We are planning an 8 night trip next June to LV, Grand Canyon, Zion & Lake Mead area. I've read lots of info on this site already but just wanted some feed back about the following itinery:

Fri - fly in LV and spend night. Can we get a one night reservation on the strip?

Sat - drive to Grand Canyon stay at thunderbird lodge 2 nights. Where should we eat? Any special tours recommended?

Sun - 2nd day at Grand Canyon

Mon - drive to Zion. Stay at Desert Pearl or Flannigans for 2 nights. Hike, River Float, ATV ride. Any thing else recommend to do (shorter hikes only). Where to eat?

Tues - 2nd night at Zion (Springdale).

Weds - sight see more in Zion. Drive to Lake Mead. Take afternoon/Evening boat cruise (dinner cruise possibly?) Stay at Best Western Inn 2 nights.

Thurs - rent boat and fish, swim, play on Lake Mead. Overnight

Fri - Leave early for LV and spend night.

Sat - Leave LV in afternoon for NY.

We'd like to stay on the strip (or not too far if possible) but not sure if the hotels will make a friday night on reservation.

Want to tour the strip and maybe see a show.

Any comments or suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks.

IMHO, Lake Powell beats Lake Mead hands down any day. From the Grand Canyon to Zion you will pass right by Lake Powell. I would spend the time in Page, AZ instead of Lake Mead.

Lake Mead pictures:

http://www.lakemeadcruises.com/photos.html

Lake Powell pictures:

http://www.lakepowell.com/tours_float_trips.php

http://www.utahtea.lithium.com/pages...powell2001.htm

Otherwise your trip looks good. Sorry can't help with lodging and dinning. We camp and cook.

Utahtea

I randomly put in a summer Friday night (for this year) at the Aladdin online reservation page and it did not complain. I don't think you'll have a problem with that. Some hotels do not like Saturday arrivals, but I've never heard of a problem with Friday night only in LV.

Thanks for the input.

We have a similar tripped planned this summer and we are staying one night (Friday) in early August at the Flamingo. No problem!

Let me say first that I’m not much of a gambler. A couple of hours at the quarter slots and I’m done. Also, I’ve only been to Vegas twice. With that in mind, I recommend the Tropicana (tropicanalv.com). The room we were in had 2 queen beds and a sofa and coffee table. There was still room for another queen size bed and the bathroom was huge. It is very close to the airport; it’s at the corner of Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd (the strip); it’s easy walking distance to Bellagio, Caesars, Paris, etc.; and it’s across from MGM Grand, NYNY, Excalibur, and Luxor. It can also be inexpensive (we paid $65 + tax on a Wednesday night, May 11) depending on the night you stay. When you leave the next morning, all you have to do is go east on Tropicana Avenue and it will run you into I-515, which takes you to Hwy 93, Boulder City, etc.

We did not stay at the Tropicana our last night because it was a Friday night and the same room was over $100. So we stayed a couple of blocks off the strip at a Comfort Inn.

I just checked the rates for the Tropicana, and for Thursday, June 23rd the rates are $40.95-$70.95. The rates for the next night, Friday, June 24th, for the same rooms are $119.95-$149.95. More than double. I don’t know if the rest of the LV hotels have similar increases on the weekends, but it’s something to keep in mind when you’re checking room rates.

If I were going to LV to soak up the atmosphere; gamble; see some shows, etc.; I would pay a lot more for a room. But both times I’ve been in LV, it’s been the first and last nights of a much longer vacation, so I’ve wanted to save money on the hotels in LV so that I had more money for the main part of the vacation.

Thanks for all the help folks.

We stayed at the Thunderbird last year and were pleasantly surprised; it had been remodeled and was much nicer than I had expected, not spartan, as I had heard. Go over to El Tovar for an elegant dinner (make reservations ahead of your trip) and to the Arizona Room -- right next door to the T-bird. The AZ Room had not been particularly recommended, but it was so handy, and, really, our dinner was quite nice.

I cannot second any recommendation to stay in Page, AZ. Our motel and all other choices were bleak, and we had a horrid dinner at some Mobil-recommended cowboy-themed steak place (Ken's?). There was an Italian restaurant, also cited by the travel guide, that we later saw and wished we had chosen instead. Page is a convenient (kind of the only) location to stop, and that's all I can say for it.