Let me start by saying I own several guide books from Frommer's and usually really like them.
But I feel this particular guide is rather disappointing.
For one thing a lot of the information is outdated (most of it seems to be from 2008), for example the schedule for several free shows on the Strip (Bellagio fountains, Mirage volcano, statues at Ceasar's Palace...) as well as almost all restaurant and show prices (they are generally higher by about 5-10% than what the guide says).
Three of the "highly recommended" (***) restaurants we tried were unsatisfactory. In one them the food was not nearly as good as Frommer's made it sound, another one had great food but dismal service (it took almost two hours to eat just a main course and split a dessert, and the check was wrong not once but TWICE!) - and the last one was out of business!
I'm aware that Las Vegas is a fast-moving environment, but it was still disappointing.
More sticky points follow:
- Frommer's only includes hotels ON the Strip or downtown. For example the Gold Coast Casino, just 2 blocks from the strip, was not even mentioned.
- The included maps are not very useful. They are either too large of a scale scale, or else cut off right at the Strip (in other words, there is no single map extending to several blocks East and West of the Strip in satisfying detail). There is no fold-out map.
- The guide layout is confusing. It arbitrarily divides the Strip into North, South and Mid sections, but the location of each "section" is not very clear (plus they vary between the "Where to stay" "Where to eat" and "What to see and do" sections!) They also add East and West of the strip to make the confusion complete. Why not have just two sections, East and West and then list the hotels/restaurants/attractions North to South?
- Some attractions are listed in the "What to see and do" section, others (for example the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian) only under "Where to stay". Just from reading the guide, you'd never guess that the Venetian has free attractions inside!
- One thing that would have been hugely useful but was not included is FLOOR PLANS of the big Strip casinos.
Try to navigate for example the Venetian, Caesar's Palace or Paris Las Vegas if you've never set foot there!
- Frommer's devotes a whole chapter on gambling, but it doesn't include much interesting information.
For someone who has never played table games, their directions make them sound much more intimidating than they are. For example craps - the guide lists all possible bet combinations without explaining the odds and completely muddling the issue. Would it have been that hard to put a "hint box" for newbie gamblers directing them how to stick to the Pass Line and Odds bets, which are easy to make and have a low house edge?
Or Blackjack - they helpfully include a strategy table but it's a bad one. Include the true Basic Strategy table already! That would be much more useful than full-color layouts of a roulette and craps table, without explanation of what the various betting fields mean.
There is in general no mention of the different house edges and/or expected player loss values for the games. Frommer's makes it sound as if they were all equally risky or rewarding, from the almost-neutral Baccarat banker and craps pass/odds bets to the sucker bets on the Big Six wheel. A serious odds table like those found at the Wizard of Odds or Vegas Click would have been appreciated.
Are they maybe sponsored by the Casinos?
If you are going to Vegas and don't know anything about gambling, do yourself a favor and read about the basics even if you don't think you'll gamble much. Amazon won't post allow me to post URLs, so just google for example "vegasclick" or "wizardofodds" for some much needed, serious and free advice. In a nutshell: don't be intimidated by the table games, they are much more fun and besides offer often better odds than the slots! I learned that lesson too late...
All in all, a rather confusing and outdated guide. One hopes they will seriously update it for the 2010 edition.
