Las Vegas Hotel and Attraction Allergy Guide

For one person, a heady perfume-laden casino may trigger memories of good times in past Las Vegas experiences. For an allergy suffering person, the same perfume can trigger several days of wheezing, sneezing and regret.

In some cases, perfume-pumping hotels offer no respite from the scent, which can render a somewhat claustrophobic sense as the perfume sensitive patron searches for a whiff of fresh air in the tunnels and canals of the Las Vegas hotel experience.

Have a happy Vegas trip by avoiding or combating allergy triggers in Las Vegas hotels and the local desert environment.

Severe Allergy Sufferers May Benefit from a Dust-Filtering Allergy Mask

One thing visitors to Las Vegas must realize is that the city is in the middle of a large desert. Deserts get windy, and deserts mean dust. Fortunately, most hotels have air filtration systems that filter out the dust from the windy surrounding desert. However, some hotels do the public disservice of pumping smells back in that are not friendly to sensitive and allergy-prone bronchial passages.

Though it may seem severe to avoid going to hotels pumping perfume or attractions with poor air purity, some hotels pump perfume in amounts that can give allergy-sensitive folks the sneezes and wheezes for days after just a few hours of exposure to the constant perfume. If you absolutely have to go to a perfume-pumping hotel, your only defense may be lots of allergy medication and a dust mask or personal breathing filter to keep you and your family safe from allergies.

Wear Allergy Dusk Masks or Wet Breathing Rags to Perfume-Laden Hotels

Above all, the places I avoid most in Las Vegas are the Venetian Hotel and the Grand Canal Shoppes on the Las Vegas Strip. Don't get me wrong; the Venetian Hotel and Grand Canal Shoppes are breathtaking and a must-see; I simply cannot breathe when I am inside. If you stand by a coffee shop like the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in the Venetian, the neutral smell of coffee can help drown out the smell.

Being inside the Venetian makes me uncomfortable because the penetrating smell is utterly inescapable unless you leave. You can literally taste the perfume after you leave the hotel.

This thick perfume is not a bad scent, and its strength might be pleasant for some, but for me, it can trigger nasal and bronchial allergies that can snowball into symptoms for days. I am not alone; a former employer of mine once sent a bill to the Venetian for her allergy treatment after visiting the hotel. To be fair I do not know whether it was actually the Venetian's fault, nor whether it was ever paid.

The Grand Canal Shoppes are perfumed to a lesser degree, and the scent is not as strong throughout the Canal Shoppes the way it is in the Venetian. Allergies aside, you absolutely have to see the amazing Grand Canal Shoppes, even if it takes wearing a dusk mask if you have to pass through the Venetian perfume cloud to get there.

Allergy Sensitive Kids? Stick to Family-Friendly Resorts

Having allergies can be tough, especially when traveling. When traveling as a family, even if you don't have allergies of your own, you may have children with allergies that you need to deal with. If you are traveling with kids with allergies, the more family-friendly hotels in Las Vegas are generally less perfume happy than the luxury, couples-themed resorts. Family-friendly resorts in Las Vegas include Circus Circus and Excalibur. Though it does tend to attract a 20something crowd, the Palms is a particularly allergy-friendly resort, and deliberately has no perfumed scent.

A Short List for Avoiding Allergies in Las Vegas

Here are some of the more allergy-friendly Vegas hotels and attractions I have visited:

Palms (Highly recommended)
Mandalay Bay (light coconut-tropical scent)
Bellagio (light scent)
Luxor
Fremont Street (it's outside!)

Also good for kids:

Circus Circus
Excalibur

Here are the Vegas hotels and attractions I recommend allergy sufferers regard with caution:

Venetian (excessive musky perfume)
Canal Shoppes (connected to the Venetian, but not as bad)
ARIA (strong vanilla scent)
Tournament of Kings Show at the Excalibur (dust from horses)
MGM Grand (sporadically strong perfume)

These are not the only allergy-prone hotels, I'm sure, but just the ones I've had problems with in my experience. Usually, when I have a perfume problem at a hotel, there are a lot of Las Vegas hotel reviews complaining of the same thing, so I know I am not alone. If you have had a good or bad experience with the air quality or perfume at Las Vegas hotels, please comment and share.