Las Vegas Question

[arkansan]

Okay, I'm THINKING of planning a trip to Las Vegas/Grand Canyon. I've read some posts on another site lasvegastalk.com and was shocked at the content of some of the posts. My husband and I are pretty straightlaced, naive folks so I'm just wondering how LV would be for us. Are there "ladies" on the streets selling their services in broad daylight, etc? I was thinking that I wanted to do this trip, but now a trip to "Sin city" kinda has me wondering if maybe we shouldn't just stick to our clean, wholesome Branson trips. I do want to go to the Grand Canyon and if we're that close, we will have to go the Hoover Dam. I just know my husband will want to play a little poker in LV so I figure we'd have to stay a few nights there. Would we be safe in going there if we're plain, old-fashioned folks?
Thanks---may seem like goofy questions to some, I just can't decide if we'd enjoy it or not. It would be a WHOLE LOT cheaper going to Branson for a week and I don't know about risking it.

[rickb31]

No.. They do not work the streets. They work the bars inside the higher-end casinos. If your male, sitting at a bar alone, playing video poker, at any of the following casinos; Wynn, Bellagio, Mirage, Venetian, and Mandalay Bay... YOU WILL be approached by a working girl. They are usually gorgeous, professional, and polite. Once they know your not interested, they wish you a good night, move on, and leave you alone. They are not aggressive. Don't let this stop you.

The time share people are much much much more annoying than the working girls. They are 10x more aggressive than the ones in Branson. Remember the answer to these 2 questions. Where are you from ? Answer: Henderson (its the next town over) #2) How long are you in town ? Answer: I'm leaving tommorrow morning.

Safety - I've always felt very safe on the strip. The North Strip up by the Stratosphere can be a little scary. Stay in between the Wynn and Mandalay Bay and you will be fine. When I'm alone, I will try and walk with a group of people (probably overkill), and if its real late at night, I will usually take a cab. When I have a car I always valet park. Beware of pick-pockets, keep you wallet and money in your front pockets; women protect your purse.

Lvtalk is a good site with a lot of great information, but they do cover the hardcore aspects on vegas. Everythinglv.com is my favorite site for vegas information. And allvegaspoker.com is a great poker site pertaining to vegas. It rates all the poker rooms, tells you how many tables, what games they spread etc.

I've been to vegas about 20 times, and I discovered Branson for the 1st time in June 2007. My next few trips will be to Branson.. But Vegas is something that everyone should experience at least once. I'd be glad to answer any other questions -- Rick

[fordarama]

I have been a couple of times,
The last time we rented a million dollar house with a pool and hot tub.
It was out by the mountains, It was a total different way to do vegas,
We went to the strip and didn't even gamble, Never felt unsafe,
But I did find the naked pamplets laying all over very offensive.......
They are all over the strip on the ground and in stacks next to the newspapers,. But there wasn't as many last time, maybe they have cleaned that part up.
With that said, I would go just to see the buildings, And the shopping is great......
The hoover dam was awesome and it is something I think you will enjoy...
Ignore the bad parts, You can't change it, and see it once for fun.......

[travelgrl]

I've been to Vegas several times and the first trip was just my sister and myself (two twentysomething girls) and we never felt unsafe. Although, I am not big into gambling there are so many things to see and do. The fountains at Bellagio, The hotel itself is beautifully decorated depending on the season, the Pirate Show at Treasure Island, the Gondola rides at the Venetian, the Eiffel Tower at the Paris, not to mention the shows. M&M World is really enjoyable as well as the wonderful chocolates at Ethel M chocolates. We walked up and down the strip and never felt out of place. I think you will be just fine. I am just a simple girl from Oklahoma and didn't feel out of place in "Sin City".

[kbradleyar]

I have been to Las Vegas a lot. I have stayed at LV Hilton, Treasure Island, Luxor, and Excalibar (my favorite).

I have walked down the strip many times and it isn't bad at all. The stip is VERY safe. If you walk down back allies or as mentioned earlier go down by Circus Circus / Stratosphere area it is a little rundown and I would not walk around there but it is fine to go to and leave just don't do laps around the blocks walking. If down in the main touist area Treasure Island to Mandally Bay you will be VERY safe.

The Nude card problem has been reduced a great deal. When I was there in 2002, I had a bag and kept seeing people handing out cards. I didn't pay attention to what I just opened the bag and let them throw them in. I got back to the hotel and I had a bag full of cards with pictures of nude girls with stats on the back. Like a baseball card but the stats was their sexual abilities and talents. It wasn't what i thought it was.

I took girlfriend and her kids to LV and the boys kept finding the cards on the sidewalk. People had got them and thru them down. The pictues were of nude women and the boys could see the pictures on the ground. There were lots of complaints and the city started surpressing the card distrubutors. When i was there last. I saw about 3 cards on the sidewalk the entire 4 days i was there. I used to see that in about 6 feet of sidewalk. Things have improved.

As for call girls, yes they are in bars. I also won a big pile of chips once and I had 2, one on each arm whispering in my ear what they would do for that pile of chips. I told them no thankyou and they nicely left. The major hotels will have at any time: a blond, a brunet, and an oriental setting in front wearing normal cloths. Each have a cell phone in their hand. They are escorts. Some places in town say the girl will be at your room within 15 minutes. I was amazed since it takes 10 minutes to get across the street. I then realised what was happening when i saw one of the girls get up and walk with me into the hotel while on the cell phone. She was asking "what Room and how much". She got to the elevators and she pilled out a set of card keys for each hotel in the area (you have to show the key to get on the elevator). She was a professional working the hotel. It isn't obvious unless you are looking for it.

The girls on the street are down behind Circus Circus / Stratosphere which is a seedy area. I left Stratosphere and I saw a hotel that had been turned into a massage parlar. Guess what was going on there! I saw girls on the street but I can say, they don't look like what is on TV. More like crack additics walking the street but it isn't the strip it is off in a bad area with strip clubs and adult book stores.

About each casino / hotel has something free. I spent several days seeing the free stuff in town. MGM grand has the lions that are decendants of the MGM lion. The fountains, Tropican has several shows in the middle of the place. Treasure Island had the white tigers. There are many more and I know many new things have been added since I was there last in 2004.

[nohona]

The only time I ever felt uncomfortable in Vegas was a few years back. It was around 3 a.m. and I took the free trolley from behind the Flamingo down to the Stratosphere. I just missed the bus so had to wait for nearly an hour for the next one and this was down about a block downtown side of the Strat. I was decked out in jewelry I had no business wearing at that hour anywhere. An Hispanic gentleman came up, said he had been watching me from across the road and he was going to sit with me till the bus came. He told me to push my bracelets up under my sleeves and to put the necklace and pendent down under my blouse. He was worried about me. He ended up riding downtown with me and walking me to my hotel. He was very interesting to converse with and said he was a dishwasher in one of the hotels and was on his way to work. He was my guardian angel that early morning.