My girlfriend has always wanted to go to Vegas and w/ Valentines day coming up I was thinking of the possibility of going out there. Probably would be going in a few months, but wanted to go ahead a book and see if I could get some deals. Anybody know the best way to go about this? Looking for airfare (from RDU), hotel, and a show. Travel agent?, book all individual?, etc.....any help would be great thanks...

1/24/2008 3:59:01 PM

I think there are several threads about Vegas. Not necessarily travel agents and stuff, but do look there.

1/24/2008 4:01:22 PM

DEFINITELY go see Cirque du Soleil's LOVE show, it's a tribute to the Beatles

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/love/intro/intro.htm

1/24/2008 4:37:14 PM

^ I really wanted to see that the last time I was there, but the tickets were pretty expensive, and nobody I was with likes the Beatles.

1/24/2008 4:40:08 PM

Another guy mentioned he got a cheap flight through Southwest recently.
I got a nice hotel deal through fatwallet.com one time.

1/24/2008 4:46:14 PM

hotels.com or search las vegas hotels in google and there are tons of sites...usairways has nonstop flights from charlotte to las vegas if you wanna drive down to charlotte first

1/24/2008 6:11:34 PM

i was there this weekend. didn't even gamble, still threw away a ton of money.

damn that place.

1/24/2008 6:32:29 PM

vegas =/= romantic

1/24/2008 7:01:00 PM

^LIES

1/24/2008 7:56:52 PM

Southwest has nonstop flights to Vegas from RDU everyday. I usually take the flight that leaves RDU at 1:50pm and arrives in LV around 3:30 Vegas time.

You can also try Southwest Vacations for your Vegas trip. I've done it twice through them. Both times staying at the Luxor. 2 nonstop roundtrip tickets and 4 nights at the Luxor is $1200.

1/25/2008 7:12:01 AM

just booked a trip for this spring

priceline your hotel room, i got 4 stars for 130 a night, including a weekend night.

We got: nonstop flights, 3 nights at a 4* on the strip

total (including tax): $940.00

[Edited on January 25, 2008 at 8:34 AM. Reason : ]

1/25/2008 8:34:14 AM

Ive been twice in the past 3 monthes. PM with any questions you have about where to stay or what shows to see or not see What kind of budget are you lookin at? That will help at what kind of hotel to stay at. The cheaper ones are excalibur and luxor on southend. Depending on when you go they can be $50-70 a night on weekdays. anywhere you stay will cost double on weekends. They are decent for the money and close to a lot of action. There's also circus circus, sahara and stratosphere on north end but i would stay away from those if I could. For a bit more you can stay at MGM grand, planet hollywood, or monte carlo. New york and paris you can get for a few bones more. I stayed at the flamingo my first time. Its older and not fancy at all but you can get good deals there plus its across from caesars palace and belagio. Just remember.... no matter where you stay you wont be spending much time in the room. Just to sleep mainly. The hotel itself will usually have the best rate online. to get an idea you can use expedia, travelocity, trip advisor ect to do "vacation packages" that will include flight and hotel and save some money. Play around with the dates you go. If you are flexible you can save a lot of money.

1/25/2008 8:56:56 AM

^ flexibility will definitely help you save money. weekday hotel rates are much cheaper than weekends. (kind of obvious, but true) i just went in october and stayed at treasure island. it was pretty bitchin.

[Edited on January 25, 2008 at 9:29 AM. Reason : of]

1/25/2008 9:28:45 AM

A very romantic place to take your girlfriend to dinner is Top of the World resturant at the Stratosphere Hotel. My wife and I went there last weekend for dinner. You can't beat the view. You sit over 800 ft. above Vegas and eat while it revolves 360 degrees in 1 hour and 20 min or something like that. I would go ahead and call to make reservations, though.

http://www.stratospherehotel.com/topworld.asp

As far as places to stay, I guess if it's your first time you'll want to stay somewhere nice. The first time I went we stayed at the Venetian. It was really nice, but I thought it was a little overpriced. The Wynn is nice, but a little too chi chi for me. My wife won a free trip last weekend and we stayed at Harrah’s. I thought that was great. The rooms aren't as expensive as the hotels right next to them and it's in the middle of everything.

[Edited on January 25, 2008 at 10:17 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on January 25, 2008 at 10:17 AM. Reason : .]

1/25/2008 10:07:42 AM

get a cabana at caesars palace pool

pretty much the sweetest thing ever. flat screen tvs, music, lounge chairs and people brining you any food and drink you want

it can get $ but if the weather is nice its a very relaxing way to spend an afternoon. you can also make 1/2 day reservations

also, the voodoo lounge at the top of the rio is one of my favorites. the food at the restaurant is very reasonable for vegas and its delicious. get a witch doctor. then i think at 10 they start up the club and its outdoors on top of the rio overlooking the strip. definitely one of the more interesting clubs in my opinion. the night i went the weather was incredible. it was also neat to see the airplanes lined up in the air to land in vegas.

1/25/2008 12:01:24 PM

different hotels have different crowds imo, what kinda crowd are you looking for? younger crowd, or like more of a family atmosphere?

1/25/2008 12:19:14 PM

Quote :

"vegas =/= romantic"

I agree somewhat, but she is dying to see the Beatles Cirque du Soleil, and I've never been to Vegas so I figured it could be a good time to do it....thanks for all the advice guys!

[Edited on January 25, 2008 at 2:37 PM. Reason : add]

1/25/2008 2:35:02 PM

i highly recommend the top floors of the monte carlo

1/25/2008 3:22:53 PM

^Will definitely condiser it...trying to stay <$1400, which looking at preliminary prices shouldnt be too hard to find. Should I set up transportation from airport to the hotel or are cabs the way to go....reason I ask you can set up transportation for $11 a person round trip. Probably isnt the best quality/comfort service, but didnt know if anybody had ever used that.

1/25/2008 3:38:16 PM

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A fire broke out on the top floors of a 3,000-room Las Vegas hotel and Casino on Friday, forcing the evacuation of guests and staff and quickly engulfing parts of the building's facade and roof.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the blaze, which broke out at about 11 a.m. local time (2 p.m. EST) at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino on the Vegas strip.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN2535785320080125

1/25/2008 3:39:16 PM

wow...might save the monte carlo for next time

1/25/2008 3:48:12 PM

Its booked.....4 days, 3 nights at the Luxor and flying out of RDU roundtrip for under $900 for both of us! Definitely stoked!! Thanks for all the suggestions....and also already bought 2 LOVE tix, which was pretty much as much as another plane ticket.

1/25/2008 4:31:59 PM

The Monte Carlo

Where every day is the 4th of July

1/25/2008 4:34:38 PM

if you are looking for a romantic dinner and don't mind spending some money, I recommend "Picasso" at Bellagio. It overlooks the fountains and the walls are adorned with actual Picasso paintings. Not only that but the food is amazing. All in all one of the best dining experiences I have ever had. Dinner for two with wine was around $400.

As for places to stay, always check the hotel websites. Check out http://www.cheapovegas.com if you want some good info. If you don't mind staying off strip, I recommend The Gold Coast. It is across the street from the Palms and next door to The Rio. Plus they have a shuttle that runs to the strip constantly and it isn't expensive at all. Some friends and I are heading out there on 3/6 and got rooms at the Venetian for $79/nt on the weekend. (which is crazy cheap for there) If you, or someone you know, works for the government, call and ask them about government rates. You might be surprised.

1/25/2008 5:32:55 PM

Quote :

"DEFINITELY go see Cirque du Soleil's LOVE show, it's a tribute to the Beatles"

I was there 3 weeks ago for the CES. One of my coworkers went to see this and he love it, said the crowd interaction was incredible and very entertaining. He did say that if you were not a BEatles fan then you could have fun, but the entire crowd sang along to every tune so it was def a hardcore crowd.

I have been to Vegas three times, the first time as a spring break trip my senior year and twice for business. I stayed in the Belagio, Herras, and the Mandalay Bay's The Hotel.

My opinion is that the Belagio was very upscale in every avenue (tables, dining, drinks) and you paid for it. Herras was a lot of the younger crowd with cheap tables and they (thankfully) respected newbie gamblers. The Hotel was more contemporary and I wished I had brought my gf to that trip because The Hotel had a range of spas, restaurants, and bars that were more for a romantic or family outing IMHO.

I will tell you my buddy recently took his wife to Vegas and regretted it. After the flights, hotel, meals, alcohol, shows, gamble etc he easily spend $2000+ for a 4 night stay. While I would love to take my gf on a business trip, I would not spend the money to take her there for our vacation, either simply because I could take us to a 3-4 day trip to somewhere warm that is geared for more 1 on 1. Vegas as a couple's trip would probably turn out to be non-stop exploration if it was both of your first time there. I would recommend focusing on what you both want out of a vacation. When I go on vacation, I want to relax and slow a few days of my life up. Some people would prefer to be entertained and see new things, so once your sure thats what yall want then I'm sure you can find the right accomidations.

also check out http://www.kayak.com/ for airfare or slickdeals.net. kayak will compare all airline fares and slickdeals often has cheap fares to LV

[Edited on January 26, 2008 at 2:11 PM. Reason : plane info]

1/26/2008 2:06:55 PM

Any great places to eat that aren't an arm and a leg? The deli in NY NY was pretty damn good. Hard rock had a meal for $7.77 that was an 8 oz flat iron steak, 3 shrimp, mashed potatoes, and a salad. Pretty good.

1/26/2008 8:31:38 PM

Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay

1/27/2008 9:01:56 AM

Quote :

"Any great places to eat that aren't an arm and a leg? "

Cant remember the name but there is a Mexican place in NY NY. The food is average but almost all entrees are under $10. The Margaritas are the best I had all week

1/27/2008 9:37:36 AM

Le Burger Brasserie at Paris Hotel is pretty good. It's in the connector area between Paris and Ballys. Really good food and the waitress outfits are wonderful.

1/27/2008 11:33:58 AM

Quote :

"I was there 3 weeks ago for the CES. "

me too! was rockin' the press badge tho

1/27/2008 7:43:10 PM

Quote :

"me too! was rockin' the press badge tho"

Did you come by the HP Booth? Thats where I was posted up

1/27/2008 8:39:35 PM

sadly I didn't, was rockin' an NCSU shirt while out on the floor so you would've noticed

1/27/2008 9:44:50 PM

Quote :

"Another guy mentioned he got a cheap flight through Southwest recently."

that guy would be me

we got $160 round trip tickets(direct flight, too)from southwest and we're staying at the luxor casino for $88 a night

1/28/2008 12:38:37 AM

if you like sushi, mgm grand has the best sushi and sake i've ever had in my life, it really wasn't THAT expensive either...the restraunt is on the way to the pool....

1/28/2008 1:12:24 AM

Hopefully I can keep it all under $1500, but we'll see.....I probably won't be going to Vegas again anytime soon so got to take advantage while I'm there....definitely stoked about the LOVE show too

1/28/2008 2:44:20 PM

my boo surprised me on our last trip to vegas with tickets to love, and that shit was amazing. DO IT.

1/28/2008 3:42:32 PM

Quote :

"Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay"

HIGHLY suggest this place. Ive eaten there twice. Just about any kind of topping you can think of. You can eat there for under $20 but They have burgers there that cost $60

1/28/2008 5:16:30 PM

So I've already gotten tickets to LOVE, and thinking about adding another show while we're there. Right now it seems to be between Lance Burton and Zumanity. Anybody know anything about these shows? Kinda hesitant on Zumanity since its another Cirque du Soleil, and I know Lance Burton is a family show and heard it was pretty good. Me and my girlfriend are both early-mid twenties so kinda unsure....any other suggestions would be great too...thanks

3/12/2008 8:13:01 AM

Go see Penn and Teller if you want magic. I've seen both. I also heard Amazing Jonathan is good too.

3/12/2008 8:14:44 AM

penn and teller are pretty good, i have seen their show. not what i would call a family show so you may enjoy it but honestly, if you've ever seen their tv specials i wouldn't waste your money. Their live show is pretty much the same thing.

3/12/2008 8:21:05 AM

Ugh, Lance Burton was really lame. I can see going to it if you had kids, but otherwise I would see almost anything else instead.

3/12/2008 8:25:17 AM

Spamalot!

and the risque, yet artistic, MGM's Crazy Horse Paris. my bf described it as "finally seeing Bond girls from the opening credits naked"

3/12/2008 8:57:46 AM

There are a couple of cheap restaurants inside the mall like complex connected to Aladdin/Planet Hollywood. Some of the food was pretty good, others were decent. The service was terrible though.

3/12/2008 9:13:06 AM

I just saw Spamalot at Wynn on Sat. night and it was fantastic. Show was no where near sold out, so I would suspect that you could get tix at the half off booths pretty easily.

Skip Zumanity, it was boring.

3/12/2008 9:14:07 AM

food wise, if you like Mexican, go to Diego's...located in the MGM Grand and it was VERY yummy. Apparently their guacamole is good (little more than halfway down /message_topic.aspx?topic=480928&page=2) but I didn't order any. Next time!

3/12/2008 9:22:17 AM

Yeah. That place was awesome.

3/12/2008 9:28:53 AM

Quote :

"i was there this weekend. didn't even gamble, still threw away a ton of money. damn that place."

i did gamble, but i still threw away a ton of money.

3/12/2008 9:30:55 AM

Heh. I was just reading elkaybie's post, and I was thinking as I read, "Yeah, that place was really good. I'll recommend the guacamole."

I'm so predictable.

3/12/2008 9:35:38 AM

that's awesome...3 people with a strong Diego recommendation in two separate threads! You can't go wrong

3/12/2008 9:44:03 AM

Quote :

"Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay"

yeah, that place is so good...we went after seeing it on Giada's show...

but yeah, we went for spring break, pretty good time

3/12/2008 10:05:45 AM