First time to Sin City approaching

The Missus and I are planning a trip to Vegas in early June (no kids, just the two of us!). She's been there before and I haven't. But she didn't do much planning when she went eight years ago, so she's not much help in the planning process.

Here's what I know: We want to stay mid-to-South Strip. I have a few ideas of where to stay (Excalibur is one option), but my biggest question involves where to go for the best deals on plane tickets and hotel prices. Do we plan now or wait a bit? Do we book our hotel and plane at once at a place like Expedia or Orbitz, or are there better places and do I book them seperately?

And if there's any "must sees" on the strip, I'm all for ideas. And what about transportation? I really don't want to rent a car, and I've heard it's not really necessary since we're not going to leave the strip.

Any help or advice would be appreciated, mainly on the planning end since I'm sure many of us here have been to Sin City.

 

If you're not going to leave the strip, then skip the car. Plenty of shuttles/taxis to get you to your hotel.

For airfare, if you're in a Southwest market, then that route is probably best. You might even catch a Ding! fare. If not, then AirTran should be fairly reasonable if you live east of the Rockies. I don't know what US Airways/America West is doing these days in terms of airfare into LAS.

As far as rooms go, your best bet is to search Expedia or a catch-all site like Kayak, then go to the individual hotel's Web site and see if they can beat it.

As far as must-sees, there are so many. My advice: Just wing it.

 

Can't tell you much about booking plane and hotel together, but I've never been a believer that they can do it better than me.

What I can tell you is that if you are going to gamble, do most of it at one location or at one chain (Harrahs, etc.) and use the casino card to rack up points.... At the end of your stay, if you aren't on a package, you can go to the casino host and might get some of your bill comped based on your play and your losses.

As for a rental car, don't waste your money... You won't need one.

Hope this helps.

 

Don't we have one of these Vegas threads once every two or three months?

Don't worry about a car. Cab it to downtown or for long casino-to-casino trips. Remember, those big buildings are farther away than they look.

You must hit the Peppermill Fireside Lounge (across from where the dearly departed Stardust once stood). It's a combo IHop-style 24/7 diner and old Vegas cocktail lounge. It's awesome.

 

Go see Mystere at Treasure Island.
Will be the best money you spend the entire trip.

 

I'm not really into gambling, but I definitely want to do some. Played some video poker at Casino Niagara and made a few bucks, but blew it all on the slots. I'd love to do a little blackjack, but I am far from a high roller. Do these casinos have cheap tables ($5 perhaps)?

 

The low end places like Slots-A-Fun, the downtown casinos and that place I can't remember the name of that's tucked in next to the Flamingo will have $5 blackjack tables. But they'll be elbow-to-elbow.

You can't find $5 tables at the big joints even during the week.

 

The downtown places have $5 tables. There are some decent places downtown, like the Golden Nugget and the Golden Gate (which has a 99 cent shrimp cocktail special).

 

I didn't enjoy my trip there this summer.

My only advice: Don't walk from the strip to the Hard Rock. I learned that one the hard way.

 

is it better to stay in a hotel with a casino, or are the joints like Best Western fine too?

 

Do not, do not, DO NOT stay at the Excalibur unless you have a high tolerance for cheese. If you've thought about possibly booking through Priceline, check out this site: www.biddingfortravel.com. Actually, check it out anyway -- you'll get a lot of recent reviews, and the folks who post there generally don't pull punches about their experiences.

Definitely skip the rental car but remember to bring comfortable walking shoes and a light jacket for the evenings.

 

king; Lots to do in Vegas. You gotta go to the Stratosphere....You gotta take a boat ride at the Venitian......You gotta go see the fountains at the Bellagio......you gotta go see Bridgette behind the 7-Eleven just across the street from Circus Circus....tell her Chef sent you for the "Big Gulp"--wait.....mama king is going?......As I was saying.......lots of things to do out there......Can't wait to go back later on this year.