People do bring their own pool floats and it can get crowded in the elevators, but you should be fine. The lazy river has some you can use, but not during busy days; they are packed.
Love the high quality strip joints (gentleman’s clubs), easy access to escort services and the advantage that legalized prostitution is close by. Nothing like it!
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I have been twice over the last twenty years. Once to run the old LV Marathon , the one where they dropped you off in the middle of nowhere and you ran back to civilization, next to see the strip. Fascinating both times but for different reasons. The first time was being in the desert, just me and the tumbleweeds and a thousand other runners, getting up at the crack of dawn, just when the gamblers and partiers were staggering home. It was so odd to be not drinking and watching my diet and bedtime when everyone else was letting off steam. But I did win $40 off a dollar slot machine! The second time was about site seeing, so Hoover Dam and the hotels and the shows and the restaurants. The artificialness of the place is worth seeing, as others have mentioned, like Disney. I feel no need to go back, but it was worth a visit.
I look at Las Vegas the same as Time Square—super cool to see and experience these places.
It makes scenes in movies and stories so much more when you have felt and experienced the place.
My Brother lives in Las Vegas so I have been too much and don’t like but am glad to have experienced it.
Same for NYC ( all of it)
Old Las Vegas is interesting- the Mafia museum is fun, and CC shoe mavens can schedule a tour of the Zappo’s campus/headquarters there.
The Hoover Dam is also a wonderful thing to tour. DS#2, who goes to Vegas for poker games, called the Dam tour “engineering porn”. He loved it.
We had a wonderful dinner at Picasso in the Bellagio, sitting outside on the part of the restaurant that is actually in the edge of the fountain, so had a spectacular view of the display. We went to several shows (Cirque do soleil and O, Elton John (David Sade was sitting behind us) etc. I have not selected it as a destination vacation, but DH has had conferences there, DS’s and spouses ran a tough mudder race there and hiked Red Rock Canyon, and we too have friends in the Vegas suburbs we visited. We found some fun, if not kitschy things to do, roller pastels or ferris wheels to ride and shows to see during the day with the family, and walking is fine too when not too hot.
Only DS#2 is a gambler (poker player- he doesn’t call it “gambling). None of the rest of us have any interest or skill. I am not a fan of the casinos and especially the smoke, or the pushy people on the street handing out cards to things we have no interest in. So, all in all, while it’s not our first choice, there is plenty to do/see. And the flowers and plants in the Bellagio are beautiful.
Been three times over many years and all different. The first was back maybe 25-30 years—girly shows, cheap entertainment, smoky haze, penny slots, cheap buffets,free drinks if you sat at a slot machine. Had to actually pull a handle on most machines.
Second time was their attempt at making Vegas “family friendly “ which was a marketing mistake on their part but less girly shows and a whole lot less smoke (think they cleared the air better). Bigger hotels built
Just went last summer—truly a theme park atmosphere. Hotels are very fun to wander through. So many new ones with some interesting shops. Very expensive meals but good (unless you have all those deals), some great shows but very expensive, no free drinks, slots are run on credit cards, and the smoky haze is back (I literally couldn’t walk through the Bellagio casino the air was so thick). Had fun (there for a convention) but won’t be back soon.
Typo above— David Spade was sitting behind us.
Another fun story from many years ago: DH took DS#2 to Vegas when I took DS#1 to see some colleges in CA. We found a very, VERY inexpensive deal at the Stratosphere (and figured DS would like the rides on the hotel). Fortunately we’d prepaid for the stay (which is recommended because hotels fill up). When they went to check in, the person in front of them was irate b/c she had a reservation, but hadn’t prepaid anything, and there were no rooms available. Can understand her upset, but apparently she was pretty vocal in her anger. Then DH and son (who was maybe 12-13) stepped up, and at first were told the same thing, BUT, they had prepaid. The clerk asked if they ‘d mind sleeping on a pullout sofa (they didn’t care) and were subsequently given the living room/dining room/full kitchen area of a HUGE suite (the bedrooms had been sold already and locked off). Apparently it had a HUGE floor to ceiling TV, which DS bowed down to when they got into the room. THey didn’t spend much time int he room, but it was an experience we still talk about.
It was Reno but H and friend found an internet deal for a cheap hotel price Went to the front desk and they wouldn’t give them the deal—had to be booked by phone in advance—so they went to the hotel house phone around the corner and booked it from there.
@gouf78 Where are slots run on credit cards? In my experience, slots take cash and pay out in a ticket that you redeem in another machine or at the cashier cage. You can also put the tickets in another slot machine. There are player reward cards that look like credit cards, but they are just tracking your play so you get free offers and such. Occasionally, there will be a promotion where they download some free play onto your card, but it’s not a credit card.
I like to gamble, but if slots take credit cards, someone with little discipline could really get into trouble. I take a set amount of money to gamble with and when it’s gone, I go read my book!
Went there when DH went to a conference almost ten years ago. It was the week leading up to family weekend at one of our kids’ schools, so husband was going straight from there and invited me. People were really nice. The only one who was anywhere near obnoxious was a barker for one of the shows. I’m seriously boring – don’t go to shows or gamble – but I love shiny things. Happily window-shopped for days, took pictures with a cardboard Elvis, and got a plastic flamingo (that’s where we stayed) who rode in front with us on the drive to school. What’s not to like? 
Dear autocorrect- how does roller coaster become roller pastel?
One thing about Vegas— at the ginormous hotels- there is nowhere to sit, except in front of a slot machine or at a gambling table, or in a restaurant. There are no lobby seats to be found.
No, I am not. The worst of many things wrapped into a single city.
For some reason, autocorrect on my phone changes “because” to Becca. Drives me crazy.
For those who have been to the big residency concerts in Vegas - Britney; Celine Dion; whoever - how is security controlled for those kinds of things and how big is the audience? Are we talking 10s of thousands per night or 100s of thousands? I didn’t have an interest in it (nor the time) but when I was there Celine Dion was playing at Caesars and to me from the outside, it just looked like another part of the casino building. Yet when you go to a game etc. you nowadays go through metal detectors, only can bring clear plastic bags etc. Is it similar in Vegas or much looser since these concerts are happening in casinos.
I’d be interested in going but am already kind of not a fan of huge packed venues with no security measures.
@Rivet2000 , the Samoset hotel carves a bar out of ice, usually with a theme involving other ice sculptures, and has it out on their patio. They have lots of ice blocks covered with fake fur to sit on. We took our son there for his 21st birthday. I ordered one drink, walked around outside to see everything, and headed straight back in. The appeal of an ice bar is only theoretical, to me.
There are probably a few dozen venues in town that seat 2,000 or more guests. Only a few can break 10,000 - MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mandalay Bay Event Center, T-Mobile Arena, etc.
The residency type concerts are usually in the theaters that hold 2,500 - 4,000 people. They are nice spaces. I don’t think you would feel like they are huge or packed. Each venue has its own security protocol - some do metal detectors or bag inspections, some do not.
The huge venues could feel crowded. Similar to attending a major sports event. Since these locations are multipurpose, I think they are not a great place to see live music. Turning up the volume does not make up for poor acoustics - lol.
“The appeal of an ice bar is only theoretical, to me.”
I think the reality is that, like lots of things these days, it is all about the photo op/instagram post for many.