It really depends on what you want from the trip mate. There's a few questions that need answering:

When are you going?
How long are you there for?
Do you want to gamble?
Are you booking a package or doing it independently?
Is there anything in particular you want to do or avoid?

Most people would say stay centre strip as it's your first time. This makes it easier to get around the hotels. However, that restricts which hotels you could stay at if you are on a budget. I personally don't think that staying North or South strip restricts you that much as it's easy enough and relatively cheap to travel up and down the strip anyway.

As far as trips go, what trips do you mean?

Grand Canyon - I would advise a helicopter trip. Most people rate Maverick and Papillon highly. I booked mine before I went on holiday - you can sometimes save a little money by booking online. Google either of those above to find prices.

For most other places to visit around Vegas, such as Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and the shopping outlets etc, I think it's better to hire a car and drive there (cheaper too).

You can get a lot of Vegas info by searching previous threads on Vegas. There's a lot of Vegas vets on here! (Not the animal kind of vets)!

Cheers,

TC

I can really add to TeeCee's post. I would agree with using the Search to find previous posts so you get a good feel for things.

I woud suggest centre strip for a first visit and if you can give us an idea of $/per night you are looking to pay for the hotel we can much better advise you.

luci

book all your trips on line before you go it will save loads of time when your there

I have to say that the best position on the Strip as far as I am concerned is in front of a VP machine with a "free" Bud in my hand

My favourite strip hotel is Bill's because it is dead centre to lots of things. It is\right across from Bally's, Bellagio and Caesar's but without the high prices. (I have had Bally's for $50 per night though.)

We didn't bother with the GC for 9 trips. Did it on our 10th. Will possibly go back sometime.

We rent a car for a few days and do it ourselves. The helicopters are out of the question for us because my SO refuses to set foot in one. We drove to GC and spent about 30 hours there including sleeping. It was good to see sunrise and sunset. It looks very different at different times of day.
Other good trips are Red Rocks, Spring Mountain Ranch and Valley of Fire. Don't bother with the Bonnie Springs Old Nevada. It is $20 and NOT worth it.

Here is a link to my TR of the three places.

Here is a report of our GC visit.

Don't bog yourself down with strip position too much, Vegas is a very easy place to get around whether by Monorail, taxi, walking, Deuce bus etc etc. You will probably find when you get down to the nitty gritty that prices will dictate, i.e. for me it was very hard to turn down the $69 per night deal I got at the MGM in August, despite the fact we had stayed there less than a year previous.

First time is all about exploration and sussing Vegas out. If you like it (who doesn't?), 2nd time onwards then you start thinking more about which areas of the strip you spent the most amount of time around and book accordingly. For us, we have stayed literally in the hotels around the Tropicana Avenue area of the strip (Luxor, Excalibur, NYNY and MGM) and we spend a lot of time in those casinos, but then again somebody else might spend more time in mid strip, so staying at TI, Mirage, Venetian etc might be a better bet. For the first time visitor, it doesn't really matter too much. Decide on a budget and see what you can get.

As for trips, as TC has pointed out a car would be good to see the sights closer to Vegas but the GC is a long drive away, so a pleasure flight or helicopter trip would be the best bet. There are Hoover Dam tours in varying lengths, but it is a short drive from Vegas and you could incorporate it with Lake Mead, Valley of Fire and Red Rock Canyon (that would be some day). Hiring a car is easy as most car hire firms have offices in the hotels, and the hardest part is negotiating your way out of the self park garage. Driving in Vegas itself is a doddle, but it can be slow going at times. If you do decide to hire a car and do a day trip like the sort I have mentioned above, get an early start. You won't regret it.

Fire away with any other Q's....