Sin City. Hotel/Casinos with first class shows, concerts and food. Most of the main attractions are located along the Strip, but you should also consider exploring Downtown Vegas and its surroundings. It’s a huge playground for adults and endless fun is guaranteed. Whether you gamble or not.
I’ve been to Vegas twice. The first one, in 2016, was less than 48 hours long, but enough to become one of my favorite places.
The next year, I had the opportunity to go with my family for ten days. We stayed in Downtown Vegas and It turned out to be a different experience with enough long-lasting memories and sensations. It’s not only about the casinos and gambling. There are huge buffet options in most of the hotels, all kinds of shows and nightlife entertainment for different tastes.
As obvious as it may be, I find it important to state that this is mainly a destination for adults. There are many things that children may enjoy, but the facilities are mostly oriented for people over 21. Even if you don’t like to drink, admission to bars, nightclubs, shows and casinos is strongly enforced.
Number two, hotels are not as expensive as you you may think. However, it is very important to check the additional DAILY FEE charged on every major hotel, which may be around $30/day and that you will have to pay at the front desk. There are just some exceptions where this fee isn’t included, and most of these places are off the Strip. I would see it as part of the nightly fee you pay in a nice-looking hotel at any other city.
Another recommendation: if you’re planning to check out some of the most popular shows in town, it’s better to buy the tickets before your trip. If possible, try to check some discount webpages or the webpage of the hotel where the show is presented, and buy the tickets at least 7 days prior to the show.
Prices are much lower than what you will see when you get there. I found some discount codes on the Internet that worked, but be careful with scam webpages. I noticed some prices were lower in the hotel webpage, and these tickets are guaranteed, but others were higher than usual and there was less availability. I guess it may have to do with the actual demand of the show.
A final word about this is: make sure the time, date and accommodation of the show fits in your schedule. Moving around the city may be tricky sometimes. Walking distances are huge between hotels and waiting times (for the Caesar’s Bacchanal Buffet, for example) may be much longer than expected.
Regarding hotel-casinos, there are different categories they may fall into and hence their nightly fee. Among the most popular are the Caesar’s and the Bellagio, with classic ones that are still open like the Flamingo, Circus Circus, palms, and the Tropicana.
Themed ones such as the Venetian, Paris, Treasure Island, Excelsior and Luxor are pretty cool. The two last ones are quite affordable, too. More modern ones such as the Wynn + Encore, Aria and the Cosmopolitan are expensive, but conveniently located and very elegant.
The hotels on the Strip are usually connected on the inside by electric ladders or through walking bridges on an upper level, so that you don’t have to go down to the street level with the cars. Actually, some streets may not be crossed by pedestrians. Some hotels on the south even have a free monorail service.
There are many bars, restaurants and stores on every single one of the hotels. There are also franchise restaurants and a couple of shopping malls along the strip on street level. One of them is the miracle mile shops at Planet Hollywood, where there is a restaurant where you can eat for $5-10 and have 3-for-1 drinks.
Downtown Vegas has Fremont Street, which is mostly covered by a huge tunnel, where lights and music are projected nightly. There are several attractions, gift shops and live music underneath. You can also find many hotel-casinos on each side. Some of the most popular are the Golden Nugget and the 4 Queens.
Check beforehand what kind of entertainment you’re looking for. Artists such as Celine Dion, are almost permanently there, and others stay for a short number of shows. Cirque du Soleil has at least 5 different shows on different hotels. Magic shows, stand up comedy, and strip shows are also very common.
There are also unusual “amenities” in the hotels, such as a swimming pool with a slide that passes through a shark aquarium (and a bar with a view of it), a volcano that erupts every once in a while, roller coasters, arcades, mini-zoos and several huge-full party nightclubs that are open almost every day.
Another example is the Inside part of the New York hotel, where you can find a recreation of the streets of the city, pizzerias and piano bars included. Outside, there is a miniature panoramic view of Manhattan, with a roller coaster hovering over it.
Some other activities I found, after looking several webpages, included shooting ranges, a KISS minigolf, and unique restaurants/bars, such as a burger place that’s called the “Heart Attack Grill”, with a huge, functional weight scale in the entrance and everything inside is hospital-themed.
You will also find all kinds of stores, famous tattoo parlors and “As Seen on TV” locations that are usually on deserted streets. As stated before, Some areas of Las Vegas are not pedestrian-friendly. You may want to walk only inside the Treasure Island and MGM area after the sun sets. considering the RTC Strip (bus) service is a good idea, as Distances from one hotel to the other are very large, anyways.
People usually get tired of Vegas after some days, because the weather is hot, there are just too many casino machines everywhere, and the ambient may seem very intense for some, but I think after a while you may want to go back another time.