Las Vegas for older, slightly disabled adults
 

Hey, we're taking mom and dad to Las Vegas (first time for them!) in honor of dad's 75th birthday. We are 3 adult siblings and spouses (no kids). I've been to Vegas a bunch of times (love it), but never have navigated its big casinos, etc. with someone with congestive heart failure (mom) and fatigue (dad). We're staying at the Mirage (we perceive it to be well-located and more intimate for a "big" hotel) and we're renting a mini-van to schlepp back and forth to and from casinos. What about renting a wheelchair or scooter? the casinos in the hotels themselves demand so much walking. What's the feasibility of rentals? Will Mirage help out? If they can, I still have ?s. What if we want to casino hop over to say, Bellagio, can they take a Mirage wheelchair with them? Anything else I should know?

I would think the smoke in casinos might be troublesome for your mom. IMHO of course.
Debi

There was a thread about a Fodorite in Vegas renting a wheelchair for a friend. If only I can find it... maybe somebody can help?

Here is one:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34678630

and I'll come back with another URL, sorry don't know how to post several at a time

Here is about rentals

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34516077

Hope it helps.

I would call Mirage first before renting from an outside company, only because I'm assuming they would be able to help you. If you're getting multiple rooms, they'll want to help. A scooter, of course, might need to be rented. But I would encourage you to definately get assistance for your folks, I remember my dad resisting any help when he had congestive heart failure on visits to NY, then the one time he relented, he had a fantastic day, and was not tired. Just the shear size of all the casinos can tire anyone. I hope the other threads are helpful and you have a wonderful trip.

http://lasvegas.about.com/od/healthf...Disabled_2.htm

You can rent wheelchairs and/or scooters at the Bell Desk of nearly all major casinos. They usually require the deposit and sometimes require you to leave your drivers license as insurance that you will return the wheelchair. You will have to inquire as to whether you can remove the wheelchair from their property or not. If not, the bell desk should assist you in renting your own from a medical supply place that delivers the wheelchairs directly to you.

With 6 able-bodied adults and 2 who might need mobility assistance, I think you would be better with manual wheelchairs than scooters. Manual w/c can be folded and put in back of mini-van while scooters can not. If it were me I would see about rental for the entire trip rather than having to deal with new w/c acquisition at each hotel, casino, restaurant.

Another unrelated issue is you have 8 adults - most mini-vans hold 7, but only 6 with comfort.

Great ideas and perspectives, folks, thank you! We actually have 7 adults -- brother is single, so we fit just fine into a mini-van! I think it's a good idea to go with the w/c vs. the scooter and I think renting one we can use the whole trip is the way to go. I'll call Mirage first thing and see what they can provide and then look into one of the rental places suggested in the threads.

As for the smoking, it's true not so great with CHF, but I really think the casinos have improved quite a bit in their ventilation and mom is not a big gambler at all. she's not going to be sitting there gambling for hours and hours (we will after they go to bed!) so I think it's going to be tolerable. But it's a good reminder to make sure we get as many reservations for no-smoking (rooms, restaurants) as we can. I'm from NYC where smoking is banned in public places so you kind of forget about that.

Great ideas. Again, if anyone has any perspectives to share about LV with or as an older adult or person with disabilities, I'd love it! I'll do a trip report when we're home (we're going this February 1-4)

Not sure 2 w/c will fit in back of mini-van. You might be able to fit one between door and 2nd seat row, though.

kflodin~here is a bit of good news regarding the smoking issues...Vegas went NON smoking TODAY!!!!!!!!! Nov. 7 "we" voted against the smoking policies, so starting today (Dec. 8) anyplace that serves food cannot have smoking areas...yes that even means restaurants inside of casinos. With a few exceptions of a few bars/pubs the only place you "should" be allowed to smoke inside anymore is on the casino floors. Even the airport has done away with their little smoking areas/rooms.

According to the newspaper today(Review Journal) LV non-smoking is not going to happen for at least another 2 weeks. I just cut and pasted this article on vegasnative's other post about non-smoking.

I know that the Mirage is centrally located, but consider the long walks between the car and the room. As long as you will have a van, you should consider staying at a smaller property, perhaps even one that is off-strip.

You might consider one of the newer Residence Inns or Courtyards near the strip. That way, you can practically park the van right outside the room.

When you want to go to a strip hotel, just drive up and valet at the front door.

That would save your folks a ton of walking!

The last poster has a good idea. You might consider the Tuscany on Flamingo. I have a friend who stayed there recently and she really liked it. It's just off the strip, but smaller property (has a casino) and it would be much easier to deal with wheelchairs there then at the Mirage. We stay at the Mirage often and it's a horribly long walk from reception to the elevators, all through the casino as a matter of fact (not easy for a person in a wheelchair).

wow on the news of no smoking in Vegas. Good news, indeed for all us non-smokers and esp for mom and dad. we're not going until february so it should be in effect then, it seems.

As for the smaller prop off strip, something to think about, but I'm still leaning toward MIrage. This will truly be a once in a lifetime trip and in all my many trips to vegas, as far as I'm concerned, if you're not on the strip, you just miss something essential in the experience. also, we do have so many hands to help them, they'll never be without an escort to push the wheelchair, etc. so there's lots of help to navigate the casino and we would definitely do the pick up and drop off at the door always between us kids and the valet system.

I envision one outing in the afternoon to another casino or shopping area (maybe even the dessert right outside of town), and another in the evening (bellagio fountains, hey, just the lights), so while we'll low-key it I think being in the middle of the strip will ultimately be a little easier for us.

but, I appeciate the perspectives and will definitely mull over our options with the rest of the group before we book ( which will happen this weekend).