visiting las vegas with kids - bishop&holland

|they loved lounging at the pool|

Las Vegas is one of our favorite places to go for a quick get-away. It’s so easy to get to from Dallas and once you arrive at the airport it’s such a short cab ride to your hotel. We’ve been coming to Vegas at least once a year since I turned 21, but now that I have the two boys, our focus while we’re in Vegas is a little bit different. This past trip we feel like we found the perfect formula for visiting Las Vegas with kids- at least it works for us!

Stay at a non-gaming hotel

This time we stayed at the Four Seasons Las Vegas. This was our first Vegas stay at a non-gaming hotel and now we can’t imagine staying anywhere else! The Four Seasons does not have casino and has strict no smoking policies, which for us is key when visiting Las Vegas with kids. The hotel has such a different “vibe” than the hotels with casinos, and it was a welcome change from places we have stayed previously! One thing to note: The Four Seasons Las Vegas is located on floors 35-39 of the Mandalay Bay Hotel tower. You arrive to a separate hotel/lobby than Mandalay Bay, but you can reach Mandalay Bay Casino in a quick 2 minute walk from the Four Seasons lobby. In our opinion, it’s the best of both worlds!

Set expectations

As we mentioned above, we have visited Vegas pretty much once a year since turning 21. For this trip with the two boys, it was important for us to set expectations for ourselves before leaving. That this trip wouldn’t be like trips we’ve taken sans kids, when our trips usually meant going out to eat every night, staying up too late, etc. Caleb and I did our fair share of switching off kid duties this time around and we both had a much more relaxing trip!

Take advantage of kid friendly activities

Las Vegas has so many unique experiences for kids – and adults too! Four Seasons Las Vegas has the nicest, quietest pool we’ve experienced. We spent two full days relaxing by the pool. The first day, the Four Seasons Las Vegas treated us to a poolside cabana and it was perfect! The boys loved it and we did too. We spent the entire day at the cabana until it was time to get ready for dinner. The boys swam, played games by the pool, had lunch and just had the best time all day! They even brought a pack ‘n play for Henry to nap in- and he did. We loved having a huge shaded area with a TV and sofas to sit and relax and play with the boys with the pool close by. Four Seasons guests also have access to all the Mandalay Bay pools, the lazy river and the Mandalay Beach and wave pool. William wasn’t quite tall enough for the wave pool yet, but he loved the going over to the lazy river each day.

Besides having a fun place for the boys to play outside, there are so many activities for kids to enjoy in Vegas. Mandalay Bay has an aquarium on site and a tram, which we rode so many times!

Room vs. Suite

When we know we will be spending more time in our room with the boys, it’s nice to have a larger room – one that has enough space that we can put the kids down in one room and then be able to talk each other! We had a great setup during our stay at the Four Seasons. William slept on the pull-out couch in the living area and Henry in the crib, while Caleb and I had a spacious bedroom to ourselves.

Eating

Four Season Las Vegas has a kids menu available, which is so good when you’re trying to feed kids. With each meal, William and Henry got a plastic kids drinking cup with a straw which they thought was so cool. Also, we love doing room service dinner with the kids- it’s the best!

Hire a Sitter

This is something we do once a trip, if possible. It gives us at least one night to go out together and hang out with the family. We always go through the Four Seasons to hire a sitter. They are so careful with the background checks for the sitters that they use, we know we have nothing to worry about. It’s nice to have one night out without the kids, knowing they are in good hands and having fun with the sitter, while we are having a great time too.