I love to travel. LOVE. TO. TRAVEL. However, life circumstances over the last 18 months have dictated that we mostly stay put in our community , so when given the chance to hop a plane to a city I’ve never seen, but always heard about, I took it. Vegas, Baby! It wasn’t until I arrived that the enormity of the undertaking hit me. 9 days. In Vegas. With a 2-year old. With a hubby in conferences 8 hours a day.
Three days in, I was trying to convince myself that this was in fact a good idea, and 7 days in, I am a little sad to be leaving, as I’ve just cracked the code.
Here’s what I learned:
Lesson #1: Invite a friend. It was so wonderful to have my dear friend from San Diego and her almost 2 year old drive in and stay at a nearby time-share property. I think 9 days with the minimal adult accompaniment would have made Vegas a lot less fun for everyone—the girls played well; and I got to catch up with a friend who I hadn’t seen in almost 2 ½ years.
Lesson #2: Question all your assumptions. Vegas is like no other city or hotel culture I’ve been in: self-parking is FREE, you can Valet for the price of a tip, and rental cars are cheap if you book in advance. In hindsight, I would have booked a rental car when I booked my flight for the whole time, but because I waited, I could only really swing the weekend. Driving in Las Vegas, is a breeze during the day, stop-and-go at night, but if you have driven in any major city, it’s a walk in the park.
Drinks are free too, while on the casino floor, but couldn’t verify with the toddler in tow. I will say stuff I typically take for granted at your standard hotel was pricey: Gym ($30), Wifi (not free), and no inexpensive food or complimentary coffee or breakfast in sight (Latte: $5.50).
Incidentally, I found the Whole Foods Market just south of Mandalay Bay on Las Vegas Blvd. If I had known, I would have stopped by on day 1 instead of day 7. Because no matter what you think of Whole Foods prices, let me tell you, they beat the strip food prices hands down.
Lesson #3: Ask, but don’t pay for a fridge. My breakfast plans were foiled with no coffee maker for hot water for oatmeal and no access to refrigeration. In Vegas hotels the minibars are weighted, if you move the items or put items in, you will be charged. Step 1: Get the minibar locked and snacks removed. Step 2: Call housekeeping and mention that you are traveling with a baby/toddler and you need to keep some food in the refrigerator for them—they sent ours up for free but I didn’t wise up to this until day 3.
Lesson #4: Take the Stroller. When asking yourself the question, should I take the stroller or let them walk? Always, Always take the stroller, even if they mostly walk. The only time we didn’t need it (OR wish desperately we had brought it) was when we went to Maggiano’s at the Forum Shops, where parking was actually a short walk from the restaurant. You have to walk, walk and walk some more just to get to your car or outside. Example: It took me 10 minutes just to get from my hotel room to the parking garage.
Lesson #5: Shortest Route: Always the street. We would sometimes duck into a Casino or Hotel, thinking it would be a faster way to get to our destination. It never is. Grab your water bottle, sunscreen and sunset, and head outside to walk “The Strip.”
Lesson #6: Happy Hours=Quick Service, & Good Prices In Vegas, happy hours range from 2:30-8 p.m. for ½ price drinks and appetizers. Taking a two year old to 1-1.5 hour dinners every night gets less fun as the week goes on…so happy hours are perfect: early, not crowded, and a bit more laid back.
Lesson #7: Carseats are not mandatory in taxis. It’s going to be rough going when we come home to the carseat, but in Vegas, you can strap your toddler in right next to you and climb in. It’ll be little girl’s first lesson in: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Lesson #8: People are nice; customer service people are wonderful. In Vegas, everyone that’s on the Strip is on vacation, so we had people always opening doors, carrying our strollers up and down escalators and doting on our children. It’s a far cry from intermixing with locals just trying to get to work quickly. The recession has hit Vegas hard, and every dining, taxi, and hotel experience was over the top. One example: We were eating at Wolfgang Puck’s Pizzeria & Cucina, and I strolled back so little girl could see the kitchen, and the Maitre D invited us in and gave her a bowl of house made vanilla bean gelato. I love my new hometown of just outside of DC, but there that would NEVER happen!
Lesson #9: The pools are awesome. Through a connection, we got to experience “The Beach” at Mandalay Bay—really a water park complete with a lazy river, wave pool and sand glorious sand. You can count on the weather being, hot, dry and sunny everyday, so why not make everyday a pool day, either before or after naps?
Lesson #10: Keeping up with the Jones here actually benefits YOU. I have to admit the culture of glitz, glamour, and money was a bit intimidating at first. I felt comparatively I looked like a farm girl from Nebraska, and couldn’t even glitz it up because my makeup didn’t make our luggage. However, after a few days, I realized the constant competition actually benefits the consumer—the hotels and restaurateurs are in tough competition—so they all have to have a draw: be it a free show, fancy water fountains, aquariums, lions, dueling pianos or an erupting volcano. And You? You get to benefit from their constant competition, without spending a dime.
Spouse’s conference coming up? Want to reunite with friends or have a sunny spot to head this winter? Vegas? With a Toddller? Yes, my friend. Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas, you’ll be glad you came.
Top Picks:
Most Relaxing: “The Beach” at Mandalay Bay
Most Fun Treat: M & M Factory, especially choose your color own M & M’s
Most Authentic “Fake”: New York, New York,
Best Art: Gallery at City Center, and Crystals
Best Meal: Wolfgang Puck’s Cucina and Pizzeria
Most Beautiful Hotel: Bellagio—Chihuly in hotel lobby, botanical garden, world’s largest chocolate fountain.
Best Fountain 24/7: Aria Show: Bellagio Water Show (AMAZING!)
Greatest Aquariums: All in Caesar’s Palace: The Forum Shops at Cease’s Palace near Cheesecake Factory, Seahorse Lounge, and Beijing Noodle 9.
Best Animal Show: Lion Habitat at MGM
We stayed at the Aria in City Center, which was a good central, location, with large rooms, room darkening shades, and a bathroom with a sliding door perfect for stashing a pack and play. If you are looking for a non-gaming, no smoking hotel the Vdaro is right next door.
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I loved visiting Vegas, and have only been there pre-kid for two separate weekends. It sounds like such a blast, maybe we’ll have to go together next time
How did you avoid the smoke/smokers? I’ve been to Vegas many times for work and can’t imagine traveling there with my toddler b/c the smoke in most of the casinos (especially Bellagio, which seems to attract the most unfiltered cigarette and cigar smokers) chokes me.
Melody,
I hear you! There were a lot of smokers, and some of the casinos were especially smoky at night–like MGM Grand, and NYNY–are not places I would eat at night with kids…even on the outskirts of the casino the smoke was bad.
But, during the day, and during the week, they were not so bad and we basically tried to stay outside as much as possible. Our hotel, the ARIA, is new and must have some awesome ventilation and a faint vanilla aroma to cover the cigarette smoke, and you could avoid the casino by exiting on the promanade level. I learned that next door, at the Vdara, is a completely non-smoking, non-gaming hotel, when I ran into a couple from Austrailia traveling the world for 6 weeks with their just under 2 year old.
Also the malls, the Forum Shops, the Venetian Shops, the Fashion Show, and the uber expensive, but home to our favorite restaurant in Vegas, and great distracting art are all blissfully smoke free. People were actually pretty respectful of the kids at the pool and didn’t smoke around us.
So that’s how it worked for us; definitely couldn’t avoid it entirely, but most of the time wasn’t a huge stumbling block!
Thanks so much for this! Vegas is on our list, but we didn’t know how long we’d have to wait with our toddler. Still, the thing that worries me the most is the plane ride
Direct Flight + Car Seat on board = 2 hours of napping. But she is a good sleeper. There’s always benedryl (wink, wink).
the bug just bit me…the travel bug that is!
we went for our last child-free anniversary and wondered how hard it would be to go back with a toddler. the smoke is definitely an issue, though. we’re used to smoke-free buildings in cal.
we loved bellagio when we stayed there and paid extra for a room with a view of the fountain show (but went mid-week when it’s cheaper). plus you gotta love that chocolate fountain!
I have a picture of the chocolate fountain with little girls reflection in it. She’s clearly in love with chocolate. She also loved the Chilhuly, and the garden in the Bellagio, and we loved, loved the water show.
This is almost enough to make me want to pack up my children and head to Vegas.
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