Vegas Without the Partying: 7 Hotels, 30 Years, One Family
Vegas is known for gambling, drinking, and partying.
That is not the Vegas I grew up in.
The Vegas I remember is my dad. He struggled to bring a dollar home. But he would save, and every so often he would pull off something none of us saw coming. Big Bear one year. A couple of nights in Vegas another. Not a getaway for him and my mom. A trip for all of us.
My memory is genuinely terrible. I lose whole years. But I remember these.
One thing before we start. You will not see photos of the older stays here. My computer crashed a few years ago and I lost everything. Every picture from those trips, gone, and I had not backed any of it up. I think about it more often than I should.
So all I have left of Excalibur and the MGM and Circus Circus is what is in my head. Which I suppose just means I have to go back and do all of it again.
Back up your photos. Please. I am begging you.
Here is every hotel my family has stayed at across three decades, what I remember, and what is actually still standing.
Excalibur and the corner room with the Jacuzzi tub
I was somewhere between seven and ten. Me, my brother, one year apart, and a hotel shaped like a castle.
My dad booked the corner unit. The one with the window in the corner and the Jacuzzi tub.
We all got in. Not just us kids. My parents climbed in and played with us, then sat back and watched us splash, then got back in again. And when we were done we would press up against that corner window and just look out at all of it.
We only did it once.
That is the part that matters. It was not our hotel. It was not a tradition. It was one time my dad pulled it off, and we were in awe. I have forgotten so much. I have not forgotten that bathtub.
If you want that room: do not book the cheapest Tower room and expect it. The tub comes with the Superior King category, either Resort Superior or Royal Superior, which has a separate deep soaking tub and shower. Call ahead and ask for a corner unit.
Excalibur opened in 1990 and is still one of the most family friendly hotels on the Strip. Affordable, casual, with the Fun Dungeon arcade and a waterslide at one of the pools.
One thing that stings. The Merlin statue that used to look out from the tower came down in 2007, and most of the cheesy medieval decor has been stripped out in renovations. It is still a castle. It has just been sanded smooth.
I have not been back. I want to book that exact room again and find out if it still feels the way it felt.
Circus Circus and the free circus acts
The Midway is wall to wall carnival games. The kind where you win the enormous stuffed animal you then have to carry around Vegas for the rest of the night.
But the real thing was the circus acts. Actual acrobats and aerialists, like Cirque du Soleil at a smaller scale, and completely free.
We stopped here on our campervan trip and my kids loved it. It is old and vintage and worn at the edges and that is exactly the charm. Nothing else on the Strip feels like this.
Still free. No ticket, no reservation, first come first served, so get there early for a decent spot. Acts run on the Carnival Midway on the second floor above the casino and most are twenty minutes or under. The catch is that the schedule has been trimmed to Friday through Monday rather than daily, so check before you make a special trip.
Current showtimes are on the Circus Circus Midway page.
The Adventuredome is right there too. Five acres of indoor theme park with roller coasters and a 4D theater, around sixty dollars for a regular wristband and thirty for junior. I have never done it. It looks incredible and I really want to take my kids one day.
MGM Grand and my dad's lions
My dad loved the MGM. Years ago they had a real lion habitat inside the casino. Glass enclosed, free to walk through. I was too young to hold onto it properly. He never stopped talking about it.
I always assumed that was gone for good.
It is not. The MGM exhibit closed in 2012 and the lions moved to Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson, which opened to the public so people could still visit them. Some are direct descendants of Leo, the lion that roars at the start of MGM movies. There are twenty one lions out there now, plus a giraffe.
I found this on our last trip and we were going to go. Two days was not enough.
Reserve your slot online in advance. Walk ins are Thursday through Tuesday, 10am to 1pm. Last admittance is 1pm and they close at 2pm. That is a tight window and easy to miss. Around twenty five dollars out of state, twenty for Nevada residents, with discounts for seniors, military, veterans, first responders and students. Kids fourteen and under are free with a paying adult.
Twenty minutes off the Strip. Top of my list for next time.
Treasure Island and the pirate show that is not there
We never stayed here. We came for the show. Street level, out front, free, everyone crowded around the ships.
I went back not long ago and could have sworn I saw it again.
I did not. And this one took me a while to accept.
The original family version, Battle of Buccaneer Bay, ran from 1993 to 2003. It got replaced by a much more adult version. And that one ended permanently in October 2013. Treasure Island has since publicly shot down rumors it is coming back.
Here is why so many of us are confused. Outdated listings all over the internet still say it plays every hour after 7pm. Half the lagoon was sold off to a CVS, and the ships now just sit there strung with lights while crowds gather waiting for something to start.
Nothing starts.
The ships are still a great photo stop. But if you were planning to give your kids the thing you had, it is not there. Plan around that instead of finding out on the sidewalk.
The grown up stays
Caesars Palace, my favorite, and I keep going back
Caesars has a very specific personality. Roman pools, Zeus, gods and columns everywhere. It is theatrical in a way the newer hotels are not even trying to be.
The Qua Spa is why I return. Separate men's and women's areas, and a twilight rate almost nobody knows about.
I wrote the full two day itinerary here, including the spa, Bacchanal, the Strip walk and real costs. Read the 2 day Vegas itinerary.
The Wynn, the splurge
Mirrors on the ceiling. Flower displays everywhere. Little cafes tucked into the corners.
The Wynn is newer than Caesars and you feel it. Where Caesars leans Roman and dramatic, the Wynn is modern and floral and polished. Same royal feeling, completely different language. Every one of these hotels has its own thing, and that is genuinely the fun of Vegas.
The buffet is one of the best in the city. The pool is unreal. And the spa has separate women's and men's facilities with hot and cold plunges and a whirlpool.
The Cosmopolitan, the couples trip
This might be the best hotel room I have ever stayed in.
My husband and I had one facing the Bellagio fountains. A long outdoor terrace running the length of it. A bathtub looking straight out over the water show.
We did not want to leave the room. You can see everything from that terrace. You do not need to go anywhere. I still wish I had taken proper video. I did not think to, and I think about it constantly.
Do not skip Wicked Spoon downstairs. Everything arrives on little individual plates, the booths are adorable, and at around fifty to sixty dollars it is one of the cheaper good buffets on the Strip.
The spa is Sahra. Forty three thousand square feet, separate men's and women's areas with steam rooms, saunas, vitality pools and cold mist rooms, plus a Turkish hammam that is one of only three authentic ones in the country.
Tahiti Village, the girls trip
A friend of mine had a timeshare here, so a group of us pitched in and went together. We had the best time.
It is off the Strip and it is a full resort, not a place to sleep between casinos.
The pool covers over an acre. Sand beach entry, four waterfalls, volleyball net, tiki bar, and one of the longest lazy rivers in Vegas. The river runs an eighth of a mile, seasonally heated, closed in winter, while the pool stays open year round. Two hot tubs, one adults only and one for everyone.
The part that actually matters if you have kids:
Every suite has a full kitchen or kitchenette with a seating and dining area
Some suites have a spa bath, washing machine, and balcony
Real kids programming, including bracelet making, cookie decorating, sand castle contests and bingo
About six miles from the Strip, roughly seven minutes, with a free shuttle
Resort fee is thirty eight dollars plus tax per night, and no pets
Kitchen. Laundry. No casino floor to walk your children through to reach your room. That is the pitch.
Heads up: this property is managed as a timeshare, so you may get pitched. Know it is coming and say no thank you.
An honest note on the spas
Vegas spas are generally clothing optional, which is exactly why I go on weekdays. Fewer people, lower odds, better visit anyway.
I can only speak for the three I have been in. Qua at Caesars, the Wynn, and Sahra at the Cosmopolitan all have separate men's and women's areas. That is three properties to choose from, which is more than I expected when I started looking.
But I will be straight with you. Separate does not mean everyone is covered. Robes are provided and some women still choose not to use them. Go in knowing that.
So would I take my kids?
I get asked this a lot. Honest answer, I try not to.
When you are a kid you are in awe of the castle and the acrobats and the fountains. You do not see the rest. I did not. I have no memory of the adult side of Vegas at all, and I was there. But older kids and teenagers notice everything, and I do not think it is the right place for them.
That said, it is completely doable. Stick to the kid things, steer around the rest. We did exactly that passing through to pick up our campervan, and it was fine. You can read about that trip here: 8 Days Through Nevada and Arizona in a Travellers Autobarn Campervan.
The Vegas I remember was never the casinos.
It was a Jacuzzi tub in the corner of a castle, one time, with my whole family in it.
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