First Trip To Vegas...Any advice?

[left_hook_lacey]

My wife has a conference there this spring so we're gonna stay a few extra days and make a week-long trip. Neither of us have ever been so I'm looking for some advice from those who are well-versed with Sin City.

Some info about us...

We'll be at staying at the Paris Hotel.

We like to gamble, but it won't be our main focus while we're there. Probably go for a few hours 1 or 2 nights.

We like to go out and here music but we're not really into the house music, fist pump scene. We are in our 30's now after all.

We enjoy a good show.

I'll have two days to myself and I'll probably spend one of those golfing. The other day I'd like to do something a little off the beaten path. (She's not really into that sort of thing. She doesn't like stopping to see the worlds largest fly swatter or whatever.


Any advice on where to eat, hang out, party would be greatly appreciated. I hate going somewhere new and being inefficient with my time, or paying $100 to see show when there's a better show for $75.

[throatybeard]

Go absolutely anywhere else in the entire world.

Oh, you have to support your wife's efforts. OK, sorry, take one for the team.

[left_hook_lacey]

Go absolutely anywhere else in the entire world.

Oh, you have to support your wife's efforts. OK, sorry, take one for the team.

Wow. That bad huh? I figured there's plenty of touristy, trashy, parts, but thought there might be some spots for the mild-mannered country folks like us.

And yeah, I gotta go this time. I've shook off DC, New York, and Orlando over the past few years. She put the pressure on me this year.

[Jim3k]

Carefully scan the upcoming shows to determine if there is a Broadway type musical playing--they are often at the Hilton. If so, go. The ticket will be cheaper than NYC and the presentation will be excellent.

Right now the choice would be Jersey Boys (at the Paris, not the Hilton; how convenient). Can't say what will be there in the spring.

[Reisen]

I went to Vegas for the first time this summer, after having zero interest in past years. My wife loves it, and finally convinced me to go (she, too, had business out there). A couple of thoughts.

- Depending on whether you're locked into Paris, I see fantastic deals for Vegas all the time on Priceline and Hotwire. 5 star hotels for $99 a night, or 4 star hotels for $60 a night. The last time I went, the Trump, Vdara, and Four Seasons were all showing up for $99.

- We love Cirque Du Soleil, and saw Ka (shortly before the performer died). Absolutely fantastic. We sprung for good seats (maybe 7 rows back), and were very happy with that investment. Next time, we'll probably see "O" at the Bellagio.

- We, too, are in our 30's, and left our 3 year old at the grandparents. I have zero interest in house, but many Vegas clubs are dominated by EDM (Electronic Dance Music) now, which I love. That said, unless you have a strategy, you can easily get stuck in line. Our answer was to eat dinner at Tao (at the Venetian), which gets you a hand stamp (with no cover) into their nightclub. It was very cool. Check the dates, though, as I think they are only open Thurs-Sat nights.

- You can often find lots of deals for Vegas restaurants online. I think we bought a 5 course meal for 2 on Google offers at some rooftop restaurant for $99. We liked Tao, and I hear good things about Lavo. Those are both NYC restaurants with a Vegas location.

- If you want to see stuff, the Hoover dam is a short drive away.

- Speaking of driving, Vegas has lots of luxury rental cars, and if they have plenty in stock, you can often talk your way into cheap upgrades. I got a C6 Corvette convertible (430 BHP) for $30 a day!

[BD80]

Stay away from Alan Garner, anyone that looks like Zach Galifianakis, and anyone who refers to you as part of his "wolf-pack"

[rthomas]

Check out the Mojave Desert - one of the 4 deserts in the U.S. and, to me, the second most interesting. 1. Sonoran is the most interesting and most diverse. 2. Mojave includes Death Valley and Joshua tree (neither of these two areas of the desert are directly in Las Vegas). 3. Great Basin Desert, officially it's a cold desert meaning the precipitation is in the winter includes Salt Lake City. Reno, NV. 4. last but not least, the Chihuahuan Desert - which is harder to spell than Krzyzewski and includes Roswell, New Mexico and Area 51. The largest of the 4 deserts but mostly in Mexico.

Anyway, the Mojave around Vegas is pretty interesting.

[Zeke]

Watch out for pickpockets and snatch and run thieves on the street. I thought Paris restaurant was great albeit expensive.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

My wife has a conference there this spring so we're gonna stay a few extra days and make a week-long trip. Neither of us have ever been so I'm looking for some advice from those who are well-versed with Sin City.

Some info about us...

We'll be at staying at the Paris Hotel.

We like to gamble, but it won't be our main focus while we're there. Probably go for a few hours 1 or 2 nights.

We like to go out and here music but we're not really into the house music, fist pump scene. We are in our 30's now after all.

We enjoy a good show.

I'll have two days to myself and I'll probably spend one of those golfing. The other day I'd like to do something a little off the beaten path. (She's not really into that sort of thing. She doesn't like stopping to see the worlds largest fly swatter or whatever.


Any advice on where to eat, hang out, party would be greatly appreciated. I hate going somewhere new and being inefficient with my time, or paying $100 to see show when there's a better show for $75.

If it's still basketball season, find a nice sports book, bet on a bunch of games, sit, watch, and have several cocktails. Tip your waitress.

[fuse]

Set limits before you start drinking and stick to them :-)

[devildeac]

I went to Vegas for the first time this summer, after having zero interest in past years. My wife loves it, and finally convinced me to go (she, too, had business out there). A couple of thoughts.

- Depending on whether you're locked into Paris, I see fantastic deals for Vegas all the time on Priceline and Hotwire. 5 star hotels for $99 a night, or 4 star hotels for $60 a night. The last time I went, the Trump, Vdara, and Four Seasons were all showing up for $99.

- We love Cirque Du Soleil, and saw Ka (shortly before the performer died). Absolutely fantastic. We sprung for good seats (maybe 7 rows back), and were very happy with that investment. Next time, we'll probably see "O" at the Bellagio.

- We, too, are in our 30's, and left our 3 year old at the grandparents. I have zero interest in house, but many Vegas clubs are dominated by EDM (Electronic Dance Music) now, which I love. That said, unless you have a strategy, you can easily get stuck in line. Our answer was to eat dinner at Tao (at the Venetian), which gets you a hand stamp (with no cover) into their nightclub. It was very cool. Check the dates, though, as I think they are only open Thurs-Sat nights.

- You can often find lots of deals for Vegas restaurants online. I think we bought a 5 course meal for 2 on Google offers at some rooftop restaurant for $99. We liked Tao, and I hear good things about Lavo. Those are both NYC restaurants with a Vegas location.

- If you want to see stuff, the Hoover dam is a short drive away.

- Speaking of driving, Vegas has lots of luxury rental cars, and if they have plenty in stock, you can often talk your way into cheap upgrades. I got a C6 Corvette convertible (430 BHP) for $30 a day!

Shoulda talked to PJ about that car rental. He might have done better...

[devildeac]

I'll second the Hoover Dam and desert recommendations for day trips. Are Spamalot or We Will Rock You still playing there? Jersey Boys would be a better show.

[A-Tex Devil]

- We, too, are in our 30's, and left our 3 year old at the grandparents. I have zero interest in house, but many Vegas clubs are dominated by EDM (Electronic Dance Music) now, which I love. That said, unless you have a strategy, you can easily get stuck in line. Our answer was to eat dinner at Tao (at the Venetian), which gets you a hand stamp (with no cover) into their nightclub. It was very cool. Check the dates, though, as I think they are only open Thurs-Sat nights.

Perhaps this deserves a separate thread. Soooooo.... EDM. Isn't that just rebranded techno, which was previously rebranded as dubstep? Maybe I'm being dense or purposely obtuse, but I don't get the difference.

I just saw SFX Entertainment go public this week, and am reading about how top DJs are making >$50MM per year just doing events, and the millennial generation seems to be grasping this music as "theirs."

I really don't see much difference (other than perhaps a better use of bass in the dubstep subgenre) between what I hear now from Skrillex, Deadmau5, Avicii etc., and what we were getting from Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers, DJ Shadow, Massive Attack, etc. back when I was in college in the mid-'90s. Somebody help me out here. How is this "EDM" any different other than rebranding and being easier to create with souped up iMacs?

But tell a Skrillex fan or an Avicii fan that what they are dropping molly to is "Techno," and it's like playing my old man/narc card all in one.

[hurleyfor3]

Perhaps this deserves a separate thread. Soooooo.... EDM. Isn't that just rebranded techno, which was previously rebranded as dubstep? Maybe I'm being dense or purposely obtuse, but I don't get the difference.

I just saw SFX Entertainment go public this week, and am reading about how top DJs are making >$50MM per year just doing events, and the millennial generation seems to be grasping this music as "theirs."

I really don't see much difference (other than perhaps a better use of bass in the dubstep subgenre) between what I hear now from Skrillex, Deadmau5, Avicii etc., and what we were getting from Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers, DJ Shadow, Massive Attack, etc. back when I was in college in the mid-'90s. Somebody help me out here. How is this "EDM" any different other than rebranding and being easier to create with souped up iMacs?

But tell a Skrillex fan or an Avicii fan that what they are dropping molly to is "Techno," and it's like playing my old man/narc card all in one.

I'm a prog house guy. I'm old and set in my ways though, and nowadays there only about three or four DJs I'll go out of my way to see. Luckily one of them's in Denver next week.

Anyway, I remember when "techno" was the overall genre name until all the subgroups exploded in the late 1990s, then "EDM" was the overall name of which "techno" was one sub-group. Techno was less melodic, more minimalist stuff like Ritchie Hawtin/Sven Vath, house was Carl Cox, trance was Oakenfold and PvD. Then there was tech house and prog house and prog trance and hundred-page threads on bulletin boards over what "progressive" means and is Sasha house now or prog now and why doesn't he just still play trance. Then Eminem sang that "nobody listens to techno" line, then Danny Howells remixed it into a track.

I think "EDM", the entire field, matured around 2005. This was when Ableton came out and by then, DJs had been mixing on computers for a couple years. Listen to an Essential Mix from 1994-95 and one from 2005 and there's a big difference in mixing and sequencing. But yeah, since then it's been all the same stuff in a different order.

[hurleyfor3]

Go absolutely anywhere else in the entire world.

I've tried to like Vegas, but I've had horrible experiences there, completely unrelated to gambling. I like Reno/Tahoe more.

One suggestion, stick to the bigger casinos either on the strip or downtown. Can't say I have a favorite, maybe Main Street Station. I never found a second-tier/locals casino I ended up liking. It's one thing to lose a grand at Caesar's Palace, but doing it at some crappy place in Henderson leaves you with a horrible aftertaste.

[A-Tex Devil]

I've tried to like Vegas, but I've had horrible experiences there, completely unrelated to gambling. I like Reno/Tahoe more.

One suggestion, stick to the bigger casinos either on the strip or downtown. Can't say I have a favorite, maybe Main Street Station. I never found a second-tier/locals casino I ended up liking. It's one thing to lose a grand at Caesar's Palace, but doing it at some crappy place in Henderson leaves you with a horrible aftertaste.

I used to love, love, love Vegas, but like it less, and sleep more, with every trip -- although still enjoy myself. Upstream posters are right -- find out what shows (special and regular) are playing while you are there, and get tickets. House of Blues at Mandalay and Hard Rock's theater always seem to have good touring concerts/comedians when I'm in town. Make reservations at restaurants you want to go to -- they are almost all good. If you do the club thing - I don't - plan ahead and you can skip the lines and be comfortable as one can be once inside.

I agree with sticking to bigger casinos unless you really like to gamble and are looking for smaller stakes tables. There really isn't any reason to head off strip to Rio or something like that unless you have to. But one thing I do recommend for a first timer is walking the strip for about an hour or so during the day (Caesar's side is a little better than Paris side, but YMMV) and duck in and out of the various casinos. Even better if you jog. Jogging the strip before 10:00 AM can lead to some hilarious sights as people roll in from the clubs.

[Dev11]

There really isn't any reason to head off strip to Rio or something like that unless you...

...want to see Penn and Teller!

I agree on walking around the strip around 9 am. Having been on both sides of that interaction, it's a treat.

[hurleyfor3]

Rio is off-strip. Heh. I was thinking more like Boulder Station or the Fiesta. Although you're right, no reason to go to Rio. Palms would be tolerable if the average age of the clientele were a few years higher.

People seem to go into "Vegas mode" where everything has to be some sort of "adventure" and winning $10 on a come-out yo is the equivalent of hitting Powerball. I guess this is the result of all the marketing surrounding Vegas, but in any event it's real, real, annoying.

[blazindw]

In addition to checking out the Hoover Dam and the Mojave, you could also do Fremont Street and watch the lights as you walk down it. Nice change of pace from the strip. Also, the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign on the south end of Las Vegas Blvd. right as you hit the strip.

[Mike Corey]

If you miss In-n-Out Burger, then you'll have, um, missed out.