Hi, all. Niece will be in the Miss America pageant, so we (me, wife & teenage son/daughter) are making a late January trip to Vegas! I've never been to LV before (wife has, many years ago) and I am trying to research the place. So I will likely be posting questions here and there from time-to-time.

Where To Stay: Other members of our extended family making the trip have indicated they will be staying at Circus Circus. The reason? Cost + kids activites (several kids; ages range from 13 to 17).

These two issues are of concern to me (we will definitely be on a budget), but I do not want them to be the only deciding factor. Having never been to Vegas (and not knowing when I might return again), I want to make the best of my trip.

After reading comments about Circus Circus at several sites, I cannot help but be concerned with its general condition. I am not looking for luxury, but I'd prefer not to stay some place that is "run down", too.

Convenience may also be a factor. Wife and I both enjoy some gambling (primarily blackjack or poker; not big slots players, and don't do craps) and we will want to hit a few of the larger casinos. And since the pageant is at the Aladdin, that may be a factor as well (albeit that's but one night for us).

So my question to this board: Where would you recommend someone on a budget stay that is convenient to the strip and might hold ativities for teenage kids?

Well, I can understand why Circus Circus would be the first place that comes to mind. There is noting wrong with visiting CC for a days activities either. Even besides the general apperance of the place it has a few drawbacks. One, is it's location to the Aladdin, it's just about as far away from the Aladdin as you can get and still be on the strip. Two, the constant drain on your wallet. Those kids activities, are not free, by any means. The midway games alone a real pain in your wallet, then if they do win a giant stuffed gorilla.....how do you get it home? Third, keep in mind the kid factor, lots of kids! You mentioned they are 13 and 17, and while I'm sure they have thier momments (as all kids do) I'm sure them you can deal with. Do you want to deal with infants on up screaming and acting up?
I'm going to throw this in as well, it's my recomendation, that you do not turn the kids loose. This is a big city, and like all big cities there are bad people in them. This is not ment to scare you but be warned. Please take the same care with your childern as you would in NY or Chicago. These hotels are big and you can't count of security cameras to keep them safe.
I'd recomend a place where you yourself can enjoy spending time with friends and family.
I gotta go to work now, I'll cont. this later today.....sorry, duty calls

Welcome to TalkVegas, Andrew ... we love questions here! I'm also heading out to work, but I have a few questions for you that might help with our answers later. For starters, are you flying or driving to Las Vegas? If flying, are you planning on renting a car? Are you comfortable driving in a large city or would be more comfortable leaving the driving to someone else? Will your priority be seeing the sights or spending time with family you haven't seen for a while? (or a combination of both<g>)

We all have a budget, but you may be pleasantly surprised at how much hotel room you can get for your budget dollars, especially when compared to other large cities! If flying, some airlines have good combo deals on flight and rooms. Will your trip be during the week or on the weekend - that can make a big difference on prices!

Lee made a good point - entertainment for those teenagers can add up! However, there are also some coupons readily available to help with those costs. For example, I took my teenage nephews with me a couple of years ago, and they made very good use of all-day passes at Sahara and half-price offers at GameWorks.

You'll find we love sharing Vegas experiences here! We all have different interests, budgets and priorities in our visits and we learn a lot from each other, so I hope you write a trip report when you return so we can learn from your experiences there. I'd also suggest your read a few stories in our Trip Report forum that might help you narrow down what you want to see and do on your trip.

Hi Andrew,

I think the Gold Coast could be the perfect place for you. You should find the room rates reasonable, theres good dining choices, a decent pool, and shuttle service to the strip.

If you're set on being on the strip, you might want to try the Imperial Palace.

Another welcome, Andrew - and congratulations to your niece! What state is she representing?

If you feel you must stay at Circus Circus to be near the other family members staying there, don't despair. I stayed there for a conference several years ago. Make sure you get a tower room (not one of the motel type rooms in back) The tower rooms are actually very nice.

The casino itself is a zoo. And the buffet stinks. The coffee shop is "okay" and the steak house (pricey) and mexican restaurant are good.

But the location is not my favorite. Its too far from the main strip attractions, its too close to where the street traffic gets a little "dicey" - don't want to walk past the Stratosphere.

If you're driving a car location becomes less of an issue.

If you can swing the rate, you might just stay at the Aladdin. Just down the street is Gameworks Arcade.

Another good location with a good price is the Orleans. Yes, its off-strip - but probably closer to Aladdins and mid strip attractions than Circus Circus!

While it does not have the (Small, expensive) amusement park that they have at Circus Circus, it does have bowling lanes and a multi-plex movie theatre, very reasonable rates, good restaurants, and a free shuttle to the strip - to its sister property, Barbary Coast (a short walk to Aladdins)

A lot of us here are Orleans fans.

I do like the Imperial Palace, but you will find absolutely Nothing on-site for the teens. But - it is a fabulous location, easy to walk to lots of stuff that might interest them.

About pools - I think you'll find many pools closed in January. Not really pool season, so don't expect to spend kid time at the pool

Andrew - I also welcome you to TalkVegas and hope you enjoy your first trip to Vegas in January!

I really would stay away from Circus-Circus. It's old and in need of an update. Quite honestly, it smells from a carpet which should have been replaced (or at least cleaned) a decade ago. As Lee said, it's LOADED with kids - small kids, big kids, mobs of them. The place is like a maze and hard to get around. And the location is really bad.

My recommendation is Excalibur on the south Strip. It's very kid/family friendly and one of the better bargains for a south Strip location. Here you have easy access to New York-New York, MGM Grand, and Luxor - all of these have lots of things to do for kids 13-17. There's no need for a car. There's a nice food court with plenty of choices. Lots of blackjack with good table limits. Also expanded their poker area. It's also within walking distance to Aladdin.

I've heard some complaints on this board about the quality of the rooms but I think it's worth a shot.

Andrew, Me again <g>
My friends here have mentioned most of my choices for what your looking for. The Excaliber is probably one step up from Circus Circus. Orleans & gold coast both have shuttles to the strip, and are clean and less of a hussel & bussel place. Decent dinning choices as well.
If I were a 17yr old (and Sharon says I act more like her 12 year old at times) I think New York New York would be great. But I'm not sure what kind of prices they would be publishing for that time of year. Nice arcade anyway. The roller coaster is quite the thing as well, and just across the street is GameWorks!
Just remember, it's a very large city, and they have the same problems as all large cities. Keep an eye on the kids, and your valuables. But lots of people live there 24/7 and raise wonderful childern, and there are lots of things for them to see and do as well.
If you have anything we can help with, ask away, this is what we are here for.
Oh......and please excuse my lack of manners.....WELCOME TO TALKVEGAS!

We did a family reunion trip to Las Vegas a few years ago and my family used the Orleans as the hotel of choice. We had kids from 8 to 14 and it worked well. All the things to do as Kestral said plus multiple types of resturants so almost always something for everyone (kids liked the ice cream shop as they could enjoy a treat and watch mom and dad play the slots). Besides the cost we chose the Orleans due to room size (450 square feet).

One potential idea for a place to stay if you have a timeshare(RCI, maybe others too) would be the Jockey Club. It is right across from the Aladdin. We had some family stay there and it was a great meet location for everyone. Everyone gathered here for select meals (each family took turns cooking so it did not fall on the people staying there all the time). You would have to walk to any activities (gambling, gameworks for kids, etc), but location may work well for your group.

Best of luck to your niece. Please do let us know which state she will represent so we can root for her.

how many nites andrew and could you give us some idea of what budget area we are talking about.as an example a family of 4 for food and walking around money about 2oo dollars a day,add a gambling budget,drinks and something other than hotdogs to eat maybe400 a day.but you will have a great time in vegas.my vote of hotel-excaliber,price and location and plenty of things for the kids to do in the area and easy walk to aladdin

Great info, everyone. I will try to answer some of your questions:

> are you flying or driving to Las Vegas? If flying, are you planning on renting a car? Are you comfortable driving in a large city or would be more comfortable leaving the driving to someone else?

We are flying from Atlanta, and I suspect we will be renting a car at least part of our stay. If you are at all familiar with traffic in Atlanta, I'm guessing that driving in Vegas will be part of my vacation :-)

> Will your priority be seeing the sights or spending time with family you haven't seen for a while? (or a combination of both<g>)

My focus will be to see the local sights, and possibly take in a quick trip to the Grand Canyon (with it so close, I have to make the best of a great opportunity).

> Will your trip be during the week or on the weekend - that can make a big difference on prices!

We are planning a Saturday to Wednesday stay. The pageant is Monday evening, and our return trip will be an all-day event. So we've decided to take an extra day.

> Lee made a good point - entertainment for those teenagers can add up! However, there are also some coupons readily available to help with those costs. For example, I took my teenage nephews with me a couple of years ago, and they made very good use of all-day passes at Sahara and half-price offers at GameWorks.

Excellent information! That's the kind of info I hoped to get here. As mentioned, my wife and I hope to get some gambling in, and I will definitely want suggestions on how to occupy the kids in a safe and somewhat inexpensive way (if that is even possible). Not sure this board's policy for off topic discussions (this topic is for lodging info, right?) so perhaps it's best to discuss under another topic category?

> About pools - I think you'll find many pools closed in January. Not really pool season, so don't expect to spend kid time at the pool

Thanks for the tip. Wasn't really expecting anyone would want to take to the pool, but not really familiar with the January weather there as well (I hear it gets hot in the summer, but what about winter?)


Now, about hotels:

Circus Circus
- Price: 84.95/41.95 (Sat/Sun,Mon,Tue)
- Location: 2.9 miles from Aladdin

Excalibur
- Price: 161/81
- Location: 1 mile from Aladdin

The Orleans
- Price: 125/70
- Location: 2.3 miles from Aladdin

Gold Coast
- Price: 90/50
- Location: 1.8 miles from Aladdin

Imperial Palace
- Price: 142/133
- Location: 1 mile from Aladdin

(all prices from hotel's web site)

Gold Coast looks to be very close to Circus Circus prices and is ranked much higher on http://tripadvisor.com/ (#30 vs. #118).

I have another question: While browsing TripAdvisor, I came across a property called Casino Royale. Anyone have an opinion on it? Also, as I mentioned, my wife has been to Vegas once. She stayed at the Flamingo, and says she might be interested in returning. Your comments on these properties would be great!

Thanks again,

Andrew

ps. Oh, niece is representing South Carolina.

I'll let the locals respond about January weather. Let's just say that if you are native Georgians, Las Vegas in January is going to seem mighty chilly to you.

But - about that Grand Canyon idea. When you say a "quick trip" - do you mean that you would only visit the canyon itself for a short amount of time? It's closer to Vegas than to Atlanta, but its not close. Unless you are springing for one of those $$ flights to the Grand Canyon, I would not encourage it. Also, In January, parts of the Canyon can - and will - be closed due to snow. And even the close part - the south rim - you are talking a very, very full day of driving.

I know its not the GC but you might instead consider Red Rock Canyon - only about 40 minutes away - to see some interesting desert rock areas, with walking/hiking trails. Plan on it being a bit cooler than in Las Vegas. Valley of Fire is supposed to be beautiful, about an hour away (is that right?) and I don't know how it will be weather wise in January. And you can throw Hoover Dam into the mix, too (board members have been encouraging me that Valley of Fire & Hoover Dam are a good combo)

About hotels: there's a saying around here that there is no reservation to be made unless it can be broken. Which means, when you find a rate you can live with, book it directly with the hotel. Then keep looking for rates to drop. You can usually just call the hotel and rebook at the lower rate.

In the meantime, sign up for every online guest book at the websites of the hotels you're interested in. You should start getting emails with some reduced offers.

Casino Royale - I would not stay there - especially with kids. Very small, no restaurant, no amenities, all the rooms very close to the casino (good for gamblers, bad for kids) But I have enjoyed gambling there!

Of your hotels listed, I think you should choose between Orleans and Excaliber. Orleans - bigger rooms (especially if you're all in one room), free shuttle to the strip, some kid activities. Excaliber, easy walking to kid activities (gameworks, lions at MGM, Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay etc) and close to NYNY and MGM, both which have pretty good food courts when you need to save on meal money.

And - I used to live in Atlanta. You will have no trouble with Vegas driving (other than its a town full of driving tourists!)

Blast ... work is really getting in my way this week<g>.

I asked about the car & driving because I had one of the Station Casinos in the back of my mind, but they are farther out and wouldn't save any money compared to the Orleans - the pick of the litter IMHO, with the Gold Coast in second place. The Orleans advantage is more kid friendly. The rooms are about the same at both properties (ie, very nice), but the Orleans has a large arcade upstairs, and a movie theatre. They both have bowling also. I do prefer eating at the Gold Coast, but that is just my taste - I feel their food is a consistant step up from the Orleans, and the prices are consistanty lower too . For the adults, both properties also have much better gaming than the others on your list. Circus is just that - a circus<g>, which is fine for families with small children but can drive the rest of us crazy. With the rest of your list, you'd be paying more for much less room quality than you'd find at Gold Coast or Orleans.

Just for the fun of it, I plugged the dates of 1/20/07 to 1/24/07 in at Expedia -for flight/room/rental car - and the price difference between Orleans and Gold Coast almost disappeared! It came out $1734 for the Gold Coast and $1758 at the Orleans -for a family of 4 flying American, with a Hertz economy rental car - and it would be about $6/day to bump that car up to a midsize. I have no idea what Atlanta flights are normally or even if you have your air tickets already - I just like playing with numbers<vbg>.

About those coupons - there are a lot of links on our home page, and one of them in the "Las Vegas Links" section is for "Billhere coupons." You can have a lot of fun shopping in there! He charges a handling fee, ranging from a minimum of around $8 to a maximum around $12, but I ordered a ton of coupons for my nephews trip and probably saved $150-200.

Making a day trip down to Grand Canyon would be a tough day! I know the Senator has done that trip and can give you more info. I took an air/bus combo a few years back, 8 hours total time but rather expensive for a family since it's over $225 per person. A couple of alternatives to check out would be Red Rock and Vally of Fire.

Oh, about staying on topic - we're not really too tight on that.

I'm not sure how the Gold Coast got thrown into your plans. It's kinda smokey and should not be considered kid friendly.

I would suggest in this order...

Excaliber. Very kid friendly. Good proximity to your needs.
MGM. Family friendlly, great proximity to all your needs. May be expensive.
Aladdin. Family friendly. May be expensive. Will probably be changed to Planet Hollywood by the time you get there.
New York New York. Family friendly and teen friendly. Good proximity to all of your needs.
Luxor. Family friendly. Located on the far side of Excaliber.
Orleans. Family friendly at a lesser location. The shuttle bus to the strip doesn't cater to your needs. You'd still need a cab or be ready for a long walk.
Monte Carlo. Family friendly. Very close to Aladdin.
CircusCircus. They named it right. The only other name that would fit would be ZooZoo. While there aren't any wild animals, the place is an unorganized mess that kids love. There is an indoor theme park called Adventure dome, as well as midway, and circus acts.

The traffic is horrible on the strip during prime times. It's like stop and go traffic, but there is very little go. It's not unusual to take an hour to get 3 miles from one end of the strip to the other end. Alternate routes can shave it down to about half the time. If you get caught up in it, you might as well use the time to look at the sights.(everyone else is)

It will be winter. No chance of a freak 80 degree day. Snow won't last long if it does fall. It might rain and it might be windy which will make it seem colder. Dress in layers to adjust for casino, restaurant, events, car, and outside, temps. Sometimes walking from casino to casino can be refreshing. Other times you will want a cab to go next door.

Casino Royale, forget about it.

I don't the Grand Canyon would be the best idea for the reasons Kes mentioned. Your best Grand Canyon option would be the last 30 mintues of the flight. Red Rock Canyon is a quick sampling of various rock formations in the area. I think it costs $5 per car for a 17 mile drive.

Another attraction for the teens might be snowboarding. Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard is less than an hour drive at Mt Charleston. It is more of a snowboard place than ski place.

A trip to the Stratosphe might be fun for the teens during the daylight hours. It's a very tall tower with an observation deck, and a few thrill rides outside on top of the tower. It might be too cold for the thrill rides.

There is an ESPN Game Zone in NYNY.

Gameworks is between the Aladdin and MGM

A multi movie theater is between Gameworks and MGM.

Good Luck!

JMT - what a great suggestion about the snowboarding! I never would have thought of that, being from the land of snow everywhere - but this is an Atlanta family, right?


Andrew, you wrote: "My wife and I hope to get some gambling in, and I will definitely want suggestions on how to occupy the kids in a safe and somewhat inexpensive way"

How old are your kids again (2of them, right?) Are you thinking of turning them loose on their own while you and your wife gamble? Depending on their age, the only way to do that Might be to send them to a movie. Otherwise you and the wife might have to do shifts.

What do they do on their own in Atlanta? Do they go downtown on their own - or to Underground Atlanta?

I really don't have much to add here.
Although I'd also like to add my 2 cents in the fact that Casino Royale would be a bad choice.

I'm probably one of the few here on this BB that have stayed in the Flamingo recently. (since Harrahs took over) It is what it is, an older hotel, passed it's prime, with most of the charm long worn off. The pool area is great, but the crowds in the summer time ruin even that asspect. The Penguins are cute and still there, but I can't remember when feeding time is. I still have a few friends that work there, but rarely visit anymore.

Hotel arcades, most have closing times, they are not 24/7.
You could do a day of the fre 5 min. wonders of Las Vegas. A lot of the casinos have free shows, TI has the sirens show, Ceasars has the statues in the mall, The Volcano at the Mirage, the Bellagio fountains to music, SamsTown lazer show, Lions at MGM, fremont street exp. downtown, Rio the parade in the sky, the car musuem at Imperial Palace (Small charge). I'm sure there are more, they are just not coming to my mind today.

What about package deals? Many airlines as well as many internet travel sites offer flight/hotel packages. My friend from Michigan just booked a package deal that was cheaper than airfare alone.

Decisions, decisions, - and another welcome to TALK VEGAS. There is alot of good ideas and suggestions above - however; once you are there, get out and explore the area as much as possible, you will find it not only fun, but also educational, and you should definately find something to your taste and budget. Good luck in the competition and have a blast!!

I would agree do not stay at Circus Circus or Casino Royal. Excalibur and Orleans are nice and do have a lot of activities.

No one mentioned staying at the Luxor. They have an entertainment level and I think a great atmosphere. Also close to Excalibur, NYNY, MGM.

For family activities just walk the strip and see all the hotels and free attractions. The valcano at the Mirage, fountains in Forum shops at Ceasars, Sirens of TI.

You can also pay to see the Secret gardens at the Mirage, Shark tank at Mandolay Bay, etc..
As stated above review some of the old trip reports and review comments on shows and food to maybe help select activites.

And as everyone else has said welcome to Talkvegas, Enjoy your trip and be safe! Vegas is a great place but all great places have a few idiots.

The Grand Canyon is a 275 mile drive one way from Vegas. If you can handle a 550 mile round trip drive, plus visiting the GC in one day, then give it a try.

Be aware in January that there is a very good chance that you will encounter snow on the roads around Kingman, AZ and all across I-40 up to the GC.

I would recommend making it a 2 day 1 night trip if you are really set on seeing the GC. There are hotels along the South Rim, a little pricey or for more of a bargain, back into the town of Williams, AZ.

Andrew,

Welcome to TalkVegas!! We(four adults) did take a one day trip from LV to the Grand Canyon. We had two drivers and were totally exhausted when we rolled back into town at 10:30 p.m.. My suggestion would be a two-day excursion. If time is an issue, there are so many other day trips that would be enjoyable. I would place Valley of Fire high on that list for a day trip. If walking is no problem, I believe both adults and children could have a good time.

Whatever you decide, I wish you a great trip to our favorite city.