Las Vegas
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Las Vegas is a splendid casino town in the middle of the desert of Nevada. It's the biggest casino city in the United States, possibly in the world.
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Tips
- Comparitively speaking Las Vegas is a small city, with the Las Vegas Strip being pretty much in the middle. Make sure that if you want to experience the strip you ask your host's location relative to it.
- Under no circumstances go on any tour from Bundu Bashers Tours or The Transportation Group. My couchsurfer paid $74 for a ticket, then when she called to confirm and find out where she needed to be picked up, the apparent owner of the company yelled at her for wasting his time, then called me a fucking asshole, before hanging up the phone without answering the question. When she called back to cancel the ticket and get her money back, he hung up on her again.
- Parking is very easy on the Las Vegas strip. There is no charge for parking at any of the casinos. If you don't have a car, or even if you do and you don't want the hassle of traffic, take The Deuce. It's a double decker bus that costs $5 for an all day pass. The route goes all the way from the most southern part of the Las Vegas strip to the most northern downtown portion.
- Many people who visit Las Vegas choose to take a trip to the Grand Canyon or are on their way to or from there. The Grand Canyon is located about 250 miles from Las Vegas. The trip from Vegas takes about 4 1/2 hours and takes you right over Hoover Dam. There are many tour companies that do day bus trips, or helocoptor tours. Not being from Vegas, many people make the mistake of thinking that the Grand Canyon is much closer than it really is. Las Vegas to Grand Canyon suggestions are posted here
- Las Vegas is a very popular destination. It's probably a good idea to contact many people well in advance of your trip. Hosts get booked up quickly.
- The Las Vegas couchsurfing group is fairly active and a good place to ask questions related to your trip.
- Megabus has cheap service between Vegas and Los Angeles. They claim tickets start at $1, but $8 tickets are much easier to find.
Guides
Drink
- Beer: The Freaking Frog. Hundreds of beers. A simple place with a friendly atmosphere, great beer and great food. You'll most likely meet alot of friendly UNLV students at this place.
- Wine: Wine Cellar at the Rio. Thousands of bottles to choose from, plus wine flights.
- Tequila: Isla in Treasure Island. 105 tequilas available.
- Vodka: Red Square in Manadalay Bay
- Brewpubs:
- Barley's - a beer-themed casino in a Henderson strip-mall
- Big Dog's - on the north side; also a bar on west Sahara
- BJ's - out near Red Rock, in Summerlin
- Chicago Brewing Company - west side of town on Fort Apache; also a cigar lounge downtown in the 4 Queens casino.
- Ellis Island - behind Ballys casino; very cheap beer and close to the Strip
- Gordan Biersch - on Paradise 1 mile east of the Strip; also in Summerlin
- Sin City - has a bar in Planet Hollywood
- Tenaya Creek - on the north side of town
- Triple 7 - in the Main Street station casino downtown
- The Double Down Saloon: Never a cover and cheap drinks, most always a live band, some awesome, some awesomely terrible.
- Paymon's Hookah Lounge:, The location on Maryland is the closest to the strip. Also close to UNLV. Great Mediterranean food and an amazing atmosphere to hang out and have a few drinks and smoke a hookah in. If you've never tried a hookah, I would suggest it. For all you non smokers out there it's nothing like smoking cigarettes. It's pleasant and mellow, almost like inhaling deliciously smooth flavored vapor.
Things to see
There's also the regular tourist attractions that everyone should check out after dark.
- The Bellagio fountains
- The pirate show at Treasure Island (The Sirens of TI)
- The volcano at The Mirage
If you're looking for souvenirs, don't miss The World's Largest Gift Shop.
After you see the Vegas Strip, head downtown to experience old school Las Vegas. It's less crowded, cheaper and there's a pretty cool light show on Fremont street every half an hour or so:
If you're looking for some outdoor activities that don't involve gambling, Mt. Charleston is great in the hot summer months. It's about twenty degrees cooler up there. There's great hiking and is like a different world than the dry, dusty, desert of Vegas. Also, in the winter there's snow sports.
Red Rock Canyon is an amazing place that should not be missed. There's a small conservatory with a gift shop and a twenty mile loop that you can drive around. You can stop of at different points to hike a trail or scramble around on the rocks. It's a truely impressive place that is worth a trip out
If you like to wander in the desert, there are plenty of parks and preserves nearby. Here is a good source of info. And Wild Nevada has a big list of hikes and excursions into the Nevada wilderness, including a number of obscure destinations. Local Hikes has another long list of hikes in the Vegas area.
They have 99 cent margaritas at the Fremont. They are not that great, but they are 99 cents.
Treasures Gentleman's Club and Steakhouse has free (yes, free) drinks from 4pm-6pm every weekday. They also have free (yes, free) buffet from 5pm-8pm every weekday. There is no cover for those with Nevada ID, if you take care of who ever is at the door and the desk, out of towners can get by without paying the $20 cover. As long as you tip out the servers every time they bring you drinks, they keep them coming as fast as you can down them.
If you'd rather have a more well lit happy hour, Blondie's in the Dessert Passage at Planet Hollywood has a $10 all you can drink happy hour from 4-6pm every weekday.
Foodsurfing
The following are restaurants in Las Vegas that might be of interest to couchsurfers. Good restaurants are easy to find - this is a list of restaurants that are good in a way that might not be expected, and which most visitors might not know about. If you want to take your couchsurfers out someplace memorable, try one of these:
- Casa Di Amore - 2850 East Tropicana. Semi-expensive Italian food.
- Chicago Joe's - 820 S. 4th Street. An Italian restaurant downtown, in a little brick house.
- Cottage Cafe - 4647 Paradise Rd. Ethiopian food near the Hard Rock Casino.
- Hash House A Go Go - 6800 West Sahara. Hearty and very untraditional "twisted farm food". A bit pricey but two meals will feed three people. Americans find this place weird. Foreigners will be bewildered. But happy.
- Himalayan Cuisine - off strip east on Flamingo. They have good beer, and ask for the couchsurfer discount.
- Hush Puppies - 7185 W. Charleston. Southern cuisine.
- India Oven - 2218 Paradise Rd. Excellent Indian restaurant at way below Strip prices.
- Lotus of Siam - 953 E. Sahara Ave. Very good Thai food, at reasonable prices. The buffet is from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm.
- Luv-It Frozen Custard - 505 East Oakey Boulevard. Conveniently located near the Olympic Garden strip club. Inconvenient to everything else, but a tasty frozen treat.
- Marnee Thai - Spring Mountain Road, 2 blocks west of Decatur. Couchsurfers agree, Marnee Thai is good Thai.
- Ming - Good Chinese food on the Strip. Hidden in the Imperial Palace. Much cheaper than most sit down places on the Strip.
- M&M Soul Food - 3923 W. Charleston. So when they get home they can say, "I was in Vegas, hooked up with some people and we all went out for soul food." How many people get to say that?
- Naked Fish's - 3945 S. Durango Drive. Japanese/ Sushi bar. For some reason I can't stop going there. It's so damn good I order the same thing most times I go there. When I do order something different, I end up liking it and order that everytime, too. They have, probably, the best sushi I've ever had...a lot of their stuff is on the spicy side, though. It's a very small place. Very limited seating. It's a good idea to make reservations. Johnny Fo.
- Rosemary's Restaurant - Rosemary wants a lot of money for her food, but you have to love a place that includes a suggested beer pairing with every menu item.
- Sonic - Sure it is only fast food, but its unlike what you will get anywhere else in the world. Try the Ocean Water.
- Viva Mercados - Mexican
Hostels
Unusual things to do in Las Vegas
- Segway tours
- Indoor skydiving
