Going to Vegas...

[Cdubyah]

Need some opinions

Planning the trip for October. What would you suggest for an airline? How bout a hotel? Right now I'm looking at New York New York. Prices seem pretty good.

Who do you normally book through? AAA? Expedia? or something else?

Oh yeah, if you have any suggestions on shit to do, other than gamble, I'm all ears. I'm looking at renting a bike while we're out there too.

Thanks!

[yotaman88210]

Never been. Enjoy...

[Cdubyah]

Thanks yota, I've never been either, I'm pretty stoked.

[chevysoldier]

Depending on your style, hit up Toby Keith's Bar and Grill. It's laid back and a real nice atmosphere. Hoover damn itn't too far from there either, that was really neat to see. everytime I went, we just got the cheap hotels so we had more money for other stuff to do. A lot of them have free taxi service to and from the strip and to other hotels/casinos.

[f4isvt]

toby keith bar and grill is nice. I stayed at excalibur and enjoyed it. I had a good time just touring all the hotel lobbys.

[rick37]

Give a bit of insight of ur interest and how long of a. Trip u r planning. Absoluty fly swa and start watching prices. As far as hotel book directly with them I have been to Vegas only about 30 times. U can also check out Vegas.com for shit to do. Any questions pm me

[Pedro]

Southwest is usually the cheapest airfare to Vegas. They also have the only direct nonstop flight to Vegas from Columbus. I would like on kayak for the airfare. As far as hotel deals I would register your email with a couple different hotels. I get good deals every now and then from Aria, MGM, and the Bellagio for good rates. When we went last year we stayed at the Luxor. It wasn't the nicest hotel on the strip but it was cool. We're thinking about going back in September.

[ohdaho]

vegas.com normally has good packaged deals for airfare and hotel. Check Bing Travel http://www.bing.com/travel/?cid=homenav&FORM=Z9LH9 for travel. I find it better than kayak and their price estimator saved me $100 last time. Pretty dead on.

Palazo, Caesars, and hanna owned hotels offer MIL rate. I like the MGM, Aria is new and offering me free rooms but I cant make time this June Ill actually be in Vegas columbus day weekend in Oct.

If youve never been then walk the strip. Catch a few shows such as the Cirque de Solei. Not my cup of tea since I always walk into vegas a single bachelor.

I normally hit up the clubs. XS is awesome, (more) expensive bottle service. You wont get into haze if you dont have TMZ following you around. They only let in hot girls. Tryst at Encore is nice too. Body English on sundays at the hard rock are amazing...not too snobbish so you can get in. Go to the pools on sunday. Eye candy GALORE! Rehab at the Hard Rock is one of the best.

Craps at the Monte Carlo is cheap. Black jack at sahara is also cheap. The BEST buffet in Vegas is the M, which is off strip, but well worth it. MGM has one of the better poker rooms.

Dont ever pay for drinks in vegas. Try not to pay for food. This only works if youre a gambler.

I was stationed 3.5 hrs from Vegas and used to go religiously. Now I try to go every 6 months or so.

Have fun. Leave your morals at home. Run with deep pockets, or make some money there. Dont catch anything you cant cure with a creme or pill.

Edited April 29, 2010 by ohdaho

[Cdubyah]

Trip will be 5 nights, Sunday to Friday. Trying to avoid the weekend to keep the cost down.

Planning to do the tourist type thing, see the sites and shows. Not really up for a lot of gambling or heavy drinking. The bunny ranch is out, so are the boobie bars.

Just looking for some nice places to enjoy and relax.

[Pedro]

Trip will be 5 nights, Sunday to Friday. Trying to avoid the weekend to keep the cost down.

Planning to do the tourist type thing, see the sites and shows. Not really up for a lot of gambling or heavy drinking. The bunny ranch is out, so are the boobie bars.

Just looking for some nice places to enjoy and relax.

I forgot that place was in Nevada.

[Cdubyah]

Haha, I doubt the girlfriend would be happy with me then.

[r1crusher]

HA!!! I'm leaving to Vegas tomorrow at noon!!!

Vegas.com is a good place to start looking. Southwest is always making trips out there. Definitely check ALL the airline sites and tools DAILY for the best pricing. We usually golf and gamble primarily but you can find other stuff to do. Walking the strip is good exercise and will get you out of the casino (do one side one day and the other the next). We 'casino hop' one evening usually, stop in roll the dice or place some slots. Bike rentals are an option as well, but don't be surprised at some of the deposits though. Take a trip to 'Downtown' and checkout Fremont Street but plan it for an evening so you can see the show.

Oh and I almost forgot, DO NOT FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE HOT CHICKS!!

[chevysoldier]

vegas.com normally has good packaged deals for airfare and hotel. Check Bing Travel http://www.bing.com/travel/?cid=homenav&FORM=Z9LH9 for travel. I find it better than kayak and their price estimator saved me $100 last time. Pretty dead on.

Palazo, Caesars, and hanna owned hotels offer MIL rate. I like the MGM, Aria is new and offering me free rooms but I cant make time this June Ill actually be in Vegas columbus day weekend in Oct.

If youve never been then walk the strip. Catch a few shows such as the Cirque de Solei. Not my cup of tea since I always walk into vegas a single bachelor.

I normally hit up the clubs. XS is awesome, (more) expensive bottle service. You wont get into haze if you dont have TMZ following you around. They only let in hot girls. Tryst at Encore is nice too. Body English on sundays at the hard rock are amazing...not too snobbish so you can get in. Go to the pools on sunday. Eye candy GALORE! Rehab at the Hard Rock is one of the best.

Craps at the Monte Carlo is cheap. Black jack at sahara is also cheap. The BEST buffet in Vegas is the M, which is off strip, but well worth it. MGM has one of the better poker rooms.

Dont ever pay for drinks in vegas. Try not to pay for food. This only works if youre a gambler.

I was stationed 3.5 hrs from Vegas and used to go religiously. Now I try to go every 6 months or so.

Have fun. Leave your morals at home. Run with deep pockets, or make some money there. Dont catch anything you cant cure with a creme or pill.

You weren't at Ft Irwin or Twentynine Palms were you?

[ohdaho]

You weren't at Ft Irwin or Twentynine Palms were you?

Hell no. Edwards AFB.

Cdub. Make sure you check all the free shows in front the casinos at night. Bellagio water show and treasure Islands pirate show.

Are you going with the woman? Theres tons of nice restaurants out there. From 5 star zagat rated places to good noodle soup bowls. I hear the jabbowockeez from ABDC are doing a show at the MGM which would be awesome to see. Blue Man Group i hear is overrated.

The USAF Thunderbird museum is right up the road at Nellis AFB. Not sure if its open to the public but might be cool to see.

[Cdubyah]

Yeah going with the girlfriend. There are a couple other folks on the fence right now that want to go as well.

[KhaoticRebel]

I always used Southwest when I lived there. They just always had the best price and a direct flight. Fremont Street is fun for the first-time tourist. If you have a means to get out of town you can go to Red Rock Canyon and see wild donkeys or Valley of Fire. Valley of Fire is further away, but pretty awesome. Memphis BBQ is one of my favorite places to eat, but not on the strip. If you plan on walking the strip, bring VERY comfortable shoes. It's one of those things that you don't realize how long the walk is until you're halfway, you're committed to finish it, then you're too exhausted (possibly drunk) to walk back, and you get a cab instead. Have fun!

[Cheech]

First, a brief caveat emptor: The last 2 times I've been to Vegas were with my NYC friends and family, who all have email addresses ranging from Deutche Bank to Credit Suisse to AIG (we let him have it on the last trip. )

Flights: Not surprisingly, it's much cheaper to fly to Vegas than it is leaving it. SWA is a good place to start, but I'll echo the Kayak and vegas.com searches. Don't freak out on the disparity of coming vs. going.

As far as hotels go, I'm a HUGE fan of Mandalay Bay. We tried staying at the Venetian last time and the hotel was a fucking maze. I timed it (because I was late), it took me 15 minutes and 4 different elevators without hyperbole to get from the spa to my room without ever walking outside or out of the hotel.

If you aren't a gambler, once you see the standard drink prices in Vegas you'll consider starting. Understand that the machines at the bar fill up quick for a reason, it's for all the other "non-gamblers" that want free drinks too. Getting a steady supply of booze at the penny slots is going to be next to impossible for obvious reasons.

Be prepared to stay up. Late. Last time I was there I watched the sun come up from my suite twice. Edit: pumped O2 is a myth. Don't know what it is about Vegas, but be prepared to pull all-nighters.

If you want to go to a club, there will be people in the front entrance handing out VIP passes. These passes are generally worthless. Once you get to the club there are usually 3 entrances, the general entrance melee, the VIP entrance melee, and the ubiquitous velvet ropes. If you are seriously considering getting into a club that research shows is hard to get into, consider hiring a VIP host to get in. Understand that in doing so, he (=you) is going to have to grease some people to get in. The more guys in your group (last I went was a bachelor party of 13), the more expensive it is.

In all honesty I don't think I ever hit up a show when I was there, so I don't have any experience with it. I'm sure getting in won't be a problem.

Cabbies are hired at hotels. Do NOT attempt to hail one from street level. If for whatever reason you want to go to a strip club, have one in mind (ask the hotel concierge, it's his job) for one, and do NOT pay for the cab fare. The cabbies get kickbacks from the strip clubs, and if you ask them which one to go to they will take you to the one that has the biggest kickback. Anything else, ask away.

All in all, Vegas is a pretty expensive place but well worthy of the moniker "America's Playground." If you are wanting to party like a rockstar expect to shell out rockstar money.

If you have any other questions or want to bounce stuff off me, PM me anytime. Hope you have a blast.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Cheech
research.

[20thGix]

If going to the grand canyon while your there look into the Skywalk. Also if you find yourself low on cash party it up at O'shea's. Cheap beer and cheap gamblin. And if your walkin around and needin a beer......watch where you buy them. Some places outside on the strip will be chargin 8-9 bucks a beer. Last time i was there during the day at the Flamingo they had $1 millerlights outfront. Drank plenty of those i did. Have fun!!!!

[magley64]

I stayed at the stratosphere when I was there, right at the beginning of the strip (not in the middle) and cost me $60 per night for a room with a high view of the strip(9th floor, towards the sahara).

Even if you don't stay at the stratosphere, go to the top and ride the "insanity" (it was awesome at night)

Treasure island seemed to be the biggest party section in vegas.

[max power]

If going to the grand canyon while your there look into the Skywalk.

The skywalk is a waste of $. Total tourist trap, just ask Gump. I'm going in Sept. Never made it past the Grand Canyon when I've been out that way. I'm not much on gambling and pissing $ away.

[SWing'R]

How bout a hotel? Right now I'm looking at New York New York. Prices seem pretty good.

NY NY is a good location, we stayed at the Excalibur which is right across from NY NY. And across on the other corner is the MGM and Hooters is close by as well. Also right next door to Excalibur is Luxor and Mandalay Bay, so that corner is a pretty good spot.

We booked our hotel and flight directly with the airline and hotel.

We were there in December of 2007.

[rick37]

The skywalk is a waste of $. Total tourist trap, just ask Gump. I'm going in Sept. Never made it past the Grand Canyon when I've been out that way. I'm not much on gambling and pissing $ away.

When u going in september....

What to do in vegas,,

The free stuff ok here we go The fountains of Bellagio,the conservatory in the bellagio, sirens of TI(not very good),the volcano at the mirage,and inside of planet hollywood there are several different little shows,theres a big top show at circus circus,the show in the sky at the rio,several shows in cesars palace mall,.

I am sure there a few other things that are free to do but this is what I can think of, Then there are several thrill rides u can do on the strip like the roller coaster at NY-NY and at the sahara,then u can go down to the stratesphere and go to the top and there are several more rides up there.

Since you are going for five days and its ur first time I would not worry about a rental car because u will be to occupied with the strip. There is alot more I could tell u but I don't have all night to set here and type away on the keyboard..

But u do want to start watching the airfare now and if you can get it for 400(for 2)roundtrip buy it quickly. and remember SWA doesnt charge for checked luggage.

[scottb]

I am not a big gambler. I think i spent maybe $30 total in a few casino's.

When i went to vegas, we stayed at the Imperial Place. Room rate was $39 a night. Nothing special hotel, just a place sleep, shower and had a fridige in the room to keep gas stationed purchased beer cold. Imperial Place is about in the middle of the strip. We did alot of walking. We took a shuttle from the airport to the casino.

We rented a car for one day to see Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Damn.

For drinks, Casino Royale had $1 beer and $1 marigritas.

Imperial Palace has a nice car collection and affordable admission.

The casino features celebrity look a like dealers in one section.

[max power]

When u going in september....

2nd or 3rd weekend I think.

[SWing'R]

You know, the AVN awards are hosted in Vegas every year in January, thats when I'd be booking a visit