Vegas bound. Any ideas?

Almost embarrassed to admit it, as it's touristy and downmarket:9 Fine Irishmen in NewYork, NewYork.

Emeril's Stadium is a close third.

 

I'd like to stay on The Strip, if possible, but it's not necessary. By value, I mean, bang for the buck with amenities in the room and such.

 

I might check out the Trop. It's just done a whole re-fit and mid week july rooms are 69 bucks

 

The pool's still one of the great ones in town.

Flamingo's better, but the Trop's is good.

 

Check out The Signature at MGM. It's the condos behind the casino - we got a great deal a couple months ago. I think it was less than a hundred bucks a night (over a weekend) for a really nice suite with a kitchenette. You get access to the MGM pool, as well as The Signature's three private pools. You get a widescreen TV, a TV in the bathroom, a huge soaker tub, great views.

 

Heading with Mrs. Huggy and Huggy Jr. to the OC next month and in order to avoid the larcenous air fares from Toronto to John Wayne or San Diego we are flying into Vegas and plan to spend a couple of days there before driving to SoCal.

What's it like out there these days for those traveling with kids (Huggy Jr. is 11)? My heavy gambling and drinking days are long behind me so we'll be looking for some family-friendly things to do and places to go. I haven't booked anything but am looking at Treasure Island. Are the pools family friendly or full of drunken frat boys and bimbos (I am cool with the latter)? Are there decent restaurants that won't break the bank?

Yeah, I know I could Google all this shit but my SportsJournalists.com brothers and sisters have provided so much quality info on this thread that I figure somebody on here might be able to help me out.

 

Huggy:

I like TI. rooms have been redone and the location can't be beat: right next to Mirage, directly across from Venetian, walking distance to Fashion Show Mall and the Wynn one way, and Caesars/Forum Shops, Harrahs etc the other way.

Don't think you'll find frat boys and bimbos a la the pool party places (Tao, Mandalay Bay, Rehab, etc.). Restaurants probably better at the Mirage, and I've always been partial to Samba, their Brazilian all-you-can-eat steak house. Venetian has higher end celebrity chef places. Both chains (Caesars and MGM) have taken to offering all-day buffet access across multiple properties, so you might consider that for eats. Hash House at Imperial Palace is a personal favorite for breakfast, but get there before 9 am to avoid long waits.

Don't think i can help on 'family-friendly' sites or sounds around that locale. 'Unfamily-friendly,' on the other hand, i'm an expert at.

 

Huggy,

My oldest was 11 the last time we took the kids to Vegas (two years ago). He had a blast.

I've spent some time in Treasure Island but never stayed there. I know a few years ago they tried to shed the "family friendly resort" image they had been working on, but I'm not sure they really changed much (apart from insisting on calling the place TI). We have friends with kids my son's age and that's where they always stay. I can't speak for the pool (Although you can see it at http://tinyurl.com/6fxntqr, complete with a virtual tour). One of our favorite food options is there -- Canter's Deli. The sandwiches are great and the kids really like it. TI has a great location, which is a big bonus.

I'll shill for the Monte Carlo one more time -- nice place, very family friendly, and the pool has a wave pool and a lazy river, which is cramped but fun for the kids. It's generally cheaper than TI, too. There's nothing overwhelmingly special about the place so much as it lacks the things that annoy me about a lot of the other resorts, if that makes any sense. The brew pub has very good food (even for kids), and there's a food court with Rubio's, McDonald's, Starbucks, etc. for a cheap kid-friendly meal. The location is good, but not as good at the TI (at least to me -- I like the northern end of the strip a bit more, but there's plenty of good stuff at the south end, too).

My favorite place is the Mandalay Bay. Fantastic rooms, beautiful place, and the pool has a sandy beach, lazy river and wave pool that are all a hell of a lot nicer than the Monte Carlo. The downsides are the cost -- hard to get a really good rate -- and the location, which is at the extreme south end of the strip. (There's a huge range in the rates -- looking at their website, some nights are $80 and some are $500.)

As far as family friendly stuff to do:

* Mandalay Bay has a "Shark Reef" aquarium that's pretty cool.
* The Mirage has the "Secret Garden" behind it, with dolphins and tigers and stuff.
* Madame Tussaud's at the Venetian was a hell of a lot more fun than we expected, since you can interact and pose with all the figures. My son enjoyed posting up against Shaq and putting next to Tiger Woods. (I also have a lovely photo of his then-four year old brother with Jenna Jamison.)
* There's a minor league baseball team that manages to be on a road trip every single time I'm in Vegas.
* There's a pretty cool vintage car display at the Imperial Palace. It's in the back, in the parking garage. The downside, of course, is that you have to walk through the Imperial Palace to get there, and it's an unbelievable shithole.
* The Forum Shops at Caesar's are fun, with the statues that come to life.

One big tip - search online for coupons for all of those things. You can find a coupon for Madame Tussaud's that slashes the price at night, which was perfect, since the crowds are much smaller then. The IP website has a coupon to get into the car show for free; it's like $10 or $15 otherwise, I think.

Any questions about anything else, let me know. We've taken our kids there two or three times and they've had a great time. (And we really don't gamble/drink/go clubbing/whatever anyway, so we've really enjoyed the stuff too.)

 

Never been but have heard that the Adventuredome at Circus Circus is great for the younguns. I wouldn't go anywhere near Circus Circus except for that.
Excalibur has a decent game room, I think, and the Medieval Times tournament there is not bad.
That's all I got.

 

If you have an 11 year old, you've got to take him/her to see Hoover Dam and the new bridge, which is impressive in its own way. It's well worth the 30-minute drive (or better still, get up and drop by there on the way out of town -- it's not too far off I-15. You can even take the backroad through Searchlight and see some desert before you get back on the 15.)