Circus Circus Las Vegas
As Excalibur gets out of the family trade, Circus Circus stands alone as the only casino that welcomes children. Circus Circus actively seeks the family market with carnival game midways where children and adults can try to win stuffed animals, foam-rubber dice, and other totally dispensable objects. A great setup for the casinos, the midways turn a nice profit while innocuously introducing the youngsters to games of chance.
In addition, Circus Circus operates the Adventuredome theme park and offers free circus acts each evening, starring top-notch talent, including aerialists (flying trapeze artists).
Parents traveling with children are grudgingly accepted at all of the larger hotels, though certain hotels are better equipped to deal with children than others. If your children are water puppies and enjoy being in a swimming pool all day, Mandalay Bay, Venetian, M Resort, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo, Monte Carlo, MGM Grand, Mirage, Aria, Rio, Tropicana, Caesars Palace, Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Encore, Bellagio, Red Rock Resort, Green Valley Ranch, and TI have the best pools in town. Westgate Las Vegas, SLS, and Hard Rock Hotel, among others, also have excellent swimming facilities.
Kids Friendly Vegas Resorts
If your kids are older and into sports, the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, Westgate Las Vegas, and Bally’s offer the most variety.
For child care and special programs, The Orleans, Red Rock Resort, Boulder Station, Palms, Texas Station, Sunset Station, and Santa Fe Station provide child-care facilities.
Pool at Green Valley Ranch Resort
Our favorite hotel for a family vacation is Green Valley Ranch Resort, a Station casino and resort about 15 minutes southeast of the Strip. Its location is convenient to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, the Black Canyon of the Colorado, and Red Rock Canyon, for starters. It has great swimming areas, good restaurants, and lovely guest rooms.
And when you want to sneak into the casino or have an adults-only meal, the concierge will arrange child care for you. Best of all, Green Valley Ranch is isolated. There’s no place nearby where your kids can get into trouble (right!).
Babysitting
An organization called Nannies & Housekeepers U.S.A. (☎ 702-451-0021; nahusa.com) offers 24/7 in-room babysitting. Nannies & Housekeepers, which puts their sitters through a lengthy and rigorous screening, is the exclusive babysitting agency for many Las Vegas hotels, including Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Encore, and MGM Grand.
Photo Credits:
Circus Circus Las Vegas Sign – By Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom CC-BY-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Pool at Green Valley Ranch Resort – By SarekOfVulcan (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
