Vegas 2008, Part 1

Last week we went to Las Vegas for two nights, here are the details and of course some photos:


The first night we stayed at Mandalay Bay, I had heard from a friend that it is as kid-friendly as a Vegas hotel could be. The weather was hot but not humid so it was bearable. (Easy for me to say as I wasn't holding Sam.)


Here's a photo of the room, it was really comfortable and nicely decorated. There's a very large flat screen TV which had PBS shows. A nice touch!


Mandalay Bay is at the end of the strip, and we had an awesome view. The photo doesn't do it justice but we had a view of many of the major hotels.


The highlight of the hotel was its pool area. You are "greeted" with loud pumping music, a crowd of people, and "sandy beaches". Once you get over the cheesiness of it all, the experience is quite fun. The wave pool is hard to spot in the background but Anna and I enjoyed that immensely.


Our hotel has a free monorail to Luxor and Excalibur. At the Excalibur, the kids enjoyed the arcade and air hockey.


Here's a view of "New York" on our way back to Mandalay.

Did you know Las Vegas hotel prices are at their lowest in 5 years? Check this article out in the LA Times. Although Vegas has supposedly become less family-friendly in recent years, the experience can be what you make of it. We did explain gambling to Anna, and she seems to understand it; basically, there are games adults can pay to play, but most people lose money. And racy ads during the drive, Anna chose to ignore them (unlike a few years ago when she asked us why the ladies in a poster were wearing tight underwear) and Sam was preoccupied with some toys. Ok, part 2, 3 and 4 coming up!