Family Friendly Las Vegas Hotel About This Page:

[jgmklmhem]

I am looking for advice on finding a family friendly Vegas Hotel to stay one night in on our trip to Disneyland from Salt Lake. Our trip is in April 2005, but I always like to plan early. We need something pretty cheap on a Sunday night. Just looking for any reviews people might have. Family Friendly being the most important thing.

[maggieworkman]

We went to Las Vegas a couple of summers ago with the kids. We had a great time - but it was SUPER hot.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn (I think) on the strip. It had a roller coaster on the roof (not one you can ride. just a display). This had a little casino in it, but it wasn't huge like the others. It was a good location. Kind of across from the Aladdin place and just down from Paris and Bellagio. It was relatively cheap, that's why we stayed there.

Depending on what age your kids are and if they are boys or girls, here are my suggestions.

1. The Excalibur hotel would be great if you had boys. It is like a castle. My girls enjoyed it too. They have a show with Kings and queens (think Medieval Times). They also had King Arthur walking around. There is a game room.
2. Treasure Island had a pirate show outside with boats and cannons, etc. Boys would like this. But I am not sure what the hotel is like as we just watched the show.
3. Luxor has a Egyptian theme. We enjoyed walking around there and looking at the sculptures, etc. Not too much for young kids that I remember. They did have a little Egyptian exhibit where you could pay around $5 to look at the artifacts. My girls enjoyed that.
4. New York, New York I think has a roller coaster you can ride, if your kids are older.
5. Circus Circus also comes to mind. But we didn't visit there. It was on the other side of the strip from us. But I guess they do have a Circus inside. Not sure how kid-friendly that is.

Things we enjoyed doing:
1. We watched the dancing fountain at Bellagio every night
2. We went up to the top of the Eiffel tower
3. We watched the pirate battle
4. We shopped in Alladdin almost every day. They have shows too.
5. We went to Caesar's Palace and watched the fountain shows.
6. We took a Gondola ride at the Venetian.
7. We went to Luxor and looked at the Egyptian themed things and went into the pay exhibit.
8. We went to Excalibur and saw the medieval theme shows.

That's all I can think of right now. I used a book called Las Vegas with Kids.

Maggie

[Straitlover]

The HI Maggie stayed at is the Boardwalk.

The 2 best hotels for kids are Excalibur (south strip) and Circus Circus (north strip). You should be able to get a room for less than $50 for a Sunday night if you check around. If you do go w/ CC, stay away from the Manor Rooms. Yuck! Try for a Tower Room. They are the newest.

Personally, I would go for Excalibur over CC. The fact that it has a Krispy Kreme in it has nothing to do w/ my decision. Acutlaly, I've never even been in Excalibur. My decision comes from what I have read about it and the fact that it is closer to more of the other hotels for sightseeing.

Re the pirate show at TI: they have changed it, and it is now called the Sirens of TI. A big focus is half naked women, so I personally would not take kids to see it.

[maggieworkman]

[ QUOTE ]
The HI Maggie stayed at is the Boardwalk.


Re the pirate show at TI: they have changed it, and it is now called the Sirens of TI. A big focus is half naked women, so I personally would not take kids to see it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes! We stayed at the Boardwalk. They had a nice Prince look-a-like.

Sirens??? Oh Boy. How surprising it would have been to have expected to see pirates shooting cannons but end up seeing half naked women!! Too bad they changed it. It was kind of fun.

Also, I forgot about the exploding volcano. We went to see that too.

Maggie

[jgmklmhem]

Thank you for the advice. I am not sure How much time we will have to do many things since we have a 7hour drive to get there and then we want to get to DL as soon as possible the next day. I really want to stay on the strip for the atmosphere. We might also stay in Vegas on the way back from Vegas but it will be Saturday and the prices seem to go up quite a bit. Right now Circus Circus is in the $80 range which is more than I want. Is it because we are still way out from April and should prices drop? Our daughters are 1 and 4yo by the way.

[Straitlover]

Yes, it's still early for deals. If you visit the message boards at www.travel2vegas.com, they post lots of hotel deals (amazingly in the Hotel Offers and Discounts section ). You can make a reservation right now directly w/ the hotel if you want and rebook if a deal comes up. Be careful about discounts sites (Hotels.com, etc). They sometimes charge cancellation fees.

If you're going to stay both ways, what I would do is stay on the Strip on Sunday to get that experience and stay at an off-strip property on the way back on Sat. The Orleans is not far, and you can find some really good deals there lots of the time. They also have a free shuttle to the Strip so you don't have to drive over.

[DopeyGirl]

I also have to say Circus Circus!!! They are actually running a winter deal right now . . . $31.95 per night. The available dates go through February, but I am sure they will come out with Spring rates as it gets closer as well!

Here's the website for Circus Circus!!!
http://circuscircus.com/index2.php

[simbarel]

Like Star Trek? The Las Vegas Hilton is for you! (<--many Ferengi sightings!)

The Excalibur is GORGEOUS and seemed to have a lot of childrens programs when I went there for my brother's wedding.

[jgmklmhem]

I want to thank everyone for all the great advice. In addition to the reviews I was wondering if say we were to stay at the Luxor or the Excalibur before we get to DL would it "lessen" the impact of seeing Sleeping Beauty's castle for my 4yo. I worry that after the sheer size and impact of both going to Vegas and having previously been to WDW many times and having seen Cinderella's castle manytimes might jade her.... any thoughts???

[simbarel]

MHO, the Excalibur is all about its interior. Sure, the outside is castle-y and fun, but it's not nearly as nice'n'pretty as a detailed WDW castle.

But then again, I've never laid eyes on Sleeping Beauty's castle (other than the model at One Man's Dream.) But I really wouldn't worry. We all know who has the monopoly on the *real* magic.

[at12tone]

You should be advised that most rooms in Excalibur don't have a bathtub, only showers. Also, I do think there is an important distinction to be made between "kid-freindly" and "family-friendly", by which I think you were asking for someplace that wasn't overly sleazy. If you are looking for someplace "Vegas-y" but still a little reserved, I would highly recommend the Tropicana. It's very nice, has arguably the best pool in Vegas and can be had for about $50 on most nights. They also have a wonderful afternoon magic show that the kids would love.


Alan

[Pooh1219]

I've been to Vegas probably 20 times in the last 20 years, and have seen changes come and go. For a while there, they tried to bill themselves as a "family-friendly" town and encouraged families to come and visit. When that didn't work all that well, they changed their tune and it's now going for the younger LA crowd who are much more hip and bigger spenders than families! That being said, there aren't all that many places that I think are appropriate for families with children, but two that come to mind are Circus Circus and Excalibur. If you're concerned about the castle impact of Excalibur, then try Circus Circus. It's got lots for kids to do, an arcade in the hotel with all kinds of games, and a circus act performing over your head in the casino-lobby area. Stay in the newer section, and you'll find it's good value for the money. Just stay away from their buffet - it's probably the worst in all of Vegas. All hotels in Vegas charge exorbitant rates for Saturday nights, so I don't expect prices to fluctuate all that much. Sometimes they are a bit lower in the hottest summer months, but Saturday night is THE night there, so expect to pay a bit more than any other day of the week.