Bellagio: Free fountain shows at night. Stay for at least 2 or 3 songs. (15 min apart – start on the ¼ hour) Also go into the front entrance to see lobby and straight through lobby to conservatory (flowers, etc.–amazing). Notice the Dale Chahuli sculpture (glass flowers) on ceiling in lobby. This is a very classy joint. Fontana Lounge show is usually very good (1 drink minimum = $6 per person = very good deal if you like the band).
Paris: Before or after Bellagio, go across to Paris. For ~$12 you can go up to the top of Eiffel Tower (2 for 1 coupons available-ask @ players club booth for coupon book, but coupon only good before 5 PM- unless it’s slow, then they might let you use it). Quite a view of the Bellagio fountain shows & the strip. (Best at or after sunset.) Check out the cool lobby (where you would check in). Really neat fountain out front of Paris along the strip. Also, find the shops because it is like strolling down the streets of Paris. (Awesome bakery and just cool stuff worth looking at.) The Paris streets lead to Bally’s -turn around & go back cuz nothing much to see @ Bally’s. Le Village Buffet is really good. Expensive at night but if you go at lunch it is not a bad deal. Tom’s “buffet trick” is to get in @ end of breakfast (just b/4 10:30? change-over), eat some breakfast & then eat some lunch, all for just the cost of breakfast alone. Can do same “buffet trick” @ the lunch/dinner changeover @ 3:30 PM (saves about $6 or$7 per person). Le Village Buffet usually has VERY LONG lines.
Wynn & Encore: Spend plenty of time here so you can appreciate the elegance & class with which this place was built. You have to go exploring in order to see everything. I’m not an expert cuz I didn’t spend enough time there, but I will next trip. Nice view of the “lake of dreams” from just outside check in area. After dusk they have a show that occurs every 15 min. on the ¼ hour. Steve Wynn is the guy responsible for the Mirage, T.I., & Bellagio (all now owned by the MGM-Mirage corp.). He is THE Vegas Visionary.
Venetian & Palazzo: Lots to see here. Venetian canal & cool art replicas everywhere. Notice the attention to detail. Sheldon Addleson who owns the Venetian is Wynn’s competitor/nemesis & the other Vegas Visionary. “Blue Man Group” is Must See. (in my opinion)
Grand Lux Café is EXCELLENT & inexpensive (owned by Cheesecake Factory). There’s one in Venetian & another in Palazzo.
Harrah’s: Mac King comedy magic is 1:00 and 3:00 in afternoon—closed Sundays. The Steak house (Range) is excellent but expensive. Flavors Buffet is very good. The “Improv” comedy club usually has VERY funny comedians. ($5 off coupons available) The Improv is closed on Monday. The dueling Piano twins lounge show is very popular. A lot of fun to join the PARTY (or just watch) @ Carnival Bar outside especially on Thur & Fri evenings.
City Center & Aria: This is the newest Vegas mega structure. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m sure it’s fantastic. It was a joint venture between MGM-Mirage corp. & Dubai World.
Planet Hollywood: Located right next to Paris. (Used to be Aladdin) Excellent Buffet– line usually not as long as Paris Buffet. If you join players club they give you each a coupon book that has buffet coupons & a $20 “Match Play” coupon. Great deal especially if you know how to use the match-play coupons. PH is one of the few remaining strip casinos with decent Video Poker pay schedules. (Harrah’s now owns PH, so things may have changed—or they will soon.) The attached mall is called Miracle Mile. (maybe cuz it would take a miracle to get me through there )
Other things to see & do:
(Do these after you have done everything or most of the things above)
Rio: Carnival world buffet is very good. (Coupons available frequently) Sexiest cocktail waitress uniforms I’ve seen. Very nice pool. Free Shuttle runs back & forth from back of Harrah’s to Rio frequently. Free Shuttle runs back& forth from front of Paris to Rio frequently.
Mirage: Very Neat inside. Aquariums in lobby area, Tigers on display etc. Secret garden costs $10.00 but is worth it. (Open aprox 10 AM til about 4 PM.) Excellent Buffet. Volcano out front erupts every hour on the hour at night. Worth seeing, but don’t go too far out of your way to see it cuz you’ll probably pass by it a dozen times. This was Steve Wynn’s first mega-resort. T.I. next & then Bellagio!
Caesars: Lots of unusual stores in the Forum shops mall. Interesting. Worth going through. Check out the Lassen Gallery.
Treasure Island: Pirate show outside at night is cool if it is not too crowded. Now it’s the Sirens of TI.
New York: Walk through & check out the streets of NY. Walk in front (outside) & check out the Statue of Liberty & all the firefighter t-shirts. Sometimes ice rink with skating show in front of Statue in Dec. Pubs: Coyote Ugly & Nine Fine Irishmen.
Mandalay Bay: A very classy place. Worth seeing if you’re in the neighborhood. Aquarium is cool ($12). VERY cool pool area & wave pool but you have to be a guest to go in.
Luxor: Walk through & check it out. Kinda cool. Blue Man Group is a must see in my opinion (get tickets in advance). Now Blue Man Group is @ Venetian.
Excalibur: Skip it. Nothing special & packed with rug rats.
Stratosphere: Amazing view from the top. Costs $? to go up. Better off to go to top of Eiffel Tower @ Paris and stay away from this end of the strip completely. No need to go any further north on the strip than “Wynn” in my opinion. Area from Cir-Cir north to Strat & beyond toward downtown not as safe as rest of strip. (Area from Strat north to downtown definitely danger zone.)
Downtown Vegas: Nothing special. Freemont street experience is cool, but not mandatory. The Show only happens at night. It is a light show (every hour- on the hour). Often there is free entertainment of some sort out on Fremont St. in evening. Great steak house at Binion’s, but $$$. You can find 9/6 Jacks or Better 25c Video Poker &/or 9/6 nickel triple play downtown.
You are very safe on Fremont St. from the plaza on the west end down to about Fitzgerald’s on the east. You don’t want to wander more than a ½ block to the North or South of Fremont St., except that there is a new mall downtown & I’m sure there is a safe way to get from Fremont St. to the mall. I think the mall is a block or 2 north of Fremont St.?
Afternoon Shows: Mac King Comedy Magic @ Harrah’s (great deal—especially if you can find a coupon outside @ Carnival Bar), Society of 7 @ Flamingo? , Ron Lucas @ ?
Evening Shows: Blue Man Group @ Venetian, “O” @ Bellagio, “LOVE” @ Mirage (if you like Beatles Music), “Le Reve” @ Wynn, Mystere @ TI, (“O”, Mystere & Love are Cirque de Soleil),“The Schintas” @ Las Vegas Hilton?, Terry Fator @ Mirage.
Las Vegas Do’s & Don’ts:
Don’t play slot machines on the strip. The slots at all strip casinos are very tight. If you don’t believe me then just look around you when you’re walking down the strip. All those multi-Billion $ places were built with slot profits (75 % of all gambling revenue comes from slots). Odds are that there is a casino close to your home that has similar if not better payback on slots. Why fly 1500 miles to do what you can do @ home. Of course, my opinion is that you should never play slots. Good alternatives to slots are: Video Poker, Craps, Poker, Baccarat and Blackjack, but only if you invest the time & effort to learn how to play them correctly. If played incorrectly these games can be as bad as slots. If you play these games correctly the house advantage is 1 % or LESS. Craps, Baccarat & Blackjack can be learned by most people in a very short time.DO things that you can’t do @ home. Like: the shows (Blue Man Group, the Cirque shows, etc.), buffets (the ones @ home aren’t like the ones in Vegas), Gourmet Dining (if you are into that), Free attractions like Bellagio fountains etc., Lounge shows (ask around & find one that has your favorite kind of music), Sight see, Party (there are a lot of night life choices that are very interesting to say the least), ETC. ETC. In other words, EXPERIENCE VEGAS, rather than wandering around and donating $ into tight slots. If you must gamble then it should be a game that you know how to play that also has very low house advantage (less than 2% disadvantage). ($0.25 slots have about 9-12% disadvantage on the strip; nickel slots are 12-15%, penny even worse) If you will be gambling then Play where you stay. Get a players card and use it when you play. Charge some of your food to your room and when you check out they may comp some of your food if you did enough gambling, but NEVER-EVER gamble just to get comps, or gamble more to get comps. If your main reason for going to Vegas is to play slots, then I recommend staying @ one of the locals joints. Do some research to find out which one will best fit your needs. You will still probably loose your $ but it will take you twice as long to do so. (IE: it’s better to be run over & killed by a slow moving Volkswagen rather than a fast Semi??:)
Don’t keep all your money in your wallet in your back pocket. Yes, it can happen to you.
DO keep most of your cash & any valuables in the room safe. Most of the nicer strip hotels have them & they are safe. Never leave Money or valuables in room unless the room has a safe. The $ you have with you: Large bills in your front left pocket with nothing else in that pocket except your drivers license for ID. Smaller bills & casino player’s cards in a disposable wallet in your front right pocket. The disposable wallet should not have any charge cards or anything else of value that you would not want to loose if the worst happened. (you need your driver’s license to get back on the plane— unless you decide you’re gonna stay in Vegas) You will need a charge card at check in. Once you check in it is a good idea to put the charge card into the room safe & leave it there. At check in they will give you each a small coupon for charging things to your room. Sign them & keep them safe in your wallet with your room key (card). Do not loose them because anyone could charge stuff to your room if they find them. If you gamble you should use them to charge food to your room in hopes that some of it might be “comped” at checkout.Don’t expect to get tickets to the best top-level shows when you are in Vegas. (Unless Vegas is very slow)
DO get your tix ahead of time from home (phone or www) for top tier shows such as Blue Man Group, all the Cirque Shows, Le Reve, ETC.
Don’t have to buy mid-level or lower level show tickets ahead of time from home.
DO: If you are flexible you can get discounted (40-50% off) tickets @ a couple of places on the strip. One is in Fashion Show Mall across from The Wynn & one is in a camera store across the strip from New York (look for giant Coke bottle). They have discounted same day tickets for various shows, but never for the top-level shows.
Don’t make long distance phone calls from room phone. They charge you alot.
Don’t take anything out of the fridge/mini-bar. Don’t even move the items. They charge you alot.
I like to tell the airport taxi driver to “take the tunnel & drive down the strip”. (Tell him you do NOT want to take the freeway – it costs about $7 more) He may point out to you that it will cost a little more going through tunnel & down the strip. Tell him that you know it costs a little more. To me it’s worth the few dollars extra to see the sights. It takes about 5-10 min. longer to get there depending on what time of day it is. (taxi tip = about $2 or $3) If room isn’t ready yet then check your bags with the bellman (tip = about $4 or $5 when they bring bags to your room).
[credits/source: Tom and Imspirit http://imspirit.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/things-to-see-do-in-las-vegas/]
