Frommer's Las Vegas 2009 (Frommer's Complete) Review

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Frommer's Las Vegas 2009 (Frommer's Complete) ReviewLet 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For one thing a lot of the information is outdated (most of it seems to be from 2008), for example the schedule for several free shows on the Strip (Bellagio fountains, Mirage volcano, statues at Ceasar's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.Frommer's Las Vegas 2009 (Frommer's Complete) OverviewAmerica's #1 bestselling travel series
Written by more than 175 outspoken travelers around the globe, Frommer's Complete Guides help travelers experience places the way locals do.
More annually updated guides than any other series
16-page color section and foldout map in all annual guides
Outspoken opinions, exact prices, and suggested itineraries
Dozens of detailed maps in an easy-to-read, two-color design


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Shakedown Review

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Shakedown ReviewShakedown is a terrific novel about hustling in Las Vegas, in oh so many ways. It follows FBI Agent John Novak as he tracks down a set of leads that point to a Las Vegas kingpin. There's deceit and double dealing aplenty, copious amounts of blackmail, mob hits, and all the glamor of Las Vegas. Ironically for Petievich, there are 'bad guys' who are more appealing than some of the good guys, and a constant parade of willing suckers lined up to be fleeced in almost every conceivable way.
More ambitiously plotted than his novels about Charles Carr, this one holds together quite well and is as good as To Die in Beverly Hills, which I loved. This is another book that is impossible to put down, but is a heck of a read. The last 50 pages defy any one to put them down.
Highly recommended.Shakedown Overview

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The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009 (Unofficial Guides) Review

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The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009 (Unofficial Guides) ReviewI've been a fan of Bob Sehlinger, the author, ever since I first discovered his other book, The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2009 (Unofficial Guides). Since I was planning a trip to Las Vegas, I decided to buy this guidebook even though I'd been to the city many times before. Partly I was curious to see if this would live up to his WDW book, and partly because I wanted input on planning which shows to see, which restaurants to visit, etc. I've broken my comments on each major section of the book into separate paragraphs below.
Hotels: This section is kind of an odd grab bag of information. The author has an extensive list of covered hotels and offers a write-up of each one. Yet the information covered is often more of a general description than a true critique that would help the average traveler. For example, the Wynn Las Vegas receives three full pages of text but in all of that, there is virtually nothing said about the rooms. When reading these entries, it's more similar to how a novelist would set a scene than how I would expect a travel writer to critique a hotel. There is a chart that shows an overall rating for the hotel as well as a room rating, but no details are offered.
Restaurants: There are far too many restaurants in Las Vegas for any guide to review them all in depth but the author does a good job of breaking down your options at the major hotels. Beginning with summarized lists that show favorites by category, coverage then shifts to more detailed write-ups for each location in alphabetical order. Each restaurant receives ratings for quality, value, and an overall score. In addition, there are helpful comments. This section is very helpful.
Entertainment: There is a chart that ranks all shows in order of entertainment value followed by detailed write-ups of each show with ratings broken down by age group. This is by far the best coverage of shows that I've seen in any of the Las Vegas guides. Given the cost of tickets to these extravaganzas, this section alone is worth the price of the book as it can steer you to a great experience or help you avoid a less worthy show that you might have been considering.
Nightclubs: This section is not as comprehensive as those listed above, but it is still quite good. There are no ratings, but there are detailed reviews and tips for each of the major clubs. I don't spend a lot of time on this because I'm not a clubber, but this is at least as much coverage, and probably more, as I've seen in the other guides.
Gambling: This is the only Las Vegas guidebook that I have seen with a whole section devoted to teaching the basics of gambling. I'm not sure how seriously to take the advice since I definitely feel they overstate the difficulty of playing blackjack. Overall, it's nice that they included this, but it's no substitute for a good book on the subject.
Other: The Unofficial Guide does a decent job of covering all the miscellaneous bases. Attractions such as the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton get solid reviews that will help you decide whether it's your cup of tea or not. The Liberace Museum, however, is almost buried in the back with a single paragraph of coverage. All in all, I would say that these items are covered better in the Frommer's guide and if they are a big priority to you, it will be something of a black mark against this book.
Overall, it's easy for me to recommend this book. I spent quite a bit of time going through Frommer's Las Vegas 2009 (Frommer's Complete) and Fodor's Las Vegas 2009 (Fodor's Gold Guides) and this is much more comprehensive. It does have some weaknesses, however, and they are worth considering. The worst flaw is the nature of the hotel coverage. While a good many pages are devoted to it, detail on rooms gets short shrift. Still, this is Las Vegas and people generally don't come here to spend a lot of time inside their rooms so maybe you really do care more about the casino, lobby, etc. on which a lot of the author's prose focuses. A more minor quibble is the coverage of miscellaneous attractions but this is still pretty solid for the most part. If The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas isn't quite up to the level of the author's Walt Disney World guide, that's not really a crime. The key is how well it stacks up to other Vegas guides and the answer is very well indeed. I give it four stars and a strong recommendation. I'll hold the fifth star for the edition where hotel coverage is strengthened a notch.The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2009 (Unofficial Guides) OverviewMore than 4 million copies sold! This series is the only one that offers evaluations based on reader surveys and critiques, compiled by a team of unbiased inspectors.
• Hotels, attractions, and restaurants in all price categories
• Extensive information on shopping, nightlife, and sports
• Easy-to-use, two-color design
• Detailed, 2-color maps

From the publishers of The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World®"A Tourist's Best Friend!"-Chicago Sun-Times"Indispensable"-The New York TimesFive Great Features and Benefits offered ONLY by The Unofficial Guide®:* Over 100 hotels and casinos rated and ranked - the most offered by any guidebook - plus proven strategies for getting the best rate* Complete detailed descriptions of each casino and casino hotel* In-depth critical reviews of Las Vegas' 60 best shows and 30 top nightspots - the most offered by any guidebook* Detailed reviews of more than 100 restaurants - a complete dining guide within the guide, plus the best buffets rated and ranked* Fifty pages of gambling tips from how to play, recognize sucker games, and cut the house advantage to the bone


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The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2010 (Unofficial Guides) Review

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The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2010 (Unofficial Guides) ReviewI purchased this along with Fodor's Las Vegas 2010 and Frommer's Las Vegas 2010. This book has the most pages. They break down everything in terms of a rating, price, etc. for shows they tell you the slowest time of the week for the show, the length of the show, as well as a description. It breaks down the top restaurants and buffets.
This book has information regarding shows, hotels, restaurants, nightlife. There are little tips here and there but none i found that i didn't already really know.
What I don't like is that there are no pictures--and there are very few visual breaks for me so sometimes the pages can be a bit overwhelming. I loved the Fodor's book the best for layout and pictures as well as side trip information.
The difficulty in rating is that there are some things I like about Fodor's better and it gives better information and some things I like about this one better--this one has more information about buffets--which kind of excite me. I'm wondering if the only thing i will be doing is eating!
After looking at Fodors and this book over and over, it really has become more of a tie for me between the two. Frommers on the other hand is clearly not on par with either of these books and provides the least amount of information on everything.
If you are only looking to be in Las Vegas, then this is probably the best book. If however, you are like me and also wanting to do day trips or side trips, I would also purchase Fodor's Guide to Las Vegas 2010 as it has a lot more information about those. (63 pages on side trips--as opposed to 6 pages in this book).
I hope this help you make a decision on which book is best.
I learned from this book about the "M" casino that has an excellent buffet for fairly inexpensive. it is a little south of the strip so a lot of people don't know about. so far, it is our favorite buffet. although we will be going to Wynn soon because they are suppose to have an excellent buffet also.
I highly recommend buying and reading at least 1 of these guides--this or fodor's as there is so much information that you may not find out if you just come.The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2010 (Unofficial Guides) Overview
In 2008, Las Vegas hosted 37.5 million visitors according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Global Travel Industry News and Forbes Traveler rank Las Vegas as the #2 most popular U.S. destination to visit calling it "America's favorite playground".
The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas ranks over 100 hotels and casinos- the most offered by any other guidebook for the destination, providing complete detailed descriptions of each casino hotel.


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