[Jonotastic]

Food on the strip is NOT cheap, especially good food. There are some that have "steak dinner $5.99", but you might as well eat at Mc Donald or Fat Burger lol (funniest franchise name I've ever seen). With that being said, you can find some great restaurants on the strip. Some of my favorites and more reasonably priced and/or good value...Mon Ami Gabi (Paris Resort, the lunch menu is great), The Buffet at the Wynn (Wynn Resort, King Crab, Prime Rib, amazing selection and quality) and Noodle Asia (Venetian Resort, pretty authentic Chinese food, reasonable prices, good food). There's a few others I really enjoy, but are too expensive, unless you have a relative/friend who is a heavy gambler and gets everything comped. Since you only have a few days, I'd recommend just walking the strip, checking out each resort, going to the Stratosphere one night, just to get the ideal layout of the city and to see the lights, visiting Freemont Street to watch the lightshow at night, watching the fountain show at the Belagio and seeing a show or two. The shows have always been my favorite part about visiting Vegas. My favorites are currently KA, O and Le Reve. You should make reservations in advance, so you can get the best seats for your seating area. Le Reve I'd recommend the "splash zone" seats because you are right in the front, you won't get wet and it's the cheapest section. For gambling, check out the Palms Resort, I think they have the friendliest dealers. You could also check out the Ghost Bar at the Palms. Anyways, enough rambling lol, it's a great city with lots to do, have fun! I'm going back again in less than 2 weeks, can't wait.

add: airics, ill have to check out that ticket dealer, thanks

[jjameson922]

Bellagio is in a great location but seriously the rooms are not that fantastic. Make sure you see the water show out front, definately eat in their buffet for $30.00 with prime rib, shrimp, crab legs, etc., maybe hang out around the piano and jazz bar and see the conservatory that Martha Stewart decorates seasonally. The other casinos mentioned are must see's as well as I find New York/N.Y. interesting with its recreation of Greenwich Village in the center and some good people watching restaurants in this village area. If on a food budget, Mexican is always a winner. Strip restaurants and bars are very pricey now.

There is good shopping for your wife in the daytime just down the street to the north at Fashion Show Mall. She can take the bus that runs up and down L.V. Blvd. If the pools were open, she could easily while away her day there but they do not open till April.

Be extremely careful gambling with only $50. That amount means you are left to slot machines which are now very, very tight on the Strip. The higher the denomination, generally the more frequently they hit but you can wipe out quickly in a tight machine.

I'm such a big one for seeing things other than the Strip that I wish you had the opportunity to rent a car for a few bucks and take a short drive to see Red Rock Canyon and Mt. Charleston or even where they are building the new bridge for Hoover Dam. Awesome sights. With wheels, we could tell you all kinds of great, less expensive places to eat and more casinos to check out.

[airics]

Originally Posted by jjameson922

see the conservatory that Martha Stewart decorates seasonally.

Only the tree was decorated by Martha Stewart for the opening in 98. From what i can gather, that is the only thing she has done with the conservatory

[hockeygirl4]

If you want a cheap dinner, Mr. Lucky's at Hard Rock has a special for $7.77 that is not listed on the menu but they still serve it. You get a piece of steak, 3 jumbo shrimp, a potato and vegetable. I'd check out the free show at the Rio Suites, called Masquerade in the Sky. It runs every hour on the hour starting at either 7pm or 8pm, and they have a free shuttle from the strip leaving from Bally's, Harrah's and I think Caesars. The shuttle runs until 1am. The show is a series of mardi gras type floats that are suspended from the ceiling on a track, and they have performers dancing on them and throwing beads. There is also a stage in the Masquerade Village where the performances take place that include additional performers. If you are going to have a rental car, you can drive over via Flamingo, park in the ramp and walk right into the Masquerade Village where the performance takes place.

[jjameson922]

I stand corrected Airics, I did not know M.S. only did one tree at one time.

Great advice about Rio and how to catch the shuttle. I took my stepdaughter there to see the Masquerade when she was about 23 and she loved that more than anything we did. I think it was the dancing and her first glimse of what she perceived as show girls.

[jfkIII]

If you want a very good inexpensive meal, ask for the steak special at Ellis Island. You will not find it on the menu, but just ask.

[lvkewlkid]

its usually on the chalk board and it is in the menu, just with a higher price, but if you say you want the steak special from the board they give you the lower price...

[AJohnston_STL]

As far as the shows in the hotels go, are there any "bad" seats? We wouldn't really want to pay $100 to see a burlesque show or something and be so far away you can't see anything.

[Buzz123]

In most theaters all seats are good seat. The only exception that I know of, and IMHO, is the MGM Gardens Arena where if you aren't right up front you'll have a bad seat. At least that's always been my experience. Others may disagree.

BTW: Did you know that the word arena comes from the Latin word for sand? Sand was put down in the Colosseum to soak up the blood of the 5,000 people a month that were killed there, usually by wild animals, and many of which were little kids forced to whip the animals to make them mad enough to fight.

[ishaemc]

i highly suggest you get a rental car at least for one day. If you enjoy sushi there's a great place that's not far from the strip. it's called yama sushi and it's $24 for all you can eat and it's worth it!! It's located on Flamingo and Maryland Parkway.

And if you want to gamble with $50 you can, just only on the slots or if you simply play $20 on a poker table and just make that you're limit. I've lived here for $18 and you can do Vegas cheap, you just have to search around so kuddos for asking locals for help. If you've never eaten at In N Out You definitely should. It's located on Tropicana, right after the 15 on the west side of the strip. It's really good burgers and fries, all freshly made in front of you! That's a cheap but tasty meal!!

hope that helped, let me know if you need any other assistance