AboutTom Expertise I can tell you detail of every major hotel in Vegas, such as the restaurants they offer and the attractions they maintain, on the Las Vegas Strip. The kind of patrons each hotel attracts. How to play blackjack, both etiquette and strategy. How to obtain comps and make the most of your money when in town. Any Vegas general knowledge.
Experience
Past/Present clients Caesar's Palace, Flamingo Las Vegas, Bally's, Paris and Las Vegas Hilton.
Question A few friends and myself are taking our friend to Vegas for her 21st. It is in August. It will be all girls ages 21-23. We will be there for 3 days and two nights. Where should we eat, stay, and party? We are all still students so we don't have endless money but are willing to not be cheap especially on food.
Answer Ashley,
Hey, sounds like a fun trip. The balance of how you allocate your dollars is really up to you... you'll find that the more popluar a place is, the more expensive it will be, so I'll list out my top recommendations in order from most to least expensive and you can see how your budget fits.
For a 21-year-old girls weekend getaway to Vegas, I would recommend:
HOTEL:
Hard Rock Hotel - this is the domain of the 20-somethings. It's the place to see and be seen. Even if you can't afford a room here, you will definitely want to spend time hanging out at this property when the sun goes down. They are best known for their outrageous pool parties on the weekends. Check out NapkinNights.com for photos of their pool in action.
Palms - Also a great place for 20-somethings on the weekends. The whole hotel is geared toward the young and beautiful. They have a brand new tower with gorgeous rooms, a great new pool area with theme parties and of course their rooftop lounges and clubs.
Mandalay Bay - Manadalay has by far the most formidable pool area, and you can spend days there playing in the manmade beach, the wave pool, the lazy river and the private beach club which is like a nightclub during the day. Not to mention their other clubs as well, like Forty-Deuce, Foundation Room and Rumjungle.
Planet Hollywood - This place isn't quite as "MTV" as the other two, but it is newly remodeled and is a great place for the young and hip. They have a great location in the center of the strip and they're connected to a huge new mall. They have a new nightclub called Prive, and just a fun vibe all around.
Monte Carlo - I mention this hotel because they have fairly inexpensive rooms, a great strip location, fun pool and fun new restaurant/club called Diablo's. If you stay here it will be fun, but you'll definitely want to explore around during your time in town.
To find discount rates on these hotels for your trip, check out the Deals and Discounts pages on VegasMessageBoard.com. You'll find rate codes that might take 5-25% off your hotel stay.
DINING:
A couple fun places come to mind:
Stack at Mirage
Social House at Treasure Island
Olives at Bellagio
Diablo's at Monte Carlo
Dos Caminos at Palazzo
Pink Taco at Hard Rock Hotel
Just keep your eyes open and you'll see places around town you'll want to try.
PARTY:
As I mentioned above, you should spend some night or nights partying at Hard Rock Hotel. They have a great vibe and its a glamour show there on the weekends. They have a hot nightclub called Body English that's a lot of fun. Make sure to check this place out.
In August, you're going to want to spend time at the pool, and you might want to head over to some of the pool parties even if they're not at the hotel where you're staying. For on average $10 per person (for women) you can get into the pools at Palms, Mandalay Bay, Rio and Mirage. I would definitely recommend checking these places out while you're there.
The hotels I mentioned above are where you'd probably want to explore during the day, Hard Rock, Mandalay Bay, Palms, Planet Hollywood, even Bellagio.
At night, if you're looking for nightclubs hit up Body English, Tao (at Venetian), Pure (at Caesars) and Prive at Planet Hollywood. If you're more of a lounge person, try Tabu (at MGM), VooDoo Lounge (at Rio), Mist (at Treasure Island) and Hawaiian Tropic Zone (at Planet Hollywood).
Hope that gets you started. Let me know if you need any specifics and I'll continue to help out.
