I recently took ten days off and went to Vegas! This was my sixth trip there in the last three years. In the last 6 visits I think I’ve discovered some great places to eat, gamble and sleep. So I am posting this as my official Las Vegas review.
If you have never been to Vegas or haven’t been there in 2 years, this review will serve you well. The city is constantly changing and growing. I love playing Texas Holdem poker online, but after playing every day for quite some time, it’s nice to get away. And it’s nice to be able to afford to take a nice vacation like this. Before I became an online poker player as a profession, I would have never dreamed of going to Las Vegas for ten days and staying in one of the most beautiful hotels in the world: The Venetian….
Transportation
On my first trip to Vegas we didn’t rent a car. We took a $8 shuttle from the airport to our hotel and walked or took the bus/cabs for the rest of the trip. Since then we have rented a car. If you go during the week or out of season it is very cheap to rent a car in Las Vegas. We never pay more than $25 a day. If you add up the cost of taxis and shuttle services, it seems much smarter to rent a car.
Beware if you are a timid driver, people drive like crazy there! If you prefer to exercise, the shuttle may be the best option for you. There are buses every 10 minutes that go up and down the strip, and there are plenty of free monorail trolleys that go between many of the casinos on the strip.
My recommendation is to rent a car and bring a pack of singles and valet. If you are like me, you will want to go and see all the beautiful casinos. There is nothing better than driving up to the front door and having it parked. I usually tip a dollar or two. Otherwise, you can park in the parking structures for free.
Hotels
On my most recent vacation I went with my friend Kurt. Below are some photos of our hotel room at the Venetian. If you can afford it, I strongly suggest you stay here. It was by far the best hotel I have ever been to. The bathroom was HUGE, with a jacuzzi tub, double sinks, separate shower, toilet was in a separate room with a phone, marble floors.
Our room
The Venetian and the Bellagio are the top 2 hotels in Las Vegas. They are expensive. I have been to many hotels in Vegas and it all depends on what you want from your vacation. Most people will be gambling and drinking until the wee hours of the morning, so the hotel won’t matter much. If you want to stay in the cheapest hotel possible and be close to gambling, I recommend staying downtown. I stayed at the Las Vegas Club downtown last year. During the week you can get a room for 35-45 dollars a night. On that trip we only slept about 10 hours in total the 3 nights we were there, so the hotel didn’t matter much.
However, Las Vegas Club was quite nice, the rooms were very large and had a sofa. I have stayed in other downtown hotels and most are in that price range and on weekends and high season they are more expensive. So if you want to be pampered and stay somewhere nice, look for a hotel on the Strip. The Venetian and the Belagio are very nice and very expensive. The MGM, the Luxor or the New York have average prices. If you want to go cheap, stay in the center.
Beverages
If you love to gamble and drink, PERFECT: if you play, the drinks are free. So don’t spend 8 bucks at the bar, hit the tables or slots and drink on the house.
play
I have played at many-a-casino in Las Vegas. I think that in these last 10 days of vacation we got to most of them. My suggestion for betting comes down to preference and cash. On weekends and peak hours it’s hard to find a blackjack table with a $5 minimum on the strip. Most are ten dollars and up. So if you’re on a budget, I’d suggest playing downtown. They have a lot of five dollar tables and even three dollar tables. They also have one or two deck blackjack games in the center for lower limits. We found that most of the casinos on the Strip use auto shufflers and have more than 6 decks. This makes the odds very bad. On this trip I mainly played blackjack. I consider online poker my profession and while on vacation I needed a little break. So I mainly played blackjack and horses.
Some must-see casinos are the Venetian, there are shops and the canals of Venice, and beautiful paintings and art. Also, the Belagio is an awesome casino, they have a water show out front with music. If you are going to bet on horses or sports, I suggest the bookmaker at the Belagio. They have flat screen TV’s personal leather chairs and they have a bunch of cocktail waiters supplying the drinks. We spend a lot of time here.
food
Where to eat? We ate so much food on this trip that I must have gained 20 pounds… Let’s start with the buffets:
The best buffet I have ever had is The Spice Market Buffet at the Aladdin Casino. It was about $25 and the food was amazing. They had food in different categories, American, Mexican, etc. Everything I tried was delicious. The fruit they had was fresh, the desserts were amazing. I highly recommend this buffet.
Another great buffet is The Buffet at the Belagio. This buffet was very close in price and flavor to the Spice Market buffet. If you like seafood I recommend this one. They also have Beef Wellingtion, Prime rib and Colby beef, very tasty.
The biggest buffet would have to be the buffet at the Rio, The Carnival World Buffet. This buffet was between 25 and 30 dollars. Had a great selection but was not impressed with the food.
The worst buffet we had was breakfast at Bally’s buffet. The food was not very poor. The orange juice tasted like Tang.
Meals without buffet
Burgers?
The best burger would have to be at The Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay. They have Colby Beef burgers, which are not cheap. About $16, but they were very good.
Do you want a great steak? The best steak I had in Vegas was at Alan Alberts on the Strip. It is a very nice restaurant, excellent service, excellent food. Expensive, but worth it if you’re looking for a delicious steak. 3763 Las Vegas Boulevard
Italian food
Do you want a good Italian meal, in a great old school restaurant? Try Batista’s hole in the wall. The restaurant’s walls are lined with autograph photos of celebrities. They even have an accordionist who walks from table to table. The food is excellent. Meals come with your choice of complimentary wine, salad, entree and cappuccino. I had the chicken parmesan and it was very good. It was around $20-25 per meal.
cheap eats
Did you lose all your money at the tables? There are great deals on dining all over Las Vegas. Kurt and I tried most of them. If you’re looking for fine dining, skip this section!
At the Upperdeck of the Las Vegas Club downtown – we had New York strip steak, eggs, fries and toast for $2.95! And it was actually very good.
Another great deal is the Prime rib in San Remos across from the MGM. You get bread, salad, ribs, baked potatoes, vegetables all for $5.95. The rib slice was pretty thin, but for $6 it was worth it.
Another cheap meal we’ve had a few times is the steak and lobster dinner at Careful Kitys in downtown El Cortez. It was like 10 bucks and pretty good.
Bars and Clubs
Do you want to go to the clubs? One of my favorites is the Ghost Bar at the top of the Palms casino. They filmed MTV’s Real World Las Vegas at the Palms, and the cast frequented the Ghost bar. Its part outside at the top of the building. The views of the strip are incredible. Mostly a younger crowd.
Tangerine at Treasure Island was pretty good too. You can also step outside with views of the Strip and the Pirates show.
If you run out of cash and still want to get some drinks, go to a sports book. Kurt perfected this method! Grab a program and a seat and wait for the cocktail waitress to arrive. Make sure to tip her and she will keep coming back!
