What's wrong with staying outside of Vegas? We can visit many of the hotels without having to stay in them. I try to avoid Motel 6 unless I'm really desperate (or broke!). Well, the latter is partly true so perhaps I should consider it. lol

Anyhow, I think we may stay outside of Vegas and just drive in/out. It's what I did last time I was there. Unless I get a huge Christmas bonus... that could change things!

If you plan to have a few drinks then staying on the strip is obviously best and easiest. If you're not bothered about drinking then it'll certainly be cheaper staying outside of Vegas. I went to a concert at South Point in September when I was out there and it looked like a nice hotel......not sure how much it is though!

TC

They had a very unusual 6 inches of snow in Las Vegas yesterday...

Yeah, we did in some areas near here (LA) too. That's a bit of a worry as my car is rear wheel drive!

Grey what about booking into Harrahs on the strip for $95 a night.

I stayed in Venetian, Wynn and also Harrahs last month and ok the rooms in Harrahs were not like Venetian or Wynn but we had the most fun in Harrahs, sraff were great and the Piano bar in Harrahs makes it worth staying there and next year we will be heading direct to Harrahs

John

I ended up booking two nights at the Hilton, plus some magic show at the Tropicana (not sure if it's any good but anything that features white tigers and only costs $22 can't be bad in my book!). It was $98 a night at the Hilton for an upgraded room plus $25 in casino chips.

Hilton is ideal, because you can also use the Monorail to get to the strip and have a few drinks if you like (if you do drink...maybe you don't since you intended driving).

Also if you drink wine or beer, Hilton buffet includes 'unlimited' wine and beer that you go up to a small bar and get those from a guy who serves there. I quite liked the buffet!

I would think the magic show is Dirk Arthur at the Tropicana. We saw him in August and if you peel away the cheese I actually found it to be an enjoyable afternoon show and much much cheaper than some of the alternatives in Vegas. If it is this show, make sure you get there early. Judging from the price you paid you will probably get general admission in the 2nd block of seats (good views) but the seating layout is very peculiar in this theatre and has long tables with seats facing in, i.e. like a wedding set up, so if you get there late you stand the chance of having to crane your neck the whole performance. We queued up early and got seats right at the front of the block and then spun our chairs around to face the stage. I'm sure for the price you really don't care that much, but it is a very strange set up.

Hilton is a good choice and a decent price. Enjoy!!!

I'm back from my Vegas trip. I believe there are two Hiltons in Vegas? I saw another hotel with a big "H" on it and assumed it was the Hilton. We stayed at the bigger/newer one near the Stratosphere. The hotel was very nice, no complaints at all. I found two types of slot machines I really liked! I managed to limit myself to $100-ish (okay maybe a bit more!).

Yes, the magic show was Dirk Arthur at the Tropicana. You are right: the theater layout was odd and our seats weren't particularly good. Some of the tricks were decent but the whole act was a bit cheesy and Dirk seemed to think rather a lot of himself. Anyway, for $22 a person I guess you get what you pay for. The last trick was quite impressive (it made my girlfriend jump and nearly spill her drink!) and it was nice to see the big cats. Oh, and the Tropicana looked like a dump. I imagine that many people here are already aware of this fact but I wouldn't want to stay there.

As we were only in Vegas from Friday evening until Sunday lunchtime, we didn't have time to go in many of the hotels. We had dinner at this Italian restaurant in the Excalibur on Saturday night and we also went into the Body exhibition in the Luxor. I was keen on checking out the Titanic exhibition too but was already choking back the tears caused by the $68 ($34 each) price tag for the Body thing. I also wanted to go into the Star Trek Experience but ran out of time (it's not much of an excuse really seeing how the Experience was in the hotel we were staying at).

We took the elevator to the top of the Stratosphere too. The view is probably better at night but it would be difficult to take photos at night. They don't allow tripods up there, which I would understand if it was a glass floor but it isn't. Maybe it's to stop somebody from swinging a tripod into one of the windows and breaking it? I don't know. But yeah, without a tripod I can't imagine a night photo coming out very well unless you have a very steady hand! But the views were great during the day too.

The worst part of the trip was the traffic on the way there. I wasn't sure what the traffic would be like on Boxing Day. It's not a holiday here but, of course, it's still the day after Christmas and you never know. Anyhow, it took us 7 hours to get from LA to Vegas when it should be do-able in 5 hours max. The traffic was better coming back but was a nightmare around Primm. The traffic was heavy anyway (averaging about 20mph around Primm) and a traffic light problem by the I15 freeway entrance in Primm didn't help matters. People illegally using the shoulder as a fourth freeway lane also made the situation interesting.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed Vegas... certainly more than last time I went. I can now see why some people fly there from LA, even though it's not that far away, just to avoid the traffic. Still, I do like having my own car there so I'd probably drive it again. I can now also see why a lot of people can spend a week or two there. If you go to shows and exhibitions, there would easily be enough to do in a week. Of course, that also means spending a lot more money... maybe next year!

Glad you enjoyed your trip better this time. To be honest the first couple of times we visited Vegas we were in awe of the place and basically spent a week each time walking up and down the strip looking at all the hotels (and visiting the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam). Subsequent trips have seen us book more shows (afternoon shows are always good value), hire a car and head out to Red Rock Canyon, Quad Biking in Valley of Fire and take in the hotels and casinos off the strip. There is plenty enough to keep someone occupied for 10 days minimum in Vegas in my honest opinion, and that could just mean on strip, add in some trips further afield and you've got yourself a tidy 2 week holiday. Of course you also have to factor in a gambling budget as well, so it will never be a particularly cheap trip to Vegas, but one thing is guaranteed, it will be fun!!!

Shame the traffic was bad. We drove it from Anaheim once in about 5hrs, but the last few times when we have flown into LAX we have just hopped on a Southwest flight to Vegas. I think it took 45mins last time!!!

The Star Trek Experience is closed. It closed in August and as far as I know there are no plans to re-open it, at least not at the Hilton.

I didn't bother to check it out anyway, so it worked out well. The Hilton still has a huge sign up advertising the Star Trek Experience. They should probably think about taking that down then.

I'm slightly puzzled about the Hilton now. I thought at first you meant you were at the one that was opposite the Sahara (is it some sort of Timeshare type Hilton), but maybe you were at the Paradise Road one after all?

Glad you had a good time - sounds like you've grown to like the place a bit more than you did before???

We stayed at The Hilton on the strip its a suite hotel mostly time share,i think you can book
it through some agents ,it was a little far out but great accomodation wise,with a fab pool
area,we normally stay at the Carriage House on Harmon excellent position,but accom/pool
not as good as The Hilton but you can,t have it all
ann

Glad you enjoyed it better this time. Maybe it was the company you had, but I´m sure that the more you do or plan to do the more you enjoy it. Interesting that you ran out of time to do some things.

Re the price of tickets to Bodies, you should have been able to get them at the half price ticket booth as we got Titanic ones there.

luci

The Body Experience was a spur of the moment thing so we just paid at the regular Luxor ticket counter.

The Hilton we stayed at is indeed Paradise Road. It's the one Barry Manilow is currently playing at. It certainly looked a lot newer than the other Hilton but I'm not sure if it really is. I don't know if the interior is nicer than the other Hilton but the interior certainly was very nice. No complaints there at all. I've stayed at some other Hiltons before and they aren't always that great (LAX Hilton, I'm looking at you) but this one was very good.

Next time, when I have more time to plan things, I'd love to stay at The Mandalay Bay or Venetian. Money is always a factor, though! South Point looked great too (on I15 south of Vegas) and a colleague told me a friend of hers stayed there and loved it. As I'll always have my own car, I don't mind having to drive into Vegas from the hotel especially as it wouldn't be that far.

Oh, and one question: Has that Encore hotel only been there for a few years? I don't remember it being there last time I went to Vegas (a little under 3 years ago). I realize it's part of the Wynn hotel, like how "THEhotel" is part of The Mandalay Bay (I think!).

Encore opened it's doors on the 22nd December. I've read some reviews and it sounds lovely. did you get a chance to have a look around it?

No, I didn't think to go in there, sorry. It looks identical to the Wynn from the outside except for the name. I would imagine the inside might be similar too... is that the idea?

a lot of natural light is used, and the casino area is sectioned off to give it a more private feeling. The colour schemes seem similar though.