Easy Las Vegas Vacations - the Blog

This is my review of The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009 – a great source for Las Vegas information and travel advice.

Here’s a link to the book info at Amazon

Here’s a link to the Customer Reviews at Amazon (good stuff)

Book Review Topics & Criteria

• My Overall Rating
• Is the Book Up to Date & Current?
• Las Vegas Hotels – Reviews and Ratings
• Las Vegas Restaurants – Reviews and Ratings
• Las Vegas Shows – Reviews and Ratings
• Las Vegas Shopping – Reviews and Ratings
• Las Vegas Gambling – Reviews and Ratings
• Las Vegas Swimming Pools
• Things to do in and around Las Vegas
• Advice for Foreign Guests in Las Vegas
• Areas of the Las Vegas Strip / Downtown Las Vegas / Greater Las Vegas
• Conventions / Business Trips
• Maps of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Strip
• Vegas Clubs & Nightlife
• Transportation – Airport, Cabs, Shuttles, Parking, Traffic
• Interesting Facts about Las Vegas
• Book Organization / Ease of Use / Find What You Need
• Excitement (does it get me pumped for my next Las Vegas vacation?)
• Help with Planning / Scheduling a Las Vegas Vacation
• Family Tips for Las Vegas

My Overall Rating – The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009

This is a great Las Vegas travel guide book – my favorite so far.  I believe it is one of the best selling guide books for Las Vegas at Amazon.com, and I can see why.  The information in each section is well thought out and avoids some of the trivial details that other books delve into. This one gets right to the important information and presents it in an organized and logical way.  The maps are very good, with just the right amount of detail.  Much of the information in the book is broken down by location/area of Las Vegas, and that is very important and helpful when planning your Easy Las Vegas Vacation.

I’ve heard people say that you can find anything you want to know about Las Vegas on the internet.  Well, that might be true, but on the web you have to wade through so much duplicate and overly-generalized information that it’s hard to really find what you’re looking for or believe anything you read.  I think Las Vegas travel guide books like this one can be much better than the internet for some things.  The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009 is a great investment for anyone planning a vacation in Las Vegas.
[buy the book from amazon]

Is the Book Up to Date & Current?

Yes.  Top tier Las Vegas travel books like this one are always kept up to date and current, and this book has obviously been updated quite recently.  I was a little disappointed that it does not mention some of the important new and upcoming additions to the hot Las Vegas scene (City Center, Trump Hotel, etc.).  Restaurants and nightclubs come and go and are updated so frequently that it’s very hard to keep up with things, and no book can really stay current for long, but this book was surprisingly accurate.  For staying up to date and current, this book does as well as can be expected, and better than most of the other Las Vegas travel books I’ve read.

Las Vegas Hotels – Reviews and Ratings

The hotel information in this book is very good.  Of all the Las Vegas travel books I have read, this one has the most useful information about hotels (other than the great property maps in Fodor’s Las Vegas 2009).  They create a very good contrast between downtown and the strip and provide insight into several important considerations (location, small/large, parking, in-house gambling, quiet, check-in/out, crowds, amenities, excitement).  I also liked their description of the various “strip clusters”.  This is helpful information when you are planning your trip.

The book has a nice section on finding great deals on Las Vegas lodging, but the authors seem to agree with me that the “best” deal is an overrated fantasy that’s just not worth the trouble.

There are over 50 pages of hotel summaries with emphasis on hotel specialties and the “feel” of each property.  Several charts are included with summary and detail information about each hotel, including ratings, relative cost and location.  The charts are probably overkill, but you’re sure to find what you need.

Overall the hotel information is great.  I always stay on the strip when I visit Las Vegas, but this book made me think twice about spending a few nights downtown.  I think I will do it next time.

Las Vegas Restaurants – Reviews and Ratings

I’ll start this section off by saying that I love to eat good food, but I’m not that interested in fancy (or non-fancy) restaurants.  Give me a great steak, a fat tasty burrito, some sweet succulent Chinese food, or a big greasy slice of pizza.  I love it all, but probably wouldn’t remember much about the restaurant unless it’s really something special.  Many of the restaurants in Vegas are VERY special, and you won’t find a more impressive group of restaurants clustered into a small space as you will in Las Vegas, but (yawn) I’m really not into it.

With that being said, I did find the restaurant information in this book pretty interesting.  Over 80 pages of reviews and ratings of the best restaurants in Las Vegas with a multi-level rating system (overall, cost, quality value) and several breakdown sections by food-type/cuisine.  The book offers recommendations for various types of restaurants from bagels to pizza to dessert.  The “Restaurant Profiles” section is great, and provides lots of important information that will help you choose just the right place.  Topics include reservations, price, payment options, service, friendliness, parking, bar, wine, dress, disabled access, hours, etc.  There are also helpful summaries of each restaurant to give you a good feel for what type of place it really is.

Maps are included to show the restaurants and nightlife options in each area of the Las Vegas strip and downtown.  These maps are a great help in planning your meals in each area of Las Vegas you will be visiting.

Las Vegas Shows – Reviews and Ratings

Over 70 pages of the book are devoted to Las Vegas shows.  If you have never been to a show, or if you have only been to one or two shows in Vegas, this book will put you on the right track.  It has lots of information about how the show industry works in Las Vegas.  It describes the major types of shows and explains what to expect, how to dress, how to get your tickets/reservations, how to get better seats by tipping, how to get discounts, etc.  This will be very helpful for someone new to Las Vegas shows.

For more experienced show goers, the book provides a list of the major show venues with details about their shows, frequent headliners, show times, prices, size, etc.  There is also an interesting list of the top production shows, and over 60 pages of show profiles.  These Las Vegas show profiles describe the show and provide some insight into who will enjoy each show and why.  Very good to know.

Las Vegas Shopping – Reviews and Ratings

Only five and a half pages devoted to shopping, but these pages are packed with a very quick but thorough overview of Las Vegas shopping options.  There’s a good list of the major shopping areas as well as some suggestions for additional unique shopping opportunities.  I was surprised that there was no mention (that I could find) of how to transport your larger purchases back home.  I think there should be some mention of shipping options and the pros, cons and cost of each.

Las Vegas Gambling – Reviews and Ratings

The book includes a pretty good introduction to gambling in Las Vegas with information on the most popular games and the best places to play each game.  There’s also info on the “house advantage”, games of chance vs. games of chance and skill (cards), and playing it smart.

Probably the best part of the gambling pages (>30 pages) is the detailed information about each game.  This includes the rules, etiquette, odds, betting and table diagrams and layout for the major gambling games you’ll find in Las Vegas.  This book provides a good intro, but if you’ll be doing serious gambling you will probably want to do additional research and/or pick up some books on the particular games you are interested in.

Las Vegas Swimming Pools

Everyone knows that Las Vegas has some truly AWESOME pools!!  The Las Vegas pool scene has been heating up in recent years.  Not only do the major hotels have beautiful pools and garden areas for their guests to enjoy, many also host “pool parties” at their “pool clubs”.  These are hot tickets and rank up there with any club in Vegas.  The book barely mentions hotel pools or the emerging pool scene, but it does provide a little bit of information and a list of the hottest pool parties in town.  Most people don’t go to Las Vegas for the pools, but beautiful pools and outdoor areas have always been something special about Las Vegas, and that trend seems to be growing.  I would like to see more information about the pools and maybe some photos and/or diagrams of the best Vegas pools.  

Things to do in and around Las Vegas

This is a very interesting and useful section of the book.  Twenty-plus pages covering almost all of the major attractions and sites in and around Las Vegas (a great “things to do in Las Vegas” list).  Including man-made attractions such as amusement parks, roller coasters, art galleries, fountains, exhibits, museums, free shows, etc. – and natural attractions near Las Vegas, such as Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead / Hoover Dam, and the nearby canyons.  This information would be most useful to people bringing their children, or for people staying in Las Vegas for several days (and have some free time to enjoy all of the attractions).  Let’s face it, you can’t walk more than 2 blocks in Las Vegas without tripping over eye-popping sites and experiences, so you can see and do a lot in Vegas without this information, but you might be missing something really cool.  I suggest that you review these pages (20+) for ideas before you head to Vegas.

Advice for Foreign Guests in Las Vegas

I could not find any specific information geared towards foreign guests.  I wouldn’t need it, but it might be nice to offer a few tips and some advice to foreign tourists visiting Vegas (and possibly the United States) for the first time.  I’ve seen this type of information in other Las Vegas guide books and it seems like it would be a very welcome addition for people from other countries.

Areas of the Las Vegas Strip / Downtown Las Vegas / Greater Las Vegas

This topic was touched on in the section on Las Vegas hotels (above).  I really like the way this book describes the various areas of the Las Vegas strip, downtown Las Vegas and other areas of interest.  This was one of my favorite parts of the book, probably because it made me realize how little I know about some areas of Las Vegas.  The descriptions are well written and very interesting and they have inspired me to get to know a few more areas of the city, outside of my comfort zone along the strip.

Conventions / Business Trips

There are several good tips on attending a convention in Las Vegas and how to make the most of your business trip.  The book also includes a list of the major conventions coming to Las Vegas in 2009 with rough attendance numbers.  This can be useful information for non-convention travelers too, as you might want to avoid the major convention weeks.  Additional information on several of the convention facilities was also interesting and helpful.

Maps of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Strip

The maps in this book are above average.  There are maps of large areas (such as the full Las Vegas strip) and also maps of smaller sections within each large area.  This is a great feature.  The detailed maps are very useful and if you buy a book without them you’ll really be missing out.

There is also a Las Vegas strip walking map in the Exercise and Recreation chapter.  This map is one of my favorites and is very useful for exercise planning as well as for planning your trips up and down the strip (do I really want to walk from Wynn Las Vegas to New York-New York?).  It shows a high-level map of the strip with mile markers to show the distance from one end to the other and every half mile in between.

Vegas Clubs & Nightlife

More than 30 pages of information on Las Vegas nightlife and the club scene.  The book offers tips to help you decide which clubs you might be interested in, how to get in, bottle-service, celebrities, dress code, tipping, etc.  There are detailed profiles of over 25 of the hottest most popular Las Vegas clubs.  Topics include cover charge, drink prices, dress, food, hours, who goes, what goes on, setting & atmosphere, and “also try” (alternatives).  There are also a few pages dedicated to Las Vegas strip clubs and shows.

Transportation – Airport, Cabs, Shuttles, Parking, Traffic

There’s not a whole lot of information about the airport and how to get to your hotel, but what’s provided is probably sufficient.  I don’t remember seeing any mention of the convenient hotel check-in desks at the airport, or instructions for locating the (long but fast) taxi line.

There are basic directions from the airport to various locations around Las Vegas.  These are pretty good and can be more reliable than what you might get from someone at the car rental desk.

Interesting Facts about Las Vegas

The very beginning of the book includes a few interesting facts about Las Vegas and its history, and thankfully the author does not go too deep or get too detailed.  This is interesting but it’s not what people are buying the book for.  I think the Las Vegas summary information provides a good intro to the book.

Book Organization / Ease of Use / Find What You Need

This book is very well organized and easy to use.  I like the way many of the sections are broken down by areas of Las Vegas, and not just “the Strip” and “downtown”.  This book breaks the strip down into several sections which makes it much better for identifying and planning things to do near your hotel.  The chapters are well organized and described in the Table of Contents and there is a short section that describes the book’s organization.

Excitement (does it get me pumped for my next Las Vegas vacation?)

The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009 did get me excited about my next trip to Las Vegas (but that’s not very hard to do).  I would say that as far as travel guide books go, this one is pretty good about making things sound fun and interesting.  One of the reasons I enjoyed reading this book so much is that it made me extremely anxious to get to Las Vegas.  Be warned – if you read this book without imminent plans to travel to Las Vegas, your plans just might change by the time you finish the book.

Help with Planning / Scheduling a Las Vegas Vacation

This is what Las Vegas travel guide books are all about, and this book is very helpful for planning and scheduling your Las Vegas vacation.  Not only are there tips on when to go (season, time of week, avoid major conventions, etc.), but the way the book and maps are broken down by geographic region is extremely useful when you are planning things to do and you want to make the best use of your time (schedule and minimize travel time).  Reading this book and taking its advice will almost guarantee that your Las Vegas vacation is exactly what you are looking for.

Family Tips for Las Vegas

There are three pages of tips on taking a family vacation to Las Vegas.  It’s not a lot of information but it is a good start.  There are also several other sections of the book that would be useful for a family trip (seeing the sites, other area attractions, etc.).  There are other books and guides that provide more information in this area, and you should check those out if you really want to plan a fun-filled family vacation to Las Vegas.

The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009

 
Here’s a link to the book info at Amazon

Here’s a link to the Customer Reviews at Amazon (good stuff)