Trying to decide where to stay.  We'll be there for 5 days and 4 nights.  So far, I have the following recommendations from others who've been:

Luxor
MGM Grand
Paris
New York New York

Any comments or additions are welcome.



ETA:  I'm 29 and she's 28, so that may affect your input.  We're not retirees.

ETA2:  This is our first time going.

When we went (shot show) we stayed at a place that was "cheaper".  That way we had more money for the fun things.  

This is our point of view.  If you want to stay at one of the expensive places, knock yourself out.

You don't need a hotel, the strip joints are open 24 hours in Vegas.

what's the budget?
luxor was worn out three years ago,ask them if they've remodeled
NY/NY is ok
MGM it's been a while but it was very nice
have'nt done paris,but hey it's FRENCH
THE VENETIAN ROCKS  if you can swing it!
Harrahs bunch of OLD people
Tropicanah...rode hard put a way wet
HARDROCK?  if your young
Aladidin not bad at all
Treasure Island worn out
Monte carlo, just think of the car
don't go down to the casino with more $$ in your pocket than what you can afford to loose
I have preset limits that I can take into a casino. If I set my self to $200 and I loose it I have to walk out

Wherever you stay, make sure they have QUALITY hookers and blow...

I've stayed at NYNY and thought that it was
great. Of course, that was just me and a
buddy getting drunk and partying. Ditto with
Bally's.

Both are cheap for the strip (Bally's was
$69/weeknight).

Stay on the strip. Don't go the cheap-ass
seedy motel route and don't stay on Fremont
Street.

I think Circus Circus had some pretty good deals. If you are staying on the strip I don't think it matters too much which one you are in, as you can walk/taxi/take the couple dollar bus to anywhere easily.

My wife and I stayed at the Luxor which was a little cheaper but still very nice. They also have a very good topless show! Their nightclub was very cool as well. Paris is more in the middle of the strip if you plan on walking to all the hotel/casinos.

The only thing that I didn't like about the Luxor was that it was so close to the end of the strip that it was a long walk to the other end. I think they have some sort of monorail or something that runs most of the way down now though.

The other 3 were very nice, it just depends on if you like what's in each hotel. Check out their websites for clubs/restaurants/shopping/show info.

I stayed at The Rio last month. Pretty decent all around. That would be a good choice for fairly young people. If you are into dancing it definitely would be a good choice. Only "bad" thing is that it is about a mile off the strip proper.

I stayed at the MGM Grand and the Venetian.  Venetian was def a better hotel, but not so much so to justify the extra $$$.  Both rooms, even thought the hotels are fairly new, looked a little tired.  They must ride em hard out there (pardon the pun).  I had more fun at the MGM because it's more centralized and connected to NYNY via a foot bridge.  It had more of a party vibe too.  I think it's also connected to a few other hotels by a mono-rail too.

NYNY has a roller coaster on the roof.  That's a blast.  Closes at 11 PM I think.

Have fun!  Wish I was going.  

I guess it depends on what you're going to do.  If you're going to stroll around, shop, and see shows, then stay somewhere ON the strip.  If you're going to gamble, then stay downtown.

We stayed at Mandalay Bay.  My company picked up the tab as it was for a conference.

They have a topless beach.

I've only been once and stayed at the Venetian. Very nice.

Quoted: When we went (shot show) we stayed at a place that was "cheaper".  That way we had more money for the fun things.   This is our point of view.  If you want to stay at one of the expensive places, knock yourself out.

I gotta agree with this.

If this is your first trip, go with one of the big strip resorts.  
I think most everything on the strip is either owned by MGM Mirage or the Harrahs group now anyway.
Of the ones that you mentioned, I have heard some of the rooms at the Luxor can be uncomfortably
warm in the summer.

Something to consider is whether or not you will have a vehicle.  The distances between these
places can be deceiving.

Quoted: Whatever you do, go see 'Zumanity'.  I'll IM you the link...I don't think I can post it here.  It's ummmm, provocative.

Wow.  Just saw the trailer they have on their website.  Hot women:  Check
Naked men or men with cod-pieces and chaps?  No fucking thanks.  THERE's a show I can do without.

Quoted: Quoted: When we went (shot show) we stayed at a place that was "cheaper".  That way we had more money for the fun things.   This is our point of view.  If you want to stay at one of the expensive places, knock yourself out. I gotta agree with this. If this is your first trip, go with one of the big strip resorts.   I think most everything on the strip is either owned by MGM Mirage or the Harrahs group now anyway. Of the ones that you mentioned, I have heard some of the rooms at the Luxor can be uncomfortably warm in the summer. Something to consider is whether or not you will have a vehicle.  The distances between these places can be deceiving.

I have a map of the strip and it looks like ~5 miles from Stratosphere up north to the Four Seasons down south.  We plan to do a good bit of walking and cab/bus it as necessary.

And yes, it's our first trip.

bellagio

I have a map of the strip and it looks like ~5 miles from Stratosphere up north to the Four Seasons down south.  We plan to do a good bit of walking and cab/bus it as necessary.

And yes, it's our first trip.


Ride the monorail between places on the strip. I'm rather fond of Bellagio myself. Great strip location, great ambience. If you need an inexpensive room on the strip, Bally's can have some pretty good deals... some of the rooms are getting a little beat. Ask for one that's already been remodeled and they will accomodate you.
Good Luck... Vegas rocks!

http://www.travel2vegas.com/messageboard.html

Check this little site out.  Lots of good info.

hot link

Stayed at the Aladdin when I was there last year.

Great place, very clean and nice.

Had no problems with the Imperial Palace.

Older hotel, but clean.

Catch The Rat Pack Tribute at the Greek Isles.

I stayed at the Luxor last time.. Not bad.

Whatever you do, GO SEE BLUE MAN GROUP!

The Bellagio is big bucks, but supposed to be super nice, from what I've been told.

Mandalay Bay

or

The Venetian

Both can be very pricey but both are very, very nice. She will be impressed.

I liked Mandalay Bay the most.

NY/NY has a lot to offer and it is within walking distance of several other casinos

Stayed at Ceaser's 3 years ago,

Was a blast, curteous staff, and nice rooms, jacuzzi tubs.
Can't say enough good, I will say that one night we stayed in, and I went to the "corner" store to get a six-pack.

Half-hour later I was back, it takes forever to get out of the casino.


Seriously, if you do it right, the room won't matter as much as the sights.

Our room was really just a place to sleep the drunk off, and get ready.

Quoted: Catch The Rat Pack Tribute at the Greek Isles.

I'm playing trumpet in the San Francisco run of the Rat Pack Tribute at the Post Street Theatre - it's a great show..

-Niel

If you are out to have more money to party. consider Sun Harbor Budget Suites on MLK Blvd. It'll run you a tad over $200.bucks for a week, and they have kitchenetts. Nice place...big pool...air-conditioned hot tubs. Quiet place.

SHBS is a block off the strip behind the Flamingo. It's a 3 minute walk to the strip. If you go down to the bus office on Freemont St., you can buy a bus pass for a few bucks that allows unlimited bus rides. Most of the major casinos are right on the strip...but you will want to take the bus because a block out there is about a mile.

Incidently, DO NOT go to, from, or around the Stratisphere after dark. It adjoins the crackhead area of the city and you stand a very good chance of getting robbed in that part of town after dark. Be very careful in any area that there isn't a ton of people! There are LOTS of scumbags in Vegas!

Situational awareness is mandatory!

Quoted: If you are out to have more money to party. consider Sun Harbor Budget Suites on MLK Blvd. It'll run you a tad over $200.bucks for a week, and they have kitchenetts. Nice place...big pool...air-conditioned hot tubs. Quiet place. SHBS is a block off the strip behind the Flamingo. It's a 3 minute walk to the strip. If you go down to the bus office on Freemont St., you can buy a bus pass for a few bucks that allows unlimited bus rides. Most of the major casinos are right on the strip...but you will want to take the bus because a block out there is about a mile. Incidently, DO NOT go to, from, or around the Stratisphere after dark. It adjoins the crackhead area of the city and you stand a very good chance of getting robbed in that part of town after dark. Be very careful in any area that there isn't a ton of people! There are LOTS of scumbags in Vegas! Situational awareness is mandatory!

Thanks for the heads-up.

SInce this is our first time going, I'm wanting to stay in one of the big strip hotels for the experience.  Next time, though, the SHBS will get my vote.

Toby Kieth   ,

honkytonk saloon

Since everyone is giving you tips on where to stay, I'll give you a tip on
one of the best restaurants in Vegas. Make reservations for Hugo's Cellar
in the Four Queens hotel downtown. The service is fantastic and the food
is very, very good.

When we lived there, it was mine and my wifes favorite place to go for special
occasions and anniversaries.

You won't be disappointed if you go. Trust me.

Here is a link to the website:


http://www.hugoscellar.com/index.html


Herman
(Former Vegas resident, and amateur food conniseur)

Quoted: Since everyone is giving you tips on where to stay, I'll give you a tip on one of the best restaurants in Vegas. Make reservations for Hugo's Cellar in the Four Queens hotel downtown. The service is fantastic and the food is very, very good. When we lived there, it was mine and my wifes favorite place to go for special occasions and anniversaries. You won't be disappointed if you go. Trust me. Here is a link to the website: http://www.hugoscellar.com/index.html Herman (Former Vegas resident, and amateur food conniseur)

Pricey?  Yep.
Hole in the wall?  Yep.
DAMN good?  Oh yeah.  I was leery of this place when the wife suggested it to me.  We went, and I WILL be going back next time we're in Vegas.

Quoted: Trying to decide where to stay.  We'll be there for 5 days and 4 nights.  So far, I have the following recommendations from others who've been: Luxor MGM Grand Paris New York New York Any comments or additions are welcome. ETA:  I'm 29 and she's 28, so that may affect your input.  We're not retirees. ETA2:  This is our first time going.

You might want to check out the Nevada HTF.  They IIRC had a tacked thread about the good resorts/hotels to go to and ones that are, if you will, are "second amendment friendly."

My sister went to Vegas once, at 14, and stayed at Excalibur.  

Lots of good steakhouses too. The Palm at Ceasar's has an Elvis men's room attendant a few nights a week. That alone makes it worth the price.
My favorite place for steak is Del Frisco's. Great atmosphere, great food. They have a cigar lounge that is top-notch... lots of "tasteful" nudie art! The waitresses in the lounge are babes. If you go, ask to see the James Bond wine table... you'll be blown away.

FWIW - if you can establish even a $K line of credit, of course higher is better, book through the casino.  If you don't have a track record the line will at least get you casino rates.  If you gamble at all use your players card because it will get you comps and free nights.  If you are not going to play something like video poker (one dollar machines  min.) at least 3+ hours a day don't bother going through the casino.  A good executive casino host at Bellagio is Kerry Kelly -888-987-7887. If that interests you e-mail me and give you more info on Bellagio.  The new tower is great. I'll be there all next week!

My wife and I went in late june. Her first trip.

We stayed at the Venetian. She loved it. We actually got "comped" over to the Venezia. Whoo boy I'd like to thank that receptionist because I'm sure that room doubled my helpings of pie.

1. Venetian
2. Bellagio
3. Wynn (so low only cause it's new and prolly no real deals yet)
4. Mandalay Bay
5. Treasure Island(recently renovated)/MGM.

Don't take just the standard room, look at the lowest level suite. Trust me. Pie is good.

These can be big $ if you just randomly take the first deal. I got a really good deal, but I played a dangerous game. I called the Venetian direct very late on the night before we left and asked "Any specials this week?" The "deal" was way less than anything Expedia/Travelocity and even their own web page (and I was logged onto it at the time). And it really wasn't that dangerous, late June with no real major conventions (well Cisco Networkers which is the real reason I went out) but there were lots of rooms available at all the major strip hotels. Since I could easily book rooms at 4 or 5 on the web, (I checked before I called) I figured if I couldn't finagle a better rate, I could just move on to the second choice.

Monday thru Thursday night is usually cheapest. Rates go up over the weekend.

Don't listen to the conventional wisdom and "go cheap" on the room. Look around on the web sites and check out the pictures of the rooms. Staying in a dump doesn't add to the pie factor, and I'd rather be really comfortable in my room no matter how much time I'm in it.

EDIT:

+1 on the monorail. Walking the strip can be a pain especially if it's really hot/crowded. Monorail is not free anymore but it's way cheaper than a taxi. $20 = 10 rides.

When are you going?  Is this soon or a while off?  If it's soon, don't worry about the weather.  I was pleasantly surprised that it's not fatally hot over there.  

Hmm... let's see.  Don't stay at Circus, that's all I can say.  It's overrun with kids, obviously.  Each group had on average 5 kids, two in a stroller.  Actually, it wasn't that bad at all, if you can tolerate rambunctious children all around.  Its casino is pretty alright (ok so I only went to that and the Venetian so what do I know?).  My mom got a pretty good deal on our rooms, but we were stuck in the Manor rooms, so if you're staying at Circus, make sure to get a Standard room.  We were in the way back of the hotel, it seemed like we were walking a mile every time we wanted to go to the casino.  There's also a pretty nice buffet restaurant in there.  

What I would recommend is staying in the middle, if you're planning on strolling around the entire strip.  Also, when my mom, my brother and my fiancee went in June, we rented a car.  We went to Hoover Dam, and my fiancee and I wanted to take a helicopter ride over the dam and the city, but the day we had set aside for it, the winds were too high.  I'm sure it's worth the $30; I'd love to see the city from that view.

Also check out the Stratosphere tower, especially if you and your wife enjoy amusement park rides.  It's about 900 (?) feet high, and there's a roller coaster and three other rides.  Don't do the coaster, though, it was NOT worth the 10 bucks.  If you'd rather not do the rides, the view of the strip at night from the tower is absolutely beautiful.  I think the observation deck closes kinda early, though, but I'm not sure.  It gets dark in Vegas really early compared to here in Texas; I think it's not supposed to be in the Pacific time zone but is.  It's bright by six AM and dark by 8:30.

I really wanted to see Zumanity, too, but the tickets were pretty expensive (for my budget).  However, there's a ticket stand kinda like TKTS in NYC that sells discount tickets for the day of a show.  It's really close to Stardust, on the opposite side, close to the exotic car rental place.  There might be a few more, but that was the only one I saw.

Hope that helped.  I absolutely loved Vegas, and I can't wait to go back.  I'm trying to save money to go during the holidays (probably January) before school starts up again in the spring, though.

Quoted: When are you going?  Is this soon or a while off?  If it's soon, don't worry about the weather.  I was pleasantly surprised that it's not fatally hot over there.   Hmm... let's see.  Don't stay at Circus, that's all I can say.  It's overrun with kids, obviously.  Each group had on average 5 kids, two in a stroller.  Actually, it wasn't that bad at all, if you can tolerate rambunctious children all around.  Its casino is pretty alright (ok so I only went to that and the Venetian so what do I know?).  My mom got a pretty good deal on our rooms, but we were stuck in the Manor rooms, so if you're staying at Circus, make sure to get a Standard room.  We were in the way back of the hotel, it seemed like we were walking a mile every time we wanted to go to the casino.  There's also a pretty nice buffet restaurant in there.   What I would recommend is staying in the middle, if you're planning on strolling around the entire strip.  Also, when my mom, my brother and my fiancee went in June, we rented a car.  We went to Hoover Dam, and my fiancee and I wanted to take a helicopter ride over the dam and the city, but the day we had set aside for it, the winds were too high.  I'm sure it's worth the $30; I'd love to see the city from that view. Also check out the Stratosphere tower, especially if you and your wife enjoy amusement park rides.  It's about 900 (?) feet high, and there's a roller coaster and three other rides.  Don't do the coaster, though, it was NOT worth the 10 bucks.  If you'd rather not do the rides, the view of the strip at night from the tower is absolutely beautiful.  I think the observation deck closes kinda early, though, but I'm not sure.  It gets dark in Vegas really early compared to here in Texas; I think it's not supposed to be in the Pacific time zone but is.  It's bright by six AM and dark by 8:30. I really wanted to see Zumanity, too, but the tickets were pretty expensive (for my budget).  However, there's a ticket stand kinda like TKTS in NYC that sells discount tickets for the day of a show.  It's really close to Stardust, on the opposite side, close to the exotic car rental place.  There might be a few more, but that was the only one I saw. Hope that helped.  I absolutely loved Vegas, and I can't wait to go back.  I'm trying to save money to go during the holidays (probably January) before school starts up again in the spring, though.

Hey, thanks for your input.  We'll have to check out that view from the top of Stratosphere and maybe the helo ride as well.  Sounds like a blast.

Back in the summer of '89 when I was 13-and-a-half, my family drove from Ft. Hood, TX to LA.  We passed through LV and stayed at Circus-Circus.  Man, it looked old back then so I hope they've remodeled.

So if you're sold on the strip, NY NY is nice, as most of the others.

If you are willing to stay downtown you can get some very nice rooms for
very little money.

I stay at Four Queens regularly. If you ask for an upgraded room you can get
some very nice digs for decent $$$.

I've also had good luck with Golden Nugget downtown.

I prefer to gamble not sightsee so downtown works out better for me anyway.

If you stay downtown you must eat dinner at Hugos Cellar under the Four Queens.

This is one of the best steak houses I have ever been to bar none. It's older but man,
I've never had a better dining experience period.

Hugo's Cellar

Do the hot rock steak thing, very cool.  

If you want to do the shows, you have to see Blue Man, Penn and Teller, or Zumanity.
Outstanding

If you're looking to be in the center of the strip, check out the Flamingo, Bellagio, Caesar's area.  All the worthwhile sites are within walking distance from that area.  

The Bellagio is the only place for me. It is "for grown folks". Very little flash, but comfortable and classy at the same time. You can find me at the Bachrach Bar sipping scotch, and listening to live jazz.

[email protected]

Venetian - All rooms are suites.

It is fantastic.

I stayed at the MGM the last four times I was at Vegas.   No complaints at all!  

"Have a Grand day!"