I'm thinking of taking my 15 year old daughter to Las Vegas for school vacation (neither of us has ever been) and wonder how long a stay would be appropriate--long enough to see the high points, and maybe a side trip to the Hoover Dam or Grand Canyon, but not long enough to get bored (keeping in mind that drinking and gambling will be not be on the agenda, and that this is not a kid who will be happy lounging around doing nothing). Your thoughts on length of stay and recommendations for a hotel that would appeal to a teen are greatly appreciated.

I'd say don't do it; it's not at all a place for someone that age. Why not Taos, Santa Fe, San Diego, Denver, Washington D.C., or anywhere with culture, history, art? Walking through lobbies to look at schlock (unable to gamble or drink, which is why everyone's there) and having your hair smell like cigarettes after 2 minutes
is not a fun time. (Well, for me maybe, but not for a curtailed adult and teen girl.)

I agree with sylvia. I would not take a 15 year old to Vegas.

What about DC or Boston? May be too cold???

You could do Arizona instead and still be able to include the Grand Canyon.

Or Utah is beautiful..especially if you like to hike.

there will probably be some folks who will chime in - "oh, go ahead, there is a lot for kids in LV". But IMHO, vegas just isn't a good place for a mother/daughter trip.

Sure, there are shows and shopping and such. But the LV convention/visitors bureau decided a couple of years ago that there marketing as a family desination was a non-starter. It is now "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" and for good reason. (BTW - I'm not a vegas-hater. Love the place)

Can't you find a better city for you and your daughter to enjoy together??

darn typos! " . . their marketing . . ."

I'm sorry but I have to agree. My daughter and I visited all kinds of places for her various graduation gifts, but I saved Las Vegas for her 21st birthday. And even THEN, she didn't like it!

So you've gotten lots of don't go responses and while I agree there are probably lots of other cool places to take a mother/daughter trip I'll make a few suggestions: I think a teen might find either the Paris hotel or New York New York interesting. Most of the big hotel pools are pretty amazing (though I remember Mandalay Bay has a good one as does Caesar's but others will know better which pool is best) and this assumes the weather is good.

My suggestion would be to combine a trip to Vegas with a trip to Zion N.P. Fly in to Vegas, spend two nights and see the sights, go shopping, enjoy a good meal or two, then drive to Zion only a few hours away and stay for a few days. In Zion, stay at the Desert Pearl and go hiking, enjoy the outdoors and get some terrific pizza in town. You could do the same with the Grand Canyon, Bryce or any combination. Finish the trip with another day/night in Vegas.

With a little research and some imagination, I think you and your daughter could have a very memorable trip. But do not go to Vegas unprepared or you'll just wander around. Find the things you want to see (canal in the Venetian, Phantom of the Opera or another show) and do (M&M world, aquarium at Mandalay, Ansel Adams exhibit at Bellagio, Stratosphere rollercoaster), where you want to shop (Forum shops at Caesar's for example) and eat (Cheesecake Factory, Krispy Kreme doughnuts at NYNY) and then remember that it takes along time to walk around the strip and through the casinos.

Vegas is no place for kids .. any age (and a 15 yr old is still a kid). I am in Vegas frequently and have seen my fair share of bored looking kids (teens included). There is nothing much there for kids. There has got to be a better place for mom & daughter trip (how about a short cruise ?? .. at least there will be other kids on the ship). Not knowing where you live makes it hard to recommend a place. Do you want somewhere close by home? within 500 miles ? 1000 miles? How about a beach resort ?

Hotels in Vegas are not designed to appeal to teens .. they are designed to appeal to those who want to gamble, drink and spend $$$ eating .. oh yes, there are the "clubs" too. She is too young for that tho.

Actually, it is hard to imagine a 15 yr old who would "want" to take a trip with Mom. Kids that age generally want to be with their own age group.

MommaJ- If you are set on going, POLson gives some very good suggestions, including the Zion trip. I've had teens in Vegas (for conventions or on the way somewhere). We found good activities for them to do, indoors and outdoors. Length of stay including a Grand Canyon or Zion overnight/ 2 night trip, would be a max of 5 nights.

Another vote for not taking a 15 year old to Vegas. There are many other places that she will love [and you too].

Santa Fe is terrific idea -- there are TONS of threads on here with great info. Type Santa Fe in the search box at top of this page or click on DESTINATIONS link at top and then read what Fodor's has on Santa Fe.

This was for a mom and 18 year old daughter who wanted to snowboard, so it's a bit different but has lots of great links on it:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34889063

I suppose that it also depends on your budget, where you are coming from and how long you plan to visit.

There are lots better places...save Vegas for when she is an adult.

Hope this helps...
Debi

Well regarding 15 year olds not wanting to take trips with their mom that certainly is not my experience either in our family or with friends and their teen children..thank goodness.

Mommaj, what interest does your daughter have? That and knowing in the general location that you live plus how far you are willing to travel plus the time of the year would doubt result in a lot of suggestions for a place that you could both enjoy. I do agree that making the focus of the trip Las Vegas would probably not work as well as other places.

We took a 18 year old Italian boy to SouthShore at Lake Tahoe as he really wanted to see the casinos. He quickly found out that for those under age 21 it wasn't much fun. He did love Lake Tahoe of course and than we took him to Virginia City and other places and than stayed at north side of Tahoe (CA side) which he enjoyed. Saying that as he many years later he still laughs at himself thinking he would have a wonderful time in the casinos and also that he wouldn't listen to us, lol. Well at least he had the experience.
Best wishes..taking a vacation with your daughter will be fun! I wish my daughter was that age again.

I agree with the other posters here: Las Vegas is a place for adults. Take your daughter to Disney World or some other family friendly location. You will both enjoy it much better than Vegas, and the adults in Vegas will also appreciate it.

It's always fun to be the lone dissenter, so here I go.

I think it would be fun. We took our family (young 30's couple, 4 yr old, and my late 50's parents) on LV vacation this summer and had a great time. Only you know what you and your daughter like to do, and if you had the idea to go to vegas in the first place, then there must have been a reason you thought you'd have fun.

My mom and I like to shop, eat, walk, and see fun stuff and we enjoyed walking around in the Venetian, Shops at Caesar's, and watching Bellagio fountains. We also took the toddler and went to the Fremont street experience and found that very enjoyable, too. I love kitschy old neon and the way the street is enclosed made it feel more secure with the stroller than crossing traffic on the strip. I think a trip to Paris or NYNY would be great, particularly with a day trip to Hoover Dam or one of the nearby natural areas. If you don't live where there are In-n-out burgers, go there, too. We ate there, like, four times!

Go for three days and I don't think you could possibly be bored! If you stay any longer than that, I would recommend a trip to Grand Canyon.

In your original post, you never asked whether or not you should go, you asked for suggestions on length of stay and hotels...so don't let anybody bully you!

Hope you take the plunge; post again and let us know what you decided!

took my teens to Vegas 2 or 3 yrs ago, and it was our least successful family trip. They were very bored.

I'll agree with everyone else that Vegas has totally shed the "family vacation" image from a few years ago, and it is not a good place to take a minor child. If for no other reason, the constant presence of cigarette smoke and the porn pushers lining the sidewalks are totally inappropriate for a teen.

Better ideas: Washington DC, Santa Fe, San Francisco, etc.

I agree that almost anywhere else would be a better choice than Las Vegas. Santa Fe or San Francisco would be a lot of fun.

Lee Ann

Ech--this is like the time I asked about an upscale restaurant in Vegas that would accept two toddlers, and a bunch of people chimed in with "Don't take the toddlers!" (Bouchon was perfect, if you must know.) Or the time I asked for bridal shower games and people said, "Don't play the games!" (We had fun with two games.) Mommaj is asking for thoughts on length of stay and recommendations for a hotel that would appeal to a teen, not whether she should go or not.

So, I'm with the others who will help you. I spent Christmas 2005 with my friend and her then-14 year old daughter in Vegas, and we had a blast. You even have cool stuff like Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon planned, which I think is great.

My friend's daughter is a shopaholic so we spent a fair amount of time shopping in Fashion Show Mall, the outlets near downtown, Caesar's Forum, and Desert Passage. She also really enjoyed the rides at New York New York and the Stratosphere. My nieces & nephew LOVED the Race for Atlantis 3D ride at Caesar's. The free things were also fun, like the tigers at the Mirage, the Bellagio fountains & conservatory, the Wynn and the Fremont light shows, etc. (By the way, the Sirens of TI show kinda sucks. But it's free.) And all the other stuff that POIson suggested are great.

If she is into shows, maybe even going to something like Mystere or O would be neat. I know my nieces loved that. That same Christmas, I met another friend and her then-12 year old daughter and we went to Mama Mia. The girl enjoyed it very much, although she didn't "get" it like us old fart ABBA fans did.

As the posters here say, Las Vegas is mostly geared toward adults so I think 3-4 days is enough and add on with that side trip.

I always believe that you need to travel not just to see the world, but to understand your place in it. Why would Vegas be any different? Whenever we travel with kids in our party, we try to impart some knowledge on the history of the city --especially Vegas, since it's changed so radically over the last 50 years alone.

Enjoy your trip!

In defense of all the naysayers, the op did say "I'm thinking of"..."neither of us has ever been" and "this is not a kid..happy lounging around doing nothing." I love Vegas, and have traveled through twice with teens (on roadtrips), but I think people were trying to say there are WAY better trips for this mom and teen than this one, given the OP's own words. (Also, depending on time of year, few pools will be open.)

I'll swim against the tide and say that our two teens (including an almost 15 year old daughter) have been to Vegas twice and they both love it. In fact, they want to go there again this summer on vacation but DH and I have vetoed that.

Mommaj, if your daughter's a shopper, Vegas will be heaven. The Fashion Show Mall and Caesar's Forum Mall have just about any store she could want. Even window shopping at the super dooper designer stores was fun.

Since this is a mother/daughter trip, another thought would be a spa visit. Most of the major hotels have their own spas and you could easily spend 1/2 day there. Some of them are probably 16 years old and over though, so you'd want to check first.

Hotels--check out the Venetian--great rooms and pool area. The Mirage is in a good central location and they have a nice pool area, too. Mandalay Bay is not in the greatest location, but they have the best pool area on the strip IMHO.

Shows--My kids loved Blue Man Group, Mamma Mia and Mystere.

So, it really depends on your teen's personality but if she loves bright lights and lots of people, she'll love Vegas. There's so much to do and I would classify our trips there as pretty wholesome. It can be done!

Vegas has nothing for a 15 year old? Awww..come on, it's not the kid's fault that 40 and 50 year olds these days still love roller coasters, thrill rides atop skyscrapers, amusement parks, Star Trek adventures, wave pools, up-to-date arcades with the newest games, The Gap and American Girl five or six different fashion malls, outlet malls, Planet Hollywood, the Hard Rock Cafe, aquariums, bowling, Cirque du Soleil shows, magicians.
Yeah there's nothing for kids in Vegas, because "adults" want to hog all this stuff for themselves!