If you haven’t read it, you should start with Part 1.
Carrying on, then…
Monte Carlo
I’ve never even been inside this one. I know that Lance Burton is their headlining act. And once I turned on my television to see that a fire was raging on their top floor. That’s all I know.
Planet Hollywood
We’ve played some slots here — slots are slots, though. The ambiance is nice enough.
The Miracle Mile Shops are a good place to shop, except, be prepared for timeshare people at every point of ingress/egress.
My boss stays here sometimes and likes it — that’s a pretty high endorsement. But I haven’t stayed here myself.
Paris Las Vegas
Has its own Eiffel Tower (not quite to scale) which you can go up to the top of for some $$. I’ve never been, but I plan to on my next trip. I believe there’s a restaurant up there, too.
Even excepting that, it’s a must see, just for the ambiance of the casino. The ceilings are painted to resemble the sky (which is a trendy thing to do on the Strip, but it’s particularly well done here), and along the sides you’ll find replica Paris streets, including, natch, several places to get awesome pastries.
We’ve played Blackjack here, and found the dealers to be friendly and fun (and not just because we both came out ahead).
They have a buffet of French food that’s probably wonderful if you like French food. I was once taken to this buffet by my boss, and he ate lots of food while I sat and watched him. I ate some sort of potato — possibly French Fries. And I drank a Coke, or something. That was about it. So I haven’t been back.
Ballys
Completely unremarkable. It’s just sort of there. No reason to go in that I’m aware of.
Trivia: what is now Ballys was the original MGM Grand, and was the site of a 1980 fire that is still the worst disaster in the history of Nevada. 87 people died.
Bellagio
Just a beautiful, beautiful place. You must go see it. And you must come back at night to see the fountains. It has its own museum, and an incredible Chihuly glass ceiling in the lobby.
The house show is another Cirque du Soleil production, O. It’s a little too tilted towards the pretentious side for my tastes, but the great use of water makes it worthwhile anyway.
Bill’s Gamblin Hall
You might find cheap Blackjack here, but really — there’s no point. Just pass on by.
Flamingo
Has a wildlife habitat with some Chilean flamingos (natch). Has a gift shop with lots of Flamingo novelty items, which comes in handy if your Mom happens to collect flamingo-related stuff.
It’s relatively low priced, and in the center of the strip — we’ve considered staying here for those reasons, but as of yet, have not.
The house show used to be Toni Braxton, but now it’s Donny & Marie. Seriously. Also has a show with fake psychic (yeah, redundant, I know) John Edward.
Caesars Palace
We stayed in a deluxe suite here and it was, as you’d expect, very nice. Of the Harrahs owned properties (I think at the end of the last post in this series I’ll add a “Who Owns What” list), it’s by far the nicest. It has a nice food court, and lots of restaurants. It has fine gambling of any type you could probably want.
It’s also a Byzantine maze that I get lost in every time I enter. And that’s a bit irritating.
Caesars is home to the Forum Shops, which offers the best shopping on the Strip, complete with spiral escalators and other fun stuff (like a three-floor FAO Schwartz, and one of the Strip’s 2 Apple stores). Forum Shops is also home to the moving statues, in which the Roman statues in the middle of some concourses come to life every hour and try to bore you to death with a “show.”
Restaurants in the Forum Shops include Planet Hollywood and Cheesecake Factory, if you’re in to eating at chain restaurants.
Fashion Show Mall
It’s a mall. It actually does have fashion shows multiple times per day, but, otherwise, it’s a mall. It has the Strip’s other Apple store.
The only reason I’m noting it at all is because of the outdoor restaurant Stripburger. If you like burgers (even if only, gag, veggie burgers) and/or milkshakes, eat here. Just do it. Thank me later. They’ll even put a shot in your milkshake if you like, because, you know, it’s Vegas.
Harrahs Las Vegas
I don’t really like this place, because, even more so than most casinos, they try really, really hard to make you wind your way through everything when you are trying to get somewhere (particularly to the Monorail stop). It’s all very crowded and not that nice.
The buffet is okay — if you’re there and you’re hungry, it’s an okay enough place to eat. Even better, go out the side into their outdoor Carnaval Court and head to Ghiardelli’s and gorge yourself on chocolate and ice cream.
House comedian is the always very funny Rita Rudner. Her, I can recommend. Harrahs, not so much.
Casino Royale, O’Sheas
See what I wrote about Bill’s Gamblin Hall above, and ditto & ditto.
Well, O’Sheas does have a Burger King (mmm, chicken fries), and Vince Neil Ink, if you’re looking for some hair-metal-endorsed tattoos.
And that’s about all I can stand to write for right now. It’s looking like this series might stretch to four parts, as we still have a decent amount of the “good” part of the Strip to go, plus the leftovers to the North and the off-Strip properties like the Rio.
Happy gambling…
[Update: Part 3 is now available.]
Matt Riffle