Help me plan my Las Vegas vacation!!

[KatyWI]

Hey all you knowledgeable PSers! I just bought plane tickets for my husband''s 30th birthday weekend... we''re going to Sin City and he has no idea! I can''t wait!!!

But my budget is smallish, and even though he LOVES Las Vegas, I''ve never been, so I don''t know what plans to make... So I''m looking for your recommendations for:

Restaurants (expensive and cheap alike... just has to be GOOD... we''re food people!)
Shows (the only one he''s seen so far is Zumanity)
Hotels (I can''t decide where to stay!)

etc, etc, etc...

The plane tickets for us both were only $400 so I have roughly $600-$800 to spend on everything else according to my budget... so help a girl out!

 

[that_someone_special]

OK, I DO NOT recommend the Shark Reef thing at Mandalay Bay. It was weak.

THe only other show I saw there was Zumanity as well.. so I''m no help with that.


No matter what you do, I don''t think you can go wrong in Vegas.. that''ll be a nice 30th Birthday ^_^

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I would say for a hotel, stay somewhere near the center of the strip. That way most of the good sites are within walking distance and you won''t have to splurge for a cab. Flamingo is a decent low to mid-range center strip hotel. I''ve also stayed the TI and Mirage. Both nice and not too expensive. My heart belongs to the Bellagio but that can get pretty pricey. I''ve heard Circus Circus is a great deal if you don''t plan to be in the room a lot. I''ve never stayed there but I know it''s one of the cheaper ones on the strip.
Imperial Palace is also a less expensive option. So is Harrah''s.

I love the Cirque shows. I''ve seen them all except the Beatles one. O and Mystere are prolly my favorites. It''s a shame Danny Gans has died. He had a pretty good show too.

For a moderate to nice dinner, we always love FIX at the Bellagio. Reeeaaaaallly good steak (this is coming from a Midwesterner; I know a good filet!) and the lobster mashed potatoes are to die for. Okay, I''m officially drooling. Social House at TI is good too, especially if you like sushi. Both of these restaurants you can wear jeans and a smart top to and not feel uncomfortable. We were going to try Tom Colicchio''s (the head judge from Top Chef) Craft Steak, but we got waaaaay too drunk at the pool and slept through our reservation. Whoops!

For cheap food, hit up pretty much any buffet. We usually reserve the buffet for breakfast but we found that the one at Paris had a really great lunch buffet too. Speaking of Paris, if you like crepes, they have amazing crepes! There''s just a tiny little to-go window called "La Creperie" has both sweet and savory crepes. They''re big and filling.

For some relatively cheap entertainment, you could go to Carnival Court outside Harrah''s. They have some amazing flair bartenders. The fountains at Bellagio are beautiful, romantic and most importantly FREE. I think the best entertainment is just walking around and taking it all in. It really is like a Disney World for adults. Just walking through the hotels/casinos is fun and exhausting.

Oh I''m so excited for you. Vegas is one of my favorite places!

 

[PinkTower]

Will you have a car?
This may sound odd, but we love to go to Red Rock Canyon. It is so different from where we live. If you like to hike, I highly recommend it. There is only so much of Las Vegas I can take without getting some air. It is just gorgeous.

In Vegas, I like to eat at the Bouchon Bistro, Thomas Keller''s restaurant. My husband bought me the giant sized coffee table cookbook when he went last month.

Have fun!!!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Date: 12/20/2009 7:35:13 PM
Author: Pink Tower
In Vegas, I like to eat at the Bouchon Bistro, Thomas Keller''s restaurant.

Ooh, I second this! Good steak (if you haven''t noticed, we are steak fans), great fries, delicious escargot! This one is another moderate to expensive restaurant depending on what you order.

I had another tip regarding drinking (I''m not sure if you''re drinkers, I guess I''m stereotyping since you''re from Wisconsin!). The bars and restaurants are pretty expensive to get drinks. FI and I usually hang around and play penny slots for awhile and wait for a cocktail waitress to come by so we can order a free drink. Then you''re really only paying about $2 for a tip per drink rather than $5-$10 (plus tip) like you would at the casino bar.

 

[KatyWI]

We probably won''t have a car, but maybe we''d rent one for a day. I''d love to get out of the city and slow down a bit... and keep DH from gambling away all our money

We might do Bouchon for lunch or brunch I think, but we''ll probably stick to Vegas-only locales for dinner... David Burke is at the top of the list for that I think... well, there are about 10 restaurants at the top of my list Robouchon is up there too, actually.

The only reason I say that is because we had dinner reservations at Bouchon in Napa when we honeymooned 3 months ago... and although I *LOVED* it, I think we should stick to new things for now

Travel Goddess - stereotype away! We both have worked/do work in restaurants/bars and love to drink! (Not to oblivion, we appreciate what we drink. ) That''s a helpful tip, although I''m sure hubby is aware of it since he loves Vegas and has been before. I''ll be sticking to slots in the casinos as gambling doesn''t really "do it" for me, though DH loves it, so now I know I don''t have to leave my lucky seat if I find one!

 

[Gayletmom]

Hi Katy,

I was there recently and had an excellent burger at the Burger Bar. I stayed at Mandalay and it was in one of the shopping areas inside-I think the Shops at Mandalay. Very good and moderately priced.

I also sat outside for lunch on a gorgeous day at the restaurant at the Paris Hotel/Casino. I can''t recall the name but there is a balcony on the "Eiffel Tower" that has a bunch of tables. It''s right across the street from Bellagio and about half way through my meal I got to watch the Bellagio fountain show.

Have fun!

 

[Blair138]

I just got back!

I love Bellagio but we just stayed at the Wynn and that was fantastic as well. You can get great deals on both hotels depending on when you go, we just paid $496 a person for 4 people/2 rooms and roundtrip airfare.

As far as shows, O is by far my favorite. It is fantastic and I have never seen anything like it. I have only ever seen Cirque du Soleil shows so that is all I can give advice on. It can be expensive depending on seats though.

Restaurants, Wynn has a great little cafe called Pizza Place which is great for lunches. Paris has a cute breakfast place (can''t remember the name). I don''t recommend Yellowtail in Bellagio, service was awful, food was OK but quite pricey. Switch in Encore had great food and the decor changes every 30 minutes, which was very cool to see. I''ll come back and help out more later!

 

[Rachel9]

Hi Katy, we come often to Vegas, IMHO, booking Sun to Thursday is a good idea for better rates, DIAL direct and ask if there are any special rates, rooms need to be filled and chances of getting an 'upgrade' are greater in person w/o an extra charge.
If you aren't driving probably picking a Mid-Strip hotel may be a good idea ie Caesars, Venetian, etc so everything is at a walking distance.
MGM is cleaner than most but a looooong walk to Caesar's.
Food: Ditto on La Creperie at Paris, great walk in bistro

Bellagio-- Prime Steakhouse Chef Vongerichten is DH's favorite and Le Burger Brasserie for wild burgers [$$$] WILD.
MGM-- Emeril's BBQ shrimp for $30 TDF, also there's a wonderful pizzeria at their food court [$]
Wynn-- buffet is my favorite [$35] but we aren't too much into them....my parents are

Grand Lux at the Venetian-- [ cheesecake factory ] great for lunch, actually anything from the Venetian food court is good!
Shows, my soft spot:
#1 JSeinfield at Caesar's a-m-a-z-i-n-g could go again but SIL got Cher booked for B-Day tomorrow

#2 Mystere @ Tresure Island....colorful, acrobatic, tribal maybe the only one with a 'circus' feel

#3 'KA' @ MGM check online selected dates 25% off [9:30 show] DH mentioned and they honored for a party of 6.
#4 'O' @ Bellagio for this underwater show you better get cheaper tickets [$90] impossible to view from up close.
HAVE FUN!!!

 

[noelwr]

hotel prices go up 3x in the weekends, so if you''re going during the week you will find cheaper deals.

a cheap place to stay at is the STRATOSPHERE. it is far from the strip, but if you can get to the Hilton, then you can take the train thingie or there is a bus you can catch all up and down the strip (we just grabbed taxis). our favorite hotel so far is the WYNN, but it is quite pricey. we thought PARIS, LAS VEGAS was good for the money and very conveniently located.

we loved the show BLUE MAN GROUP (playing at the Venetian).
by the way, at MGM GRAND you can do free screenings of possible new tv shows. you have to evaluate the shows. we saw ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE before it ever aired!

we just ate wherever we were when we were hungry. you get so tired from walking the long distances, I don''t know if it''s worth it to pick out restaurants ahead of time.

 

[KatyWI]

*bumpity bump*!

 

[dendon]

The Jersey Boys is an amazing show! Also, for great and inexpensive italian food, try Fellini''s at The Stratosphere, not the place to stay but definitely worth the trip down the strip for the food. A lot of hotels are offering good deals right now, try The Monte Carlo or Planet Hollywood.

 

[LAJennifer]

Hotel - Flamingo
Restaurant - Fix at Bellagio
Show - Jersey Boys at Venetian

 

[Tacori E-ring]

We love staying at the Flamingo in their GO rooms. Very cool rooms located in the middle of the strip. Our favorite show (without a doubt) has been LOVE. My favorite place to eat (though it is not real food, haha) is the Chocolate Swan.

 

[KatyWI]

Thanks for the suggestions, ladies! Flamingo GO rooms seem super cool, but I''m waffling on whether I want to spend the extra money for a Spa Suite (probably at the Monte Carlo)! I tell myself "it''s only a couple hundred extra dollars, and when you''re doing THIS, what does it matter?!" and then I tell myself "IT''S A COUPLE HUNDRED EXTRA DOLLARS HELLLLL NO!"

Keep ''em coming! I know plenty of our fab PSers have been to Vegas!

 

[Bleed Burnt Orange]

There have already been a lot of great suggestions.

One of the things I took advantage of the last time I was there was a special that was offered where I got to sit on the 7th row center for O (AMAZING SHOW), got dinner at one of two choices with a pre-fixed menu, and VIP admission into the club at the Bellagio, The Bank, and a free drink at another one of their bars. All of that was under 200 dollars per person. It was an AMAZING deal. Maybe you could look at the Cirque websites to see if any of them are offering something similar around that time.

It will allow you a chance at a show, great food, and some nightlife, for a great price.

Burger Bar is great. It's VERY filling, but worth it. Mesa Grill is great, but a bit pricey. Wynn has a really good casual restaurant overlooking their AMAZING pool.

There are really good deals on Expedia and sites like that for airfare and hotel.

Hope that helps. Have a great time!

One more thing. Almost any of the hotels on the strip will be a great hotel!

 

[Shoopy]

I need to know what kind of budget you are working with before I can make recommendations.

I have stayed at Paris that while nice it definitely was not worth the amount that people pay per night. We stayed a few nights at the Wyndham Resorts that offer a free shuttle to and from the strip and I absolutely loved it. The rooms have a jacuzzi inside which were awesome especially after walking all day. Full kitchen and a separate living room area. We would either make breakfast there in the morning or take our lunch back with us after walking.

 

[KatyWI]

fiery - as mentioned in my first post, I have $600-$800 to work with, roughly... (bought the plane tix already, not included in this amount.) This is a little stretchable, although of course if I can do it cheaper, even better!