I arrived in Vegas after some excellent desert camping, and somehow I managed to find my hotel in downtown Las Vegas without actually looking for it. I decided to stay in downtown Vegas, as opposed to the Strip, for a few reasons. The top reason is that downtown is less crowded. Another is that you can get much cheaper food near the Fremont Experience than on the Strip. To give you an idea, on Fremont St. we had a nice steak, baked potato, and a pint of beer for $10. I also picked up great burritos for lunch at the Cuban/Mexican restaurant right across the El Cortez Hotel & Casino, where I was staying, for under $6, with a soda. On the other hand my friends went to a buffet on the Strip a couple of times. They said that the food was not all that great, and they waited about an hour to get into the buffet. Buffets range in price from about $22 to $30, and I know that I couldn’t eat that much food in one sitting, so I didn’t even bother going. Apparently I made the right choice.
Before leaving for Vegas I reserved my room online for the three nights I was going to stay there. I scored quite the deal, at about $20 per night (on Orbitz.com). I couldn’t believe how cheap it was! And there were no additional “resort fees” that you frequently encounter at Vegas hotels. I expected my hotel room to be a complete hole, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Granted, the room was small, and there was no view, but it was spotlessly clean, the bed was very comfortable, the TV worked great, and so did the free fridge that I requested. It worked even better when I stocked it with beer and rum. Take a look at the short video below to see my room.
Getting Around Las Vegas
Like in any major city, you’ll have the choice to rent a car, take taxis, or rely on public transportation. I had my car so I usually drove to see my friends, who were staying at the Wynn Hotel. But when I knew I’d have a few drinks I didn’t want to drive. I saw these really modern looking buses on the streets, so decided to check them out. I have to say that I was very pleased with the public transport system, at least along the Strip and downtown, as I didn’t need to take buses anywhere else. The buses are clean, frequent, and reasonably priced. For $3 you get 2 hours of travel time. It appeared that there were ticket dispensing machines at every bus stop. The machines take coins and bills, and are very convenient because you don’t have to have exact change for the fare, and you don’t need to go to looking where to buy the tickets. Inside the buses there are screens that display the name of the hotel at which the bus stops. Super convenient for hotel and casino hopping if you don’t want to bother with a cab all the time. Take a look at the short video above to see more.
