Tim Hall wrote to ask…
I've never been to Las Vegas and it seems you've been there a lot. Can you give me some tips on where to stay, where to rent a car, what to avoid?
I'll try but let me point out that (a) I haven't been to the city in a number of years and (b) there are only about seventy quadrillion YouTube videos about what to do and not to do in Las Vegas. Most of them though are produced by folks who live there so maybe some don't provide the best advice for outta-towners.
First thing: In all the times I've been there, I've never driven there and I've never rented a car there. Driving and parking seem like a major hassle in that town and a huge waste of time. It can take forever to get to and from where you have to park and longer than forever to have a valet retrieve your vehicle. You'll almost think the casino plans it that way to discourage you from leaving the premises.
Add to that the traffic problem and I've never found it to be either time-efficient or cost-efficient to have an auto there, rental or otherwise. I suppose if you wanted to make a lot of day trips outside the city, it might but I don't go there to go somewhere else. A friend of mine there once said that tourists only need a car if they want to go hiking in the desert or visit one of the legal brothels outside town.
Generally, I pick my hotel based on price and location. The rooms in my price range are all pretty much the same at the major hotels so that isn't worth a lot of consideration. I stay often at Harrah's because from there, I can easily walk to The Linq, The Venetian, The Flamingo, The Cromwell, The Palazzo, The Horseshoe (formerly Bally's), Paris, Treasure Island, The Mirage, Caesars Palace, The Bellagio and a few others.
There's very little I might want to do in that town that I can't walk to if I'm staying in that cluster. There are probably 250+ places to eat in a wide array of cuisines and costs, there are several drug stores, there are several shopping malls, etc. I might want to go see a certain show somewhere but it would probably be a cheap Lyft/Uber/taxi ride, plus there's a monorail stop at Harrah's and a few free shuttles to other locations.
Downtown Las Vegas is also a nice cluster of places to stay and eat and play. I don't necessarily want to stay downtown because people are dancing and drinking and partying at all hours in the streets but if I wanted that environment, I'd stay down there. If I stayed downtown, I probably wouldn't go to The Strip and if I stayed on The Strip, I probably wouldn't go downtown.
If you stay near one end of The Strip (The Stratosphere) or the other (Mandalay Bay), you'll have a more limited list of things you can walk to but it might be enough. Mandalay Bay is a bit expensive, The Luxor is a bit less and Excalibur is even cheaper but those three hotels have the same owners. They're next to each other and linked by walkways and a short monorail. You could probably fill three days very nicely staying in one of those hotels and visiting the other two.
The Excalibur is one of the cheapest hotels on The Strip and much of its decor is laugh-out-loud kitsch. But from it, you can cross a street or two and be at New York, New York or the MGM Grand or the Tropicana.
Do some advance planning. If you go on a weekend and you want to partake of a buffet or a famous eatery, the lines can take over an hour. Vegas restaurants are increasingly moving away from "just walk in" to "make a reservation." You can make those reservations online months in advance if you know when you'll be there.
If you want to go to a show and it's one of the expensive, "hot" ones, buy tickets online well in advance. If you just want to go to a show, discount tickets are available to about two-thirds of them (not on a weekend) or a third of them (on a weekend) at several booths around the city. When I stay at Harrah's or what's now the Horseshoe, there are outlets of Tix4Vegas right outside.
And unless you have no choice, it's a good idea to not go to Vegas on the weekends. Everything's more expensive and crowded then.
Pace yourself. You can't and shouldn't try to do everything. Also pace your money, especially if you intend to gamble. Never gamble money you can't afford to lose and don't gamble on any game you don't fully understand. You can learn and play most of them online for free but recognize that not every casino has the same rules and payoffs for its table games. Also remember that two slot machines can look identical but have two very different payout schedules.
Keep an eye out for discount coupons. There may be a lot of them around and some may be available at your hotel's bell desk, concierge desk or the place where you sign up for the casino's rewards club. Sometimes, it's worth the time to sign up for those rewards clubs because they're free and they get you discounts. I haven't done it lately but I found a lot of very cheap rooms via the Caesars Rewards Club and I think you can sign up online.
But remember: Wherever you book, there may be a mandatory "resort fee" which will considerably raise the cost of that room. I once booked a stay at Harrah's via the Caesars Rewards Club for $0 a night plus a $35 Resort Fee. It was still a good price but you had to read the fine print to know exactly what you were paying. (I am not shilling for Harrah's, by the way. I just have a good history with the hotel by that name and the others that are owned by the Caesars/Harrah's company.)
Be very skeptical of "free" offers and especially avoid invites to seminars where they offer you something to sit through a sales pitch for timeshares. If you want your picture with a street performer, check the price in advance. Bring the most comfortable shoes you own. Do not drink too much or sleep too little. Keep your cell phone charged. (One of those battery-powered chargers can be a great investment.) Remember that the price of water and other necessities will be higher at the CVS or Walgreens there and even higher in the hotel gift shop. And never split tens at Blackjack…or even play it for money if you haven't played a lot on your computer without getting wiped out in ten minutes.
Most of all, remember to do what you want to do and to enjoy yourself. You'd be surprised how many people forget that's the whole point of going.
