Planning a trip to Vegas, opinions wanted

I have been to Mandolay Bay once for only a couple of days a few years back. I am planning on taking a trip at the end of March. I will be traveling with the wife and boys (9 and 5). Is the Planet Hollywood a decent place? It seems to be in the middle of the strip, some of the nicer places are too far at the end of the strip. What is the best way to book? I was going to use Expedia, do the casinos give casino rates or comps like AC? How do you go about getting it before you get there? Do you have to play first and then they will work it off your tab? Also, what are the best BJ games and where? Thanks in advance

Do you have a Players Card anywhere? Call up the casinos associated with that card, ask to speak to a host, and ask them for a rate. You'll probably save yourself quite a bit over what you'd get using Expedia or Orbitz, etc... The "Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas" is IMO the best guidebook.

No place is a decent place for kids.

Circus Circus, perhaps? Definitely not PH, unless the kids need an education that every teenager eventually gets. :whip:

The kids would enjoy Excaliber more than Planet Ho'.

Thanks for the replies. I would love to keep them at home, but it's either they come or we don't go. Does anyone think the pools will be open at the end of March?

Most casinos have at least one heated pool.That time of year,it can be pool weather but its pretty iffy.

My kids won't be the only kids on the strip, or will they? I would really feel weird not seeing any other kids, I thought that during the day I could take them to a lot of the casinos and find some things in each one to keep them busy.They are 9 and 5,boys. Me and the wife would be only playing at night in shifts like we do in AC. They LOVE going to AC, so I thought this would be fun for them also, am I making a mistake?

Some casinos-Excaliber and circus Circus are very kid friendly,others are not.
To be honest,I rarely hit the strip anymore so I'm not sure how the family thing is these days. I know Wynn and I believe a few others will not allow children on the grounds unless they are guests of the hotel.There is a big game zone in the same building that houses the four story M&M factory so I'd imagine they draw a big childrens crowd but I go solo,and mostly at nite so children aren't on my radar.

excalibur has a kid zone on the lower level below the entrance on the nyny/tropicana walkway entrance side. I went down there when i was hammered and tried to win a homer simpson doll throwing balls at bowling pins. That game was more rigged than a slot machine, but still fun. Lots of kids.

luxor also has an arcade area that spans 2 floors i believe. Same kind of style as excalibur...at least that was last august in my experience.

Mandalay bay would not be a bad choice since luxor/ex are easy access by monorail.

I'd look on ebay. You will see timeshares for rent in Vegas. We stayed at the twin towers a block off the strip diagonal to the Billagio for a week. Cost was $179 for the week. All the casinos are walking distance and the kids can stay in the apt and watch movies at night. Also you can save some money on food if you eat a few meals in the apt. It may not have been called the twin towers, but something like that. There are tons of timeshares that are not able to be used.

What time of year was that? Sounds like a great deal.

I'm not sure, but I think you might mean Polo Towers. If so, then I think you found an incredible deal. Renting a timeshare for a week should normally run more than three or four hundred for the week. Oh, reading back I see that you won an auction on ebay. Nice one

Polo Towers sounds correct. My wife is the one who won it on ebay. She is very good at watching ebay when we are thinking of a trip anywhere. It was the end of May. Was hot as hell. We did have a rental car and took a couple day trips. One up to the mountains for some cool air. Snow still on the ground and then to the lake. Polo Towers has underground parking so that was easy. I was little concerned about using someone elses time at a timeshare, but there was no problem with the desk checking in. Also no pressure to go a tour. We were left alone. I hear adds on the radio for Tahiti village. Sounds like they are giving a few nights and show tickets to visit their timeshare. We stayed at the Flamingo before for the SEMA show. Poor blackjack game if I remember. Check in was extremely slow. They have about 20 positions for check in, but only two were open.

Go to Hilton LV and buy in for $1000 on their $25 DD game. Bet black until the PB leaves, then drop to Green unless the count dictates otherwise. Also, you can play 2 hands there without doubling the minimum and they now have a cut card at ".8". Only downside to the game is H17 no DAS, but certainly playable at 0.53% house advantage.

Do this and they will send you free room offers if you have a players club. Even before I tried that, I would at least get rooms for $75 just for signing up and playing a little $10-$15 6D.

Now by my math, you could flat bet $100 and play basic strategy with the 0.53% house advantage, and it would only cost you about $25 an hour. Not a bad deal, and obviously you can easily play this game at a positive EV too!

I can vouch for this strategy, it worked for me exactly the way Knox describes. Of course, the downside is that you have to actually stay at the LV Hilton along with Ma and Pa Kettle from Des Moines.

Further, the "free" stay offers for the hotel often yields a "rooms not available" when you actually call with firm dates that include a weekend. Frankly, getting a cheap or free room on the strip isn't hard during the week, anyway.