The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2006 (Unofficial Guides) [Paperback]

Kudos to Bob Sehlinger and his merry team of scribes. Finally a guidebook on Las Vegas that has very comprehensive unbiased reports on hotels, casinos and restaurants. There is a simple rating and quality system they have devised to make searching for a hotel much easier, and it screams of exceptionally detailed and well researched data. There is an excellent blend of restaurants reviewed and rated including the better buffets in town. The writers are quick to point out the places that are targetted towards locals as well as tourists, which will give any reader good alternatives to the very high tourist-based strip & downtown places. Excellent coverage is given to the production & lounge shows - most importantly, it will make your decision which Cirque de Soleil show to see based on your tastes (and budget). For the golfer, a superb guide and rating system of the courses in and around Vegas will make teeing off a breeze, and for fitness freaks, both hotel and local fitness centres are reviewed as well as suggested biking, running and skiing options. There is some good basic gambling advice (I have never read anything else that makes the seemingly impossible rules and betting systems of Craps so much easier to understand!) and hints as to which places are best suited to individual gambling preferences. My only criticism, and it is minor, is the lack of coverage afforded to attractions outside downtown & the strip. Sehlinger makes it clear that the locals of Las Vegas would rather the city be known for much more than the casino and gambling reuptation the town is built on, but he fails to go into detail the multitude of options around Vegas. Whilst this not may be his task (take a hint LVTB) and he does cover Red Rock, Valley of Fire, Lake Mead etc, there is very little reference to museums and other points of interest for those seeking more than the Strip & Downtown experience. Overall, an excellent book, and I know my future trips to Las Vegas will be far more enjoyable beacuse of it.

I found this book to be a fairly good overview, but perhaps not as in-depth as I was hoping for. I have read many other Unofficial Guide books, and seem to prefer them among all the travel guides out there. The book is layed out well and easy to either read all the way through or just hunt for the information you are looking for. However, it was not as in-depth on some of the hotels and dining as I would have liked. It does have a great section on gambling that is perfect for beginners or those who have never had much luck. It tells you how to play it safe so that you don't lose your life's savings, as well as gives you tips on how to win at what you can. Basically its just practical and doesn't make you believe that its taught you some magic new way to win millions, which is really pretty rare in gambling advice. Overall, I would say that this book is perfect for anyone wanting to get a good overview of the city and all its available attractions, but perhaps not quite in-depth enough for the experienced traveler looking for insider information.

This book really wasn't as good as the other "Unofficial Guides" I've used. I thought the write ups about the hotels, shows and attractions were pretty good and very readable but there didn't really seem to be much "insiders" info. I feel like I could have gotten the write ups about the hotels, etc. from any other of the millions of travel books about LV but I wanted this one because I thought it would give us some inside scoop, which I didn't really feel it did. If you've used "The Unoffical Guide To Walt Disney World" you know it has these really great "touring plans" that weren't found in this book. It would be a great addition if they would like to make this book more useful.