Cath

My husband and I will be spending a couple of nights in Las Vegas this summer with our children (will be 5 and 8 years old). We want to stay at a nice hotel with a great pool! We stayed at the Circus Circus a couple summers ago. Great room but very plain pool. The Flamingo Hilton, Tropicana, Mirage, Monte Carlo, and Mandalay comes to mind. Does anyone have a suggestion? Thanks for the help!

Christina

I didn't stay there, but I saw the pool at the Monte Carlo and they had a wave pool and a lazy river. That seems great for kids!

Kathy

Mandalay Bay has the best pool for any Vegas hotel that I've stayed at. There's an incredible wave pool (huge) and other smaller pools available to use. There's also a white sand (man-made) beach.

Cerise

Cath: We travel to Las Vegas about 3 times a year and we try to stay at a different hotel each time. Mandalay Bay has the best pool setup, especially for kids. A very large wave pool, a meandering river that you can ride on a tube around but if you just let yourself go and float along, it's like a moving jacuzzi. There are, if I recall correctly, 3 other pools for swimming and sunning. Of course, no matter where you stay there is always the Wet & Wild park on the strip between Circus and the Sahara. Enjoy your trip.

Frommer

Circus Circus has no redeeming qualities and that part of the strip is dying fast. Tropicana will be imploded before too long. It's dying and too old to be resuscitated in the competitive south strip area.
If you thought Circus' rooms were decent, drop in on Mirage or Mandalay Bay (from your list). You'll have a great trip. Pools at those two are among the 4-5 best in Vegas.

LVLarry

The Flamingo Hilton has an excellent pool area with slides and waterfalls.

Kristin

I am a pool fanatic--and I LOVED the pools at the Bellagio. The pools were very clean, and the areas around the pools were wonderful as well as the pool restrooms---spotless, beautiful, and never that sliminess that you often see on the floor in a pool bathroom. (we were there in March 1999). There were hotel phones all over the pool area to call for food, drinks, or to even leave messages back in your room if your party was split up and you needed to communicate.
I have also stayed at the Flamingo and was very impressed with their pool area. I read not too long ago in some survey that it was the best pool in the Vegas area. I saw the Mandalay pool but the day I visited it was cold, cloudy,and 35 degrees, so no one was using it and it didn't look very appealing that day!! I would recommend the Bellagio or the Flamingo---although
this recommendation is coming from someone without children!!

Cath

Thanks for all the great advice. I am checking into all of of these hotels. Although, the Bellagio is too $$$! The Mandalay Bay WAS my first choice. However, the hotel informed me that the 3rd and 4th person in the room is charged $35 per adult/child (regardless of age!). Which would be an additional $140 for 2 nights. Ouch! Anyways, now I'm thinking about the Monte Carlo and Mirage??

Julie

The MGM Grand also has a neat pool which includes a wave pool.

Catherine

Hi Cath,
We were at the MGM Grand in October. They had 5 pools. One was a river where you rented tubes to float in. They also have a theme park for kids. Hope this helps.

Trish

Can you hang out at these various pools for the day even if you are not staying at that hotel? If so, any kind of fee?

Mooch

Yes, people do occasionally freeload at the better pools in Las Vegas. They are most definitely not appreciated, because the nice pools are usually VERY crowded. Getting down to the pool by 10AM to stake out a chair at your own hotel is frequently necessary when it's warm, and I've often had no luck whatsoever getting space. If a pool is crowded and you crash it, it's a punkish thing to do in my book. Fortunately LV's best pool complex (Mandalay Bay) is VERY strict most of the time about verifying your room key at the pool gate, which is why I prefer it now.

Melinda

The poster above says the MGM has a wave pool. We were there this week and there is no wave pool. Perhaps she meant the Monte Carlo. Most of the better resorts have a strict system of room check for getting into a pool. The Flamingo Hilton has the best pool for the price. Mirage pool is pretty. Bellagio has a gorgeous pool area. Good to know about Mandalay Bay's policy with extra's in the room. There pool area looks really nice even though I haven't stayed there.

sue

The Flamingo Hilton (by far). Multiple pools, beautiful gardens, water slides, hot tubs. They don't heat them (except the hot tubs) but that's not a problem in July. The most beautiful setting. All the other hotels are just pools and are not set in gardens and there aren't multiple pools Second choice would be the Mirage but my money is on the Flamingo. Just was there April 2-6

Facts please

C'mon Sue. Don't make flat statements like that which are untrue (..all the other hotels...just pools...not set in gardens...not multiple pools...). You haven't visited all the others or you wouldn't make that statement. Flamingo has a great pool. It's not the only hotel with multiple pools, or the only one in a garden setting, or the only one with any other exclusive attribute except the name 'Flamingo' on the bar glasses.

Julie

I was wrong - what I referred to as a "wave pool" is in fact that river thing the other poster mentioned.

Also, I don't think that you can wander into any other pool and use it. We were at the Paris Hotel and they examined each person's room key prior to entering the pool. The second day we were there I didn't have my room key along and they weren't going to let me in unless I went back up to the room to get it. The other person checking keys recognized me from the day before so she let me in.

When we visited the Bellagio pool and the MGM Grand pool, both had "guards" at the pool gate checking room keys. It wasn't like at Disney World where they just check your room key when getting towels, at these Vegas pools, they checked your room key at the entrance. No key, no entry.

Cathy

To Julie: We are going to the Paris in July. First time ever in LV. How is the pool? The hotel? We are really looking forward to this trip, my husband's 40th b-day. Thanks..

Julie

The Paris Hotel was quite nice. Our room was an ample size and the bathroom had a large soaking tub as well as a large separate glass shower. We're not gamblers so can't say too much about that. Some people say the casino parts are noisy due to the cobblestone walkways which may be true. There's a good french buffet restaurant that we enjoyed as well as a good bread shop. (If you need an ice cream or cookie snack - go to the Bellagio and hit the little shop across from the pool entry!).

The Paris pool was pretty nondescript, but nice as it's new, clean, etc. It is, however, quite small in comparison to the Bellagio, MGM, Mandalay Bay. You need to get to the pool early -- the loungers fill up quickly and then you have to wait in line to get one! There was a guy from the spa giving free massages which was fabulous (just tip him). You can rent those mat things to float on in the pool which was relaxing. There's also an outside bar with waiters/waitresses serving you at your lounger.

We enjoyed our stay and would go back.