Frommer's Las Vegas (Frommer's Color Complete) [Paperback]

Frommer's travel guides went into a period of malaise during which the effort put into producing their annual updates seemed more laborioius than a labor of love. But in the past few years, things are changing for the better - and the Frommer's Color Complete series is an excellent reboot of what had been a tired franchise.

Frommer's Las Vegas 2012 packs so much useful information into a $19.99 package that it would take ages before you consumed everything. Fortunately for those of us who like to browse through a book like this, the information is extremely well organized, and the "user experience", as it were, is just about flawless. Just flipping through a few random pages brings you inside info on how to get cheap show tickets, how to avoid crowds (really!), and which hotels are worth the extra expense (hint: it's not Bellagio).

So whether you're looking for sin or salvation in Las Vegas, set aside a little of your stake for Frommer's Las Vegas 2012 and start your trip with a sure bet.

And there is a lot happening in the city that never sleeps and this book will tell you all about it, from where to play to where to stay. Where to eat is also included and Las Vegas is a food lover's delight.

From the Strip to Downtown, Las Vegas is fun and this book will show you places you've never thought of going. You can see white tigers and dolphins and lions too in Vegas. You can visit a sugar factory or shop at a street market. It's not all about gambling, but if it's gambling you've come to Vegas for, well they have that in spades. Fun too, they have that in spades as well.

Frommer's Las Vegas 2012 is well laid out with plenty of color photos and info on just about everything Vegas from its history to what to do after dark. Frommer's knows Vegas and if you get this book, you will too.

The market is flooded with tons of travel books. Frommer's travel books have been around for a long time and have a solidified brand in the travel market but these days a travel book has extreme competition with technology. Let's face it, a travel book costs money whereas internet information is free. Travel books become outdated quickly whereas internet information is up to the minute.

I think most travel books are purchased because the area is one that you visit regularly or you'll be visiting for a long period of time and want to get the most out of your experience. So if you go to Las Vegas on the regular this may be book for you. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros:

*Gives you quick "Best Of" experiences such as "Best Shopping", "Best Places to Eat", "Best Things to See and Do". I like having quick lists like this just for that simple fact, it's quick.

*There's a section for things to do if you're visiting 4 days, 3 days, and so on. This is useful because Las Vegas has so much to get into that it's nice to have suggestions of what to do within a certain time period.

Cons:

*Well, this may sound crazy to say about a book but is common among travel books - TOO MUCH INFORMATION! That's the problem with travel books. The decision of what information should be included and what should be left out is always risky because it's so subjective to the reader.

*There's not a pull out map. You have to go to each separate area of the Strip to see its accompanying map. This takes a lot of page turning instead of being able to use one map.

*Surprisingly, not enough pictures for my taste. The few pictures that are shown seem dated even though this is a 2012 edition. Also, referring to the title of my review, why is the Wheel of Fortune on the cover instead of a Roulette wheel? Proving my point of dated pictures.

This book isn't all bad but for a price of $19.99 my advice is to buy it only if your trip falls under one of two things - 1) You visit Las Vegas regularly and this turns into your Cliff's Notes or 2) You have the time to read the majority of the information before your trip. If you don't have the time to read this book and it'll just collect dust, or you don't go to Vegas on the regular, save your money and do your travel research on the web.