Originally posted by Ruark
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Uh-oh... you pushed my "Vegas button."
Been to Vegas many, many, many times since the early 70s - some of my family is in Nevada, Vegas and the Reno/Tahoe area. My dad lived there many years, and ran a card dealer's school. My aunt was a Pit Boss at Tahoe for about 40 years.
It's changed since the old days. It's run by international corporations, and is all focused on one thing: getting as much of your money as possible. Everything is expensive. Expect to spend $30+ for a decent quality buffet, unless you eat the hog slop at Denny's. Last time I was at the Flamingo I had 2 eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, a biscuit, cup of coffee and orange juice. $26. Don't forget the tip, honey. $15 for a cocktail, plus a $10 "service fee." $8-$10 for a room temperature beer. $12 for a hamburger at the "food court."
Downtown is a bit cheaper, but over the years it has turned into a toilet. It stinks. Lots of gangbangers and Larry the Cable Guy types. Street performers all over the place. Think of a 40 year old man, 50 pounds overweight, running around in a thong bikini. I used to love downtown; now I wouldn't go there at gunpoint. Yeah, they have $15 buffets at the Fremont, if you don't mind scraping the crust off the mashed potatoes.
EVERYTHING costs money. Hey, there's an art exhibit. $25 a person. Let's go up in that tall tower. $25.
See those two bottles of water on the dresser in your room? Don't touch them; you'll trigger a sensor and they'll charge you $5 each. Does your room have a little refrigerator? There's probably a coke sitting in it. Don't touch it. Same thing. Notice how they put it up front, so you HAVE to move it out of the way. Bingo, $5. Maybe $8.
In-room wi-fi can run $15+ per day. Save your money and check your email on the 4G network outside. Some hotels, however, charge a "resort fee" which MAY include in-room wifi. Check.
Rent a car. Vegas cabs are way expensive, and there's no substitute for having the freedom to jump into the car and take off when you want to. Wherever you stay, use the valet parking. It's worth the $3 tip. Otherwise you'll self-park in some dark, cavernous garage the size of Rhode Island. I would never, never go to Vegas without a rental car (including the collision damage waiver).
The $20 trick often DOES work at check-in. When you hand them your credit card (you DO have a credit card, don't you? They keep the account number, etc. for security), include a folded $20 bill and say, "got any complimentary upgrades?"
Don't trust anybody who walks up to you and tries to start a conversation. Nobody. Absolutely. Nobody. Even if it's a little old lady with white hair walking with a cane. There are some really heavy duty, major league bad guys in Vegas. Bad girls, too.
The "Grand Canyon" tour buses are everywhere. I'd skip them. You're gone from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. 6 hour ride each way, stopping to stare at the canyon for a couple of hours. They're very family oriented. They have little TVs to watch in the bus, showing adult movies like "Beverly Hills Chihuahua."
Hoover Dam is incredible. Take the full tour where you go down inside the dam. Check out the Elvis Presley museum, and Madame Toussad's Wax Museum. One AWESOME experience is the Titanic artifacts exhibit in Luxor. $50 a person. I see it every time I go to Vegas.
Gambling. It's not like it used to be. House odds are very high now. My advice is to just gamble the penny slots, playing 2 to 5 cents per spin. Just for fun. Remember, ALL of the games in Vegas are statistically in favor of the house. It's like betting on getting heads 5 times in a row flipping a coin. Sometimes it might happen and you'll win, but over time, you will... YOU WILL... lose your money.
Many, many families have arrived at the hotel, and while the wife was freshening up in the shower, hubby ran downstairs to "play a little blackjack" and came back to the room 10 minutes later after losing their entire vacation budget and maxing out all their credit cards, and they spent the rest of their vacation eating from MacDonald's and sitting in the hotel room watching TV. Don't let this happen to you, because Vegas has thousands of experienced professionals trying to make sure that it does.
If you DO play and lose more than you planned to (surprise, surprise, eh?), NEVER NEVER make the one, big, fatal mistake that empties more bank accounts than any other: playing a "little more" trying to "win back just a little bit." You won't. You'll just lose more. If you want to try your hand at gambling, put your "gambling allowance" in an envelope, one for each day, and that's your gambling money. It's really sobering (or drunkening) to sit at a slot machine and lose $200 in 30 seconds, and walk away thinking of the nice steak dinner you could have had for that money.
By the way, if you grab some extra cash at an ATM in a casino, the service fee will be $10 - $15. Use the ATM in a convenience store or local bank when you're out running around.
Speaking of nice steak dinners, for fine dining I recommend the places at the Wynn (especially Sinatra's) and at Paris. Again, not cheap, but this is Vegas, not Walmart.
That all sounds pretty negative, I know. But you can have a great time in Vegas, you just have to do it right. The thing is, Vegas has "gone upscale." It's sort of like shopping at Sak's or Nordstrom's, compared to shopping at Sears. I would personally advise staying in a nice place like the Wynn (my favorite), maybe Bellagio, Venetian or Palazzo. Watch the Wynn's video tour on their web site. Wonderful place. But again, if you really go to relax and enjoy it, stay in a nice hotel, watch the good shows, eat at nice places, it's a fantastic experience. But it's expensive. You don't go to Sak's 5th Avenue and try "go cheap." You USED to be able to do Vegas that way, but those days are far, far gone.
Been to Vegas many, many, many times since the early 70s - some of my family is in Nevada, Vegas and the Reno/Tahoe area. My dad lived there many years, and ran a card dealer's school. My aunt was a Pit Boss at Tahoe for about 40 years.
It's changed since the old days. It's run by international corporations, and is all focused on one thing: getting as much of your money as possible. Everything is expensive. Expect to spend $30+ for a decent quality buffet, unless you eat the hog slop at Denny's. Last time I was at the Flamingo I had 2 eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, a biscuit, cup of coffee and orange juice. $26. Don't forget the tip, honey. $15 for a cocktail, plus a $10 "service fee." $8-$10 for a room temperature beer. $12 for a hamburger at the "food court."
Downtown is a bit cheaper, but over the years it has turned into a toilet. It stinks. Lots of gangbangers and Larry the Cable Guy types. Street performers all over the place. Think of a 40 year old man, 50 pounds overweight, running around in a thong bikini. I used to love downtown; now I wouldn't go there at gunpoint. Yeah, they have $15 buffets at the Fremont, if you don't mind scraping the crust off the mashed potatoes.
EVERYTHING costs money. Hey, there's an art exhibit. $25 a person. Let's go up in that tall tower. $25.
See those two bottles of water on the dresser in your room? Don't touch them; you'll trigger a sensor and they'll charge you $5 each. Does your room have a little refrigerator? There's probably a coke sitting in it. Don't touch it. Same thing. Notice how they put it up front, so you HAVE to move it out of the way. Bingo, $5. Maybe $8.
In-room wi-fi can run $15+ per day. Save your money and check your email on the 4G network outside. Some hotels, however, charge a "resort fee" which MAY include in-room wifi. Check.
Rent a car. Vegas cabs are way expensive, and there's no substitute for having the freedom to jump into the car and take off when you want to. Wherever you stay, use the valet parking. It's worth the $3 tip. Otherwise you'll self-park in some dark, cavernous garage the size of Rhode Island. I would never, never go to Vegas without a rental car (including the collision damage waiver).
The $20 trick often DOES work at check-in. When you hand them your credit card (you DO have a credit card, don't you? They keep the account number, etc. for security), include a folded $20 bill and say, "got any complimentary upgrades?"
Don't trust anybody who walks up to you and tries to start a conversation. Nobody. Absolutely. Nobody. Even if it's a little old lady with white hair walking with a cane. There are some really heavy duty, major league bad guys in Vegas. Bad girls, too.
The "Grand Canyon" tour buses are everywhere. I'd skip them. You're gone from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. 6 hour ride each way, stopping to stare at the canyon for a couple of hours. They're very family oriented. They have little TVs to watch in the bus, showing adult movies like "Beverly Hills Chihuahua."
Hoover Dam is incredible. Take the full tour where you go down inside the dam. Check out the Elvis Presley museum, and Madame Toussad's Wax Museum. One AWESOME experience is the Titanic artifacts exhibit in Luxor. $50 a person. I see it every time I go to Vegas.
Gambling. It's not like it used to be. House odds are very high now. My advice is to just gamble the penny slots, playing 2 to 5 cents per spin. Just for fun. Remember, ALL of the games in Vegas are statistically in favor of the house. It's like betting on getting heads 5 times in a row flipping a coin. Sometimes it might happen and you'll win, but over time, you will... YOU WILL... lose your money.
Many, many families have arrived at the hotel, and while the wife was freshening up in the shower, hubby ran downstairs to "play a little blackjack" and came back to the room 10 minutes later after losing their entire vacation budget and maxing out all their credit cards, and they spent the rest of their vacation eating from MacDonald's and sitting in the hotel room watching TV. Don't let this happen to you, because Vegas has thousands of experienced professionals trying to make sure that it does.
If you DO play and lose more than you planned to (surprise, surprise, eh?), NEVER NEVER make the one, big, fatal mistake that empties more bank accounts than any other: playing a "little more" trying to "win back just a little bit." You won't. You'll just lose more. If you want to try your hand at gambling, put your "gambling allowance" in an envelope, one for each day, and that's your gambling money. It's really sobering (or drunkening) to sit at a slot machine and lose $200 in 30 seconds, and walk away thinking of the nice steak dinner you could have had for that money.
By the way, if you grab some extra cash at an ATM in a casino, the service fee will be $10 - $15. Use the ATM in a convenience store or local bank when you're out running around.
Speaking of nice steak dinners, for fine dining I recommend the places at the Wynn (especially Sinatra's) and at Paris. Again, not cheap, but this is Vegas, not Walmart.
That all sounds pretty negative, I know. But you can have a great time in Vegas, you just have to do it right. The thing is, Vegas has "gone upscale." It's sort of like shopping at Sak's or Nordstrom's, compared to shopping at Sears. I would personally advise staying in a nice place like the Wynn (my favorite), maybe Bellagio, Venetian or Palazzo. Watch the Wynn's video tour on their web site. Wonderful place. But again, if you really go to relax and enjoy it, stay in a nice hotel, watch the good shows, eat at nice places, it's a fantastic experience. But it's expensive. You don't go to Sak's 5th Avenue and try "go cheap." You USED to be able to do Vegas that way, but those days are far, far gone.
Luckily I dont gamble much but really looking forward to this trip. Wish it was with my girlfriend but real excited to do this as a bachelor party trip.
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