Mandalay bay (nicer) and, er, a King-Arthur themed place who’s name I forget (less nice). There is penty of bus and cab service if you want to go further on the Strip. All casinos are pretty much the same, so for me there’s not much point in going to other hotels unless you’re looking for a specific restaurant or show. Didn’t see any shows last trip, but everyone seems to rate the various Cirque de Soleil offerings highly.

I’d at least check out the old casino district downtown (nowadays called the “Fremont Street Experience”, ugh).

You don’t need a car unless you plan to make a trip out of downtown. I went to Hoover dam and it was definitely worth the trip.

6

For five days, I’d get a car. Three days in and around the strip is a long time if you’re only an recreational gambler. If and when you get a little overwhelmed by all of the Vegas in Vegas, you can find some fun day trips - I suggest Lake Las Vegas and Painted Rock state park.

I’ve stayed lots of places, including the Imperial Palace. It was fine - we even had a room with a balcony that overlooked the Harrah’s Carnival Court - lots to see while you guys relax in the room! It’s not the fanciest, but it’s clean. The key to the IP is the location - you are literally in the middle of the action on the Strip, which is worth it when you just want to walk a little ways. My husband and I could spend all day out and about, then just relax for a few minutes and clean up, then wander around the Strip, taking it easy. Go right for the Harrahs/ Flamingo/Venetian and left to the Paris/Bally/Bellagio.

Another great hotel for location vs. price is the Barbary Coast, now Wild Bill’s Gambling Hall. We stayed there when it was the Barbary Coast, and we loved it, but we haven’t been back since they’ve changed it.

I would recommend against the Circus Circus and Rivera. They are really at the end of the Strip, and there’s not much good wandering available at that end.

If you have the time, I say rent a car and stay for as long as you can. Vegas is one of those great places where you can spend the day hiking trails just outside of town, and then change your clothes, and go live the high life at night.

7

It’s a lot of walking and cars don’t fare well on the strip. It’s a 24/7 bumper-to-bumper traffic jam.

Plan on walking. Plan on taking cabs. You can get ideas on stuff to see at your hotel. There’s a Dam tour that includes a trip to a cactus garden and a candy factory.

Don’t spend a ton of money on an expensive hotel if you’re not going to spend much time in the room. You can use that money for shows, gambling, and restaurants.

Everything is cheap and manufactured-looking.

There are a lot of homeless people amidst those who have enough money to throw away. It’s kinda surreal.

There are free things, like the tigers at MGM that are kinda cool.

There are Vegas people and there’s everyone else. You pretty much have to experience it to know which column you fall in.

8

I’ve stayed at the Luxor maybe a dozen times, and the rooms have always seemed fine to me. They’ve always been clean and not moldy in the least. However, I’m got very low standards for hotel rooms, and am usually quite content to stay in the diviest of hotels, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I’ve stayed at the Mandalay the last couple of times and frankly, I don’t really notice the difference between it and the Luxor.

I’m usually on a full time bender when in Vegas, so I never rent a car. Cabs are plentiful and it’s kind of a bitch to drive in Vegas if you aren’t familiar with the town. Driving on the strip can be a big mistake if you try to do it at the wrong time of day. That said, I was in Vegas the first weekend of 2009 and it really appeared to be a lot less crowded than usual.

9

I have small advice, but advice nonetheless…

The one time I have gone we stayed at the Tropicana cuz it was cheap, which NAF alluded to, is kind of a dive, but really not bad overall. The worst part about it is the strip is longer than you think, especially going for the first time.

We had friends staying at Treasure Island, and it was a good 15-20 minute walk (and I walk fast) to go see them, after a while it got kinda annoying. Finding a place mid-strip would be most ideal (Paris, Bellagio), but also usually more expensive.

When it comes to gambling…A game that I always played is player v. dealer texas hold 'em. It was great because regardless of what the other players at the table had, all you did was play against the dealer. The Luxor had it at $10 minimum (I think…) so it was cheap enough to keep playing, but you were able to win/lose a lot and not worry too much. All in all I turned $100 into $700 by playing that at the Luxor. (Also join the MGM players club and you get great perks like a free buffet!)

Shows’n’stuff: One of my friends saw Ka and just RAVED about it, so that probably is cool.

The Sirens at Treasure Island is free and is a decent enough show for the 15 minutes or so it wastes.

There is nothing wrong with grabbing an Eiffel Tower filled with margarita from the Paris (add the extra shot!!) and walking across the street to watch the Bellagio fountains for a good two hours.

Something that costs money, but is awesome is the NYNY rollercoaster. I don’t know how you and Mr. Zsofia are about coasters, but for being a hotel attraction it is an extremely fun thing to do, plus you get GREAT looks at vegas so do it in the nighttime.

I don’t know how “fishy” you are…but another cool thing that I loved was the Aquarium inside of the Mandalay Bay. It wasn’t too expensive, plus it was larger than I expected, and had more than just your typical Coral Reef stuff.

This wasn’t supposed to be this big, but I guess I kinda went off on something…hope it helps!

I am going back for a weekend in March, and trust me, I cant wait!!!

10

I thought this was a ripoff. I think it was $60 for the two of us to go through it. But then, I’m not a big fan of fish anyway.

11

Quick recommendation: Stay at the MGM Signature. Privately-owned condos - just behind the MGM. Nice, clean, awesome. Get a deal through Vacation Rentals By Owner: www.vrbo.com

12

Also: for 5 nights, the MGM is at least 100 dollars nicer than the Imperial Palace.

My girlfriend and I stayed there for a weekend and you get what you pay for. The two rooms we had were both old and dingy, and it just isn’t that nice.

I’ve stayed one night in the MGM grand and it’s a “nice hotel”. The Signature Towers are “pretty fancy condos” and you can frequently get into them for less than the actual hotels. I personally think they’re nicer than the hotel rooms. Kitchenette and granite everything. (Mostly the kitchenette is worth it. Who cares that your shower walls are granite? :shrug:)

Don’t know anything about the Luxor, other than it’s a good walk from there to anything else, so bring comfy shoes.

13

I went once and stayed at the Mandalay Bay, which was a great room.

First rule: plan on walking. And walking. And walking. And walking. It can be a quarter mile from the strip to the hotel lobby and a half mile or more just within the hotel (I was at a conference and it was that far to the conference center).

For traveling up and down the strip, there’s the Deuce – a special bus. It can be slow during rush hours, but you can buy a 24-hour ticket and go up and down all day. The monorail is faster, but more expensive and only goes a limited distance. The Deuce OTOH, goes all the way downtown, so you can see things like the Fremont Street Experience.

From the Luxor, there’s a free monorail/shuttle to Excalibur/New York New York/Tropicana/MGM Grand. Take it. Distances are further than the seem on the maps. The hotels are big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big they are. I mean you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to Vegas.

Uh, sorry. Got carried away.

There are a couple of half price ticket places on the strip; they are well worth checking out.

14

No, not really. Although I went a few years back and one of our friends rented a car.

Ideally, you want to stay on the strip.

Vegas isn’t exactly a city for cheapskates.

It’s also not really a place for not gambling, not going on a full-on bender, not spending a lot of money on shows or restaurants and not going to nightclubs.

You probably want to check out one of the Circe de Soleil shows.

Unless you are 400 lbs, I’m sure you can handle it. You just don’t want to walk from anywhere off-strip (ie The Palms or the old casinos downtown) to the strip. But if you are staying in the MGM Grand or TI, you can easily walk to half a dozen other casinos.

There is also a monorail.

15

One of my trips to Vegas I stayed at the Luxor. There’s two hotel buildings: the pyramid & the tower.

I stayed in the tower and had no problems. Rather ordinary hotel room but, hey, you’re not there to hang out in the room. I went up in the pyramid for the view. Up near the top it was stifling hot in the walkways (overlooking the casino floor a mile below, and there was a moldy smell.

If you want to stay at the luxor, I’d recommend the tower based on that limited experience.

16

I’m glad to hear this. I just rented a slew of them through vrbo.com for the people who work for me, (everybody gets to go to Vegas, yay!)they look fantastic, and the price was less than $100 per night for a junior suite.

I’m doing a revolving door kind of thing with employees, the first ones leave today, with multiples coming and going for the next ten days, but I don’t get to leave until next Tuesday. Of course it’s like -10 degrees out right now, too.

Sigh.

Oh, and don’t bother renting a car, cabs all the way.

I’ll get back to you, let you know if the condos live up to the hype.

17

I generally agree with the “don’t eat at the Imperial Palace” advice, however, they do have a little burger place tucked in by the sports betting room that has surprisingly really good and cheap burgers.

18

Roger that. Perfect for grabbing a burger or a hot dog at 2am. But with I Love This Bar and Grill next door in one direction, and Margaritaville in the other, there is really no reason to eat at the IP. But you can’t beat the price or the location.

A couple of mini restaurant reviews:

Olives (Bellagio) - 5 stars. We had one of our Top 10 meals there a few years ago. Great food, great staff, great view of the fountains.

Mesa Grill (Caesars) - Top 5 meal. Bobby Flay may be an arrogant ass, but his dishes are superb!

Hugo’s (4 Queens) - Classic old-school Vegas steakhouse. Atmosphere out the wazoo, and great food.

I Love This Bar and Grill (Harrah’s) - Order the sampler platter and a Toadsuck Pond cocktail and get your Vegas on. This is always our first stop when we hit Vegas.

Margaritaville (Flamingo) - The single largest-grossing restaurant in the world. Good food, good drinks, good music, crazy people.

19

You mentioned museums… I was in Las Vegas for Christmas (most of my mother’s family lives there), and we went to the Atomic Energy Museum, which is east of the Strip (Maryland Parkway and Flamingo, I think?). It was really cool, if you’re interested in the development of the atomic bomb, the Nevada Test Site, etc. It was $12 for adults, open every day.

Other than that, I can’t think of anything must-see. Vegas is not really a museum-lover’s city, to put it gently. :slight_smile:

20

Liberace Museum

Neon Museum

Elvis-A-Rama Museum

Pinball Hall Of Fame

Erotic Heritage Museum