Ideas for a group trip...

[blkshirt]

So my wife is a teacher and a few of the people she works with are gamblers and we have started to plan a June 2017 trip to Vegas to celebrate their retirement...

This could be a smaller group (10-20) or something stupid (100+) right now we just don't know how serious people are about going. I know of for sure at least 15 as of now. But this trip is more of a do what you want when you want, but at this time on this day, we will be here....

Right now we're trying to find out the "here" part...

Everyone will be staying on the strip, the main group doesn't have a huge desire to go downtown. I know the plan is that they would want to do a Happy Hour or two, Dinner (probably a buffet), and go to a Sports Book. Most people would be in Sunday out Wednesday, my wife and I plan on staying until Friday.

Any suggestions as to Bars, Sports Books, Places to eat that would handle such a crowd? We are trying to plan a little bit now since we will be out for New Years.

Thanks!

 

[azlefty]

In my experience, this is an idea that sounds better than it actually is. Primarily because people have different ideas of what they want to do and how much they plan to spend. Also, meeting up with people can be difficult because it often takes longer to get somewhere than you expect.
That said, I think you have the right idea: Just plan to meet once a day for dinner and let people do their own thing the rest of the time.

Here are some thoughts I had a few years back. Some of the prices, etc may seem quaint now but the concept still holds:
http://zzdouggo.blogspot.com/2012/06/tips-on-planning-group-trip-to-vegas.html

 

[blkshirt]

In my experience, this is an idea that sounds better than it actually is. Primarily because people have different ideas of what they want to do and how much they plan to spend. Also, meeting up with people can be difficult because it often takes longer to get somewhere than you expect.
That said, I think you have the right idea: Just plan to meet once a day for dinner and let people do their own thing the rest of the time.

Here are some thoughts I had a few years back. Some of the prices, etc may seem quaint now but the concept still holds:
http://zzdouggo.blogspot.com/2012/06/tips-on-planning-group-trip-to-vegas.html

Wow this was perfect and you summed this up (way more exquisitely than I could). Pretty much what I was thinking.

Thanks!!!

 

[miniwhale]

Happy Hours would be good. Very laid back, a socializing atmosphere, with less expensive drinks and appetizers. More like a "we are going to be at _____ at this time, if you would like to join us" kind of place, as opposed to trying to accomodate a large table or tables close by. We really enjoyed happy hour at Brand at Monte Carlo, and don't ever remember seeing it crowded during happy hour time. Of course, location could be an important factor. Or a lot of people staying at the same hotel, you can all meet at the pool.

It does sound fun in theory, but most people want to do their own thing when they are there. I have been there with 50-60 + people for my wedding, and our renewal. Our renewal, we got a penthouse suite at Bellagio and had a party in the room. Otherwise, we saw people here and there maybe a breakfast or lunch. Don't take on any more stress than you need to. How many times do you make plans in Vegas and not even follow your own plans? (I know at least we do it every trip)

 

[blkshirt]

Happy Hours would be good. Very laid back, a socializing atmosphere, with less expensive drinks and appetizers. More like a "we are going to be at _____ at this time, if you would like to join us" kind of place, as opposed to trying to accomodate a large table or tables close by. We really enjoyed happy hour at Brand at Monte Carlo, and don't ever remember seeing it crowded during happy hour time. Of course, location could be an important factor. Or a lot of people staying at the same hotel, you can all meet at the pool.

It does sound fun in theory, but most people want to do their own thing when they are there. I have been there with 50-60 + people for my wedding, and our renewal. Our renewal, we got a penthouse suite at Bellagio and had a party in the room. Otherwise, we saw people here and there maybe a breakfast or lunch. Don't take on any more stress than you need to. How many times do you make plans in Vegas and not even follow your own plans? (I know at least we do it every trip)

Thanks for the tip about Brand. I'll check it out...

Yes, we got married there too and we had about 10 people miss the shuttle from MBay to Palms because somebody got on a heater at the craps table! It's all more of a get together and do what you want, I setup a website because there are people interested who have either A) never been or B) don't really fly a lot. So it's more of 'informational' than anything.

 

[andyg99]

I like the idea of the custom website - of course if that seems like too much work for someone then just mail the group a link to this site! the newbies can explore ideas for restaurants, bars, casino, clubs... I've played 'host' to a group of family and friends before and after the first time I learned the lesson that has already been mentioned here: do your own thing - if someone wants to join then let them tag along. but be clear - if your 'own thing' is 4 hours of bartop VP the last thing you want is someone nagging you to do something else after 20 minutes....

 

[Chuck2009x]

You need to have a better idea of the number. A lot of places will be able to accommodate 15 -20, very few will be able to do 100 outside of function rooms.

You're smart to keep it to a single event.

 

[LV_Bound]

This could be a smaller group (10-20) or something stupid (100+) ...

Definitely focus on getting a definitive count as to the number.
Going with 10 or 100 is drastically different.
Getting a 10 person reservation is hard, getting a 100 person is impossible.
Walking down the strip with 10 people is hard, doing it with 100 people and sticking together is impossible.

Good luck.

 

[blkshirt]

I like the idea of the custom website - of course if that seems like too much work for someone then just mail the group a link to this site! the newbies can explore ideas for restaurants, bars, casino, clubs... I've played 'host' to a group of family and friends before and after the first time I learned the lesson that has already been mentioned here: do your own thing - if someone wants to join then let them tag along. but be clear - if your 'own thing' is 4 hours of bartop VP the last thing you want is someone nagging you to do something else after 20 minutes....

It wasn't hard, I just setup something on squarespace and went from there... Fairly easy and people liked it. I may keep it up after our trip and put trip reports and stuff like that on there... Who knows.

Definitely focus on getting a definitive count as to the number.
Going with 10 or 100 is drastically different.
Getting a 10 person reservation is hard, getting a 100 person is impossible.
Walking down the strip with 10 people is hard, doing it with 100 people and sticking together is impossible.

Good luck.

Oh I agree completely. I highly doubt we will be in the 30 person range, plus if we did get the bigger group, we would just do happy hours and call it good. Maybe take over a sports book if the Cavs are in the NBA Finals and those are going on, or watch the Indians play and put a big bet down on that... Dinner would be impossible, maybe we would do the high roller, but it would just depend on the interest... This is why I wanted to plan sooner than later so we could have an idea of what we were looking at size wise. I don't think anybody wants it to get too big, but this is also Vegas with teachers so who knows!