First, visitors to Vegas should be aware of the upcoming Consumer
Electronics Show which will start having effects about Jan. 5 and run til Jan. 12.
Large numbers of people may be attempting to access the monorail from the LV
Hilton and Las Vegas Convention Center areas.
Also anyone departing from Vegas Jan. 9-12 should leave lots of extra time
for airport departures. Last year on the last day of the CES the airport
experienced huge lines, resulting in 3-5 hours to wait for access to the gates.
Hopefully new gates and experience will minimize this problem this year, but
the lines still could be long.
Now if you are at the LV Hilton (or some other station on the monorail) and
want to look for full-pay games, I have a few suggestions.
1. Go to the Sahara stop and switch to the bus and go to downtown. Sahara
has some low-cost BJ and a rollercoaster. (I don't know about VP).
2. Stay at the LV Hilton - check the 8/5 JB progressives $1 and quarter,
which sometimes become positive. There is All American. 9/6 JB triple play
dollars, Pick Em in the Spacequest Bar (at least it was there the last time I
was there). Check the machines. Visit the Star Trek Experience (ask your
host for a comp or get one with your points).
3. Get off at the Harrahs stop. Triple play/5 play 9/6 JB $1 in the area
with a lot of VP machines. Single line 9/6 $1 there as well, $5 single line
in Hi Roller area. Play 1800 points in 24 hours and get Diamond Status.
Underrated buffet. Great Clint Holmes show - he just was operated on for
Prostate Cancer but should be back at work again after Jan. 3.
Take the free shuttle from Harrah's to the Rio - walk over to the Palms
for FP games of all sorts. Walk to Gold Coast for NSU. Take Gold Coast
shuttle to Orleans for 10/7 DB and NSU - try the bar near their slot club. Take
in a movie at the Orleans using points...for that matter use points at the
Palms for a movie too.
4. Get off at Flamingo Casino stop. Walk next door to Barbary Coast and
take shuttle to Orleans or Gold Coast (see above). Nothing to play at Barbary
anymore. By the way, don't touch anything in the Flamingo - they may still
have cases of the hard-to-eradicate norovirus. I wouldn't be afraid of
walking through, but it still might be a good idea to avoid playing or staying
there.
Get on 202 Bus at Flamingo St. (stop is next to Caesars Palace) -
take it to Sam's Town where they have some FP machines.
Walk across street to Caesars and play 9/6 JB - they have a lot of
machines ranging from single line to triple/five play - all in quarters and up.
Cross to Bellagio and play $1 9/6 JB single line and 3/5 play.
5. Get off at Paris stop. $1 single line JB in Paris at machines labeled
"blackjack" near the craps table. Use points to ride up to top of Eiffle
Tower. See Jubilee at Ballys or the not as good "We will Rock You" show at Paris.
You can also exit at Paris stop to walk to Bellagio.
You can also get around without the monorail (after all it could close at
any time) - by taking a CAT bus or taxi. The bus that runs by the Hilton goes
to downtown and also crosses Flamingo at Terribles; take the Flamingo 202 bus
to center of strip or ride to Palms/Gold Coast. From any strip property
take the 301 bus. Also all these hotels have the slower "trolley". The
trolley stop is from the Sports book area of the LV Hilton.
I believe the trolley costs $2. The CAT bus is $2 if you start on the 301
or 302 (express) bus, or $1.25 if you start elsewhere - transfers are free.
You can also ride for $5 all day (purchase ticket from driver).
You can save $ with Monorail tickets if you buy a 10-trip ticket - several
people can use this same ticket and it can be used indefinitely. This lowers
cost to $2 per ride. You can also get into the monorail and ride it back and
forth and not get off.
The monorail gets to the back of all the strip hotels - this isn't
necessarily a short walk to the strip. If you don't mind walking, you can get from
the LV Hilton to Caesar's quite well for example - but you will have to walk
some.
If you can't walk a lot, you are better off to take the buses or cabs.
To avoid exhaustion you might want to go from LV Hilton to somewhere like
Orleans via Monorail and shuttles and then take a taxi back home at the end of
the day - that's what I would do because with all the transfers it could take
you more than an hour to make the transit.
Have fun.......Linda
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