LV Hotels

Who has stayed in LV lately? Which group of hotels are really good to stay at? Looking for decent value and some place with a good spa for the spouse.

I have stayed at Paris and Caesars palace before so maybe someplace different.

Headed out 3/20-3/25.

My last two trips have been at Encore and Aria. Both in the last 4 months. Both are nice but I prefer Aria a bit I think. I’m generally there 5-7 times per year for meetings and conferences. Next trip I’m at the MGM Signature in a couple of weeks so I can let you know how that is soon.

I like Aria too, but mostly stay at the Cosmo these days - perks you know. But an underrated place to stay is Red Rock off the strip...if value is what you need, this is a great choice.

Encore or Aria have good spa and pool? Spouse needs something while I Golf

Encore or Aria have good spa and pool? Spouse needs something while I Golf

Definitely yes on both.

Anyone stayed at Luxor recently

My friend stayed at Luxor about a year ago. I don’t see your wife being happy there vs. Caesars or Paris.

Anyone stayed at Luxor recently

Perhaps people held hostage ;)

Luxor is terrible.

Anyone stayed at Luxor recently

Perhaps people held hostage ;)

 

Luxor is terrible.

WTF are you serious?! That’s funny to you?

How about?

Mirage

Venetian

I don’t want to go super expensive on rooms but want something good.

How about?

 

Mirage

 

Venetian

 

I don’t want to go super expensive on rooms but want something good.

Venetian is nice. Haven’t stayed at the Mirage.

Apologies to the person I offended with the Luxor joke.

Anyone stayed in an Airbnb? My wife found one connected to The Palms with a balcony. Might be more value for the $$

Another vote for Aria. Expensive but definitely one of the best.

We stay at MGM Signature every time we have been there and will continue to do that. I don't think it can be beat for value for your money. Great high quality rooms (they are all suites), very quiet, each tower has it's own pool area, all the towers are completely non-smoking and you don't have to walk through the smokey casino to get to them, concierge and valet service. You have access to the MGM spa as well as their main pool and other facilities. Connects to monorail (about a 5 minute walk) to get up and down the strip a little quicker and easier. , Enclosed walkway to the MGM Grand casino, spa, restaurants, shops etc. if you want to do that sort of stuff.

You can either book directly through them for a reasonable price but we have always booked privately owned units through VRBO or AirBnB which is noticeably cheaper as you normally save the daily resort & service fees. When we stayed there this past December I think it totalled about $120 per night.

Just search MGM Signature on the rental sites and there are lots of different units with different views, balconies, different floors etc.

General breakdown of casinos on the Strip.

Top 5 star: expensive but classy as well. No rift raft.

1.Wynn/Encore. If you stay at Encore, you can use all the pools there and at Wynn. If you stay at Wynn you can’t use Encore’s pools. Buffet is tremendous.

Fashion Show Mall right across the street.

2. Palazzo. Nice rooms, nice places to eat. Venetian is nice as well but it’s a step below. Better value though as Palazzo is the “upgrade” to Venetian, as Encore is the “upgrade” to Wynn.

3. Aria. Clean, modern and elegant. Spa is superb. Pool scene is a lil disappointing for a 5 star property. And the buffet blows. You will walk a lot if you stay here.

4.Waldorf-Astoria Takes over the Mandarin Oriental. No casino but right next to Aria.

5. Four Seasons Las Vegas. Top of Mandalay Bay. Superb service. Nice pools.

Very relaxing and you can use all of Mandalay’s pools as well. Sunday brunch is killer.

These are the top hotel casino’s IMO.

Next tier.

Venetian. See above. Palazzo’s people can swim at all the pools at Palazzo and Venetian. Venetian people can only swim at Venetian.

Bellagio. Probably 5 star but it’s lost it’s luster somewhat, rooms show their age. The pools are magnificent and the food choices are excelllent. Very crowded all the time due to the themed Conservatory just pass the lobby. Buffet is very good. Water show out front never gets old.

Cosmopolitan. My personal fave and most rooms have a balcony that face the water fountains at Bellagio for a great water show every 15 min from 7pm to midnight. Great foodie place and buffet is better than average, but not as good as the Bachannal Buffet at Caesar’s or Wynn. I get perks here so we stay here most often but we’ve stayed at all the hotels here. Younger persons vibe and Miracle Mile shops are right across the street. Not the greatest place to shop but the wife might like it. Fashion Show Mall is better shopping, at least according to my wife. Great location to walk around the strip.

Mandalay Bay. Nice pool scene. Delano is the “upgrade” to MB. Location is on the south end so you’re walking a TON.

Mirage. Decent, Food is average and rooms are unassuming.

Best of the rest.

MGM. Biggest casino/hotel in the world. Attracts all kinds of people. The good bad and the ugly. Decent food but very pedestrian.

SLS, Cromwell, Flamingo, planet hollywood, Elara, Rio, all kinda blend in behind the scenes.

New York New York, Luxor , Excalibur, Circus Circus you’re talkin hood rats and STD’s. You can do better.

I know I’ve missed a bunch of places. The Palms has nice rooms but you’re off the Strip somewhat and would have to Uber around. Kinda annoying. It really boils down to how much $$ you’re willing to spend. Do you wanna splurge a lil but and live it up? Or you wanna save a lil bit and focus on value? Value choices would be Mirage, Treasure Island, MGM Sig. These would be places that stand between the heavy hitters, Wynn/Encore and the hood rats. Again, I know I’m missing alot of places and I didn’t mention Caesars or Paris since you already stayed there.

Secret place to stay is Hilton Grand Vacations right behind the Flamingo. Rooms are nice with kitchens and location is great right in the heart of the Strip.

Hope you have fun! Wife and I go 10-12 times a year from SoCal. We love it.

View from the 63rd floor of our room at Cosmopolitan last Christmas.

Wynn/Encore

Palazzo/Venetian

Cosmopolitan

In that order.

We opted for a Airbnb off of the Palms. It’s on the 51st floor with a balcony. The reviews were great, and the view looks great as well.

This will allow the Mrs to enjoy some time reading while I golf.

I need to book my tee times and some shows. I am looking at 2-3 rds and 2-3 shows.

1. Cascata - I can’t book until 3/1 since I am a single . I really hope I can get on since going out to celebrate 40th Birthday.

2. Dragon Ridge - is this a good one? Worth it?

3. Reflection Bay - another option

What else?

Shows we are considering

1. Chris Angel - Heard it’s really good.

2. O

3. Raid the Rock Vault - music from our era.

4. Cher - that’s on the wife.

And must do restaurant?

We opted for a Airbnb off of the Palms. It’s on the 51st floor with a balcony. The reviews were great, and the view looks great as well.

This will allow the Mrs to enjoy some time reading while I golf.

 

I need to book my tee times and some shows. I am looking at 2-3 rds and 2-3 shows.

 

1. Cascata - I can’t book until 3/1 since I am a single �. I really hope I can get on since going out to celebrate 40th Birthday.

 

2. Dragon Ridge - is this a good one? Worth it?

 

3. Reflection Bay - another option

 

What else?

 

Shows we are considering

 

1. Chris Angel - Heard it’s really good.

 

2. O

 

3. Raid the Rock Vault - music from our era.

 

4. Cher - that’s on the wife.

 

And must do restaurant?

As far as shows also check out Le Reve.

Restaurants-

Sinatra @ Encore

Chica @ Venetian

Bardot @ Aria

Harvest @ Bellagio

Bazaar Meats @ SLS

And if you feel like venturing off the strip a little ways Other Mama about 20 minutes west of the strip.

Just a word of note you are going to be there during the busiest weekend of the year, opening round of March Madness. Should be fine for golf though, but table minimums will be raised. I usually go opening round weekend but taking this year off.

Luxor is a great hotel to hit up for gambling this particular weekend as their table mins can't be raised. They have like 4 $10 craps tables. If you want to make money hit the poker tables. I have literally played with women who didn't know how to play poker this weekend. Every 15 minutes a dad/sugar daddy would give them $500 which was then promptly given to the table. This is the weekend with the most amount of easy money in the poker rooms late at night.

Just a word of note you are going to be there during the busiest weekend of the year, opening round of March Madness. Should be fine for golf though, but table minimums will be raised. I usually go opening round weekend but taking this year off.

 

Luxor is a great hotel to hit up for gambling this particular weekend as their table mins can't be raised. They have like 4 $10 craps tables. If you want to make money hit the poker tables. I have literally played with women who didn't know how to play poker this weekend. Every 15 minutes a dad/sugar daddy would give them $500 which was then promptly given to the table. This is the weekend with the most amount of easy money in the poker rooms late at night.

The wife had been wanting to go this weekend for years just for that reason.

I play poker with the buddies but not sure about a bigger setting.

So all the casinos raise their mins this weekend? Awesome! .

Sounds like I will be gambling at the Luxor’s a lot then. I like the $10 mins

Lived in vegas for a while. Two can't misses for me are Absinthe at Caesars and ShadowCreek. Outside the valley play Paiute. Also, I can't advise you strongly enough to stay away from the luxor.

Lived in vegas for a while. Two can't misses for me are Absinthe at Caesars and ShadowCreek. Outside the valley play Paiute. Also, I can't advise you strongly enough to stay away from the luxor.

Stay away from Luxor for gambling or to stay?

My wife mentioned that show to me....what is it?

I am a craps man. It’s the best game by a large margin. $10 craps and $15 craps have about a 5x difference in cost of play to me (the way I play). I’d like to bring $500 to the former and $2500 to the latter. This makes finding $10 tables important.

Almost every craps table on the strip (there aren’t really a lot) has dynamic boards with mins raising this weekend. The Luxor has engraved plaques on every single table so they can’t raise the min. Only place where that exists (and it could have changed).

After 6p the Luxor will have the only $10 craps on the strip. Few $15 and then a lot of $25 craps at any reasonable hotel.

Lived in vegas for a while. Two can't misses for me are Absinthe at Caesars and ShadowCreek. Outside the valley play Paiute. Also, I can't advise you strongly enough to stay away from the luxor.

 

Stay away from Luxor for gambling or to stay?

 

 

My wife mentioned that show to me....what is it?

IMO, both. Go to the Luxor and you make end up at a table next to a person who smells like they haven't showered in a week, is wearing an airbrushed t-shirt and is carrying one of those $20 giant funnel margaritas that they bought from a street vendor.

That’s liable to happen anywhere that weekend. It’s the biggest bro fest I have ever been to. There are no girls. There are only men. Men obsessed with sports and gambling. It’s the worst dressed, slightly awkward, mostly degenerate men in the US.

We usually have a hang out room and two sleeping rooms, and the hang out room gets so disgusting. Some of the guys that have came out for the weekend don’t shower. They don’t give a crap.They bet, watch basketball, and drink the cheapest beer they can find. Then they play poker and make all the money back they lost during the day.

Also, I’ve never been at a craps table with “trash” that you see at a BJ table or slots.

If stay on the strip, any golf courses close by worth playing? Thanks

Bali Hai is $$$ and there's some jet noise but it's nice and right on the south strip. Desert Pines is near the old strip and is nice condition and a tough, narrow course. Las Vegas National is just off the strip and is where Tiger Woods got his first pro win. It's also where the RatPack would hang out and the house from the movie Casino is on the course. Very tough old-school track. Royal Links is probably the next closest, pretty nice. Not too far.

Absinthe is great but not for the easily offended.

Criss Angel is not good. I hear a lot of negative regarding his show.

You might get lucky with the weather but it's likely too cool for the pools in March unless you're from Canada.

Across the street from the Palms is the Gold Coast. Inside the Gold Coast are two excellent Chinese restaurants if you want a bit more authentic Chinese food.

I'm not a fan of any restaurants in the Rio.

Spanish Trail is close to the Palms. It was reasonable on GolfNow but don't know if that's still the case.

Red Rock is awesome. A few good courses near there and great restaurants. I like Arroyo. Also, a short walk to Downtown Summerlin which has lots of shopping and restaurants. I've dropped my wife off at Red Rock and gone to play Arroyo.

We stayed at the Westgate two years ago during March Madness. Guys were drunk at night but very respectful to my wife and me. Had a great time. It was only crazy busy the first couple of days.

The cafe at the Palms is very good for breakfast.

Thanks for golf info. Guess I could drive outside town a bit. Any replay offers, combined round discounts ??