[tuberose]

Am currently here having a great time and here are some of my thoughts :

Good
- The people - there are great people here and they are my #1 positive point. Maybe a little standoffish initially but are helpful and kind when approached nicely. I bet there is great community spirit here.
Spent the first few days at the Flamingo and the staff there were universally great. Shame about the huge amount of smoke and drunk guests - these people deserve a medal for working there.
- The entertainment - where else can one see multiple world class shows simply by taking the elevator downstairs, riding the monorail, walking or taking a quick cab ride ? Also the informal entertainment is the best - where else can one do some shopping in Walgreens with Elvis ?
- Organisation - the airport must have the fastest moving cab line in the world ! Amazing
- Hotel room bargains - but caveat here is .....have to tolerate all the smoke and drunk guests. There is a tradeoff here. There is more smoking at the lower price levels.

Amusing
- Timeshare people now have 'Guest Services' (haha) booths in pretty much all the hotels. They don't bother the tourists as much as they used to - which is good. Seems one has to approach them to get the spiel which is better then the annoyance they used to be.
- Gondolas. People pay $75 to float around in a fake Venice and have other tourists gawk at them. However the singing is not too bad
- Tattoos don't look nice on showgirls. However there are three levels of everything.

Not so good
- Too much smoke and drunkenness at lower price levels. If there are still bargains in Las Vegas - these points are the tradeoff. Do people really need to smoke whilst they are walking around the hotel flicking their ash everywhere ? In the hotel shops? Going to the restroom ? These types also have to have a drink whilst waiting in the check in line and walking everywhere too. At least they tend to pass out when they return to their rooms so not too noisy then.
At the higher priced hotels - there are lots of guys walking around with cigars which is annoying too.
- Perhaps not too many bargains on the strip anymore. Walgreens has crazy prices. Even cheap food is way too expensive.
- High stupid factor. I was in the Fashion Show mall when the shooting occurred .....saw them come in and run out. And the poor woman who was shot at the gas station ...more stupid factor.
- Some very dangerous drivers. I note they are recent immigrants and probably have brought along their bad driving habits from their home countries. More stupid. I have had two of these idiots and I felt lucky to get to my destination in one piece.
- Sleeze. The area around Casino Royale is a dump. People handing out escort cards and the mess when people throw them away. And what's with the flicking noise ? Just hand out the stupid cards without making the stupid noise ....more stupid
- Creme sellers in the malls. These people are aggressive and very annoying. Perhaps their products are a rebranding of the Dead Sea products ? That wouldn't be a surprise.

However it's still a great place and the people are the best

[unf0rgiven6262]

Fashion show mall shooting? I must have missed that.

[SoHoVe]

Oe

Originally Posted by unf0rgiven6262

Fashion show mall shooting? I must have missed that.

Yeah a few days ago...doesn't seem like there was an innocent party involved...victim took off and resurfaced all the way over in the ER at Mountain View.


OP~ haha the stupid driving certainly isn't limited to "people from other countries" here.
And cabbies tend to drive borderline wrecklessly regardless of the city.

Agree with you completely about the airport...I can honestly say its my favorite in the country.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by Julian c213

Good for u if 100F+ every day since June is gorgeous for you. It's hell for someone else you know.
75F is gorgeous, not 110F.

And, in my opinion, 75 is too cold. Guess that's why we get to live in the part of the country that has the eco-system that most appeals to us, eh?

[SoHoVe]

Actually, I have found locals to be a lot more open and friendly than they were years ago. When things were booming I think there was more of an "all about me" mentality now it seems there is more of a "we are all in this together" mentality.
I'm sure I've changed somewhat too though so its possible people are simply responding to that...who knows?

[von949]

Originally Posted by SoHoVe

Actually, I have found locals to be a lot more open and friendly than they were years ago. When things were booming I think there was more of an "all about me" mentality now it seems there is more of a "we are all in this together" mentality.
I'm sure I've changed somewhat too though so its possible people are simply responding to that...who knows?

My first visit to LV(off the strip) was during the boom. It was late 2006 and early 2007. Vegas was definitely a hustle and bustle type of environment. The most I can remember from that visit was that most of all of my friends and future co-workers stationed at Nellis had second jobs around town paying more than what they were making in the military. All of their wives were part time real estate agents too.

[airics]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

And, in my opinion, 75 is too cold. Guess that's why we get to live in the part of the country that has the eco-system that most appeals to us, eh?

75 degrees??? Where's my winter coat? brrrrr.... i love 90ish....i tend to bake at 110 or more though...

[tuberose]

And I forgot to mention the weather is great. Saturday was awesome. Sunday was a bit like a hot blow dry. However no matter how hot it gets in the summer - sitting outside in early morning and evening is perfectly doable.
Sure bets humidity, rain or the 5 minutes of summer many other places get

[ElleTea]

Glad you had a nice time!

I have to say that Walgreen's has crazy prices EVERYWHERE, not just in Vegas. They are just high.

The creme sellers in the malls are everywhere, too, not just there.

I agree about the cigarettes. People seem to smoke in excess there, maybe because it is one of the few places you can smoke in public anymore?

[Buzz123]

Smoking in public buildings is illegal in Nevada, except the casinos were grandfathered in. There is talk about making it illegal in casinos also, but I doubt that will ever happen. I am very sensitive to smoke, but in the better joints it doesn't bother me unless someone comes up beside me with a cigarette. The good hotels keep the air clean. Go to a casino in some other state or country and you'll see what really bad smoke in like. I walked inside an Indian casino in Albuquerque and it was so bad I actually got a sore throat before I could get out of there.