Vegas Questions

iamjoesgurl

DH and I are going to Vegas next month.  We have booked our flights, but not our hotel.  He wants to stay at NY NY.  I've never stayed there so I'm wondering if it is a decent place.  I'd rather stay at the Bellagio, but we're on a budget!

Also, any ideas for fun things to do in Vegas other than gambling?  What are the best shows to see?

Any great places to eat on the strip?

TIA!

Mrs.B6302007

haven't stayed at NYNY but it looked nice when we were walking around.  And the rollercoaster is fun!  walking through all the different casinos and hotels was my favorite part.  Take a gondola ride at the Venetian...the gondolier will sing for you.  Go see any of the Cirque shows....we saw Ka.  I really wanted to see Love but it was dark the day we had extra time.
Vegas pics/journal in my bio if you're interested.

goheels05

NY NY is one of the older ones, right?  I didn't like any of the old hotels.  We gambled in a few but they just seemed dumpy.  We stayed at The Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood) for under $100 a night and it was fan-freaking-tastic.  I highly recommend it.  It's on the strip and walking distance to all the other nice hotels.

The best place we ate was Wolfgang Puck's restaurant; I think it was in the Bellagio but I can't remember.  The buffets were kinda lackluster, it wasn't up to the hype.  We didn't see any shows because we didn't plan ahead and everything was sold out, so book your shows before you leave, the sooner the better.  Next time we'll definitely see Cirque de Solei. 

Our other favorite non-gambling activity was we took a bus to the Hoover dam.  They have these scheduled tours and they pick you up at your hotel in a bus, it wasn't expensive at all.  We had a great time.   On the way back to the hotels they took us to an M&M factory. 

[Deleted User]

Not sure if the show is still on, but the Criss Angel show is cheesy and predictable and if I had it to do over, I would have seen a Cirque de Soliel show.

mandapanda78

I stayed at the NYNY last January and it was fine. Actually, we had a fabulous purple leather and zebra print chair in the room. What is better than that?? As for shows, I love all of the Cirque du Soleil out there. If you aren't prudish Zumanity is the best.

bbyckes

NY NY is a great hotel.  Mandalay Bay is probably my favorite LV hotel, but I haven't stayed at The Wynn yet.  You'll have a blast regardless.  You are close to everything on the strip.  Tons of shows like La Reve, Blue Man Group (haven't seen them). Zumanity, Criss Angel etc.  Clubs are fun too. 

A lot of celebrity chefs have restaurants in Vegas, like Bobby Flay, Tom Collichio, Wolfgang Puck, sascha's husband works at Alex -- but, you don't have to spend a ton on food to eat well in Vegas.

Just casino hop and people watch.  Vegas is fascinating.  Have a great time!

danieliza1127

Check out reviews on tripadvisor.com.  Also, sometimes you can actually get rooms at the nicer hotels for the same price as the less expensive ones so don't write off Bellagio without at least checking.  When I had to go for work last year, the Bellagio cost the exact same as NYNY.

Things to do - gondola ride at the Venetian, water show at the Bellagio, Eiffel Tower at the Paris, volcano at the Mirage - those are all really cool and either free or cheap.  Any Cirque du Soliel  (probably spelled wrong) show would be awesome and even the cheaper magic shows are still pretty fun.  There's no shortage of awesome restaurants, so walk around and take your pick!  I've heard great things about the breakfast buffet at the Paris, but I've never tried it. 

Mrs.B6302007

Ditto Heels.  Def see the Hoover Dam.

brookelynpaisley

My fave restaurant in Vegas is actually Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay. But then, I love burgers, andt you can put anything on it you can dream of, and they have good beer. I'm not big on buffets. I'd recommend Cirque shows over any of your other choices, as well. La Reve was awesome.

salt78

Go see Love if you can afford to. And if you actually like the Beatles.

Personally, I don't gamble so I'm a walk around and look at stuff kind of gal. I also don't particularly like NY NY that much. Best hotel I've stayed in was Mandalay Bay. I'm assuming the Wynn is also really awesome (I went to a party in a really nice suite there).

There is a sushi joint in the mall across the street from the Wynn that is AWESOME. I'd rec that also.

mocha beans

We stayed at the Nugget.  I would definately recommend walking around a bit on Freemont St. for an old Vegas feel, but it wasn't worth staying there; it's a taxi or bus ride just to get to the Strip and not really that entertaining beyond the first night.  It is cheaper to drink though because the cocktail waitresses will bring you a free drink if you're sitting at a machine.

We saw the Hoover Dam, definately a good thing to do.  Don't know if the Bodies exhibit is still at the Luxor, but that was cool to see if you're not squeamish.

We just spent most of the time walking around through the casinos and dropping in a few quarters and getting a few drinks here and there.  We also didn't see a show because we didn't plan ahead and buy tickets, so I would do that.

The buffets are meh, a buffet is a buffet is a buffet to me, they weren't anything terribly spectacular.  We never made it to a sitdown dinner because the other couple we were with was all about the buffets, so that's absolutely on my list for the next trip.  And just wandering around looking at the high end designer stuff, window shopping.

momofayden

LOVE was amazing!!  Even if you aren't a super big beatles fan, it was beyond my expectations.  Awesome!

I think NY NY is the one with the super huge arcade, and roller coaster on top. Heard it's lots of fun.  The aquarium (forgot the hotel name) is worth going to. 

RachNRich

We're getting married in Vegas--so I've got tons of things to suggest!!

But--my main one would be to visit the Neon Graveyard!! It's a collection of all the old neon signs from Vegas---they dump them at this location. Sounds a bit odd--but it's really neat to see all of the old signs in person.

Here's the website: http://www.neonmuseum.org/

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

NY NY is nice, though it can get loud (the roller coaster). It's pretty conveniently located on the strip, too.

It's worth it to walk up and down the strip and just visit all the major casinos. I love Paris and Bellagio. The shops at Caesar's Palace are INSANE - it's a HUGE high-end mall.

All the casinos have a nice high-end restaurant, a buffet, a smaller cafe, and a fun bar, at the very least. Mandalay Bay has some good food options. When I was there we had dinner at Fleur de Lys, then went next door to Aureole, where they have a 3 story wine tower - people go up and down on harnesses to grab the bottles of wine. The casual food in Vegas is not that good - in the casinos, the only good restaurants are the pricey ones. I'd recommend going on Open Table and seeing what's nice. Try to do one really nice dinner when you're there, then find other good restaurants in your budget for the rest of the time.

It's worth it to go off the strip and visit the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Across the street is Hofbrauhouse Las Vegas - a beer and German food restaurant, modeled after the famous beer hall in Munich. They make their own beer (well, they import it from Hofbrauhouse Munich), which is tasty. And they have the guys in lederhosen playing tuba and whatnot. Both my dad and my fiance loved it! In fact, FI wants to stay at Hard Rock next time we go to Vegas so we can walk there.

I'd recommend watching the Bellagio water show from the Eiffle tower at Paris Las Vegas. I stayed at Paris last time and I love that hotel!

If you like hiking and outdoorsy stuff, I'd recommend going to the Springs Preserve, which is new. They have trails and they talk about the history of Vegas and the desert in terms of water access, and they highlight the local plants and animals.

City Center just opened, and is supposed to be pretty cool. It's between NY NY and Bellagio, I believe.

Definitely go downtown to Freemont street one evening to see the light show and check out the OLD old casinos (from the 40s and 50s, like the Golden Nugget) down there.

FI has always wanted to see the Neon Graveyard, but you need to plan ahead because they only have so many tours.

RaiKai

The Beatles Love Cirque de Soleil show is awesome. I am not even that fond of the Beatles, and was blown away. We saw a couple other Cirque shows too, including Zumanity which was fun but a little hyped up I think for what it really was.

We stayed at the MGM's Grand Signature (which are like condo buildings). They were nice as they were nice suites and quiet (no casino in building) and a fairly short walk to MGM and the other newer buildings. NY NY was fun though, at least the parts I saw of it (the roller coaster, street-feel and so on).

pristinedemon

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_vegas-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:42603aa7-4707-49c5-8c32-323c5923fd12Post:9f1d90c3-1594-4ded-a4ac-afaffff2e3b2">Re: Vegas Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]I stayed at the NYNY last January and it was fine. Actually, we had a fabulous purple leather and zebra print chair in the room. What is better than that?? As for shows, I love all of the Cirque du Soleil out there. If you aren't prudish Zumanity is the best.
Posted by mandapanda78[/QUOTE]

Pretty much stole the words right out of my mouth. NYNY is pretty nice, I enjoyed staying there. Besides, you're in Vegas, you won't be in your room much anyway. For shows, I second Zumanity, it's absolutely amazing. Don't know how it compares to other Cirque shows, but it's great. As far as food, I recommend anything on the Venetian's Restaurant Row. Delmonico (Emeril Lagasse's restaurant) is very good. GL!

stina93446

I've stayed at the Paris and the Hilton. Both were great. If you think about it, how long do you actually plan to spend in your room or your casino? Staying at the Bellagio is purely a status thing, so I would pass, especially if you're on a budget. You can always go another time and stay there then.

As for shows, we saw O and Ka and both were excellent. I love Cirque Du Soliel. I have always wanted to see a Penn and Teller show as well.