I’ve only ever been one time for a weekend. Not my thing. First of all, I am not a gambler. When I was there the streets were littered with “playing cards” featuring the prostitutes in the nearby place where it’s legal…I forget the name. It was actually sad as heck to me. The group I was with could not afford a big ticket show so I didn’t even get to experience that. Plus, I do not like the desert landscape.
I did love the Bellagio and the fountains with music at night.
No, I am not a Las Vegas person.
Never been. Don’t feel a desire to go ever. Too many places to visit in the world that rank ahead of Las Vegas. Gambling doesn’t appeal to me. I’m also not big on glitz.
To each their own, though. I’m sure some places I like don’t appeal to others.
I’ve only been in Vegas as a child (pit stop on a long trip) and a layover at the Vegas airport (that was quite an experience on it’s own! People drinking and hitting the slots at 8am!). It would not be a trip I’d be eager to spend $ on, but if given a free trip I’d go out of curiosity. I really don’t like the casino scene and I don’t drink, BUT I do enjoy good food and I hear there is plenty of that there.
I feel I can’t knock it too much if I haven’t been there.
We just drove through last weekend on our to and from Salt Lake City. We didn’t stop and we had never been before, except for a layover at the airport (which is just as abasket described). H had fun looking at all the big venue buildings. I doubt we ever go to stay, even for a show. There are other ways we’d rather spend our money.
I’m not sure “fan” would be the correct term, but I’ve been there a few times over the decades and we don’t gamble at all. Last time was for our anniversary two years ago. We stayed at the Venetian and saw Elton John at Caesar’s Palace. It was a lot of fun and I walked my feet off. The Venetian was very impressive with the canals and plazas; kind of reminded me of parts of Epcot. We enjoyed the fountains at Bellagio (saw a few different routines) and a fall flower show in their gardens with the Dale Chihuly glass art. We also saw some free Roman fountain show in the shopping area of Caesar’s Palace at a giant fish tank. And visited the flamingos at The Flamingo.
Our first visit was in the late 70’s and it was quite a different experience.
I think it’s a place where you can have fun without gambling, but can be expensive.
Me neither. Drove from Orange County CA with H’s aunt and uncle before kid one winter. We do not like deserts- trip so boring. H had hip pain so I walked the daytime strip alone. Can say I’ve been there, seen it. Not at all into gambling or the shows. Once and done. I guess my strange sister is worse than I am- they flew in and out of it for their travel to national parks but did not bother to even visit the strip.
On another front- the hoopla of Orlando, FL. So many Midwesterners make the pilgrimage to Disney et al. We had ACC meetings back in the day when big Pharma spent their money on doctors instead of TV and saw both Disneys. Made two trips (with/without H) to the Space Center one of those trips with kid.
Others out there who would rather see the real museums and natural wonders than theme parks? Epcot nothing when you see the Smithsonian…
I’m totally prejudiced, but the mere idea fills me with horror. 
To each his own.
I’d rather go to actual Venice and Rome, etc.
The only time I have any desire to go to LV is to enter Texas Holdem tournaments, not to gamble or for any shows or whatever.
The last time we went it was a free trip that we won and took some friends along with . They don’t drink or gamble so we made reservations at great restaurants and booked 4 shows for the three days we were there. That was fun but I wouldn’t go there otherwise
No. It’s the only place we’ve been that we felt we could have skipped and missed absolutely nothing.
That said, we might go again using it as a launching point for Red Rock Canyon. We missed it when we were there before and I’m told it’s a must see for nature lovers so it’s in our bucket.
With Las Vegas itself we wish we had devoted one of the days we spent there to more time in Death Valley. The other day we hopped on a flight to the Indian Reservation tourist part of the Grand Canyon so that turned out ok.
My mom enjoyed her time there though, so folks definitely vary in their thoughts. She loves casinos. I’m bored stiff in them.
I have been a lot. Most of my trips have been business conferences or meetings but I have a very close friend who until recently (retired to Reno area) lived in Henderson (a suburb) and worked in city government and I visited her a lot, too. Her daughter is a Las Vegas police officer.
I was good for about 2 days staying in a large convention hotel on the strip. After that I would be overwhelmed. The shopping is great and I enjoyed that, and I don’t mind blowing $20 or so on the slot machines. There are some excellent restaurants, too (nice when business is paying). I enjoyed the lavishness of the hotel construction and the sights for a couple of days. There are some great areas outside of the strip- Red Rock Canyon,Lake Mead, etc. When I would visit my friend and stay in Henderson, we would take some hikes. I did enjoy the desert but wouldn’t want to live there. We would sometimes go in for a show or concert, which was fun. UNLV is an interesting place with a top program in hospitality/hotel management. Las Vegas has a large transient population with retirees (California is emptying out into Nevada due to cost of living) and entertainment industry employees.
All in all, I find it sort of narrow-minded to dismiss Las Vegas without having visited and at least experienced some of what it has to offer. It’s sort of like going to Disneyland- you don’t have to commit to loving it or buying into the whole thing- but it is a fascinating culture and expereince.
All of our time there has been for work (conferences) or for kids activities. From grade school to high school, our S loved to play chess at the Las Vegas International Chess festival, and now our HS daughter has at least one (and sometimes two) soccer tournaments there each year. During downtime we take advantage of: great restaurants, shows (Cirque du Soleil, etc), shopping, and roller coasters. As long as you don’t pickup flyers we’ve never come across anything more provocative that whats commonly seen on any beach (excluding some beaches on Saint-Martin).
No.
I went with my H to LVNV because he had a conference there and both us had expenses covered. I did day trips while H was at meetings. I went to Hoover Dam, Death Valley, and hiking in the Red Rocks. Also went to a Cirque du Soleil show (can’t remember which one). We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel, which occupies the top 5 floors of Mandalay Bay Hotel. Not as nice as most Four Seasons hotels–at least that was the case when I was there, which was 5-6 years ago. I have friends from childhood who live there (we reconnected at a reunion) and they’ve invited me to visit, but we ended up meeting in the city where we used to live.
I probably like it, I just can’t remember much of my visit.
DH and I have been a couple of times together. We stayed in a fabulous suite and saw some of the shows, which I enjoyed. I was about 10 feet from Celine Dion; we really enjoyed the Blue Man Group, and the magician was just okay. Had some good meals and fine wine.
DH won $3500 in blackjack the last time we went. He almost always wins at least $1500 playing blackjack. The only time he has ever come out with a significant loss was the time he went with friends and played craps.
I play the slots just a little bit ($100); I’m not a big shopper, and I don’t really stay out late, but for a night or two it was fun. We also went and took a tour of the Hoover Dam, which was pretty cool. Once I was playing the slots next to a woman who won a big jackpot. I got to give her a big high five. 
I have gambled a total of $5 in Vegas, in a slot machine. I’m glad we visited once, but that was enough for me. So much walking!!!
I’ve been to LV quite a bit for both business and pleasure. My previous company used to have a weeklong customer conference and occasionally internal meetings there. D, W, and I would also drive up every once in a while (it’s about a 5 hour drive for us) for a long weekend.
We like it for the shows and restaurants, mainly. Some of the hotels are pretty cool as well. I sometimes gamble a little, but I’m not seriously into it. If you’re not a foodie and not into big-budget shows, I could see not being interested. That said, some of the shows are outstanding, and there’s many world-class restaurants there to experience - all for a pretty penny though.
Going to Vegas used to be a 3-times a year thingy, including every Christmas for the 2 big chess tournaments held there every year, plus the Consumer Electronics Show. Now it’s down to once a year for the CES. It’s pretty awful during CES week as parking and traffic is quite bad. All the major casinos started charging for parking last year so that’s not good either. There’s quite a few things to see and do though if you don’t go there much.
When my boys were younger, 6 and 7 or so, I took them on a two-week road trip that covered Las Vegas (stayed at a kid-friendly hotel, Circus Circus), San Diego beaches, and Disneyland on 2-night, 3-day package, among other places. When we returned home, I asked my boys to write down all the places we visited. To my surprise, both of them correctly wrote down every places except Las Vegas and Disneyland, two places we spent the most money on. On the other hand, their favorite place? Freely roaming on the sands of San Diego beaches. Priceless – literally.
No, but I would like to see Donny and Marie before they leave.