Las Vegas with kids, some comments

[ChefGirl]

You are funny! What rental car company did you use? Seems like Alamo has the cheapest rate....are the rental car places all in one place? I do have to return it by 3:30 in the morning...yikes....do you know if they are all open 24 hours? Thanks again.

[Ms B]

Pretty much all Vegas car rentals are off-airport at a centralized rental facility. You take a free shuttle bus from the airport; all of the rental companies use the same bus. We have used Alamo, Enterprise, and Budget. (We are all about the best deal.) We often have gotten better deals as our dates got closer.

My recollection is that everything at McCarran, including the car rental facility, is open 24-7 other than a very few holidays. Because that's what Vegas is all about!!!

Keep in mind that you always can go to The Peppermill for brekkie . . . I love it when you can have breakfast around the clock!!

[ChefGirl]

Pretty much all Vegas car rentals are off-airport at a centralized rental facility. You take a free shuttle bus from the airport; all of the rental companies use the same bus. We have used Alamo, Enterprise, and Budget. (We are all about the best deal.) We often have gotten better deals as our dates got closer.

My recollection is that everything at McCarran, including the car rental facility, is open 24-7 other than a very few holidays. Because that's what Vegas is all about!!!

Keep in mind that you always can go to The Peppermill for brekkie . . . I love it when you can have breakfast around the clock!!

Do you think $58 for 3 days is reasonable rental car from Alamo?

[Ms B]

Do you think $58 for 3 days is reasonable rental car from Alamo?

Sure!

Right now I am SOOOO jealous of you. I miss Vegas terribly (probably number four on my list of things I miss since The Biscuit came along, right after sleep, time to myself, and my biweekly fill/pedi). My fondest hope is that the ILs will agree to come stay with The Biscuit for a weekend next year and then DH and I can get back there for a couple nights . . .

But I still plan to buy from the Yurman outlet on December 26 (by phone). Love those "additional percent off" coupons!!

[SushiKing]

Do you think $58 for 3 days is reasonable rental car from Alamo?

More than reasonable

[ChefGirl]

Well, DH and I just came back from our 3 day Vegas trip by ourselves in can't even remember how long. Mrs. B, thanks for all of your suggestions. Here is my brief overall review: I forget how smokey all the resorts/casinos are....which was a turn off for me....oh well; Bellagio is nice but way crowded; their room is very spacious and huge bathroom and nice bed too. We didn't get a fountain view but it was still nice. Note to self, DO NOT remove items from the mini bar b/c its censor controlled; we took their bottles and put in our water/DC to chill and got charged by all those 8 bottles of coke and water; shocked by the $15 mojito drink at the bar at B but thank goodness they were comped; Went to see Absthine....it was FUNNY! You really do need to have an OPEN mind ....b/c the show was just so WRONG in so many ways...plus it has strip tease segments too. Very funny....just make sure you don't sit in the front row unless you want to be picked on by the actors.

DH and I were not impressed with LOS. We went there for lunch on our first day there. Ordered the Drunken Seafood Noodle...it was good but not all that; wasn't impressed with the crispy mussels omlet nor this popped rice appetizer. Then to top it off, the waiter overcharged us and had a hard time explaining to him..lol....B&B at Venetian was good....the veal chop was excellent, the grilled octupus appetizer was excellent and my OssoBucco rivioli was good too but too rich.....we walked in there around 5:30/6:00 and got seated without a reservation; We went off the strip few times and tried this burger joint called Bachi Burger, so so so good.....it's more of a asian fusion burger joint...I had this special Japanese beef burger with a fried egg and onion ring....very very very tasty. We then tried their Ramen shop next door, it was good but not excellent.

Overall, we had a good time...visiting differnt casinos...liked the Aria, lost most of our money at Cosmopolitan.....MGM is kind of old, Venetian is nice and Caesar is nice too....feels newer than MGM...New York New York is just ok....crowded...We had a catch an early flight this morning ...way exhausted after we got home...feels like needing another vacation afterwards. Lol....thanks again for everyone's input. Hopefully our next alone trip is not another 9 years!

[Dream]

We are really enjoying our trip to Las Vegas, and I just wanted to share our experience so far in case it might prove helpful to others.

Last night we stayed at the Bellagio in a fountain view room. It was definitely worth it for a night, because the fountains really are spectacular, as is the view of the strip. The kids loved it! I wouldn't stay longer than one night, though. The service at the hotel was not great. EVERYTHING is an extra charge. You're just one of thousands of guests, and you're made to feel that way, too. The view was worth it, but one night was enough.

Tonight we are at the Four Seasons. We are loving this hotel!!! They have been so incredibly lovely to the children (and to us)! At check in, they gave the kids personalized cookies. In the room, they had written their names on the tub and given them each their own age-appropriate toiletries. There was a diaper pail in the bathroom, and all the cords and outlets had been child proofed. At dinner, when the baby desperately wanted to try my cosmopolitan, they made both kids "pink drinks" and served them in small martini glasses. The drinks looked exactly like mine down to the garnish. What's more, they didn't even charge for them, and each kid had two! When we got back to the room, there was a belated birthday card and a piece of cake for DS. I had casually mentioned at check in that he had just turned 5. Everyone has greeted us by our names. I've never been to a Four Seasons before. Maybe they're all this friendly. If so, I think I will try my darnedest always to stay at one when we can. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough. And the view from our strip view room is great, too.

Today we spent most of the day at the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, which is in the same building as the Four Seasons. The children loved it! I would definitely recommend it for kids who like marine life. It's very cold here right now, so my plan to entertain the kids tomorrow at the Mandalay Bay "beach" is a no go, but I think they would have enjoyed that. If we do anything spectacular tomorrow, I'll let you know. I just really wanted to rave about the Four Seasons, because I haven't enjoyed a hotel stay this much in a long time.

Thank you for the review. DH's family will be visiting later on this year and he wants to take them to Vegas, I wanted to stay back since most of the places are not kid friendly. I'm going to suggest the Four Seasons to him.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Really liked the Vdara too. Huge suite, no casino, no smoking.