Customer Reviews

The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2011 (Unofficial Guides)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We'll be in Las Vegas in early November. We're staying at the MGM because of a conference. While we are Las Vegas veterans, we still need to keep up with all the new things that have taken place. We like to keep up with the best restaurants, and this book has provided some insight and what to expect. This book is very comprehensive, and I would recommend it to anyone, whether you're a veteran of Las Vegas or you're a newbie. We'll be staying for about a week, and we're making lists of restaurants to try and places of interest, especially the shows. It's well worth the price.

This book tells you everything you need to know about Las Vegas. From reviewing and describing all the shows, to details of the various hotels, to the food. Ranks the buffets, and reviews of the restaurants. A must before going to Las Vegas.

W have never been to Las Vegas before and this book gave me a great orientation. It lists some good websites that can be used and was very helpful to us.

Just got back from a girls' weekend in Vegas and this book was a great companion. Though we did most of the reading prior to the trip we brought this along for a few quick references. I appreciate the detail that is put into reviews of everything - hotels, restaurants, clubs, etc. It really goes above the typical 4 star $$$ rating. Even with information like the crowd you'll see at which club and what to wear. I'm not a gambler so I didn't bother with the gaming section, though it did look useful. I know the 2012 edition is about to release, but I'm sure this would still work for the rest of the year. The other book I did like was DK Eyewitness Travel Las Vegas - I'm a very visual person so I appreciate the abundance of pictures and maps and the fact that it breaks down the different sections of the Strip. But it has very little detail and that is where The Unofficial Guide picks up. So my only complaint about this is I wish it had better maps, but it's not really a sticking point.

I bought this book for an upcoming trip to Vegas. Great information on hotels, dining, casinos, and much more. Lot's of good tips for saving money, too. I am sure I will save more than the cost of the book using the information found here.

I picked up this book as I was planning my first trip to Vegas with a group of couples. I also read Frommer's but since I loved the unofficial disney guide I was excited to find this book as well. Overall, the two books complemented (and contradicted) each other. I really liked the bits of Vegas history and the explanations of the business decisions (both past and current) of hotels and casinos. But my favorite thing about this guide was their inclusion of the clientele for hotels, restaurants and shows. I found that extremely helpful and unusual. They usually included age, and sometimes included region, gender, social class or less frequently, ethnic or cultural background. Since I was trying to find a place that my diverse group would be comfortable, this was fantastic and saved me from choosing a hotel that would have been a terrible fit for us. The book also included a long section on gambling and game rules. As a non-gambler, i found it fascinating. All three of these elements helped the book feel like an "insider's guide"

Having said that, i was ultimately disappointed in this book. I wanted to visit kitschy museums, small bars, and quintessentially local las vegas hangouts and restaurants. All of which the book seemed a bit dismissive of. In addition, the focus on the demographics of attractions was inconsistent and at times the writers appeared to be making sweeping assumptions about who their readers were. For example, information for women traveling in vegas was very limited, beyond reviewing a few male strip shows. And they used the word "ebonics" unironically, which was very strange, dated and jarring. And the "mexican" restaurant descriptions made it clear that the writers couldn't distinguish between Mexican, New Mexican, and Southwestern food. And since I was planning a trip for a group of interracial straight and gay couples, the absence of any information for gay and lesbian travelers was an unpleasant surprise. The various other travel guide series I usually read have always included advice for LGBT travelers so I found this a weird and deliberate omission. I wanted to make sure I choose locations where my friends would be comfortable and this guide offered zero help. Finally, The nightclub and restaurant sections were also limited, as they seemed focused primarily on the most exclusive and expensive places. I expect that from Fodor's, but not an unofficial guide.

Purchased fora friend who was going to vegas for te first time. They loved it and thought it was very easy to use. They have since lent it out to others.

This is pretty much black and white inside. The paper is thin. The publishers must have done this to save money.
It has tips and tricks, but I found the material too dense for me to flip through. I wanted something that was quick to navigate. I prefered Frommer's, which included graphics and blurbs. This Unofficial Guide was not bad, but it was not what I was looking for. If you like pictures, you may be better off getting the other one. If you just want reading material, this one may be it for you. It definitely contained a lot of information. I just had trouble wadding through all of it to find what I needed.

Want to learn everything about Las Vegas for a tourist? Buy the current yearly edition of this book. The author kicks butt by updating and keeping tabs and where to go, stay, eat, and see - across all areas of this tourist location. Buy it before you buy anything else.

I love the "unofficial guide" books. This is the second one I bought and I was very happy with it. The book is written in a fun and informal way. And you can find valuable information, like the days when each show is less crowded and where to go to buy discounted tickets without having to face a long line.
I love travel planning and I love to study everything before packing, so this was a great book to put me in the mood for my trip to Vegas. I would suggest it to anyone who wants to spend some time getting to know a bit more about their destination - after all, this is quite a long book. But it is not the best guidebook to carry around, so I would read it first and then maybe have a second pocket book to consult during the trip.