Well, I'm back in DC. hot, muggy, and raining. SUCK!

Mandalay Bay is also home to the Four Seasons Hotel ($$$). Biggest problem with it, in my opinion...since it's at the southernmost end of the strip, be prepared for a LOT of walking (I wouldn't recommend driving up and down the strip). And Mandalay Bay I believe rivals Bellagio in prices.

Oh...I *can* tell you some places to avoid. At the top of the list I would place Circus Circus, unless you love kids running around.

Of the places I've stayed and seen the rooms, I'd rank them this way: (top to bottom)

1. Venetian
2. Harrah's
3. Bally's
4. Sahara
5. Circus Circus
6. Motel 6

Location, there are two major intersections (you'll know them by the walkway going *over* the strip).

1. Bellagio/Bally's/Caesar's/Flamingo
2. New York New York/MGM/Tropicana/Excalibur

If you aren't into gambling, I'd say go see either of the Cirque du Soleil shows. I've not seen either, but I've heard they are amazing. I'd *avoid* Sigfried and Roy. WAY overpriced. I've heard the Medieval Dinner at Excalibur is good - $40 pays for your food and a show (but no silverware).

Oh, and if you have the need for fear - go to Stratosphere and ride Big Shot. Skip the roller coaster. Big Shot...well...you have to experience it (especially at the top of a tower like that).
_________________________
"Nature has constituted utility to man the standard and test of virtue. Men living in different countries, under different circumstances, different habits and regimens, may have different utilities; the same act, therefore, may be useful and consequently virtuous in one country which is injurious and vicious in another differently circumstanced" - Thomas Jefferson, moral relativist