Featured image: The Madison Square Garden Company’s MSG Sphere is a new state-of-the-art venue in Las Vegas| Photo from Las Vegas Tourism

First-hand advice from a local in Las Vegas, Nevada

by Diana Eden

Let’s start with a fun fact about Las Vegas. The town was named Las Vegas (“the meadows”) in 1821 by Rafael Rivera, the Spanish pioneer who was the first European to set foot into Las Vegas territory. At the time, the valley had acres of vibrant grass nourished by abundant local springs.

Las Vegas is a modern-day boom town, settled a mere 125 years ago (1905) and officially incorporated in 1911. Between 1990 and 2000, the population nearly doubled, and the latest numbers show a metropolitan population of 2,227,053, making it the 25th-most populous city in the United States (Wikipedia).

I first came through Las Vegas in 1961, when it was a dusty small town with a population of a mere 101,000, but I returned frequently during the 1970s and 1980s for work with some of the big entertainers performing on The Strip. I witnessed the building of many of the newer resorts that accompanied the original casino hotels, such as the Riviera, Flamingo, and Desert Inn. In 2008, I moved to the city permanently. I love its energy and ability to constantly reinvent itself.

What Makes Las Vegas Unique

Although Las Vegas’ reputation is that of “Sin City,” a place of gambling, showgirls, lights, and excess of every kind imaginable, it is also a city that sits in a flat valley surrounded by beautiful mountains, national parks, a large (albeit man-made) lake, and year-round hiking trails. Should you tire of shows, shopping, and gambling, sailing and skiing are activities available within 50 minutes from downtown!

Though plenty of ‘locals’ live ordinary lives in the areas surrounding ‘The Strip’, Las Vegas is also a weekend town. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority recently released that 40.8 million people visited Las Vegas in 2023. Las Vegas is the sixth most visited city in the U.S.

Las Vegas has a subtropical hot desert climate typical of the Mojave Desert in which it lies. This climate is typified by long, extremely hot summers, warm transitional seasons, and short winters with mild days and cool nights. The best news is that we average 320 days of sunshine a year (LVCVA).

The best months to visit Las Vegas are May and October. Our rainy month is February (though we get only a total of 4 inches per year) and in August we are subject to monsoon storms, often in the afternoon. July is the hottest month in Las Vegas, with an average temperature of 33°C (92°F). In July and August, be aware that strolling up and down The Strip and trying to walk from casino to casino, even at night, can be deadly. Only the tourists attempt it! We locals may have two to two and a half months indoors, but we gladly exchange that for the long, icy winters that keep much of the U.S. population shut in during the winters.

How to get to Las Vegas

Currently, 31 airlines bring visitors to Las Vegas from destinations all over North America and internationally. Many flights are direct from the U.S. and overseas, and there will soon be new direct flights from Ireland. The airport served 57.6 million passengers in 2023 and is well equipped to handle enormous influxes and exoduss throughout the year. Click here to check for flights!

There are two terminals, one primarily international, with 2 tram lines shuttling people between the five concourses.  Taxis and rideshare companies take visitors to their hotel destinations.

Several public bus lines stop at both terminals. For more information, visit the RTC website.

The Rent-A-Car Center, which houses ten car rental companies in one location, is 3 miles from the airport. Find a car rental here! The center is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and offers continuous shuttle service to airport terminals.  The entire fleet of shuttle buses is ADA-equipped. (Harry Reid website)

The best way to get around (distances between casinos are longer than you think) is by taxi or ride-share services (Uber and Lyft have excellent safety prevention protocols as part of their apps). The Monorail is also elevated from street access, so it is considered quite safe, though it is located behind the casinos and can sometimes be a walk to access the stations.

Safety in Las Vegas

Since the city relies so heavily on tourism for its very existence, it makes sense that the casinos and local police want to protect its visitors. Cameras are everywhere inside (especially right over the gambling areas), security officers are visible, and outside police and the security presence is heavy. Unlike many cities that close down at night, the areas are brightly lit at all times of day and night. In fact, the Las Vegas Strip has around 30 hotels and casinos lining its path, and their enormous signage and neon lights make them the brightest spot on the planet.

However, there is less security further from the main tourist corridor or downtown attractions. Watch out for pickpockets and be wary of accepting tickets or entry fees from anyone who might be a con artist.

And as with all tourist cities, beware of becoming intoxicated around strangers who might want to take advantage of your impaired judgment.

Where to stay in Las Vegas

As of February 2024, Las Vegas has 154,662 hotel rooms. The city has nearly 300 hotels and resorts, ranging from super luxurious (suites with indoor/outdoor swimming pools!) to family-friendly options. Prices rise and fall almost daily depending on the influx of visitors, especially on weekends for big events, conventions, or holidays, such as New Year’s Eve or July 4th.

The options are plenty, so you must decide what kind of experience you seek. Do you need a quiet place to rest between your countless activities or are you looking for the full Las Vegas luxury experience?

Most visitors stay close to The Strip and opt for the full ”Las Vegas” experience, visiting the celebrity chef restaurants within the hotel-casinos, the upscale shops at Crystals, the Bellagio’s 1200 fountains, which perform every half hour to the music of Frank Sinatra or Andrea Bocelli, the Eiffel Tower at Paris, the canals at the Venetian, or ride the High Roller, the largest observation wheel in the world. The density of the attractions and the fact that they are available year-round makes Las Vegas a great holiday destination.

However, just outside of Las Vegas, there are many quirky places to see, some reflecting on Nevada’s early mining history and Wild West days.

The newest mega-resort to open is Fontainebleau Las Vegas. With public spaces that are surprisingly light and bright, this new hotel offers 36 restaurants and cafes, plenty of high-end shopping, a world-class spa, a beautiful pool area, and, of course, plenty of opportunities to spend your money in the gaming area!

There are also several lovely hotels quite far off from the Strip, should you choose a different experience. The JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa is in Summerlin (15 minutes from the Strip) giving you a Vegas experience but away from the hustle and bustle. The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort is six miles southeast of the city center on the man-made Lake Las Vegas and is the site of many weddings.

Some tourists don’t realize that many hotels close their pools during the winter months, but a handful stay open year-round. These include select pools at Bellagio, Aria, Park MGM, Mandalay Bay, and others. The pool season typically runs from March through October.

If luxury is not a requirement, plenty of off-strip hotels and chains are suitable for those on a budget. 

Click here to find the perfect hotel for your trip to Vegas!

What to see and do

Museums

For daytime attractions, there are the “only in Vegas” museums, such as The Mob Museum, set on three floors of the old Courthouse downtown, the National Atomic Testing Museum, and the Neon Museum, an outdoor attraction where the neon signs from the original Las Vegas hotels get a second life.

New attractions are added all the time it seems, and this year’s Sphere is no exception. Sphere’s 580,000-square-foot exterior, called the “exosphere” and billed as the world’s largest LED screen, instantly transformed the Las Vegas skyline. Creating the vividly textured displays are about 1.2 million LED pucks spaced eight inches apart. Each pack contains 48 LED diodes, with each diode capable of displaying 256 million colours. The famous rock group U2 was the premiere attraction inside and transformed how rock concerts and their video components are presented.

You can also get married in Las Vegas! Over 300 weddings happen every day. In fact, dozens of walk-in wedding venues let you tie the knot at the drop of a hat. You can get married by an Elvis impersonator, should that appeal to you. One of the most famous is the original Little Church of the West, also the first such facility designed specifically as a wedding chapel.

Entertainment

Las Vegas bills itself as the Entertainment Capital of the World,  with nightlife, shows, exhibits, museums, pool parties, etc.  It is also a top-tier destination in the U.S. for business conventions. Attendance was just shy of 6 million in 2023, a 19.9% increase over 2022.

The range of entertainment is extraordinary. There are five Cirque du Soleil shows that run year-round. Visiting headliners such as Adele, Lady Gaga, and Garth Brooks do limited residencies and command extraordinary ticket prices. (Find tickets to shows here!)

There are also one-time concerts by visiting performers which, while not cheap, are less pricey than the headliners. And then there are yet smaller shows – magic, dance, burlesque, tribute acts, and comedy, at every level of production value and price. You can find a complete selection on vegas.com.

Though not generally on the radar of visitors, Las Vegas also has a magnificent theatre complex, The Smith Center, which presents a full Broadway season, its resident ballet company, its Philharmonic Orchestra, and guest performers.

The Las Vegas I know and love feels like a small town surrounding a really big city on The Strip. We have the glitzy next door to the sophisticated, the lavish next door to the casual, and the brightly lit 24-hour life next to the peaceful desert and mountain areas for nature lovers. 

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