Las Vegas
Golden Nugget
and
The Orleans Hotel
We have traveled to Las Vegas twice. Once before we had kids and once with two small kids along. The first time my husband I went was while we were still dating and after we graduated college. We stayed at the Golden Nugget in June of 1995. This was officially the first "big" vacation that we had ever taken together. Back then the Golden Nugget was a very nice hotel. It was great and we received a wonderfully cheap deal at the time. The only negative thing I could find to say about the Golden Nugget, was that it was not on the main Las Vegas strip. It was fine, though, and not that big of an issue. I would go back again. When we did go to the main strip, we just took a cab. At the time when we were there, the hotel was very lovely and clean. The rooms were nicely decorated and also clean. The casino was just the right size and there were plenty of dining options and some nice entertainment shows that we saw there. We were happy with the pool. It was well maintained. There was one large pool and a hot tub. When you look at the website now, the Golden Nugget looks even better. I definitely could go back. The pool has been remodeled and includes a huge aquarium in the middle with sharks. I guess it makes you feel like you are swimming with the marine life. There is also a water slide that supposedly goes through the fish tank. Sounds and looks nice! The rooms also look updated and remodeled and there is a show theatre that I don't remember being there before. When we were there in 1995, they were just building the enclosure around Freeman Street. The street outside has a huge roof over it that gives the "Freeman Street Experience." It is called Viva Vision and there is a show on the roof above the street every hour up until midnight. It is also free!
The second time we went to Las Vegas was in June of 2004. We traveled with our two children , ages 3 and 8 months. We stayed at The Orleans hotel. It was ok, but I liked the Golden Nugget Better. My husband was going for a conference when we went. It seems that maybe this hotel is geared more for people traveling as part of larger conference. I know there is also an arena area where larger shows are held. The Orleans is not on the main Las Vegas strip. It was further out. I preferred the Golden Nugget more. The Golden Nugget was not on the strip either, but it seemed to be in more of a convenient area than the Orleans was. The room we happened to get needed to be remodeled. It seemed pretty old, at least the decorating was. Our bathroom ended up being larger, due to it was a handicapped accessible room. The pool was ok and a good size for me to handle two little kids by myself. There was a larger pool and a good sized shallow pool for young kids. We spent most of our time at the kiddie pool and that worked out well. It was busy with quite a few kids and parents. The casino was big. In order to get to anything, you had to walk through the casino. The dining options were not the greatest. We ate at Terrible Mike's, which was indeed terrible. It was a hamburger, hot dog, cafeteria style place on the casino floor. It was crowded and the food was not that great. We also also ate at Don Miguel's, which was a Mexican restaurant in the hotel. It was ok. We ate at the French Market Buffet at the Orleans. We waited a long time and it was crowded and a bit messy with all the food being slung around. There was also a Subway in the casino area that I went to with my kids. It was the slowest subway I had ever seen in my life. The longer the line got, the slower the workers moved. It was ridiculous. Upstairs in the Orleans there is a cinema showing quite a few movies, an arcade, and also a bowling alley that is somewhere on the premise. There was also a large kids club/play area where you could pay and drop your child off while you were in the casino or having dinner or whatever. I don't see it advertised on the hotel's website, but it was there when we were there. My 3 year old begged to go in there to play and climb around on all the equipment. I let her, although I was a little nervous because it was my very first time leaving my child at a place like that. She went into there twice, but I didn't go far. She liked it. You had to take your shoes off and have socks on. The children were locked in the area and they had a check system to make sure that the right parent was picking up the right child. It seemed safe.
Las Vegas is becoming more of a family destination. On the Las Vegas strip there were quite a few activities that we did with our kids, many of which are free. We saw the exploding volcano in front of the Mirage, the white tigers in the Mirage, the pirate show in front of Treasure's Island, and the dancing waters at the Belagio. These activities were all free. We also did the gondola rides outside the Venetian hotel. That was a little expense. You can also take the kids to see the Wizard Of Oz statues in the MGM. There is also a Wet N Wild Waterpark that you can take the kids to. A great website with a list of free and must do activities in Las Vegas is Off2vegas.com. If you are planning on taking kids with you to Las Vegas, go ahead. There is plenty of things that you can find to do. You just have to realize that there are going to be adult activities that you will not be able to do, unless you have childcare or you brought a babysitter with you.
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