On my recent trip to Las Vegas I made the determination I was going to decide which place is better to stay. On the strip, or downtown. I easily concluded that downtown was the better deal. The rooms are much cheaper, you get a sense of history, you can eat very cheap, the gambling is better and you can still do everything you want on the strip.

Some of the rooms downtown start at $18, try to find that on the strip. Unless you are choosing the Stratosphere which I don’t consider being on the strip, you are going to spend a lot more than that. Now at eighteen bucks the rooms are not luxury downtown, but they are accomodating. I don’t go to Vegas to be in my room anyway.

The buildings down there are a piece of history. It is so neat to walk into these buildings that were built in the 50s and 60s. You can tell they are old as you walk in they just have old features, but they are still very neat to look at. They are not the luxury you get on the strip, but to me the history is more important.

If you need food, you can eat for a day downtown for the price of one meal on the strip. I ate at what I thought was an awful restaurant on the strip in the MGM. We paid $90 each for a meal that was not worth the money. When we got downtown I went and ate a wonderful cut of prime rib for just $10 per person. Breakfast was steak and eggs and it was $3.95.

So though I really don’t gamble, I did when I was down town. I mean why not I was saving so much money, I might as well try my luck. The slots have a pay out that is much better than on the strip. I play blackjack. I was with my girl, and I wanted her to learn how to play too. I was teaching her and even the dealers down town were helping her. I would never get service like that on the strip. Even the pit boss was taking time out to help us play.

If you want to go to the strip still, it really isn’t hard. You can get a bus pass for a bus that goes from downtown to the strip for about seven bucks a day. So that way you can still go to shows and the luxury hotels. A cab ride from downtown to the strip is about $20.

In conclusion the next time you see me in Vegas I will be on Freemont Street at night. The strip will still get my patronage, but I will not be staying up there again.