Viking Cool,

I've seen Blue Man Group in Boston and thought it was great. I heard that the shows were slightly different in different cities but all were good. Also, I went to a concert at the HOB about 3 years ago. Its a great place to see a show. A lot of big name acts play there, but its a fairly small venue (1,800 ppl according to web site) so there are no bad seats.

In reference to Tom42's post, we've stayed at Mirage before in January and the pool was open. I would check with individual hotels and ask about pool availability in the winter months.

It occurs to me that there a couple of properties not discussed here:

Aladdin
TI
Harrahs

All are center strip by many standards. TI does not have good monorail access.

TI is the only one that I have personal experience with.

I still stand by my Paris recommendation.

You folks here are great,
Thanks for taking the time to help out a fellow traveler. Paris it is!!

For dining at the Paris, my daughter and I ate at: Mon Ami Gabi the 24 hr. cafe and the Crepe place. We enjoyed all three. :-)

Good choice. Definitely have the breakfast buffet at Paris - YUM!

We've also enjoyed Mon Ami Gabi.

Getting closer to our trip and checking again about mid-Strip Hotel/Casinos. Currently at the Paris but rates seem rather high compared to other times I've been in Vegas, average rate of $170/night. I suppose it is the convention season.

Also, best buffets in Vegas...any suggestions?

We stayed at Flamingo on an Internet special $55 a night. Our son stayed at Paris on a business trip. Out of these 2, I would definitely pick Paris based on his room description.

Is Flamingo mid-range? It seemed to be more on a budget side except great pool and arboretum area. If not staying there, visit to see penguins and pink flamingoes.

Bally's is kinda "tucked in" away from the strip. There is a people mover, same as in airports. If it works, good!

Paris has nicer rooms than Flamingo. The Harrah's Entertainment casinos are like GM. Like the old GM ladder (Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac), Harrah's has Flamingo, Ballys, Harrahs, Paris, Rio, Caesars.

Blue Man Group was boring, imo. Much of it was just blue guys staring at each other with surprised, confused, curious looks.

OTOH Le Reve was wonderful.

I have stayed at Paris since my posts in the summer. The hotel tower that I stayed in was very convenient to the restaurants and casino. The room was nicer than the refurbished rooms at the Flamingo (some of the better rooms at Flamingo have a big plasma TV and little TV in the bathroom mirror, these rooms are comfy). I'm going back to Paris in Feb.

To change the subject a bit, if you like southern/creole/cajun, the lunch at Commanders Palace in the Alladin is excellent. They have a "prix fixe" for 19 bucks and serve full-on martinis for 25 cents apiece! Regarding Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris: It is basically a steak/frites place. The portions are gigantic, and if you are not huge eaters, one steak, one salad and maybe one appetizer will be plenty for two. I have heard that they don't mind you sharing, though you should ask the hostess. We didn't know any better and left a lot more food and money on the table than we needed to.

Hey, check the thread on Vegas hotel deals. You should be able to lower your rate at Paris.

Commander's Palace is closing its Aladdin location on January 16th. Right now it's slated to reopen at the Venetian in the new tower (Palazzo?)-- late 2007 to early 2008.

CP moving? Well, I hope they continue the lunch special.

MGM has a great rate, but you must be a Player's Club member. How do you join their Player's Club?

The MGM website says go to the Players Club counter at the casino. Another way would be to sit down at a blackjack table, give your driver's license to the pit boss, and they will get you a card while you play.

That won't help to get you a discount in advance, tho.

I didn't see a way to register online (but I didn't look to hard). You could try calling the MGM and ask for casino services or the casino host and ask them if they can sign you up.

It sounded like you were all set with Paris. Unless MGM is a much better deal (and you can get the PC rate), I'd stick with Paris. I prefer the mid strip location myself.

There were specials for Paris on the vegas deal link:
http://www.vegashotelspecial.com/
Were they not on your dates?
FYI, The people movers at Bally's work great. It's easy to get out on the strip from there.

Thanks for your help. Paris looks like the best deal for the money. Convention time so the rates are pretty high.