The Strip: Hooker Cards, Shows, Fountains, Casinos: I know why they call it Sin City
Written: Dec 15 '05 (Updated Jan 20 '07)
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Pros: Lots of free sights to see, amazing hotels and spectacles
Cons: Hooker cards, broken beer bottles
The Bottom Line: The Strip is worth seeing but there is a seedy side.
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| modernmarvel's Full Review: The Strip |
I visited Las Vegas in December 2005. December is a slow month for Vegas. The only reason it was busy when I visited is because a Rodeo was in town and brought with it thousands of coyboys and cowgirls. The downside of visiting in December is that they are so few shows actually performing and the ones that don't go dark tend to sell out because there are so few options.
WHAT IS THE STRIP?
The Strip is Las Vegas Boulevard, or one of the main streets in Las Vegas, where most of the nicest casinos and hotels are located. The Strip is lined by fantastic hotels. We stayed at the Wynn, the newest hotel, located down toward one end of the Strip. The Strip also has the Venetian Hotel, the Bellagio Hotel, Caesar's Hotel, Paris Hotel, New York, New York, Circus, Circus, The Luxor, Mandalay Bay, the Mirage and many other hotels.
WHAT YOU CAN SEE ON THE STRIP
Most of the largest hotels have attractions, some free and some for a charge. The attractions are often tied in with the hotel's theme. For example, the Paris hotel has a half scale Eiffel Tower. The Venetian has gondolas that you can ride both inside and outside the hotel. You can also see pirate ships attack, a volcano, an Egyptian tomb, a shark exhibit, white tigers in a Secret Garden, aquariums, Dancing Fountains and many other curiosities. Many of the free shows line the Strip so you can see them on a stroll. Others require you to enter the hotels and usually pass through a casino, before you can get to the attraction. The best thing to do is to get a guide book before you go so you can narrow down the attractions that you want to see. There are guide books for free in many taxis and you can also find them in the many malls as well.
Even if you don't want to pay to see certain attractions, you can just check out the hotel lobbies and malls. The lobby of the Bellagio hotel has a ceiling covered with glass flowers. There is a conservatory further inside the Bellagio that is filled with plants and small fountains. When we visited in December, the conservatory featured fake snow drifting down over polar bears made of white flowers. The lobby of the Venetian looks like a square in Venice at dusk. The effect is surprisingly realistic and you really feel as though you are outside. When we visited, there was a free opera performance in the Venetian that was very entertaining.
The other thing you can do along the Strip is shop, shop, shop. There are more stores, especially upscale stores, than I have ever seen in one location. Most hotels have shopping galleries but there are also several malls. I couldn't think of a store that I didn't see in Vegas.
Of course, the main thing you can do on the Strip is gamble. There is one casino after another on the Strip with every game you can imagine. We didn't gamble much but it was enjoyable to watch other people gamble and, for the most part, lose their money. Some of the high stakes games are particularly thrilling. We watched one guy lose $3,000 in under 3 minutes at a blackjack table. It gave us a lot to talk and wonder about.
WHERE CAN YOU EAT AND DRINK?
Vegas is famous for its buffets and every major hotel seems to have one. We ate at the buffet at the Wynn, which was the hotel we were staying in. It cost us $20 each for lunch. The prices go higher for dinner. The food was great and obviously very plentiful. However, sinking that much money, not to mention eating that much food, was not going to be healthy over three days so we sought out some other choices.
There are so many restaurants on the Strip, your head (or stomach) will spin. The variety in cuisines is amazing although the price points seem very consistent and very high. Many restaurants have beautiful decor and the themes are amazing. We ate one dinner at Margaritaville and thought the prices were fair, particularly because they had a live band during the time we ate there. Even if you don't eat in some of the upscale restaurants, definitely poke your head in a few places just to see how the other half lives.
We found a cheap buffet across from the Hawaii Village that cost about $10 for breakfast and lunch. It wasn't fancy but the food was decent. There is a Denny's in the middle of the Strip but the wait was very long for a Sunday breakfast. We found that one buffet a day filled us up and we snacked a bit for the rest of the day to tide us over.
NIGHTCLUBS
Until my weekend in Vegas, I hadn't been in a nightclub in probably 15 years. We decided to try Lure in the Wynn hotel and were surprised to see that most of the people inside were our age or older. I don't know where the 20-somethings are but apparently the 30, 40 and even 50 somethings like to go out to nightclubs in Vegas. We tried to get into Tao in the Venetian late on a Saturday night but there was a long wait and we decided not to stick it out. It seems most nightclubs have two lines. One line is for VIPs and the other line is for everyone else. How do you get to be a VIP? I assume the big gamblers get passes. Sometimes, you find people handing out VIP passes to the clubs along the Strip. If you are staying in the hotel where the nightclub is, just show your room key and you can usually sail right past the line. If these tactics don't work, you may get stuck waiting behind the velvet rope. There are so many great nightclubs in Vegas, I don't recommend getting too hung up on one. If the line is long in one place, check out another of the many fantastic nightclubs on the Strip.
WHAT YOU SEE ON THE STRIP THAT YOU PROBABLY WOULD RATHER NOT
Well, they don't call it Sin City for nothing. Seemingly every 50 feet is someone handing out small photo cards, the size of a business card, with at least one naked woman offering escort and stripper services. Many people who take these cards drop them on the sidewalk and the sidewalks are littered with them. I can't imagine taking my kids down these sidewalks and letting them see those cards.
Apparently, it is permissible to drink a beer while walking down the Strip. Coming from Boston, we found this quite shocking as a similar offense in Boston could land you a hefty ticket or night in jail. The downside to this public drinking is that there are public drunks and lots of broken beer bottles and empty cups all over the Strip. At night, we had to work hard to avoid broken glass all over parts of the sidewalks.
Vegas has lots of nudie shows featuring both men and women. A lot of the shows are advertised on the Strip on billboards, electronic signs and other media including paper handouts. While the advertisements don't feature nudity, it is clear what the shows offer. I wasn't particularly offended by such advertisements, in fact I was mildly intrigued (particularly by the Thunder from Down Under show). However, these are not advertisements I would want my kids to see.
GETTING AROUND
The Strip is quite long and there can be a five minute walk or more between attractions. We spent three days walking around and were very exhausted. The easiest way to get a ride is by taxi. Just getting in a taxi costs $3.20. A ride halfway down the Strip was about $6 without a tip. We found it very easy to get a taxi whenever we wanted one.
Another option is to take the monorail which runs behind the Strip with entrances to the stations accessable from the Strip. We did not take the monorail once we realized it cost $3 per trip. There are daily and multiple day passes available. If you are traveling alone, it might be cheaper to take the monorail. Otherwise, if you share a cab, it seems cheaper and more efficient. In addition to the Monorail, we saw many different kinds of buses but we didn't want to waste our short amount of time in Vegas waiting for the bus.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I am definitely glad I went to Vegas and got to see the Strip. There was a lot to see and it would have taken easily a week just to explore all of the attractions and sites to see. However, I was disappointed to see the seedy underside of Vegas. I have heard that Vegas is now marketed to families and I would never have brought my kids to such a place. Still, I recommend it to adults, even those who don't gamble, as a great place to get away for a few days.
MY OTHER REVIEWS ON LAS VEGAS
Attractions:
The Strip
The Dancing Fountains in front of the Bellagio Hotel
The Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel
The Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel
The The Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay
Places to Stay:
The Wynn
Harrah’s
The Venetian
The Holiday Inn Express
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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modernmarvel
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