Making the Four Seasons your home base is a strong start to enjoying Las Vegas as a family. The casino-and-smoke-free oasis—adjacent to the splashier, tropical-themed Mandalay Bay—offers a respite from the dinging chaos of the Strip. As such, The Four Seasons fashions itself family-friendly, thoughtfully pitching a teepee in our suite and outfitting it with rentable Yoto players (screen-free devices stocked with Encanto and Beatles music, my son’s favorite). They also offer a full roster of “summer camp” activities, including helicopter excursions to the Grand Canyon, which 100% of our family was too scared to do.
Instead, we parked at the pool and marveled at the flow of refreshing, complimentary snacks—frozen melon balls! tiny ice cream cones!—necessary to keep children sated. On a hot desert day, surrounded by palm trees and sipping the best/only lychee daiquiri of my life, I felt like I was on an island somewhere (as opposed to the technical home of Pawn Stars). Of course, my kids regularly tore me from this slice of heaven to partake in the classic Vegas excess of Mandalay Bay’s “beach” with its famed wave pool and lazy river, conveniently accessible to Four Seasons families via a two-minute walk.
Dine at SW Steakhouse and Sadelle’s
Lest anyone believe dinner theater is a dying art, SW Steakhouse presents: puppetry and pop! Every day at nightfall, lakeside tables at the Wynn steakhouse are treated to a series of spectacular scenes that feel hatched by someone on hallucinogens (in a great way). Think: a giant frog puppet with a cigarette dangling from its mouth perched over a 90-foot waterfall-cum-screen crooning Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” Or, as we beheld, a trio of co*ckatiel puppets bopping to Dua Lipa’s “Levitating.” We don’t typically treat our offspring to filet mignon but watching them watch the show with mouths agape was priceless.
For brunch with kids, head to Sadelle’s at the Bellagio, where the waffles are the size of a first grader’s head, the bagel and smoked salmon tower is a dream for adults, and there’s a fantastical view of the lush, princess-inspired Tea & Tulips flower exhibit, which my daughter meticulously photographed on my phone.
Visit the Arte Museum
Only my husband ventured to the Sphere, but we all experienced sensory immersion at Arte Museum, a digital art venue that far transcends the glut of family-oriented “experiences” popping up everywhere. Arte brings nature and culture to synthetic Sin City with its hyper-real, experiential, bespoke-scented installations, including a gushing wave that had the illusion of crashing over my daughter and a sprawling walk among Degas’s ballerinas that stirred my dancer’s heart. Arte, which first launched in Korea in 2020, also revels in its Vegas surroundings, with dazzling 360-degree exhibits that feel like stepping inside a house of cards. Best for kids? The ability to color on various animal templates and scan their creations into a virtual forest. One can only guess who scribbled “PHISH” on one of the elephants.
Tour the Allegiant Stadium
For the newly-minted Chiefs fans among us, a pilgrimage to the site of their last Super Bowl win was a must (albeit fraught, according to my sullen daughter, given that the NFL’s newest stadium is home to Kansas City’s rival Raiders). The sleek, shiny black “Death Star” (a nickname sanctioned by Star Wars, according to our tour guide!) is a football fantasy: the tour of the NFL’s newest, most-tricked-out stadium snakes through VIP areas like the owner’s box, the nightclub overlooking one endzone (only in Vegas), the sidelines (including a glimpse at where Swift reigned!) and the locker room, where a special surprise hologram materializes. Thrilling and a tad creepy—like Vegas itself.
Hire Nannys & Grannys
Who could object when the Four Seasons suggested going out for a date and hiring its preferred babysitting service, Nannys & Grannys, to mind the children? My cute, clingy son, for one. After putting him to bed, we met our sitter, Savannah, an earth angel who quelled my nerves and won over my daughter by listening to, and rating on hotel stationary, every track of the freshly-dropped The Tortured Poets Department. Meanwhile, my husband and I ventured to The Vault, a top-secret (ish) speakeasy at Bellagio identified only by an unmarked gold door behind the cashier on the casino floor, which necessitates an expedition, as there are quite a few cashiers on the casino floor.
