Anyone else surprised (dismayed?) by Las Vegas?

Cafe Society
61

Well said. Count me in another person who likes Las Vegas. I’m not exactly a world traveller, but I have been to Tokyo, LA, and New York. Even in world class cities like those, there’s nothing like the Strip, with its 24 hour a day party on the street. My guess is that it’s the only place in the world where one can be out on the street at that hour and not feel like it’s something unusual to be up at 3 or 4 AM and out on the street.

As far as where the wealthy go, I have a hard time imagining any place higher end than Las Vegas. Sure, it’s ostentatious, but it’s not all cheap stuff that’s priced high to trick the rubes into thinking that they’re in the presence of a large amount of wealth. They actually are in the presence of a large amount of wealth. Regarding food, Guy Savoy’s was mentioned earlier, but there are numerous others top level restaurants with the chefs trained by the best (Gordon Ramsey, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, Wolfgang Puck, Jose Andres, etc.) serving high end ingredients (Wagyu beef, Iberico ham, fatty bluefin tuna, etc.). For high end shopping, all the top name brands have stores (sometimes more than one) on the Strip. Gucci, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Patek Phillipe, Rolex, Tiffany, Van Cleef and Arpels, and so on. If the wealthy aren’t shopping and eating at these places, I’d like to know what places that are even more high end that they do patronize.

62

It’s worth going once for a Leaving Las Vegas Style drunken downtown wander.

I’d only ever go back if it was incidental passing on a road trip.

63

I agree the façade of “Fabulous” Las Vegas is to surround ordinary people with perceived opulence to make them feel rich, so that it’s easier to pry money from them. It’s the same imaging the Indian Casinos have - “Come here and be one of the beautiful people, dine in style, see world-class entertainment, and win!!” Some people like that sort of thing, and some don’t - there is no wrong answer. The fact that Las Vegas exists shows that there are enough people who like what it is to keep it going.

64

I enjoy Vegas. My favorites include renting a plane to see the terrain, shopping at the mall,* and people-watching. I have rarely met a rude person in Vegas. If I’m lucky I sneak into a trade show. Once I spent most of a day at a big-game hunting show. Sometimes I gamble.

*So I’m in the plane and asking the guy about the local area. I ask him “Where are the meadows?” He took the controls and spun around, “There it is.” The local mall is called “The Meadows.”

65

I am a bit confused as to how you might think the strip is for high rollers, most of the rich and famous might be around, but they’re hiding away in places we can’t afford to get into, because they want privacy and are willing to pay.

We’ve been to Vegas about 8 or 9 times, mainly because its a launching point for such great scenery, sometimes because it was a cheap hotel area to start in before we headed off to another city to do a road trip (it is much less cheap for hotels now).

As a Brit, you get to see if differently, landing on a Tuesday lunchtime, and seeing it quiet, and during the weeks stay, you see it crowd up a bit Thursday, party out like crazy on Friday, fade out a bit of Saturday (as the Friday lot have lost their money and went home), then party a bit less, then got back to normal Sunday.

For scenery, apart from locally Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, there’s off towards Grand Canyon, west or south (ideally), via Hoover dam.

There’s also doing Death Valley (nice in winter time too). Then the big loop can start there, and you can do the nearby bits only (Zion and Bryce), but the full loop for me would be: Zion, Bryce, Kodachrome State Park, scenic route 12, Capitol Reef, Goblin State Park, Moab (for Canyonlands, Arches and Dead Horse State Park), then down to Monument Valley, back to Page for Horseshoe bend and Antelope canyons. Then back to Vegas, perhaps via Grand Canyon North depending on the year. There’s not quite anywhere in the US with the depth of scenery near Vegas.

And the thing about loop is that there’s loads of little bits you can find off the beaten track, different entrances to National Park (like the other one into Zion), little offshoot scenic areas.

Personally I prefer downtown, low roller, cheap prime rib, and if in the strip, Harrahs/Flamingo with trips to Stage Door, Casino Royale ($2 a beer) and Ellis Island.

66

And that’s what has kept the Mrs. and I visiting LV over the decades. In addition to the places I mentioned in my earlier post, it was also our gateway to Bryce, Zion, North Rim, Page and the slot canyons, Death Valley, Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and the Escalante and Paria plateau.

67

Seems almost disingenuous to praise LV as a place to leave to get elsewhere! :smiley:

I wonder if you could figure out a “polls only” sort of query, asking, “How much would you pay to visit LV” as opposed to “How much would you have to be paid to visit LV”? :wink: I enjoyed it a couple of times in the 80s when I was younger and still enjoyed gambling and drinking. It was a CHEAP visit in terms of airfare/hotel/food, and you could gamble and drink near endlessly at the minimum blackjack table while drinking comped drinks. Last time I visited it around 00, it just impressed me as sad - everything you see trying to separate people from their money. Was happy to escape it for Hoover Dam, Red Rocks…

Different strokes…

68

We fly into Vegas, see a show or two, do some fine (or dive) dining, then head out to the scenic wonders.

69

Yeah, I was there for a computer conference back in the 80s, and the best food was at the vendor parties. Especially the Japanese vendors. But that was long before the Michelin starred chefs came to town. I’d like to go to Joel Robuchon’s restaurant some day.

I love the desert. I’ve spent many, many hours camping and hiking all over the southwest deserts. It’s a subtle beauty. It doesn’t hit you over the head. I like that.

70

Yep. I have consulted with several Casinos (money laundering) mostly in CA. Okay, CA is about 10% smokers, but the casinos are about 90% smokers- the two addictive habits go together.

And, ignore the ads with the slots and tables full of the beautiful people. They tend towards social security age, not attractive and wearing tshirts or sweats, not tuxedos and ball gowns.

Mind you Vegas has some nice shows, a decent aquarium and is a foodie paradise. Every couple of years I go to a professional con there, and I can have fun without gambling for a short week. We usually get the Aria which is quite decent. Some nice very high end shoppes. But I dont gamble and I am not a drinkers (one once in a while sure). The Mall at Ceasars is nice

I do bring a sportcoat I can dry clean as everything smells of cigs after a brief walk -thru. I shampoo every nite there.

The Thursday nite street fair in SLO is well worth it.

The Luxor then had some great attractions down on the lower level then. Most are gone.

71

Count me among the disappointed. My family stopped there twice on an road trip - once on the way west, and once on the way back east. A brief walk down a small part of the strip was crowded, weed-smelling, and had deranged people ranting at the top of their lungs. We were very relieved to get to our destination casino and thereafter used the monorail only.

The second time, we went to Fremont Street rather than to the strip. Not only was it similar to the experience above, the only available restrooms were in the casinos. I’m lucky they let our kids in to do their business before our drive to the Grand Canyon.

72

Death Valley was very cool. Not what I expected either. Because of some poor time management on our part (it was President’s Day weekend, and I waited too long to book), the closest non $300/night Las Vegas hotel we could find was in Lone Pine, CA, on the other side of the park. So we ended up doing a lot of driving.

That said, it was very neat- stark, but beautiful landscapes. Lots of mountains, lots of cool natural landforms- Mesquite dunes were a hit with the boys, I liked the Artist’s drive/view, we all liked Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point and the Father Crowley vista point. We also stopped and wandered around somewhere between Lone Pine & Death Valley- my wife’s sister is a big U2 fan, and apparently the remains of the eponymous Joshua Tree are out there with a weird little shrine. We never did find it, but that’s mostly because our 8 year old freaked out about snakes and refused to go any further.

We also hit the Hoover Dam, which was COOL. I’m a bit of an engineering weirdo anyway, and huge projects like that always intrigue me. It was just neat too, to see how something so utilitarian can still be made to be surprisingly pretty.

One highlight was that on our way out, we headed down toward Tecopa, and visited the China Ranch date farm. They had all sorts of site-grown dates and date-related stuff (I love dates!), and was a nice place to just go stroll around under the date palms.

73

I like the Devil’s Racetrack near Teakettle Junction. And Scotty’s Castle is interesting, as is Ubehebe Crater.

74

FYI, Scotty’s Castle is closed due to some sort of flood damage.

We mostly kept to the southern half; the racetrack was something like 2 hours out of our way.

75

I understand. There’s a lot to see.

76

I like Las Vegas because there is nowhere else like it for gambling. I can’t imagine visiting it for any other reason, though it is a fascinating town – two blocks off the strip/Fremont is a different world, and the mix of people living/working/visiting offer a lot of great stories. The attractions have always seemed to me to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek – how else to view the Eiffel Tower replica & those grotesque all-you-can-eat buffets. But I agree their attempt to become family-friendly did a lot of damage to what Vegas used to be. Now it’s like a place designed to appeal to sleazy families, odd.

77

Sure, but the whole illusion is punctured by the fact that 99% of the people there are trashy and have no actual money.

That was it; my concept of Las Vegas was basically some sort of myth with a big dose of Rat Pack and pretty people/places from the movies.

This was like a HUGE parking-lot carnival for adults… on steroids and then irradiated Incredible Hulk-style. And crowded with people wearing fanny packs or who seemed decidedly trashy.

78

eh, nevermind

79

I deliberately did not go to Vegas for many years. I don’t much enjoy gambling and thought I would be annoyed by pretentious inauthenticity.

Though this was true to some extent, there is enough going on there that it can appeal to most people for a while. There is genuinely great food and the prices for hotels and hospitality often reasonable for what you get. Some entertaining shows and some good shopping (not all in touristy areas). I think it is worth going to Vegas at least once. There are plenty of places I like better.

It is worth asking locals (many of whom work on the strip) about local places which are often cooler, cheaper and more interesting. And things like the Las Vegas Advisor website and the Unofficial Guide To Las Vegas (yearly book) can save you real time and money while avoiding dross. In short, worth going once, at least, but if you do, well worth seeking out current inside information on what is good. A lot of it ain’t, but that doesn’t mean there are no diamonds in the rough.

80

I don’t know if it is still true, but the men’s room in the lobby is pretty cool, cool enough that when we stopped I waited until it was clear and invited my wife and daughters in to see it.
I did stay there one night and wasn’t impressed. I’ve been in better theme rooms. But an interesting place.