Girls only trip to Vegas
 

3 of us are arriving on SW airlines. 1 is
arriving on American West. Is there one central place to meet at the baggage claim area? Would a cab to the LV Hilton cost around $25? Seems like the shuttle might take forever. Any suggestions for moderately priced lunch and dinner would be appreciated. Paris buffet? Thanks so much!

Cab to the Hilton will be a lot cheaper, I'm thinking around $15 with tip but I'm not certain. Depending on the day/time you arrive taxi waits can be up to an hour long during peak periods. Meeting at the baggage claim is a good idea:) For moderately priced lunches I'd suggest Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris or Olives at the Bellagio(great views, do try to sit outside). Cheaper choices would be the Grand Luxe Cafe at the Venetian or even the Cheesecake factory at Caesar's. Many choices in that price range. Regurding buffets, try a text search depending on your likes/dislikes. Lots of choices there also. Paris buffet offers more French specialties of course, other strip buffets specialize in seafood.

A taxi from Sahara, which is close to Hilton, was $13 before tip.

Baggage area was very crowded on our arrival, and SW had different carousel numbers for different flights. It may be hard to meet in that area.

Thanks for the info. Where can one meet others at the airport?

According to this:

http://www.mccarran.com/ticketing.asp

there are information booths between the N and S baggage claim areas. If you click "locations" you will see two red dots that tell you where.

Maybe pick one of those? Or just meet at the baggage carousel of whichever flight is arriving latest. The carousel numbers will be posted, so as long as you all have the flight number you should be able to find it. Will you have cell phones in case you can't find each other?

And you posted just "paris buffet?". What did you want to know about it? It has been discussed here before, but if you want to know something specific, ask away.

Anywhere will be busy... try in the center of the baggage claim floor under the baggage claim carousel numbers. If you have a cell phone with you it would be easier to find a more secluded spot at that time and tell the friend where to meet up. Also, a less busy area will be near the women's restroom by the elevators and escalator.

Same scenario, my friends and I flew SW, met another friend arriving on American. Had no trouble finding her at American baggage claim. We used to cell phones to communicate, locate. Piece of cake.

Yes, we're checking to see if cell phones would work. My friend needs to see if her mom will bring her cell phone! My friend said we might be able to check in for the LV
Hilton at the airpot, so that could
be a meeting spot as well.

Regarding Paris buffet, I had just heard it was good. Any other suggestions for moderately priced dinners would be appreciated. Is Bobby Flay's restaurant expensive?

Thanks for all of your help!

Bobby Flay's restaurant is expensive in my opinion, but you can see the menu here:

http://www.bobbyflay.com/mesa-vegas-menu.asp

Can't help with suggestions for dinner. Out of 4 days there, two of them we ate Paris buffet for early lunch (11ish) and didn't eat again till midnight, when options were limited. Vegas restaurants have been discussed here before, so a search may help.

Are those Bobby Flay prices what you consider moderate? Or expensive? That might help people have a better idea for suggestions.

I second the idea of meeting in by the Information desk in the airport. It's really right in the middle of the 2 baggage claim areas and very easy to find.

As for eating, I would definitely recommend the Paris buffet. The lines can be a bit long, but it's worth it! The Luxor and MGM buffets are also pretty good (standard mix of cuisines- no real specialties) and a little cheaper than Paris if you want to go the buffet route.

1 restaurant I would recommend for lunch or dinner would be Garduno's at the Palms. It's New Mexican cuisine and falls in the inexpensive range - plates are around $10-15/pp. The food is good and the atmosphere is casual. (The Palms is usually a good place to spot celebs, if you're interested in that.)

Other "less expensive" options are the Rainforest Cafe (MGM) and The Cheesecake Factory (Caesar's). I'm not sure on many moderately priced restaurants on the strip, but can recommend some good off-strip locations, if you're interested and have transportation.

There's a great Mexican restaurant in Mandalay Bay, of course I can't remember the name, but I do think its pretty reasonably priced.

For buffets, we loved the one at the Bellagio. Others I've been to have only been average, and even that cheap.

have fun!

Personally, I would recommend RENTING a CAR and driving to the hotels..
NONE of them charge for parking and the cost of renting a tax in Vegas to even go 1 block is exhorbitant due to all the traffic on the strip and construction in town...
Renting a car in Oct saved us a fortune in taxis....

Restaurant that are AWESOME but cheap ( you need a car) is Lotus of Siam ( thai)- fabulous -$15 pp will fill you up!Lotus of Siam
953 E Sahara Ave Ste A5, Las Vegas, Nevada 89104-3028, United States
Cuisines: Asian, Thai
Price range*: US$ 1-20
Tel: (702) 735-3033


Rosemary's Restaurant ( again off the strip-need car) is one of the BEST restaurants we have ever eaten in...Fix price of $35 pp ( 3 courses)- need reservation..WELL WORTH IT!!
8125 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, Nevada 89117-1986, United States
Cuisines: American, Seafood, Contemporary, Eclectic, International
Special features: Romantic, Business, Local cuisine
Tel: (702) 869-2251
Fax: +1 702 869 2283

SEABLUE- a Micheal Mina seafood restaurant is FABULOUS--Exp. but portions are HUGE and literally you can share a salad and share an entree and 4 of you can share a dessert...TERRIFIC grilled seafood..This is in the MGM GRAND foodcourt...

Another possibility is Bouchon in the Venetian Hotel-It is also expensive but PORTIONS are huge and we could have (but were NOT told ahead of time) shared them...so ,thus being said, you all can SHARE a salad,share an entree and share a dessert and be full!!

( and we are BIG eaters!)..I actually took 1/2 of my veal chop back to the hotel for another day as it was sooooooo huge ( from Bouchon)...

Las Vegas Hilton has a good buffet, free beer & wine. If you join the "slot players club" in the casino, they might give you a buffet coupon.

Tell everyone to meet near the Hertz Rental Car Desk. It's right in the middle of all the Gate exits/baggage claim so should be easy.

Grand Luxe Cafe at the Venetian is great, but there's a waiting line usually.

Thanks so much for the info!!! I am going to print out all the responses and bring it on the plane to discuss with my pals!