Going to Vegas for the 1st time and I need some help!!

Hey I need some help, discounts, anything that will make my first trip more enjoyable.  I'm leaving the 19th of March from Charlotte and am coming back the 22nd for the first four days of March Madness.  It will be me and 3 girls.  We want a nice hotel, but we are all teachers and are not loaded.  Any help, suggestions would be awesome!!!!!  Thanks guys

I really prefer downtown to the strip, but I think that first timers should stay on the strip.  When I stay on the strip, I like staying mid-strip (the area where Flamingo Road crosses the strip).  This way you are in the center.  If you are young you would enjoy the Planet Hollywood Hotel.  But I like any of the resorts that are owned by Harrah's in the area (Planet Hollywood isn't).  I do not like the very up scale places.  You can get some great deals now and if you see something better you can cancel & re-book. 

I like eating at Jimmy Buffetts Margaritaville restaurant at the Flamingo Hotel and the Embers Steakhouse in the Imperial Palace. 

There are auctions for show tickets & meals on Ebay.  There is a site called Vegas 4 Locals where you can pick up good deals.  There are a number of outlets in Vegas called Tix 4 Tonight where they put discount show tickets on sale for that evening at 10:00 am every day.  Shows can be expensive.  I bought my wife Elton John tickets for her birthday and it was a bad show.  The Circ du Solei shows are great and I hear that the Beatles based show called Love is excellent.  When I go with my buddies, we usually take in a comedy show.  The one at the Tropicana has different comedians every week, it is a relaxed lounge type atmosphere, and costs $29.

You should go downtown at least one evening.  Its a fun atmosphere and a lot cheaper than the strip.  A cab ride from the strip will cost you $25 each way.  The local bus can be taken and it is cheap & safe.  Don't wonder too far off of the main drag (Freemont Street) as it is no longer all that safe in Vegas, but the Freemont Street area is no problem.

People go around and look at the different resorts.  To me they all look about the same.  However, I think that there is something special about Ceasar's Palace and is one that I would recommend going into.  Since you have 3 women with you, they might enjoy going through the Forum Shops there.  It's a long mall that looks like an outdoor Italian street.

You'll have a great time.  It most likely won't be pool weather, but it will nice.  I'm a teacher too.  Before I was married I used to spend the first week of the NCAA tournament out there every year.  It was slow when I was there in October and I think that it will stay that way, so do a little online homework and plan a great time.

If you go to the TripAdvisor website, they have a forum where people post suggestions and info.