Las Vegas

[supercalifragilous]

I'm planning a girls' trip to Vegas (sans kids) - where is your favorite place to stay & why? What are your favorite fun things to do/watch?

[Tondi G]

Hmmm Vegas. Well with the kids we really enjoyed staying at the Luxor. The tower rooms (I prefer the ones closer to the front desk as opposed to the ones closer to the pool) not in the pyramid. The hotel is in a good location. you can take the walkways to the Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, then over to New York New York, MGM etc. I also enjoyed staying at Treasure Island now known as TI, I believe! We've stayed at the Mirage (prolly 10 years ago now though) and it was OK, I liked their buffet.

I think the Bellagio is beautiful but haven't stayed there. The Venetian is pretty too and all the rooms are suites! I haven't stayed at the Mandalay Bay but their pool area is fantastic and we are hoping to stay there on our next trip out to Vegas! I know my boys would get a kick out of their pool area! The Flamingo also has a great pool area but you'd want to ask for the GO rooms (they are the new renovated ones!). The Planet Hollywood Hotel is newer... was the new Alladin (renamed and re done slightly).

this site has a good little map to get an idea of where the strip hotels are located... look on the right hand side here....

http://www.lasvegas.com/resorts/

I highly recommend checking the website www.tripadvisor.com as well

HTH's ya!

~Tondi

[hez]

We stayed at Treasure Island on a Memorial Day weekend a few years back. Good rooms, good pool-- just had to get to the pool early to get enough chairs all together for our group of 6. If you're into shopping, the mall was a pretty short walk. And one of the Cirque shows is there on-going, I believe.

We stayed at the Flamingo this past February for my sister's wedding. Pool wasn't open, so I can't speak to that. But we did stay in a GO room, and very, very much enjoyed it, even with DS there with us. If you do get GO rooms at the Flamingo, take a few DVD's/CD's-- there's a DVD player/stereo in the room. I think if we'd have had the right adapter we could have plugged in the iPod, too. The Flamingo was a very nice central location with a Deuce stop right out front. Oh-- and the breakfast buffet we had there was pretty nice, as was dinner in their newest restaurant (Voga).

If I were to go back & not be limited location-wise like we were this last time for the wedding, I would want to try out Mandalay Bay or the Luxor. Those two stick out most in my mind as places I'd want to stay when we've wandered the strip exploring all the casinos.

[momtoonegirl]

DH and I used to go to Las Vegas about 3-4 times/year before DD was born. I can give a brief summary about where we stayed and what we did at those times, although it may have changed in the past couple years.

Mid-Strip location: Venetian-really nice rooms (Suites), nice spa, and shopping inside hotel. Restaurants OK.
Bellagio-Our favorite. Nice rooms, spa, restaurants, shopping. Least smoky casino. Saw "O" (Cirque du Soleil)-would recommend.
Mirage-nice rooms, smoky casino (only stayed one night here).

South-strip location: The Hotel at Mandalay Bay-rooms are all suites (shares casino with Mandalay Bay)-really nice rooms with plasma TV in the sitting room and LCD TV in the bathroom, nice spa. Mandalay Bay also has a nice spa and restaurants.
MGM Grand-Huge hotel, Very smoky casino, rooms ok. Saw "Ka" (another Cirque du Soleil show)-also liked it.

Off-strip location: Rio-all suites, but much smaller with fewer amenities than Venetian or Hotel at Mandalay Bay
Palms-we stayed when there was only one tower, and it was like party central with lots of young people that liked to go to clubs. I think that is what their target clientele is, so us mid-30's folks were pretty out of place. I liked the rooms and the beds were super comfy.

Mid-strip is centrally located, so you can walk to the Fashion Show Mall quite easily. There is a nice monorail now, so you can get to and from the South-strip quickly, if you want to explore other hotels and casinos. It also is good if you stay in the south strip and want to go to the mid strip. There are also some outlet malls that are a short bus ride away, depending on how long you all are staying.

I enjoyed going to the hotel's spas-My faves were The Hotel/Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, and Venetian. DH and I also like the Cirque du Soleil shows-"O" (Bellagio) was our favorite. We have also seen "KA", "Mystere", and "Zumanity" (all Cirque shows).

We stayed briefly at the Flamingo when DD was 7 months old, which is also in a good location. This was the last time I was there (1 1/2 years ago).

My cousins just stayed at the Palazzo hotel a couple of weeks ago (new hotel mid strip next to the Venetian), and really liked it. They said the rooms were also all suites and had nice amenities. My SIL also just stayed at the Wynn hotel (also mid strip) and had a good time as well.

I would recommend looking online at www.frommers.com or a similar website for the current descriptions of the hotels, shows, etc.

HTH and have fun :)

[mom2binsd]

Last June DH had meetings so I tagged along for so much needed R&R...we were at Caesars (newer rooms in the tower)...loved it and the central location, the mall inside Caesars had lots of options that weren't too pricey (like Cheesecake Factory) and other great restaurants/shops. Across the street was the new Planet Hollywood and it's mall, Paris was nearby, loved walking around the Venetian (heard their suites are very nice). I loved Caesars pool area...four different ones to choose from I only wish we had rented a fridge...it's such a pain having to chill wine in ice all the time- BTW it was so nice to relax without my DC...when I'd see the parents with kids on the strip I was so glad it wasn't me. I think taking in any show that suits your taste and budget....my fav restaurant was Tao in the Venetian, they have these lobster potstickers that I still dream about.

[gatorsmom]

Nobody mentioned the Wynn. Of all the casinos, including the Bellagio, I think the Wynn is the least smoky, most decadent. I attended the show La Reve there and found it to be fantastic. It's produced by one of the Cirque du Soleil creators. If it's still showing it's amazing.

There is so much to do in Las Vegas. You could probably get more responses if you mentioned what you enjoy doing. Shopping? Gambling? Types of restaurants you enjoy?

[supercalifragilous]

Thank you so much for the responses! I got so wrapped up in planning it I had to take a step back. This trip isn't until the end of September so I still have time and actually a lot of airlines aren't even posting their flight availability yet.

Of course we'll gamble a little bit, but we're totally doing the "chicks" thing - a couple of shows, lots of shopping, possibly a facial/spa day, and of course food. Probably one night at a fancy restaurant would be nice.

For shows, the only thing we have now for sure is Cirque du Soleil's "O". I'm curious about their new show LaReve, though - has anyone seen it? I think we'll only do one Cirque, and one alternate show. BlueManGroup is out (GF doesn't like it) and so are the Beatles. And NONE of the hokey old-timer shows (Society of Seven, Legends, etc. Blech.). Neither of us are huge fans of Bette Midler, Cher, or Elton John @ Caesars. So, what else is good?

[egoldber]

The most recent time I went to Vegas (Sarah and I tagged along on one of DH's many business trips to Vegas), we stayed the The Four Seasons, which is above the Mandalay Bay. I loved that it was smoke free AND casino-free. You did have to walk by the Mandalay Bay casino to get to the the The Four Seasons elevator bank, but other than that it was casino free. The concierge staff was also very, very helpful.

[spunkybaby]

We just got back from Las Vegas yesterday. We stayed at the Signature MGM Grand in a junior suite (the smallest room). All the rooms have whirlpool baths (which I love) and the room was so nice and spacious. The Signature is behind the MGM Grand, so it's not right on the strip, but it's smoke-free, nongaming, and the strip is not far away. We loved our stay there and would definitely stay there again.

We saw two shows--Mamma Mia! at Mandalay Bay and Ka (Cirque du Soleil) at MGM Grand. I loved Mamma Mia! and think it would be a great girls' getaway show. We got 2nd row center tickets at 50% off, and the older leads were really great singers. Ka was okay. It was "spectacular," in the sense that the stage is quite amazing (goes almost vertical), but personally, I didn't enjoy the show that much. I think if I were to do it over again, I would probably buy tickets to O instead or maybe even Love (the Cirque du Soleil show with Beatles music).

For good food that's not *too* expensive, we had the prix fix early dinner at Daniel Bouloud Brassiere at the Wynn. 3 courses for $49 if you are there before 7 pm. A bonus is that the restaurant is next to the Wynn's Lake of Dreams. We also had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris. We sat outside on the patio, which gives you a direct view of the Bellagio fountains across the street.

Have fun!