Las Vegas

[claretburns]

Sounds fun, what did you decide to do? Is it good for kids?

I’ve been before but when I was much younger. Besides Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon & shows, much else?

And is it expensive? Just heard some horrendous things about New York being $20 for two Starbucks & $40 for two G&Ts.

It is extremely busy as you can imagine on the streets and as you walk around so could be tricky keeping an eye on the kids but there is plenty for them to do and you to do as a family.

We did the following over the week:

Blue Man Group Show - A comedy/music show
Banachek - An illusionist show (suitable for kids) I actually got called on stage.
Go Karting
Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon
Casino night (Mainly because it was cheaper having a couple of bets with the free drinks than finding a bar for a drink).
Historic Car Museum
Sex Museum (Definitely not child friendly)
Hunger Games Exhibition
FlyOver (Probably the thing I recommend the most)
The Wheel
Ziplining
Fremont Street
Mob Museum
Pool morning (We needed a couple of hours to relax)

Plus more.

I would recommend getting the Deuce bus pass $20 for 3 days, goes from the Airport all down the Strip to Fremont Street and it is jump on and off.

If you are going off the Strip get an Uber, things seem close but you'll be walking a lot especially in the current heat they have.

We got a "GoCity" pass which gives you free entry into a lot of things plus a "premium pass" for one activity it was $250 per person but worked out much cheaper than paying for the passes individually. In our group we took about $2000 each, I have come home with $1200, it is definitely a lot cheaper if you avoid the hotels for eating/drinking, there are plenty of restaurants/bars on the Strip or on side streets next to the strip which are more than reasonably priced.

You can take your own drinks into casinos etc recommend buying any alcohol from the shop (can find 6 pint cans of Corona for $12) rather than pay $55 for 6 coronas inside (obviously you don't need to buy corona just an example of the price difference).

For coffees in the morning etc we stayed at The Mirage and it was $6 each for a large Latte/Cappucino each morning from Starbucks.

[BennyD]

If you couldn’t stand the place how come you been many times?

I used to fly airliners there. Even when our (very nice) hotel was paid for and we got £100 a day allowances, the standard 6 day lay-over was a pain in the butt. I had my regular pub that showed Prem football, so I used to spend my time in there. The rest of it sucked.

[California Colner]

Vegas is expensive

[BennyD]

Vegas is expensive

It has to be to build and maintain all those billion dollar resorts. Most of them are greatly subsidised by gambling losses from the mug punters that flock there.

[Tim Burr]

I guess Vegas is a place to either like or dislike, it's certainly different. I went as a speaker at a conference a few years ago and was surprised by how different it is. The airport is full of slot machines, so on arrival you are immediately alerted to how different it is. I stayed entirely in the conference hotel at the event so can't speak to anything outside that. When the Clarets came on their last USA tour after the Wembly win they visited several US cities and played several games, so the best of both worlds.

[NewClaret]

It is extremely busy as you can imagine on the streets and as you walk around so could be tricky keeping an eye on the kids but there is plenty for them to do and you to do as a family.

We did the following over the week:

Blue Man Group Show - A comedy/music show
Banachek - An illusionist show (suitable for kids) I actually got called on stage.
Go Karting
Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon
Casino night (Mainly because it was cheaper having a couple of bets with the free drinks than finding a bar for a drink).
Historic Car Museum
Sex Museum (Definitely not child friendly)
Hunger Games Exhibition
FlyOver (Probably the thing I recommend the most)
The Wheel
Ziplining
Fremont Street
Mob Museum
Pool morning (We needed a couple of hours to relax)

Plus more.

I would recommend getting the Deuce bus pass $20 for 3 days, goes from the Airport all down the Strip to Fremont Street and it is jump on and off.

If you are going off the Strip get an Uber, things seem close but you'll be walking a lot especially in the current heat they have.

We got a "GoCity" pass which gives you free entry into a lot of things plus a "premium pass" for one activity it was $250 per person but worked out much cheaper than paying for the passes individually. In our group we took about $2000 each, I have come home with $1200, it is definitely a lot cheaper if you avoid the hotels for eating/drinking, there are plenty of restaurants/bars on the Strip or on side streets next to the strip which are more than reasonably priced.

You can take your own drinks into casinos etc recommend buying any alcohol from the shop (can find 6 pint cans of Corona for $12) rather than pay $55 for 6 coronas inside (obviously you don't need to buy corona just an example of the price difference).

For coffees in the morning etc we stayed at The Mirage and it was $6 each for a large Latte/Cappucino each morning from Starbucks.

Massive thanks for this claretburns and sorry for the delay replying - wanted to research some of the things you’d posted about.

That’s completely changed my perspective on going to Vegas. I think I’ll give it a go, although may leave it until the kids are a tad older and we can leave them while trying the casino’s.

Having thought about it, I don’t think I’ve ever been inside a casino in my life (have vague recollections of being turned away from one for being too drunk in Manchester once - that’s the closest I’ve come!). Anyway, what’s the position with drinks - you said they’re free but you can also take your own? Never imagined you could walk around a casino with a 12 pack under your arm or swigging a bottle of vodka

Prices do sound much more reasonable than what my friend told me about New York. He also said that tips were recommended to be 28% there! Is that right? I never know what to do with tips!

[claretburns]

Massive thanks for this claretburns and sorry for the delay replying - wanted to research some of the things you’d posted about.

That’s completely changed my perspective on going to Vegas. I think I’ll give it a go, although may leave it until the kids are a tad older and we can leave them while trying the casino’s.

Having thought about it, I don’t think I’ve ever been inside a casino in my life (have vague recollections of being turned away from one for being too drunk in Manchester once - that’s the closest I’ve come!). Anyway, what’s the position with drinks - you said they’re free but you can also take your own? Never imagined you could walk around a casino with a 12 pack under your arm or swigging a bottle of vodka

Prices do sound much more reasonable than what my friend told me about New York. He also said that tips were recommended to be 28% there! Is that right? I never know what to do with tips!

No problem NewClaret, happy to help with the tips from my own experience.

To be fair you cannot avoid the casinos, from the hotel lobby areas we looked at once checking in to get the elevators to the rooms you need to walk through the casino and then back through to get out on the Strip.

We never tried walking through and being in the casino we a big case of beers, which we couldn't find in the shops anyway, biggest "case/multipack" we could find were 4 cans but they did offers when buying 6 or 8 cans/bottles individually. We either put our spares on ice in our hotel room and nipped up for a new drink when ready or kept them in our bags and no one stopped us.

We stayed at The Mirage and also spent a few hours at the pool but once again I recommend bringing in your own drinks, which you're allowed to do, rather than buying from the bar at the pool.

When we ate out there was the option of tips on receipts which ranged from 10% up to 35%, we had no issue in tipping staff as I know in America that a lot of employment, especially in a Vegas setting rely on tips, however if we did have a poor server or a rude one we wouldn't tip anything and didn't have any issues in not doing so.

The person we would definitely tip would be the servers in the casinos, we'd get 4 drinks in our group, tip $5 or $10 but as the server knew we tipped they kept coming back but only need to tip for the 1st round, then the rest was free.

A couple of friends who were there with me had been New York prior and said Vegas was a lot cheaper than New York which also backs up what your friend told you about New York.