© 2001, Bill Platt
Having returned from my week-long honeymoon in Las Vegas yesterday
evening, I have some information that I would like to share with
you.
We spent one week marveling in the extravagance of Las Vegas, and
our home base was the Stratosphere Hotel. "At 1,149 feet, the Stratosphere
Tower is the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United
States and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River."
We even spent a considerable amount of time enjoying the view delivered
to you now by the WebCam sitting atop the Stratosphere tower with
a view of the Las Vegas strip. Here is the link to that WebCam:
http://www.klastv.com/global/Default2.asp?P=/Global/story.asp?s=191355
I would highly recommend the Stratosphere to anyone visiting Las
Vegas, as long as I qualify that recommendation with the fact that
you must have transportation to the vast majority of what Las Vegas
is known for. The Stratosphere sits on the same road as the Las
Vegas Strip, but is officially a block-and-a-half off of The Strip,
since The Strip officially ends at the city's edge. The Stratosphere
is 1-1/2 blocks inside of the city limits on the same road as what
is known as The Las Vegas Strip.
This having been my first visit to Las Vegas, I was quite unprepared
to discover what I discovered. The Las Vegas Strip is quite long.
I estimated that The Strip was several miles long. According to
the map I located on the web at MyWay.com The Strip at about 5 miles
in length. Our first day there, we made the foolish decision to
walk to the Luxor --- which is the pyramid shaped hotel focused
on Egyptian culture --- the Luxor is at the other end of The Strip
from the Stratosphere. After walking what seemed to be two miles
in the Las Vegas heat, we gladly shelled out the change for a bus.
Bus fare by the way was only $2 per person per trip.
The Luxor had been my top destination in Vegas for many years,
though the cost of staying there was well beyond our budget. For
considerably less money, we stayed at the Stratosphere, and our
only disappointment was in being a bus ride away from nearly everything.
What we gave up in bus fares was still well below the extra cost
associated with staying at a hotel prominently located on The Strip.
We had many incorrect, pre-conceived notions about Las Vegas before
we left that were corrected after a week in this city that never
sleeps.
Going into Vegas, we were expecting that the trolley-like buses
that move between major hotels were free to hotel guests. That expectation
was wrong. The trolleys are $1.50 per trip per person. Due to the
fact that the trolleys only stop at major hotels, and due to the
fact that you could not see out of the trolleys very well while
travelling down The Strip, we quickly decided that the buses ---
even at a dollar more per couple, per trip --- were a much better
bargain than the trolleys in Las Vegas.
Before we reached Vegas, we were of the impression that buffets
were free in the hotels, for hotel guests. Again, this pre- conceived
notion was incorrect, with an exception. Most hotels have player
cards that you can put into the slot machines that will track your
betting amounts. For every so many dollars that you gamble, you
may earn a free meal at the buffet. This is what is referred to
as "Comps". Be sure to take advantage of the "Comps" offered by
the hotels, they will help reduce your expenses while in Las Vegas.
Other than that, please make sure you budget $15 to $20 per person,
per meal.
By far, the best meal we had while in Vegas was when we went to
the Pharaoh's Pheast in the basement of the Luxor. The Pharaoh's
Pheast was an all-you-can-eat buffet. The selection was good and
the food was excellent. We paid in the range of $17 per person for
dinner.
Our one fine-dining experience in Las Vegas was wonderful too.
We ate at the Top of the World Restaurant and Lounge in the Stratosphere
Hotel. This restaurant is on the 106th floor of the Stratosphere
Tower. The restaurant rotates 360 degrees in approximately 1 hour
and 20 minutes. We made the full circle at about 10 o'clock at night.
The view was exceptional, and though Becky may disagree, I felt
the cost was still worth the experience! We both feasted on food
that we had never eaten before --- Becky had the Rack of Lamb and
I had the Lobster Tails. For dinner, dessert and one drink for Becky,
we dropped just over $170 for dinner... That is a lot, I admit it.
But given the fact that we went to Vegas to enjoy ourselves on our
honeymoon, I felt that the joy of experiencing Las Vegas at night
from 106 stories off of the ground was worth the extra dollars we
spent on dinner. Given the nature of food prices in Las Vegas on
the Strip, we only paid about 5 times more than we would have eating
anywhere else that evening.
Though the Lounge in the Stratosphere Tower does not rotate, you
can still absorb a partial view while relaxing in the Lounge on
the 107th floor of the Tower. From the lounge, you will be able
to see The Strip with the same view as from the restaurant, as it
sits on the balcony above the restaurant. While in the lounge, you
can also enjoy some very good live music.
If you are a little more serious about saving money in Las Vegas,
you may go off of The Strip a few blocks and discover prices much
more comparable to what you might be used to. We ate three meals
at Denny's and one at Carl's Jr. In all four cases, we saved a considerable
amount of money on meals. Both restaurants were located within one
block of the Stratosphere.
Had I known when we arrived in Las Vegas what I know now, our trip
may have been a little less expensive. We did not begin to use the
Players Club Card until we had been in Las Vegas four days. Had
we started using it when we arrived, two things would definitely
had been different.
One, we would have earned more "Comps" that we could have put to
good use. On the plane trip home, we spoke to a couple who did not
spend a dime of their own money on meals, as they earned enough
"Comps" to pay for all of their meals in their 7-day trip.
Two, I would have been able to give you a better estimation of
"how much money I really lost in Vegas!"
I never really thought about this until the first night I used
the Players Card. In that one night, I was often up only $20, though
in the end, I was down $60. When I calculated my bets using the
point system on the Players Card, I discovered that I had placed
over $800 in bets in that 6 hours!
That sure helped me to put my evening in perspective... I lost
over $860 in one night! Thank God $800 of that money was "Their
Money!"
Had I used my Players Card from day one, I could have given a solid
estimation on just how much money I really gambled. Two days into
our trip, we were $450 up, having earned from the slot machines
enough to pay for our trip to that day. That of course was gone
the day we returned from Las Vegas, along with the approximately
$500 we dropped in the casinos between off-track betting and the
slot machines.
As usual, off-track betting was good to me. I only lost about $60
in four racing sessions at the Sports Book. Our only regret at off-track
betting is something that I will never live down. Becky learned
about the Trifecta and how it worked, after I had taught her the
basics of reading the racing forms. She told me to place a Trifecta
bet boxed on horses 1-3-5. Since, we had only a minute to race time,
I questioned her logic and placed a different bet. The last four
days have been trying as she has constantly reminded me that if
I had listened to her, we would have another $270 in our pockets.
My point is of course that I would have used the Players Card from
the beginning if I had it to do again. Even though we were only
down $500 cash on gambling expenditures for seven days and nights
in Las Vegas, it is entirely possible that we placed several thousand
dollars in bets. On my next trip to Vegas, I will be able to tell
you precisely how much money we laid down in bets, putting our whole
trip into brilliant perspective.
Upon check out from our hotel, we received one minor surprise.
It seems that some government entity has decided that we should
pay an additional tax for our stay in Las Vegas. Fortunately, we
had stopped gambling before we were out of money, or else I would
have been in for a troublesome check out. Though our hotel bill
was paid in advance, some government agency had tacked on a "Surcharge
for Energy" that tallied up an additional $4.50. Granted, it was
only about 65 cents per day, but it was an expense that could have
caught me drastically off-guard. Now you are prepared too.
Overall, Las Vegas is a fantastic vacation destination. There is
lots to do and lots to see. It is an expensive place to vacation,
but at the same time, if you know what to do ahead of time, you
can really stretch your dollar out, even in Las Vegas.
Be sure to check back to this site over the next couple of weeks,
as this is the first in a series of articles about vacationing in
Las Vegas, Nevada.
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