Las Vegas Advice

apardy131 · August 2010

We want to go to Las Vegas for our honeymoon. I would like to know if anyone has been and where they stayed? Did you like it? I am looking at the MGM and the New York New York

Also we want to do the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Damn while we are there, should I buy tickets before then or buy them through the hotel when we are there? I have found some discount tickets online.

Thanks

bellebride116 · August 2010

We love Vegas! I suggest staying more central strip {MGM is nice but more towards one end}. We've been a couple of times and really love it. We usually just book things through the hotel when we get there, but it is def. cheaper if you book in advance. There are also a ton of people offering free things if you go through a timeshare tour. We never did it in Vegas, but they are constantly asking LOL! I have some pictures from our last trip here: http://bellebride116.blogspot.com/2010/07/vegas.html... have fun!

demarcosjd · August 2010

We go to Vegas every year for MH Birthday. We like a lot of the Harrah's Entertainment casino's because of their rewards program. We have stayed at Paris, Harrah's and will be staying at Planet Hollywood this year. We loved Paris! Great location and we had no problems with the service. We loved the Eiffel Tower restaurant. I would not recommend Harrah's for a Honeymoon location.

I had friend that also stayed at the Mirage, The Venetian, and Caesar's and have said great things about them. Depending on what time of year you are going I also hear that Mandal Bay has an amazing lazy river.

We have not done any of the tours but from what we have seen is a lot times there are promoters down there that you can negotiate the price with. It might be useful to wait until you get down there.

SuMmErKuTiE · August 2010

DH and I stayed at MGM the for our first trip to Vegas and LOVED it. Yes it's towards one end of the strip, but it's not all the way at the end (Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay are after MGM before the end) and there's plenty in walking distance. Our favorite part about MGM was the pool complex. They have a lazy river, several pools, and Wet Republic. We also saw a cirque du soleil show at MGM and it was amazing.

We stayed at the Mirage a few months ago when we went to Vegas for the 2nd time and we loved it there as well. We got a free upgrade just for being facebook fans of the hotel, so I would suggest becoming a fan of whatever hotel you pick. The Mirage was more central on the strip and also had a great pool complex and since we were upgraded to a suite I can't really compare the rooms, but they were very nice at both hotels we've stayed at.

We rented a car and drove ourselves to the Hoover Dam and we loved it there, it was just unbearably hot and I felt a little sick, so if you go during the summer make sure you drink lots of water.

FW03291 · August 2010

I've been to Las Vegas before but I stayed on Fremont strip (it was a very low key trip) so I probably don't have very much information that will be helpful to you because you'll want to do it up much bigger than I did for you hineymoon.

My only advice would be to travel down to fremont street at least one night. The limits in the casinos are lower and it's definitely a unique experience.

Second some other people have mentioned the timeshare tours. I would reccommend not going on them!!! They take up en entire day between the bus the picks up at every hotel, the tour of the timeshare and then the sales pitch. They promise the bus will drop you off anywhere you want after the tour but that isn't true they only drop off at certain hotels and they won't let you leave until you buy a timeshare. I was in tears before they finally gave me the show tickets they had promised me and let me leave. And the show tickets aren't even worth it, they are all second or even third-rate shows.

Other than that I'm sure you will love it!!

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · August 2010

I've been to Las Vegas half a dozen times, at least. I don't know if I'd consider it good for a honeymoon, though. But if that's your style, go for it.

New York New York gets kind of loud. I mean, even compared to the rest of Vegas, mainly because of the roller coaster. Personally? I like Paris Las Vegas a LOT. I would stay there in an upgraded room. It's pretty romantic. Again, for Vegas. I've also stayed at Luxor, which I'd recommend as well. The casino's not great, but the rooms were very nice.

I'd buy tickets for the Hoover Dam now if possible. It's one less thing to worry about.

Expect to do a lot of walking. A LOT. The casinos are big and it's impossible to walk straight through them. (They are designed like that.) Plus the strip is long. Bring good walking shoes!

The food on the strip/in the casinos isn't great unless you splurge and go to the nice restaurants. Mandalay Bay has pretty good restaurants. There are also off-strip restaurants that are much better than what's in the casinos.

Definitely check out downtown Vegas/Freemont street, especially the light show at night. It's a fun little bit of "old school" Las Vegas that's a little different than the strip.

There's something called the Springs Preserve that's really cool if you're into hiking. I also like going to Hofbrau House Las Vegas, which has a pretty cool beer hall/beer garden atmosphere.

Chrissya03 · August 2010

I stayed at Planet Hollywood the last time I was in Vegas and we loved it. Very nice hotel in an excellent location. The casino is like a maze though, hard to find your way around. The pool isnt that great either.

I have also stayed at the Mirage, and it was my favorite. The pool is WONDERFUL there. They also have a private pool where you can go topless if your into that sort of thing. The Mirage is also centrally located which was nice, b/c if you get a hotel far down, you will be doing a TON of walking.

Good Luck!

[Deleted User] · August 2010

If you want to go sight seeing, I would recommend getting a Vegas Power Pass. You can find the info on vegas.com

Salamandy24 · August 2010

I agree with PP about NY NY hotel. We stayed there last year. It was nice, but busy and loud. For a honeymoon, I would choose Paris, Venetian, Caesar's, or Bellagio. We've stayed pretty far down the strip and still walked everywhere even in the middle of summer. If you're going during a cooler time of year, I don't think you'll have a problem walking down the whole strip.

Aubrav · August 2010

WE are going there for our honeymoon, only because I love it there and when given a choice of where to go, that is where I choose. I have been 5 times in the last 4 years and have stayed at Excalibur and Mandalay Bay. Excalibur is definitely a lower class hotel, but is excellent if you are looking for a hotel on a budget.

Mandalay bay on the other hand is a completely different story. It is a luxury hotel with a beach for a pool. The beach has a lazy river and a wave pool with body surfing. Their standard room includes an amazing bathroom with soaker tub, double vanity, lcd tv and separate shower and the bedrooms have a 42" widescreen tv. It is on the furthest end of the strip, but is still not a long walk to anything. I consider center strip to be from Planet Hollywood to Treasure Island and Mandalay Bay is only a 25 minute walk to planet hollywood if you factor in the time walking through the hotel. It is connected to Luxor and Excalibur and also offers a free tram to Excalibur that will put you out right on the strip across from MGM Grand.

I have always wanted to stay at MGM Grand but my FI doesn't want to stay there and he doesn't know why. Their rooms look really nice and I'm always up for a lazy river in a pool complex. MGM Grand is about a 15-20 minute walk to Planet Hollywood.

packlite · August 2010

I travel to Vegas every year for work and have stayed at Caesar's Palace, Mandalay Bay and the Venetian. Mandaly has an awesome pool/beach area that I think would be great for a honeymoon, Caesar's has great shopping and a cool pool area, and the Venetian has the gondola rides which are pretty fun. I think I would choose Mnadalay Bay out of the those 3 though!

amclausen · August 2010

FI and I are going to Vegas and the Grand Canyon for our HM, the Grand Canyon being the highlight of our trip. We're only staying in Vegas for 3ish days. One heads up about the Grand Canyon: if you're planning on staying the night to get more hiking in and such, you have to book your hotel room almost a year in advance. We booked our room (a nice room with a fireplace) a year and a day ahead of time!

I second TripAdviser as a great way to decide what you want to do. There are a lot of very helpful reviews of different trails at the Canyon.

apardy131 · August 2010

I booked it! 6 nights at the MGM Grand. I picked like 4 hotels went to Orbitz & Expedia and the one that gave the best deal is the one I chose

Another thing taken care of

Thanks for all the advice!

CarolinaKayla · August 2010

We've vacationed in Vegas a few times, we've stayed in a huge Bellagio suite with a view of the fountains (that'd be a fantastic honeymoon spot!). We've also stayed in the Venetian and the Westin right behind the Flamingo. The Venetian didn't really compare to the Bellagio but it was nice to walk right downstairs to see Phantom of the Opera. I did love the quietness of the Westin! It was so calm and peaceful not staying right in the chaos of the strip.

Next time we go I'd like to try the Wynn or Mirage! Make sure to check out a Cirque show and spend a day on Fremont Street! We saw the Rat Pack show on Fremont and ate at Hugo's Cellar in the basement of the Four Queens hotel, it was a neat place!

vegasgroom · September 2010

For a honeymoon, I would go with Mandalay's THEhotel tower, Bellagio, Caesars or Venetian. I see you already booked MGM but personally I'd have avoided that one; it's one of the largest hotels by far and the service can reflect that if you're in one of the traditional rooms, i.e. long check-in if you're arriving at a typical arrival day/time (try to check in at the airport instead), slow room service, slow maid service if you want extra towels, etc. and it's a relatively old hotel. The reason I'd recommend those other hotels specifically:

THEhotel has the nicest rooms at Mandalay and is typically quieter; there's a great restaurant and lounge on the top floor, Mix. That's actually where I'm getting married next year. It's very contemporary and like PP's have said, their pool is awesome.

Bellagio is expensive but the best service around, very clean and quiet, rooms are more traditional vs contemporary. It makes a good honeymoon hotel but I personally don't prefer it for normal trips since my FI and I like to party heavy lol.

Caesars and Venetian get my recommendation mostly due to location; there are a lot of things to do in very close proximity and both have nice new or recently refreshed rooms. I actually bought the same mattress that caesars uses in their suites a couple years ago for home because after staying there I thought it was the most comfortable mattress I had slept on. Both of these hotels have very nice malls attached to them that you can easily spend half a day in.

For Hoover Dam, you cannot book the tours in advance, your only option is to just show up and buy a ticket. You can of course book a tour bus ride out there if you don't want to rent a car, but I would not do that either as you'll get stuck there a lot longer than there are things to do because the tour bus has to plan to stay long enough to allow everyone that was on the bus to make it through a tour. So back to the tickets, if you can, go on a week day and go as early as tolerable. There is construction happening right now that will back traffic up just before the dam, so allow for over an hour to get there from the strip. I took my dad to the dam in June and we went on a Thursday morning, we got there around 10:30 AM and the first tour we could get on was 1 PM. They will only sell as many tickets as they have time slots for during the day, so you will find that by noon they may be sold out for the rest of the day. If you're into engineering, do the powerplant plus dam tour, it's about $30 but you get to see a lot more; keep in mind it's a lot of walking so wear comfortable shoes.

If you want a whole bunch of other recommendations on things to do in vegas, see this thread:

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_need-welcome-packages

rhsdiplomanic25 · September 2010

We are also going to vegas for our honeymoon and booked at MGM!! Its less than a month away so I will def. get back on here once we get back and let you know how everything went! Were very excited and have already booked tickets to see a cirque show at the hotel our last night

YAY!!

Oaklay18 · September 2010

I agree with staying toward the center of the strip.
http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/nevada/las-vegas/las-vegas-hotel-map

Everytime I've been its usually faster to walk vs taking a cab in traffic and to save $. Being in the center makes the walking MUCH better especially if you're going when the temp is in the 100's.

http://gopackandtravel.blogspot.com/

devcipps · September 2010

I basically grew up in Vegas. I would actually advise renting a car and driving out to Grand Canyon and seeing Hoover dam on your own. It is about a 5 hour drive out to the Grand Canyon. We always stay in hotels in the nearby town to the canyon not in the canyon itself and have never had a problem. I would also recommend seeing valley of fire or red rock canyon while you are in vegas. Both are about a 45 minute drive from the strip and are AMAZING. Be prepared for lots of walking no matter where you are. Vegas is a blast enjoy!

jemmini6 · September 2010

I've been to Vegas several times. The last time we stayed in the Venetian and saw Phantom of the Opera, it was a really great show and really great rooms too.

melmac26 · October 2010

Since you went w/ MGM, I'd definitely see "KA" which is their Cirque show there. See a show...LOVE is also amazing too...if you like the Beatles. I personally like the MGM Grand & I hear their pool is amazing. I have had to work there several times & enjoyed staying there.

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