By Marissa Millman
Yes, a trip to Las Vegas CAN be family friendly! When my father-in-law decided to move out to Las Vegas in late 2017, we knew that we’d soon be making the trip with our young girls out there to visit him. On the suggestion of my father-in-law, we stayed a few nights at the Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in April 2018. Without a doubt, this resort, located in the master planned community of Summerlin, about 20 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, was FAR more kid friendly than most any hotel located directly on the Strip.
The Resort
To start, the general aura at the Red Rock Resort is more subdued than the typical craziness you’d find on the Las Vegas Strip. Sure, it has a large, full service casino, a dance club and a bunch of bars throughout – it’s still very much a Vegas casino hotel. But the Red Rock’s off-Strip location certainly renders it a more quiet and low-key alternative. It’s also an attractive, clean, and modern resort.
With most Vegas hotels, the only real kid friendly amenity you may find is the hotel’s pool. Even then, some Vegas pools can double as dance clubs or be filled with scantily clad adults looking to party. On our visit at the Red Rock, the incredibly large and well-designed pool was rather empty, at least at this early hour of our visit. So it was perfect for our girls to splash around in.
Kid-friendliness
At the Red Rock, there’s much more for kids than just the pool. To start, Regal Red Rock Stadium 16 & IMAX is a state of the art movie theater located within the resort. It plays the same slate of current movies (including kid friendly ones) you would find at home.
Right next to the movie theater is Red Rock Lanes. What kids would NOT love a round or two of early morning (it opens at 8am) or late night (it closes at 2am) bowling on their vacation? My husband ended up taking my daughter right before we checked out on our last day. She had a blast!
In case your kids feel left out by the 21 and over casino games, just take them over to the Red Rock’s huge arcade, Cyber Quest! The arcade was beautifully kept – all the games were newer and in good working order. Kids rack up points during their play that can then be traded in for toys and prizes.
Finally, the crème de la crème, the Red Rock Resort offers Kids Quest, a pay by-the-hour child care center for ages 6 months to 12 years that is SO much more than just babysitting. There are iPad stations, there are art projects, there is a toddler and baby area, there is a sports section, there’s a “play cube” climbing structure. We dropped our girls there for a few hours one afternoon so that we could gamble and they absolutely loved it. In fact, I think my older child deemed the Red Rock her absolute favorite hotel!
Where to Eat
Besides offering all these kid friendly activities, the Red Rock also has kids’ palettes covered. There are several family friendly sit-down spots, including a casual 24 hour restaurant called the Grand Cafe and a child friendly BBQ spot called Lucille’s. If waiter service is too much of a headache with your kids, the resort’s “quick eats” food court section in the back of its casino, close to all of the above activities, includes pretty much any kid friendly food option you could think of. There’s also on onsite bakery for after your meal.
Outdoor Mall
The Red Rock is also located right next to Downtown Summerlin, a newly built outdoor mall with plenty more kid friendly dining, as well as family friendly shopping and programming. There is also a “Luckey Climber” play structure there that my girls loved.
Overall
So while Las Vegas is never going to be thought of as a family-centric vacation spot, the Red Rock Resort is a great option for those of us looking for a resort in the area that caters to kids as well as adults.