Ongoing Las Vegas 'pro-tips' thread - Advice on all things Vegas

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

they had the one area where they booted out the regular dealers and brought in the women in lingerie, it was.......interesting.

The Pleasure Pit.

Horrible, horrible set of rules/house odds there if you're a blackjack player. All of the gimmicky "party" tables have a much higher house edge if you care about that sort of thing. Personally, I steer clear (except for the odd poolside one), but then again I'm likely not their target demographic.

[calgarywinning]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

The wife and I have stayed the Aria twice now and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there a third time. It's clean & modern and provides of a bit of escape from the Vegas noise when you're off the main level. (the level II promenade feels more like a mall than a hotel/casino).

But it's not a big "party" hotel, it's clean & somewhat quite... which I like. Vegas can take a lot out of you, so a good night's sleep (without drunks screaming the halls) can mean a lot.

Having said all that, if I were going a "guys" trip I'd choose elsewhere, Aria is a nice wife/couples kinda place, where as if you're going to get a little rowdy you may not have as much fun. Plus the table games are typically $10/hand during the day & $15/hand at night. I'm more of a $5/$10 a hand type, so I actually didn't play any table games there.

I totally agree with this. The hotel is nice and relaxing, but at the same rate you have a high exposure on the tables with nothing really "close by". It's nice to get the above amenities but also be able to gamble and party into the night without worrying about transport and wobble up to the room. The whole City Centre strip delivers you into this kind of ecosphere, no party, highly expensive, poor odds.

Also, when you do gamble at Aria there are people that are stuck there that do not know how to gamble but are gambling for the sake of it.

Nice resort, just not for gamblers. Oh and it's dead by 1 am.

[Hessen]

I've stayed in the higher end Cosmopolitan and Aria in the past year. Great couples place but more like a 5 star hotel. Very modern and quiet.

I've also stayed in TI a few times and if you're in a guys group it's a good choice. Large Buffet to eat at, central on the strip and has a Senoir Frogs for college type partying and Gilles for the all nighters. The bonus to Gillies is the waitresses riding the mechanical bull every 15 minutes or so. Did I mention they wear leather chaps and bras?

[Zach]

I like to play poker and have heard the Aria has a great poker room. Same with the Venetian. Should be busy during March Madness. Thanks for the responses.

[DOOM]

The Cosmopolitan is awesome, my parents brought me there for my 21st birthday in October 2012.

I have gone down twice since then on my own dime and have stayed at The Flamingo and The Quad (more in my price range) I didn't have any issues with either hotel.

I'm going down again in June for EDC, but still have not booked a hotel.

[Buff]

I have stayed at MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, New York New York and Bellagio. Bellagio is the most central place I've stayed at obviously, and that was quite in terms of location.

My favorite so far is still MGM Grand. Mandalay had nice rooms, and was super convenient since I was there for a conference on that property, but for a regular trip it is just too far south. MGM and NYNY are still south but close enough that it doesn't feel like you've got another hour of walking to get back to your room. The beds at MGM were the most comfortable hotel beds that I have ever slept in. They have renovated since so hopefully they didn't change that part. Bellagio was for a conference and it was nice to be fairly central. I find that I did my gambling at different places each trip and it was most inconvenient when I stayed at NYNY and my favorite slot game was only found at Pallazo and Venetian. Soon my favorite game won't be found anywhere... screw you Disney for buying Star Wars and wanting a family friendly product!

I don't know where my next stay will be at. I want to try to stay at a different place each time I go. If my next trip is for a conference then the conference will likely be at Mandalay Bay, so I may try Luxor. Monte Carlo wouldn't be too far away, but that's pushing it. My best friend now only stays at Monte Carlo. Both he and his wife make well into 6 digits, living in USA, and they still spend frugally. He says Monte is good enough and one of the cheapest. I'll go with that.

In Vegas you can't really go wrong with the hotel, as long as you're staying at one of the resorts and not at Travellodge or some cheap place a block off strip. Even if it is a lower end resort, you'll still get pretty good rooms -- better rooms than most places in Calgary or Edmonton, and the rooms are cheaper in Vegas at the less expensive resorts.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Buff

He says Monte is good enough and one of the cheapest. I'll go with that.

If you can get past the wall of vanilla perfume that hits you the second you open the doors.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Buff

I don't know where my next stay will be at. I want to try to stay at a different place each time I go. If my next trip is for a conference then the conference will likely be at Mandalay Bay, so I may try Luxor. Monte Carlo wouldn't be too far away, but that's pushing it. My best friend now only stays at Monte Carlo. Both he and his wife make well into 6 digits, living in USA, and they still spend frugally. He says Monte is good enough and one of the cheapest. I'll go with that.

I'd recommend against Luxor unless you get a really stupid cheap deal, at least if you stay in the pyramid itself. The rooms are really old and crappy and the elevators are actually "inclinators" since they go up and down at an angle, which means they're incredibly slow. If you stayed in the newer addition that's just a regular hotel then it might be fine though

[spetch]

Anyone been to the new O'Shea's yet? The pictures make it look definitely cleaner and more modern, but I am wondering if that changed anything else? Table limits? Bands? Atmosphere?

I loved playing $5 craps for hours at the old O'Shea's.

[king_amonte]

Originally Posted by spetch

Anyone been to the new O'Shea's yet? The pictures make it look definitely cleaner and more modern, but I am wondering if that changed anything else? Table limits? Bands? Atmosphere?

I loved playing $5 craps for hours at the old O'Shea's.

Walked through it, seems a lot smaller but cleaner for sure! Saw beer pong tables but no other tables, it is inside the quad so that may explain why there are no other games!

[king_amonte]

I was just informed there were a few 5 dollar bj tables too, I must have either missed them or been to drunk to care!

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by king_amonte

I was just informed there were a few 5 dollar bj tables too, I must have either missed them or been to drunk to care!

Nice.

[Robotic]

Gonna be in Vegas for Super Bowl. Any recomendations on where to watch the game?

[Tron_fdc]

You guys need to check out old Vegas. I'm down there anywhere from 3-6 times a year (have a house in Havasu) and old Vegas is where it's at. The Nugget was reno'd a few years ago, and if you get into the new side you can get a suite that rivals Mandalay for as low as $50/night. Add to that cheap drinks, cheap steaks, a great pool for kids, and a nearby discount shopping mall it's where I always head.

Superbowl weekend is their busiest weekend, so I would just go anywhere. It's going to be a party regardless of where you are.

[Tron_fdc]

Dp

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

I'd agree with this. We stayed there a few years ago, and it was just ok, nothing terrible. The rooms were 'meh', and the casino was ok, but nothing fantastic. It is in a pretty nice location though. And at 9pm or whatever time it was they had the one area where they booted out the regular dealers and brought in the women in lingerie, it was.......interesting. It wouldn't be the worst place to stay, but I'd look at other options first.

I agree with all this..

short story...I was there one night playing blackjack and the dealer in lingerie I ended up with was the spitting image of one of my ex's...she proceeded to take $350 off me in consecutive hands, and I was betting conservatively, it was so bad she was actually embarrassed. Needless to say, I had fun but it was a bit of a flashback moment...except the ex took a lot more

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I have to go to LV for a couple of days (work-related) before Spring break begins in March.

My plan is to have my wife and 2 kids fly down as soon as I am done with my work-related stuff. So, the question is, how many days of fun family activities are there in the area? I was thinking the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam would be pretty cool to see, maybe thats 2 days?

I don't really want to waste the opportunity of being in Las Vegas if there are some truly remarkable things to check out and do, but what I would really like to do is once we have exhausted what Las Vegas has to offer a family, is to fly out to DC until the end of Spring break and visit the various sites and museums around there.

Unless you can afford the helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. That's a ton of fun.

How old are your kids? Mine loved the Pinball Hall of Fame. Red Rock Canyon is nice.

DC is also fantastic. I told my 7 year old that we'll go there when the Air and Space Museum gets one of the Space Shuttles.

[Arsenal14]

Originally Posted by habernac

DC is also fantastic. I told my 7 year old that we'll go there when the Air and Space Museum gets one of the Space Shuttles.

Doesn't the Air and Space Museum already have the Discovery? It's at their auxiliary site by Dulles airport rather than the location on the Mall but I'm fairly sure it's there now.

And just to stay on topic, the Hoover Dam is a pretty short trip from LV and can easily be done in a half day. My buddies and I actually did Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon Skywalk in one day driving to and from Vegas but that was a pretty tight schedule.

[East Coast Flame]

Has anyone been to one of these daytime pool clubs? What are they like?

Avicii is going to be at the Encore Beach Club at the Wynn when I will be there in April, but I don't know if I am ready to be the type of person that goes to these things. It just sounds....exhausting

[photon]

I've never been but
1) Umbrella drink
2) Deck chair
3) Floral print shirt
4) Sunglasses
5) Enjoy Eye Candy
6) Have everyone glare at old creepy dude

Would be my preliminary plan to not get exhausted at such a place.