Las Vegas With Children – The Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas
by Ivan Bradley (Nov 24, 2009)

Well, it’s been a good few years since I last went to Vegas – going on holiday at the best of times is difficult with two kids. But I’ve been determined to go back ever since the little ones arrived. Since then, most of our vacations of late have tended to be either staying at my wife’s relatives’ houses in the country or safe in the comfort of Disneyland resort hotels.

Convincing the wife to allow me to go to Vegas wasn’t easy, and naturally I had to agree to certain conditions. “We’re
staying somewhere nice, and I absolutely refuse to go to one of those all-you-can-eat places,” she instructed. You’ve probably realised by now that she’s a hard customer to please. “And there has to be plenty to do for all of us-” she reminded me.

So, entertaining the possibility that this may be more trouble than it was worth, I swallowed my pride and booked four nights in the Palazzo hotel. It’s got a good reputation for families, and I could always bribe my wife with the temptation of Barneys or the SpaClub,  both of which are located inside the Palazzo.

The budget didn’t quite extend to one of the Palazzo’s six villas, but we didn’t really need that much space anyway. Instead, to accommodate the four of us we opted for a suite. Now that the kids are a little bit older, they want their own room and having a suite is an acceptable compromise. Our suite also helpfully came with some gambling and dining credits, which helped satisfy my wife for a little while.

I’m not sure what real Italians would make of the Palazzo – despite the Italian name and image, it’s not exactly a discreet little Tuscan pensione. However, the acres of marble and gilt-edged ceilings are undeniably impressive. It is, however every inch the Vegas resort hotel complete with several casinos, 15 restaurants, 11 pools – you name it. It’s also located to several other Las Vegas hotels on the strip.

The centrepiece of the next-door Venetian is an indoor canal, complete with boats and gondoliers! They’ll even sing, although this does get a little tiresome. Naturally the kids managed to twist my arm and within an hour of us arriving in the hotel, we were being swept along to the dulcet tones of “Frederico” – all the while the hum of slot machines singing away in the background.

But the real reason for coming of course was the gambling. I’d hope to repeat some of the success I’d had last time I was here. Thankfully, the Palazzo hotel isn’t short of gaming options, and include all the usuals such as blackjack, baccarat, poker, craps etc. I also saw in the guide the ‘high-limit salon’, which is a mini casino for the high rollers, and certainly not for the likes of me.

I got off to a good start, winning a few hands of poker. Then as my confidence grew so my bets kept getting larger. Three Pina Coladas and five hands later, things had taken a turn for the worse. The temptation in these situations is always to Martingale – with each losing hand, double the bet you’re placing and then eventually when you win, your loses will be written off. It’s not a very good idea, and it wasn’t long before I’d lost most of what I’d put in.

Thankfully I’d saved a little, and went to the roulette wheel where my game was moderately more successful. Palazzo’s lady luck was shining on me, and it wasn’t long before I’d got back into the swing of things.

Careful not to blow all of the kids inheritance, I met up with the others at the Palazzo’s Grand lux cafe- it’s a casual restaurant so was no problem to take the kids. None of us could resist the Chocolate Molten Cake dessert for which this place is fast becoming famous.

We spent much of the rest of our precious days amusing ourselves in several of Las Vegas’ more child-friendly attractions including the Aventuredome (enormous indoor theme park) and Circus Circus. It wasn’t difficult to find things to do with the kids, and if we had longer I would definitely have liked to go to the Star Trek Experience – but probably the kids wouldn’t have been too interested in that!

I managed to escape the gambling halls until the last night – the draw of the poker table was just too much in the end. Unfortunately the lucky run I’d had a few nights before was by now well and truly over. I expect you can imagine what my wife said when I returned to the suite with empty pockets!

Topic: Las Vegas with children, Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas