Las Vegas

Las Vegas

The South, or new side of the Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Las Vegas, with almost 405,000 inhabitants, is the largest city in the state of Nevada, which is located in the southwestern USA.

Founded in 1855 as a Mormon colony, the city expanded rapidly, following the construction of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and the subsequent formation of Lake Mead. Construction of the dam began in 1931 and was completed in 1936. Another significant event in 1931 was the formal legalization of gambling by the Nevada legislature.

The city is home to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (1957), and the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, the latter containing interesting exhibits about the history of the state. Las Vegas is famed for its large casinos and luxurious hotels. The first casino was The Flamingo Las Vegas, built in 1946 and owned by Bugsy Siegel. A renowned gangster, Bugsy invested money gained from a life of crime in the sumptuous interior of the hotel and its dazzling pink neon façade. The Flamingo set the guideline, still valid today, for the current elegant and somewhat flashy hotels. Edit this section or read more

Tips for: backpackers • business travelers • luxury/exotic travel • hitchhikers • families • seniors • LBG travelers • pet owners

Hotels and lodging

Las Vegas Strip

• Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino 3555 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, +1-702-733-3111. Stay and play in classic Vegas style at the center of the strip. Your fabulous home away from home features everything from a 15-acre Caribbean-style pool and bunk bed suites to a bustling casino and a one-of-a-kind steakhouse.
• SAHARA Las Vegas 2535 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, +1-702-761-7000. SAHARA Las Vegas epitomizes the timeless soul of Las Vegas. With a bold, sophisticated flair and a boutique approach to personal service, SAHARA provides guests an intimate and unexpected experience that sets a new standard for Vegas.
• Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Resort 3801 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, +1-702-739-2222.

Convention Center

• Fairfield Inn Las Vegas Convention Center- 3850 Paradise Road - Non-smoking hotel near The Strip, UNLV, and McCarran International Airport. Free WiFi, grab & go breakfast, outdoor pool, TV with Netflix and HBO, and microwave, and fridge in all rooms.
• Residence Inn Convention Center -   3225 Paradise Road - The Residence Inn hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada is across the street from the Convention Center.
• Courtyard Las Vegas Convention Center -   3275 Paradise Road - The Courtyard hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada is across the street from the Convention Center.
• Best Western Mardi Gras Inn Las Vegas - 3500 Paradise Ave - Adjacent to Wynn Golf Course
• Embassy Suites Hotel Convention Center - 3600 Paradise Ave - Adjacent to Wynn Golf Course
• Residence Inn Las Vegas Hughes Center -   370 Hughes Center Dr - Las Vegas extended stay hotel near Hughes Center, UNLV, and Restaurant Row. Suites include kitchens and free Internet access. Complimentary breakfast buffet.
• Las Vegas Marriott 325 Convention Center Drive  Las Vegas,  NV  89109 .

Las Vegas Southside

• Holiday Inn Express Boulder Junction - 5760 Polaris Ave - Near McCarran Airport and The Strip - South Las Vegas

 Summerlin

• Courtyard Las Vegas Summerlin - 1901 North Rainbow Blvd - Business traveler oriented hotel near the Las Vegas Strip and other area attractions. Complimentary parking. Non-smoking. 148 rooms and 6 suites. Breakfast and dinner available at The Bistro on-site restaurant.

• JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa -   221 N Rampart Blvd - The JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort is located in the heart of Southern Nevada's most prestigious collection of golf  courses, boasting 50 acres of flourishing gardens, a resort pool with waterfalls and whirlpools, a lavish spa,  and eleven restaurants, from fine dining to casual.

Attractions

The gambling nerve centre of Las Vegas is Downtown, the Centre and above all the Strip, an 18 km long road flanked by hotels and casinos of monstrous dimensions. Theme hotels have sprung up over the last twenty years, these amusement parks house the largest casinos, characterized by the constant background noise of the tinkling of thousands of slot machines. The true monuments to Las Vegas are its hotels and their large and surprising interiors.

The Imperial Palace houses one of the largest collections of historic cars, while the Mirage, situated in front of the Imperial, welcomes its visitors with an artificial lake and a volcano that erupts and spews lava every 15 minutes. In front of Treasure Island, visitors are treated to a naval battle, complete with pirates, cannons and sinking ships. The New York-New York is a reconstruction of the island of Manhattan, with skyscrapers, Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. The prize for the most kitsch goes to Caesar’s Palace, a replica of ancient Rome with marble columns, statues, fountains, and a golden chariot illuminated by torches; the interior houses reproductions of famous Roman statues and a copy of the Bernini fountain in Piazza Navona, it is also possible to have a drink and be waited upon by staff dressed as ancient Egyptians on Cleopatra’s Barge.

The Excalibur is located further along the Strip, the hotel resembles a castle with Merlin the magician looking out of the top window. The Luxor is a giant pyramid which houses over 5000 rooms, built to Egyptian style. The MGM Grand Hotel has copies of the famous Hollywood studios. The most recently built hotels include: Paris, Venice and Bellagio, which are scale reproductions of these towns and cities complete with Eiffel Tower, gondolas and Lake Como with a fantastic dancing fountain display. All these luxurious hotels apply a very reasonable tariff, much lower than other USA cities, basing their earnings on the gains derived from gambling. It is easy to find a double room for about 100 dollars, while those hotels located off the Strip offer much lower rates even as low as 30 dollars. The city also offers hundreds of nightly shows and exhibitions. The Las Vegas Entertainment Guide (Tel. 702-2255554) provides an updated recorded message, giving detailed information on what the city has to offer. To fully appreciate the Strip it is necessary to stroll along its length on foot. Relatively cheap taxis and buses are the best means in order to visit the rest of the city .During the day it is best to hire a car to visit the surrounding area and leave the glitter of Las Vegas for the evening.

Shopping

Freemont Street Experience

Maps and transportation

Getting to Las Vegas

Loading map...

{"type":"HYBRID","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"auto","height":"350px","centre":{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":36.11735423846348,"lon":-115.17379760742188,"icon":""},"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":12,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","streetview","type"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMcCarran International Airport\u003C/b\u003E is the major airport of Las Vegas. US Airways, Southwest, and Allegiant have major operations at the airport, other airlines serving the airport include American, United, Alaska, Frontier, Jetblue,\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"McCarran International Airport is the major airport of Las Vegas. US Airways, Southwest, and Allegiant have major operations at the airport, other airlines serving the airport include American, United, Alaska, Frontier, Jetblue,\n","link":"","lat":36.08500279658961,"lon":-115.1515245437622,"icon":""},{"text":"\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\" href=\"http://greyhound.com/scripts/en/TicketCenter/terminal.asp?city870177\"\u003EGreyhound Bus Station\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Greyhound Bus Station\n","link":"","lat":36.17025634668543,"lon":-115.14751195907593,"icon":""}]}

Exploring Las Vegas

Las Vegas Strip

Downtown Casinos

Practical information and resources

Currency : The unit of currency is the US$, subdivided into 100 cents.

Electric supply: 110/120 volts, 60 hertz

Climate : desert

Opening hours : Shops are usually always open inside the hotels and casino. The shops of the city are open every day from 10 am. to 9 pm.

Telephones : Telephone code: 702

Photo gallery

Add a new photo to the photo gallery. Vote on which images to feature in the featured images forum.

Everything else

Got something to say that doesn't fit in the other sections of this page? Add it here!

External resources

Add links to other sites here

• Las Vegas Travel Guide
• Las Vegas Hotel Virtual Tours