Las Vegas

Las Vegas

aka. Lost Wages

This is only a single post on Las Vegas, but Shellie and I have been there almost 40 times!  Mostly we stay around the Strip or downtown, but below we have information on Hoover Dam (been there three times).  You can also get to the Grand Canyon, but it's a longer day trip.

• Where:   Las Vegas
• Experience: More than 30 visits
• Key points of interest: Hotels for Staying, Hotels for Playing, Restaurants, Shows, Gambling, Hoover Dam, Golf, March Madness, NFR finals, Extreme Experiences

Know Before You Go

1)  Vegas is built on its reputation for all night fun - there are no clocks in the casinos and they pump in oxygen to keep you fueled up and spending money.  Plan to sightsee during the day and party all night.

2)  Money has no value in Vegas if you are a gambler.  Set limits before you go and expect to lose.  There's no secret to winning in Vegas, and sometimes not losing what you expected is like winning.

3)  It is HOT in the summer, but winters can be cold - it's desert climate - so look before you go.

4)  You may see some debauchery.  Drunk people, strippers, guys handing out pictures of naked girls to kids (see Kids Love Vegas), more drunks - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas stuff...

Getting there

Airport view from Strip Hotel

McCarran International Airport is the eighth largest airport in the US.  It's not hard to find flights into and out of (LAS).  What's also awesome?  The airport is only a couple of miles from the famed Las Vegas Strip - so getting to Strip hotels is fast and easy.

Hotels for STAYING

Hotels are usually pretty affordable here.  You have three basic options:  On the Strip, Downtown, Off the Strip.  

• Off the Strip is much cheaper, but I don't have any recommendations - you can take Rideshare or Taxi to the sights like any other town, but being on the Strip is like living on Campus in college - it's more convenient and more fun.  We have been on a day trip to Red Rock Casino which might be a fun place to take younger kids; Red Rock and a couple of others are featured on this blog
• Downtown has several hotels - some nice and some...well... less nice.  I would recommend the Golden Nugget - home to an actual, huge gold nugget.  The advantages of staying downtown are some possibly looser slots and cheaper table games.  The cons are fewer shows and gambling options.  The Freemont Experience - a giant covered walkway among the major hotels is nice for inclement weather.     
• The Strip - tons of hotels to choose from and fairly affordable rates.  The hotels in the middle of the Strip are more pricey - with walkability everywhere, while the ones on the end are generally cheaper (Mandalay Bay is an exception).

We have stayed in many hotels but here are some of our favorites:

• New York New York - great rates, a fun casino, good food options, and not totally at the end of the Strip with good walkability to other hotels.
• Bally's - centrally located, adjacent to Paris and near Caesar's.  Good buffet.
• The Venetian - beautiful hotel with Canal Shoppes, adjacent to Palazzo and Wynn
• The Wynn - near the north end, but still close to a few good hotels. Beautiful inside
• Bellagio - beautiful hotel, home to the dancing fountains and used to be one of the most expensive places - nice rooms

And least favorites (to stay, notes about clientele included us ;) )

• Circus Circus - has an actual Circus inside and feels like a Circus - see Kids Love Vegas
• Excalibur - Castle - cheaper rooms and less savory clientele
• Luxor - Pyramid - cheaper rooms and least savory clientele - have seen fights there on multiple occasions
• RIO - used to be our favorite, but it's not like it used to be - FUN with Carnival processions, fun restaurants, and music - last couple of times we went there it was DEAD 

Here is a 2021 Map of the Strip - refer to this OFTEN for the below.  

Hotels for PLAYING

One of the main attractions of Vegas is the Hotels themselves.  I remember being 21 and dodging freezing rain to go up and down the entire strips to see all the interesting hotels.  The themes and artwork and how each hotel has its own identity.  There are hotels I would not recommend staying at, which are perfectly fine and a lot of FUN to visit.

Here's my short review of every hotel on the Strip (for visiting, not staying):

• Mandalay Bay - spacious casino, beautiful pool area, and an aquarium!
• Luxor - Pyramid shape, Egypt theme; you may have to have a room key to ride the inclinator elevators; King Tut museum
• Excalibur - Medieval theme and shops; Tournament of Kings Feast
• Tropicana - remodeled and looks actually tropical inside now
• MGM Grand - Largest hotel on the strip, enormous casino; many good restaurants, esp. for lunch
• New York, New York - Piano bar, good restaurants for lunch, fun casino, really fun Roller Coaster!!
• Planet Hollywood - not a lot going on here, but last I checked had dancing girls in the casino
• Paris - Eiffel Tower restaurant, smallish casino, and the Parisian street scene inside
• Bally's - light and airy inside
• Aria/Cosmopolitan/Vdara - part of the "CityCenter" which is a collection of hotels and shops - fun to wander through - we like the Cosmopolitan casino
• Bellagio - dancing fountains; flower garden inside; chocolate fountain; Cirque du Soleil; maybe the best outdoor pools in Vegas - huge beautiful pool layout with multiple pools
• Caesar's - Roman architecture, high-end restaurants, home to the Forum Shops, a large sportsbook
• Flamingo - beautiful garden with actual flamingos and other creatures in it - near the back
• LINQ - small casino; Hash House a Go-Go; High Roller Ferris wheel and "dive" casino O'Sheas
• Harrah's - party pit gaming - music and fun tables
• Mirage - used to have Siegfried and Roy / White Tigers RIP, dolphin lagoon, rainforest near the lobby
• Treasure Island - pirate show out front
• Venetian - take time to explore - well lit Canal Shoppes looks like being outdoors, good casino, lots of restaurants, gondola rides, beautiful lobby
• Palazzo - mostly just shops and a casino, but worthwhile connecting from Venetian to Wynn
• Wynn - beautiful casino and grounds, only golf course on the strip
• Circus Circus - actual circus with trapeze inside, rotating casino floor, midway games, also check out neighboring "dive" casino Slots A Fun
• Sahara - pretty far down/up the Strip - may get cheaper blackjack here
• Stratosphere - tall tower with thrill rides at the top and casino at the base

The Venetian - this shot with the pretty sky is INSIDE the hotel

Restaurants

We have some favorites here, but always like to try something new - there are SO MANY good options, so I will just note a few that stand out.

Breakfast: 

• Hash House a Go-Go - this is a small chain, and we have also been in San Diego; Austin was supposed to get one forever, but not so far;  There is one in the LINQ hotel and also one off-strip.  The food is outstanding, the menu is different, the portions are HUGE - try the chicken and waffles or BLT Bloody Mary or scrambles or anything.
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• Bally's breakfast buffet - one of our favorite breakfast buffets for selection and it's spacious
• Paris Café Americano - this café is like a street café, but it's inside the Paris casino.  Very good food - can be a wait, but good coffee and a nice menu

Lunch:

Heartattack Grill

• The Pub at Aria - get Fish and Chips or a Burger and lots of beer on tap

• Noodle Asia at Venetian - comes close to actually being in China - you will see actual Asians eating here and it smells authentic

• Heartattack Grill - downtown - don hospital gowns, drink wine from an IV, and eat insanely calorific burgers and fries made with lard

Dinner:

• SushiSamba:  at Palazzo - a fusion of Sushi and Brazilian/Peruvian food - not cheap, but very good and a very interesting menu

• The Steakhouse:  Don't stay at Circus Circus (see hotels), but DO go to this awesome steakhouse in the hotel

• Eiffel Tower - not just a gimmick - the food was really good here; must have reservations

• Hell's Kitchen - probably need a reservation

• Hoffbrau House - slightly off the strip but a fun replica of one in Munich - you can get spanked if you order a Jagermeister shot

Shows

I would say there are two main kinds of shows - large and small theater shows.  Large headliners are like Cirque du Soleil, famous ventriloquists and magicians, and comedians.  Smaller shows are more intimate comedy, burlesque/drag, and magic.  

Some of these I have personally experienced:

• Cirque du Soleil - very entertaining acrobatic shows with moving music and a thin plotline; O (New York) takes place with a stage full of water!  Zumanity is an intimate striptease show; I have heard that the Love show based on Beatles music is good but we have not seen that one yet; we also have not seen the Michael Jackson one
• Blue Man Group - I was lucky enough to be picked to throw a ball taken from one performer's mouth into the  mouth of another - crazy stunts, music, and comedy are all part of this show - I'd recommend it
• Mat Franco - small theater, great tricks, and a lot of audience participation; Mat (one "t") puts on a great show after winning AGT in 2017.
• Other magic - we've seen Penn and Teller and Criss Angel - both OK; we'd love to go see Piff the magic dragon also from AGT
• Also see: Frank Marino (drag); Crazy Girls (burlesque, NOT drag)

There are so many good shows I have not seen and something for everyone - singers, comedy, ventriloquists, acrobats, etc...

Penn and Teller at the Rio about 20 years ago

Other Entertainment

Hoover Dam

Day trips - you can take an affordable day trip to see Hoover Dam or the Grand Canyon using Las Vegas as your base - either take a bus or rent a car.

Hoover Dam is less than an hour from the Strip, so it's an easy half-day trip and very interesting to see.

Specialty entertainment - you can race sports cars, dig with heavy machinery, shoot exotic guns, and many other experiences you may not be able to do at home.  These things are mostly off the strip, but many of them offer transportation from your hotel to the venue.

Golf - there are many beautiful golf courses built into the desert 

Visit around another event

We have been there for New Year's (2000, not the real Millennium), National Final Rodeo (December), and many times for March Madness (week one or two), which is totally insane!

Melissa, Shellie, Dawn, Janet in 1999

#KidsLoveVegas

Invariably you will see lots of families with small kids in strollers in Vegas.  This seems like a terrible idea.  Every time we see that we say, "Kids Love Vegas".  Which is not true.  Especially on the strip, there is very little for a kid to do there.  Not to mention, there are day workers handing out pornography.  The kids won't remember it and a trip to Vegas may be better if YOU don't remember it.