Tim and Anne’s Christmas Week in Las Vegas
by Tim and Anne Larison, travel consultants
with contributions from Josh Larison
December 2024
We had a fun Christmas week trip to Las Vegas with our son Josh. In this report we’ll tell you about some of the activities we enjoyed, hopefully to give you some ideas for your next Las Vegas trip.
Excalibur Resort
What prompted this trip were the excellent hotel rates in Las Vegas during Christmas week. The picture above shows the December prices when we booked Excalibur December 22nd through 26th – prices one week later for New Years were almost 10 times this! The prices do not show the resort fee of $35/night but it’s still a good value compared to other times of the year.
Josh says:
Excalibur is at a great location on the strip, I enjoyed how close it was to the restaurants at New York New York, and there is a nice indoor walkway to get to both Mandalay Bay and Luxor. My hotel room was huge and had a nice spacious bathroom. The price was very good, the room was clean, and the bed was comfy! The room AC was a window AC unit so I was a bit concerned about how well it would cool the large room, but I never had a problem with it being too hot inside. The TV in the room was large and flat screen. I’d plan to spend most of your time outside of the room. Also, all the staff that I interacted with at the hotel were friendly and accommodating.
Anne says:
In addition to the above benefits of staying at Excalibur we find the guest parking to be convenient. Many of the hotels on the strip make it more difficult to get cars in and out.
Christmas Displays
We took a 20-minute walk from the Excalibur to see the Christmas display at the Bellagio. It was one of the best Christmas displays I had seen anywhere!
Outside the Bellagio we were treated to a nighttime performance of their fountain show, too.
Anne says:
The Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens transforms into a magnificent showcase 5 times per year. We enjoyed their Holiday display this year, titled ‘Twas – A Visit From St. Nick. It truly was magical to see this year’s display. Don’t miss walking through the Bellagio to see the current display no matter what time of year you visit.
There are many other Christmas displays in and around Las Vegas. Two on our list that we didn’t get to on this trip were Glittering Lights at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Holiday Cactus Garden Lights at the Ethel M Chocolate factory.
Pinball Hall of Fame
Earlier in the day we took Josh to the Pinball Hall of Fame to enjoy some arcade games Josh had enjoyed in the past. There is no admission fee – the only cost is quarters to play the many machines.
Josh says:
There was a wide variety of pinball machines from all generations. And not just pinball machines, there were also classic arcade games (I got a high score on Centipede!) and rhythm games like DDR and Guitar Hero. Each pinball machine costs 3 or 4 quarters per play, and they were fairly well maintained. Keep an eye out for the machines that let you have five balls rather than three per play, I found a few like that. Even though there was a decent crowd I never was waiting too long to play on the machine that I wanted.
I enjoyed playing some of the machines of my youth, too! My favorites were a baseball arcade game and a bubble hockey game.
Anne says:
This was Tim and my second visit to the Pinball Hall of Fame. We brought more quarters this time. They also have change machines on site.
Arte Museum
One afternoon we visited the Arte Museum near the Cosmopolitan Hotel. This walk-through attraction featured impressive water effects. At the end of the tour was a large-scale display of famous paintings projected on the big screens.
Anne says:
The Exhibition is a series of 14 rooms that you walk through at your own pace. Each room is unique and a visual cornucopia for the senses. There is even a live sketchbook room, where adults and children create a drawing that comes to life as a part of a night safari. Try to grab a seat for the Musee Dorsay’s Collection which lasts approximately 30 minutes to see all the images.
Lotus of Siam
We ate very well on our trip. Thai food is one of Josh’s favorite cuisines, so we took him to Lotus of Siam. I had read from local Las Vegas guide JenG on X/Twitter about this restaurant beforehand. JenG wrote “Lotus of Siam is considered one of the best Thai restaurants in the country.” So, we had to try it. Lotus of Siam did not disappoint – I had huge garlic prawns as my entrée, and they were delicious!
Josh says:
The restaurant was very crowded even for early lunch, definitely get reservations. The menu features lots of classic Thai dishes. I chose to get the Panang curry with a side of jasmine rice and it was one of the best Panang curries I’ve had. Very flavorful and the perfect amount of spiciness. The portion wasn’t massive, but it was the perfect amount for lunch.
Anne says:
We started the meal with chicken satay; the chicken and peanut sauce was yummy. I had chicken fried rice and enjoyed it very much and, of course, got a taste of Tim’s shrimp!
National Atomic Testing Museum
Near Lotus of Siam is this museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Museum. Here we learned of the Manhattan Project in great detail – the development of the first atomic bomb in World War II. I was familiar with the Manhattan Project from documentaries I had watched and the movie Oppenheimer. Still, I gained some new insights from the Museum’s displays. What I didn’t know much about was the atomic bomb development after World War II, including an underground test site in Southern Nevada. I found this post WWII part of the museum enlightening also.
Anne says:
The museum offers information that goes above and beyond what most people know about the atomic testing era of our country. It was eye opening. We chose to just spend our visit walking through the exhibits, however, audio guides can be rented for a minimal fee.
Southpoint Hotel and Casino
We enjoy our weekly bowling league back home so we couldn’t pass up the bowling special at Southpoint Hotel and Casino – $1 per game before 9 a.m.! We arrived shortly after 7 a.m. one day and found all 64 lanes to be occupied. After a short wait we were on a lane of our own. The lanes were in excellent condition.
Anne says: When visiting Las Vegas, this is an off-strip casino that is worth spending time. In addition to the bowling, there is a movie theater on site, an arena and exhibit hall, bingo hall and of course a casino. We enjoy visiting the buffet but there are other restaurants on site, including table service and fast-food options.
Summary
We enjoyed our Las Vegas getaway on Christmas week! We experienced a number of new attractions and places to eat. There is so much to do and see in Las Vegas – we will check out more on future trips.
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