Viva....Las Vegas!

Hi everyone,

I am booking a trip to Vegas over Memorial Day weekend!  I need suggestions for everything---hotels, shows, bars, whatever you can think of!

We'd like to save money where we can, and we'd like to stay on or very near the Strip, if possible! 

Thanks!

I love Vegas and would like to go there again.  I do, however, think the strip is over rated.  If I were to go again I would stay downtown.  It has an atmosphere I really enjoyed and hotel rooms are much cheaper.  Of course the hotels aren't as nice as the ones on the strip...but how much time do you spend in your room when in Vegas?  If you choose downtown, be aware that the majority of the hotels do not have pools.  A cab ride from downtown to the strip is pretty cheap.

Bring good shoes...you will do tons of walking.  The only other advice I have is to plan your weekend or you will leave realizing you did little that you wanted to do.  There are so many things to see and do that it is hard to decide what to do.

Two good websites that I used to help plan my trip are:

http://www.vegas.com/

http://www.cheapovegas.com/index.php

I want to go too!!!  I like to book online via www.Vegas.com or get air hotel deals via some of the airlines that have specials.  Check out Expedia.com for air/hotel deals too.  Try to book a shuttle from the airport in advance, it can be cheaper than a taxi and you can avoid the humongous line for the taxi.  If you use Vegas.com to book shows in advance you will also get free passes for the monorail system which will get you all over the strip quickly. 

My favorite place to stay is the MGM Grand, but a less expensive alternative on the South end of the strip can be the Monte Carlo or the Excaliber.  Also check out www.VRBO.com Vacation Rentals By Owner for condos near the strip or otherwise.  I also use this site to find rentals in other locations like Hawaii and Santa Cruz or Monterrey.

You can also get free show tickets to sit and listen to time share talks but I have never done this.

Thanks for the advice and the links!

I'm interested in those vacation rentals.  They seem like a good deal, but then the problem becomes, "how do we get to the strip?"
Are cabs pretty expensive in Vegas?  We don't want to rent a car, because we don't have to worry about having a designated driver. 

Blue Man Group is always excellent.  So are the Cirque Du Soliel (sp?) shows.   I have always stayed on the strip when I have gone.   We pretty much just walk everywhere.  There is the monorail.  I think an all day pass was $9.  We got a good deal at Mandalay Bay and the Luxor although it was December.   I will be back down there in May too.  A little sooner than you though.  Hubby is going for EMC world and I am tagging along. 

We had stayed in Stratosphere, which is at the last hotel in the strip. Are you going with friends or spouse? If you are going with spouse, getting a hotel on strip is always a better idea, as it saves the trouble of commuting everyday.

If you start searching now, you will get good deals. Every hotel in the strip has something unique, wherever you stay, you can just roam around the hotels. eg, Bellagio has great fountain show. so this will take most of your time and it's fun. there's madam tussad's too.

Cirque de soliel is a good show, we had been to 3-4 shows, but the best I liked was mamma mia. it's a musical love story based on abba's songs. 

I wish I had got the shoes tips :(. I had taken only heels, and first night I walked around the strip, got bad blisters. so had to take a cab every day. it cost something around 12 - 20 bucks depending on where you are going.

if you take walking shoes and are up for walking, then it's better. else, i have seen there are buses too but have never taken them.

Take a small carry on bag around with a water bottle and some dry snacks to keep up your energy while walking.

 have fun!

 

I'm going with my husband, along with several friends. 

I am at odds over the whole shoe tip thing---comfort is important, but so is looking cute!  (it's VEGAS!!) 

Pack the cute shoes, but take comfy ones too...then when you get blisters, you have another option.  ;-)

We stayed at the Hilton, it's not right on the strip, but it's close to the monorail thing. It's nice and less expensive than the other places. The monorail is a great way to get around and the pass is good for 24 hours so if you get it in the afternoon remember you can get use it some more in the morning :)

The strip is amazing!

We went to Vegas in July & spent a week. We stayed on the strip at Circus Circus for the first 3 nights, then NYNY the following 4. I would advise against Circus Circus, it was overwhelmingly crowded with both adults and children! The NYNY is very nice & I would recommend it to anyone. The reason we stayed in the CC is because those nights were free as they were given to us by a Time Share presentation by Tahiti Village. (if it's something you can put up with, there are lots of perks). Anyway, our main transportation was the Deuce Bus line. This bus line runs from one end of the strip to the other, including old Vegas. It's the cheapest form of transportation there, $2.00 bucks a person or you can buy a 24 hour pass for $5.00. There are longer passes to purchase if your stay is longer. The bus saved us, we definitely used it over & over the entire week. One thing we hadn't expected was all the walking that is required, be ready with comfortable shoes at least for the daytime. We have tons of info on shows, nightclubs, and things to do in Vegas, if your interested feel free to send me a msg, I'd be more than happy to share! Have fun on your trip!

I just thought of something else I should have added in my previous post. I use www.tripadvisor.com for every vacation we go on. It's a great site to see comments from people with actual experiences. Ck out Vegas on that site, you'll find lots of interesting information! :)

It's funny, but I lived in Vegas for 8 years and now I am only an hour outside of Vegas and in all this time I have done and seen less than any of you that visited here!  My mom comes to visit a couple times a year and in one week here she sees more than I do all year.  We have two small children so that really limits what you can see.  I do agree with Blue Man Group though.  I think it is one of the cheapest major shows here and I also heard from many people that it is very good.  A good variety show is Splash at the Riviera.  It has the topless dancers, comedy, and the one time I saw it the motorcycle guys in the globe were there.  Like everyone else says there is so much to see and do you won't get to half of what you plan.  Have fun!!!