Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

stoneman

October

Porthorg wrote: »

Off the current subject and I apologise for that but who's been to the Hoover Dam and is there much to do locally or on the way? Just wondering how long we'll need to put aside for it as we would like to check it out?

I am probably going to get brickbats here but I was really unimpressed with the dam, I thought it was going to be a lot bigger. You can walk from one side to the other in a few minutes. Ok it was a real feat of engineering and all that but I like to see size, and it really didn't do it for me. I even found the tour inside boring, but then I am hard to please

jammerr

March

judging by the review on the website, if you're on a budget and can score a low price, the room looks great.

Spursman180

March

Porthorg wrote: »

Off the current subject and I apologise for that but who's been to the Hoover Dam and is there much to do locally or on the way? Just wondering how long we'll need to put aside for it as we would like to check it out?

the Hoover dam is a big lump of concrete that provides a photo opp or two, doing the tour inside has not much appeal unless your a hydraulic engineer?

there is a small visitors centre on the NV side, you probably have better info online to be sure.

I would drive over the dam itself and through to AZ, then join the new highway 93 bypass, don't think there are any photo opps or if you can walk across. there are great views but as I said I don't know if you can actually access them. They did pedestrianise it when it first opened and some of the photos looking down on the dam are good.

Heading into Boulder city for the museum and gift shops associated with the dam. Some decent places to eat in the picturesque town centre. You can also call into the Hacienda casino, which is small but has a decent feel to it, you can play 25c roulette and £1 BJ. has a small gift shop that might find something novel.

Coming back into town there is the Railroad pass casino, in railroad pass no less. again a small casino, would hardly describe it as a locals place as there is nothing around, again some decent views and the usual diner type eatery and machines, would not describe either casino as grungy.

You can either take boulder highway up through what they call the Boulder Strip with a string of casinos that nearly all have RV parks attached, again a very mixed bunch of venues. Or head over to LVB on the 215 to the strip just south of the airport. You could visit Green Valley Ranch which is a nice location, quite an expensive hotel but more of a resort with a decent casino.

Straight up the 515 that takes you through NLV. Tropicana, Flamingo and Sahara are all turnings off that take you up to the strip. I personally wouldn't head north of Sahara, nothing to see before Fremont st and in my opinion it's a bit scummy until you're up past the El Cortez.

definitely worth the trip out and who know the snows may have melted and filled Lake Mead by the 12m they've been forcasting, seeing the 'rings around the bath' where the levels are dropping year by year is thought provoking, as is the landing stages and jettys a 1/4 of a mile from the water.

mookybargirl

March

Spursman180 wrote: »

the Hoover dam is a big lump of concrete that provides a photo opp or two, doing the tour inside has not much appeal unless your a hydraulic engineer?

LOL I have to disagree....
I'm not an engineer (far far from it) and I get bored very easily, but hubby and me enjoyed the tour & visit. Our guide was quite funny and it was an amazing place to see. Being able to look out from inside the dam was amazing. Worth the money for the tour. The tours (well, the full tour) can fill up quickly though, so try to get there early. Ideally, get there about 11am or before. Spaces are limited per tour as everyone has to squeeze into a small evelator at one point, so they can only sell a set number of tickets. Honestly, would recommend it for a few hours sight seeing.....

duchy

May

Some of my friends did the Dam tour last summer-They all cameback with lots of photos of their tour guide (was Donny Osmond was a special tour) and not a single photo of the Dam between them :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

pebblesmax

November / December

photome wrote: »

Why has El Cortez been mentioned, would anyone really want to stay there.
The hotel was built in the 40s

http://www.cheapovegas.com/vegas_casino_full.php?hotel_id=1011

We like the El Cortez, and will most likely be staying in a Cabana Suite for part of our next trip. It's old school Vegas.

If you play poker in the casino there, you may well be on a table with the previous owner, Jackie Gaughan. A piece of Vegas history.

totallybored

November / December

mookybargirl wrote: »

LOL I have to disagree....
I'm not an engineer (far far from it) and I get bored very easily, but hubby and me enjoyed the tour & visit. Our guide was quite funny and it was an amazing place to see. Being able to look out from inside the dam was amazing. Worth the money for the tour. The tours (well, the full tour) can fill up quickly though, so try to get there early. Ideally, get there about 11am or before. Spaces are limited per tour as everyone has to squeeze into a small evelator at one point, so they can only sell a set number of tickets. Honestly, would recommend it for a few hours sight seeing.....

I sent my dad on this and he loved it. Wasn't my sort of thing at all but he came back with hundreds of pictures.

Sumpong

stoneman wrote: »

I am probably going to get brickbats here but I was really unimpressed with the dam, I thought it was going to be a lot bigger. You can walk from one side to the other in a few minutes. Ok it was a real feat of engineering and all that but I like to see size, and it really didn't do it for me. I even found the tour inside boring, but then I am hard to please

I felt the same as you, I was expecting it to be more impressive. It's not as wide as I expected.
The bridge that they were building to bypass the dam was almost more impressive. Should be finished now.
I will be in Vegas again soon & will revisit the dam so the family can see it. It is so close to Vegas that it really is a must do whilst there. Took a while to get there but only because of the traffic backing up, now the bridge is open hopefully the traffic flows better.
As mentioned the tide mark around the lake does make you think.

ogs20

August

What planes do thomas cook use for the MAN to LAS direct flight?
Cant seem to find any info on Thomas cook website or when i proceed to book?

Vikki_74

Porthorg wrote: »

Off the current subject and I apologise for that but who's been to the Hoover Dam and is there much to do locally or on the way? Just wondering how long we'll need to put aside for it as we would like to check it out?

When we drove to Hoover Dam from Vegas we came back via Valley of Fire - very scenic, I'd definately recommend it as you can kind of do the both of them as part of one big loop from the strip:

http://parks.nv.gov/vf.htm