pijeta

My husband and I are headed to Las Vegas (for our second time) in September.

I have a bunch of scattered questions, but hopefully you experts out there can help me.

Our story: We are in our early 30's, lowkey and easy going. We are staying at the MGM Grand and will not be renting a car. My husband will attend a work conference during the day and I'll be solo during that time. We'll have 5 nights together free.

1) What can I do on my own? I've already done the walk-through-hotels and just check everything out. I'm not really interested in shopping or spa treatments. Any suggestions? I have considered a day trip to Red Rock Canyon--does anyone have a suggestion for a tour operator?

2) Does anyone know if the MGM Grand has a free gym/work-out facility for their guests? On their website I see a spa that you have to pay for the use of in addition to your room charge. I'm just curious if anyone has any experience with that. If not, I'll call the hotel directly for more information. Any other MGM Grand advice or info that would be helpful to know ahead of time.

3) Any recommendations for dinner? We prefer more casual restaurants, but are open to any suggestions. We like all types of food (except sushi). Our budget is no more than $50/person total (give or take a little).

4) Any fun hotspots for night that aren't too far from the MGM Grand? We'd like to have a few drinks, maybe even listen to some music.

5) I'd like to see one show and thinking one of the Cirque de Soleil shows would be the best. I'd really like to see "O" but it seems so expensive. Are there places that offer discount tickets?

6) Any other advice I might need to know?

Thanks in advance! I really appreciate it

djkbooks

You'll find tons of invaluable tips and recommendations on the TripAdvisor Las Vegas forum.

For Cirque du Soleil discounts, keep an eye on

http://shows.travelzoo.com/las-vegas-shows/

We got tickets to Mystere 40% off. Awesome!

dmlove

We enjoyed dinner at Maggiano's in April. It's a chain (at least at one time it was part of Lettuce Entertain You restaurants - the same group that owns Corner Bakery and others), but it was really lively, good food, great bartender, and in your price range. It's in the shopping center kitty corner from the Palazzo as I recall.

MichelleY

You will probably not find a discount for "O". I know it is outragiously expensive, but we bit the bullet and saw it last month. Great show. It sounds like you won't be gambling or spending $ on spa treatments etc. So why not go for "O". Mystere is also great and less $$.

The LAX club is at the Luxor. You may even see Paris, Jessica, & Lindsey!! It, along with KAO at the Venetian are the hot spots I read about in "People" magazine.

We ate at the Bellagio: Olives and the more casual place near the conservatory. Had snacks & cocktails in San Marco Square at the Venetian. And lunch at the Paris at Mon Ami Gabi.

Have you seen Hoover Dam? A true man-made wonder.

Good luck and I also recommend you check out the Tripadvisor forum.

MY

zlaor

We went to Las Vegas last year, also two easy going people in their 30's.

Here is our travel blog:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...2007/tpod.html

We went to Red Rock Canyon and it was great, you'd love it but we regret not going to the Hoover Dam.

The last entry are some tip we picked up.

WannabeinaMontserrat

Also take a look at www.cheapovegas.com.

sarge56

pijeta- I have to say that we had some pretty decent and really inexpensive Mexican food in the Luxor. I can't rememember the name of the restaurant, it's very casual on 2nd floor. Just take the walkway over the blvd to NYNY and then the walkway from NYNY to Excalibur. Catch the southbound tram there. Now, keep in mind, the tram takes you to Mandalay Bay and you have to get off there and take the northbound tram back to Luxor. Or, if you're up for it, you can certainly walk from the Excalibur to the Luxor.

Just wanted to say good place for cheap but pretty good Mexican.

stumpworks73

The monorail connects to the MGM, so you have an alternative to rental car or taxi transportation.

Any Cirque show will entertain if you haven't seen before. Shop for a bargain ticket or ask at the MGM for help. I believe the MGM has an in house Cirque show.

The fitness facility at MGM is excellent and probably worth the upcharge. Prior to finalizing your rez, you might ask if they have a package that would include access.

I can't recommend a tour operator, but day trips to Red Rock or Hoover Dam are worth considering. If you haven't seen the Nevada desert, you shouldn't miss.

On the casual restaurant side, the buffet at Belagio or Mirage are excellent. The Italian restaurant at NYNY across the street is good.
The cafe at Venetian is operated by Cheesecake Factory and a good value for the money.

Have fun.

ChristieP

No Vegas hotel has free workout facilities. They all want you to pay to use their spa! Yeah, it stinks...

DH and I are very similar in age and interests, so here are our recommendations for things to do on your own:
1. Dolphins at the Mirage. VERY neat! You can stay as long as you like and if it isn't too windy, you can play ball with the dolphins!
2. Rent a car for the day and drive out to Red Rock. No need to take a tour when you can rent a car for $30! It's a neat morning trip, and DO bring cold water to drink!!
3. Fine Art gallery at the Bellagio. See what they have on exhibit before you go. Yeah, it's a little overpriced, but I enjoyed it. I've seen their Monet and Ansel Adams exhibits.

Dinner place:
Mon Ami Gabi at Paris. YUM!!

Cirque show:
Mystere has discount tickets at both of the places. So does Zumanity, but you have to want to see that kind of show...

HAVE FUN!!

amelie

Another vote for Mon Ami Gabi. Great food and even better views. I made reservations ahead on opentable and put in the comments a request to sit in the atrium room with a view of the fountains. This request was granted (you can't reserve a patio seat, but I liked ours better because it was still an open air feel since the doors are open, but we had the benefits of A/C).

polly229

Have seen all Cirque shows but Zumanity. O is the only one I've seen twice, and I'll do it again if I'm in Vegas at a time when I can get better seats. Maybe my favorite of the "terrestrial" Cirques was Mystere, but that could have been because it was the first Cirque I ever saw in a theater. (All the difference in the world from the touring versions.) But I'll have to say I liked Ka a lot, too. LOVE is different, more of an ensemble show (less focus on the individual acts), and I'm not sure I like it as much, but it was definitely worth the $$$ too. Another option is Le Reve at the Wynn, which I think I read was done by a Cirque "dropout"; also an ensemble show more than the traditional Cirque shows and also includes some water (though not the central focus like "O"). Le Reve was also a little cheaper than the Cirque shows. Not likely to get discounts for "O" but probably some of the others.

pijeta

Thanks everyone! We are definitely going to look into all the suggestions

We have been to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Caynon, but not Red Rock or Valley of Fire, so I'd really like to get to one of those. Renting a car for a day is something I'll probably do.

We saw "Zumanity" last time and enjoyed it, so we'll probably suck up the price of a ticket and go to "O" or "Mysteré" one night.

Is $50/person too cheap for dinner? Just wondering if I should up the price limit on that? But, thanks for the restaurant ideas so far--I am going to check them all out.

Also, zlaor - great travel blog! Thanks for sharing.

Cher

We rented a car and checked out Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock Canyon. While we enjoyed both, I think that you really need to have time to do some hiking into Red Rock Canyon to fully appreciate it ... It was just way too hot when we went there to hike. Most of Valley of Fire can be appreciated by car ... incredibly dramatic scenery (an easy 45 minute drive from the strip). If you can only do one, I would recommend Valley of Fire, unless you really want to do some hiking - then I would recommend RR Canyon. Many car commercials, and the current RoadRunner Cable commercial are filmed in Valley of Fire because of the dramatic scenery and colors. If you can, go there early in the day or later for more dramatic colors, before the sun gets high in the sky.

Another day we took a bus tour to the Hoover Dam - I would highly recommend this; it was very interesting. And I was glad we did the bus tour for this - plus the bus driver was very funny and told us alot of facts about the area and Dam that were very interesting.

I think that you will be hard pressed to keep to a $50/pp dinner budget. We had great dinners at Fix (Bellagio) and Mon Ami Gabi (Paris) and a so-so dinner at Olives (Bellagio). I've heard that Boa in Ceasar's Forum Shop area (3rd floor) is really good. These were all relatively casual atmospheres. At each of these we only ordered an appetizer, dinner, one glass of wine for me and a Coke for my husband, plus coffee after dinner (no dessert) and wound up paying with tax/tip around $165-$175. It is very expensive to eat in LV!! I can only imagine what it would cost at some of the more high end restaurants.

We saw "O" and absolutely loved it. Expensive tickets, but worth it. We also saw Jersey Boys and loved it as well. I've seen lots of Broadway shows, many in NYC, and this has been one of my favorites. The theater is small, so second price level tickets for rear orchestra would be excellent seats - avoid the sides.

amelie

You can eat at Mon Amis Gabi for $50 a person. We had the special and steak which were about 25 each, one drink each and we shared a dessert. With tip it came to about 100.

NeoPatrick

I think the last two posts which seem to disagree about prices -- at Mon Ami Gabi, just shows how differently people may think about the same thing. The number of courses, the drinks, the tax, and the tip all do really add up.

But Cher, I just looked at the menu for Mon Ami Gabi. If two people each had an average price appetizer, both had a medium priced entree, and one had a dessert, then add $5 for one coke, I'm still only at $65 total before the tax and tip. (And that includes one dessert, which I now see you didn't even have.) If both had the MOST EXPENSIVE entrees, then we're still only up to $85. That must have been one helluva good glass of wine to get a total up to $165 or more! Although those prices seem about right for Olives -- entrees average nearly double in cost from Mon Ami Gabi, and appetizers are considerably more as well.

trippinkpj

My daughter and I dined at Moni Ami Gabi for under $50.- including tip. No wine and we dined on salad and appetizers. This was two years ago.

clarkgriswold

We've never had trouble finding good casual dining under $40pp in Las Vegas. Even $30 without a glass of wine.

"Sharing" appetizers, salads and even sandwiches/pizza is the way to go at some of the "humungous portions" places such as Grand Luxe in the Venetian or Cheesecake Factory at Caesars. Bertolini's in the Caesar's Forum is always good and so is the Coffee Shop in Paris Hotel. Il Fornaio is fine (NYNY) and Market City Cafe is pretty good (Monte Carlo). The Burger Bar place in Mandalay Bay is fun, and the buffet at Planet Hollywood is supposedly still as good as it was when it was the Aladdin.

Find a good local's place to go on the night that you have the 24 hour car rental....or drive out to Lake Las Vegas for some casual sunset dining by the water.

Pizza and beer is always good for one inexpensive night...allowing you to up your budget on one of the other nights.

SaraWOO

First of all here's a website that can help you do some research (it also posts all the recent hotel deals):

http://www.smartervegas.com

As for the shows, I would go see Le Reve which is at a discount right now for $50 off, you can also see Ka, Mystere and Zumanity for 35% off. But Le Reve is my favorite.. you can find links to the offers at this url:
http://www.smartervegas.com/shows.aspx