Travel & Leisure Facts and Notes

On my recent trip to Las Vegas I made the determination I was going to decide which place is better to stay. On the strip, or downtown. I easily concluded that downtown was the better deal. The rooms are much cheaper, you get a sense of history, you can eat very cheap, the gambling is better and you can still do everything you want on the strip.

The rooms are so much cheaper downtown that you can really save a bunch of money. You can stay downtown sometimes as cheap as eighteen dollars per night. The hotels are not as nice as they are on the strip, but they are still decent rooms. How much time are you going to spend in your room in Las Vegas anyway.

These historical buildings are so neat. The highlight of our trip was to go into all of these buildings and just take a peak at what they contained. They have old fixtures and furniture. The setup of the casinos is even different. The rooms are not the luxury type rooms you will find on the strip, but to me the history of the buildings and the prices were more important.

Everyone has to eat. The strip is outrageous when it comes to prices on food. I ate at an unnamed itialian restaurant in the MGM on the strip which was horrible. I paid $90 per person for the meal and drinks. I had a dish that tasted like canned pasta and sauce. When we moved downtown I ate prime rib, which was wonderful and I paid $10 per person. The next morning we ate steak and eggs and it was $3.95.

We gambled downtown and thought it was a blast. First of all the slots pay more downtown than on the strip. I was teaching my girl how to play blackjack which is my game at the casino. The dealers were even helping her learn, telling her which move to make, etc. On the strip they wouldnt have said a word to her. I was even talking for an hour or two to a pit boss getting tips. Try doing that on the strip.

You can still get to the strip, there is no reason you have to stay downtown. You can catch a cab for about $20 one way, or the best deal is the bus that goes back and forth from downtown to the strip that is seven dollars per person for an all day pass.

So my conclusion is that you should stay downtown at Freemont Street. I will visit the strip, but I don’t see why it is so expensive.