Thetownend.com

A family member is looking to go, and asked me if I knew anyone who'd been in late August... any tips on what to avoid, must see's etc, how bloody hot it will be. Ta!

(I searched, and went 15 pages back but couldn't find anything so forgive me if this is a double/triple thread!)

I've never been but done a quick weather search for August

https://weatherspark.com/m/2228/8/Average-Weather-in-August-in-Las-Vegas-Nevada-United-States

it can be bloody hot, think we did mid sept and it was a drying heat!

just booked for April funnily enough.

One of the hottest places I have ever been to this time of the year.
As Batch said it’s such a dry heat, like opening up the oven door.

3 nights for me was enough, trip to the Canyon a must and Yosemite National Park.

It will be very hot!!
if you have the time/money suggest the following -

Grand Canyon/Hoover Dam
Night time Helicopter down the strip

KA by Cirgue du Soleil (MGM)
Absinthe (Caesars)
Book the tickets online for best deals both shows are fantastic

Top Tip - Don't pay to go up The Stratosphere, get a reservation in the Top of the World restaurant and you get up there for free. Good food and obviously great views!

As a man who has done Vegas a few times, I’ll write a list later when home and PM you.

Boy About Town  - would you go Cosmo or Bellagio?

Went for former in the end, so it's a bit academic

Ta!

I believe they're looking at the MGM and the Venetian, certainly the two they've mentioned!

Probably the Bellagio for me. Depends what you are looking for really. Cosmopolitan is probably a little cheaper. Bellagio slightly better located on the strip.

fair enough! cheers

was looking at price, location and reviews.

last time stayed at Luxor. Happy enough with the hotel but was a bit too far down strip as we have limited time

Wear a hat. Use suncream. Carry a bottle of water. Wear sunglasses.

I went there at the end of August 2012. It was in the middle/tail end of a 2 month coast-to-coast road trip so we had acclimatised to the hot weather, having been in Southern Texas trekking not long before Vegas. I'm usually very sensitive to heat though; I once got sunburn and sunstroke on a hot day in England in January. But I found Vegas okay because everywhere is air conditioned. It was my birthday when we were there and I had no smart clothes so went to Topman and bought a woolen 3-piece suit. It was fine to wear in the evening because we weren't outside or walking for long.

We weren't sure we'd enjoy Vegas but I loved it. The customer service was on another level. We stayed at the Encore and gambled, went to a big club night (Deadmouse, shit), shot guns (fun and scary), saw the Penn & Teller magic show (amazing, avoid David Copperfield if he's still there), and ate very well. My pal wasn't as keen on the place but still enjoyed it overall.

The Grand Canyon is amazing, definitely worth seeing. Though the large South African lady who was walking back from the crater edge, back onto the bus, though it was "not that big", which is possibly the most stupid thing I've ever heard.

Have we ever had a hot day in January😀

There was not a cloud in sight! Probably also about 10 years ago now. We had a warm patch in February a couple of years ago too.

Just wondering how the low winter sun generated enough heat to give you sunburn/heatstroke!

The Grand Canyon is the obvious one!

Vegas is a weird place... I went a few years back for a work conference and I hated it whilst I was there. The dated 80's feel to some of the casinos, stale smoke smell, the obvious manipulation from no windows or clocks on the casino floor, the waitresses wandering around with drinks looking for a dollar tip, eating anything was more than what you'd expect in an airport..

But when I came back, I just wanted to fill my pockets with cash, go back and stick it all on red for the thrill. Also worked out that I only slept on average of 4 hours a night for the entire time I was there..

Can't wait to go back one day!

I really am pathetic in the sun, I'm freckly and pale. I was outside almost all of the day, doing a football coaching qualification with no sun screen or hat. Felt like utter shit when I got home; banging headache, no appetite, and had to lie down and not do anything all night.

Sounds like me, more than a touch of the ginge, start to sizzle under a full moon...  ;D

 :yikes:

My missus is a brunette, her skin however, is that of a blonde, goes red looking at a light bulb.

Luckily my nippers have got their sun tolerance from their mum, despite both being super blonde!

Will be roasting that time of year
Been twice now, love it

Top tip - get pissed for free in the casinos while gambling - too the waitress when they come round and they’ll bring you free drinks until you move on

Also buy water from walgreens

Ok, ruse dropped, going with my Missus to actually officially make her my Mrs, after April's slight wedding on fire issue...

Wanting to hire a meaty V8 car to go bowling around in for a day, anyone got any experience?

Me and future Piewoman are thinking of a Vegas marriage so would be interested to know what the experience and costs are like. I've got a year or two until we tie the knot yet

I went there for two nights at the beginning of September 2015 at the starting point of a 3 week long road trip down the west coast from Seattle to LA.

Simply put Vegas is amazing, its a huge adults play ground, I would definitely advise you see all the major hotels if you can, we stayed in the Tropicana which is fairly central and fairly easy to get to from the airport.

Take lots of cash as you will need it for the gambling and tipping, its hard not to gamble as there its everywhere. We didn't really venture off of the main strip which has pretty much everything you need. The Bellagio is an absolutely amazing hotel.

If your into night clubs there are absolutely loads and the good ones are all in major hotels, on the flip side there are loads of themed bars and night places to just sit and have a pint. 

A few tips:
-Every major hotel has a mini bus service from the airport to the hotel, and there will be crooks trying to get you to pay $60 to take them and say there is an "airport tax". Luckily me and my friends quickly realized it was a con. (We did however pay $60 to get a limo because why the hell no)
-Always tip the Waiters/bar staff,hosts,dealers.... just generally always tip as its customary in the US to leave one.
-You will be offered a lot of drugs just walking down the strip but they don't hustle you
-It's incredibly safe to walk down the main strip any time of night.
-Ask for paper bags as the plastic ones with logos tend to melt onto your leg when walking.

Honestly was an amazing two nights and we hardly slept, I spent about $3,000 in the two days there and it was worth every penny. I also won good chunk of change on the black jack tables (around $1,000) and all the dealers were really helpful and friendly. Also when you gamble the drinks are free! you just tip the hosts that bring you the drinks.

Weather wise its ruddy hot. We flew from Gatwick to LA, then the next day flew from LA to Vegas at 6AM and it was 30 degrees when we landed and it only got hotter. 

One of the hottest places I have ever visited.
Flying over the Canyon is something else and Vegas never sleeps and or do you.
3 nights and I was done for. Best advice try and get to see as many of the crazy hotels as you can. Met a beauty outside of the Mirage Hotel, happy days.
Many years back mind and it’s a crazy place for sure.

Chicago still my favourite US City.

Frisco is my favourite, they do have a beggar/homeless issue though.

hope to go to Vegas in April, job dependant

I remember going to Arizona to play golf, it was September but absolutely scorching hot.

Was the first time I’d seen sprinklers around petrol stations.

Anywhere in those areas is really hot, although there’s an irony that the Dallas Cowboys go to California for their pre season training camp because it’s too hot to do it in Dallas

i absolutley love NYC, many dont but its an amazing place

As has been mentioned, Vegas in summer is pure heat.   It's a dry heat though, so it's purely the temp and sun that will get you.  On one visit a taxi driver told me it was going to cool down tomorrow, by how much I asked (it was 113), to which he replied 107.

Everything is pretty much worth doing - it's not a real place, so just go with a budget and stick to it, but relax and go with the flow.  I mean, you can lose your shirt ordering a drink sat at a bar.  Find a show you may not normally do, try out places on the strip, try some out off the strip.  Just remember to keep an eye on the time - once you are inside, there is very little to give you any hint of what time of day it is.  As it's a wedding, probably should recommend walking past the Bellagio to see the fountains.

Bring some $ bills - as mentioned, if you play slots or the tables you will get free drinks, but they expect tips.  20% is standard on anything served with food involved.  Usually $1 per drink is sufficient but that may have crept to $2 these days, given the actual price of the drink you get free.

Nightclubs/lounges in the evening will be eye wateringly expensive to offset those freebies.  Expect a cover charge if you want a table of $200 an up - you essentially pay for the bottle.  There won't be anywhere to sit if you don't take a table in most places and single drinks will be $15 ish each.  You'll also get plenty of girls willing to share that bottle with you - which probably is not the point of this trip.

Some really cheap places to eat and some really great fine dining options as well.  Basically you will find a $1 per pancake joint within walking distance to somewhere charging for steak by the ounce.

Agree. Love to go back.

We hired a Mustang convertible (It was either a V6 or V8) when we went to Florida a few years back. All I can really remember was that to hire it was absolutely cheap as chips, way way way cheaper per day than to hire the smallest car you can get in England/Ireland. Also at the time gas/petrol was cheap. 

I enjoyed driving around in it, but speed limits did seem harsher than in England and the presence of the local county sheriff around every corner meant it was a little bit pointless. It was fun though for a few days and can tick off that i've driven a mustang!

Bear in mind that an American mile is longer than a UK mile so a 25mph speed limit is nearer 29mph in UK terms.

In some states its legal to drive at 85mph which is the same as 100mph in the UK, and the usual 70mph speed limit is 81mph in UK terms.

Sorry what? This has blown my mind a bit.

Imperial measurements are batshit.

American gallons are also smaller than a UK gallon. US gallon=3.785 litre but in the UK 4.546 litres. Hence car mpg figures in the US seem way lower than the same car in the UK as we get more fuel per gallon than they get in the US.

Are you sure? I don't think it is.  5280 feet

the liquid measurements are. We get short changed on American pints,

According to Wiki (I know!!) the US Survey Mile and the International Mile is different by 3.2 mm.

I'll live with it :) 1.6 meters for every 500 miles.

Assume road signs are not accurate to 3.2mm even if they aren't statute miles

Could have been I was mistaken about US miles and UK Nautical miles :) as you were.

No worries mate. I would have believed you if it wasn't for that pesky Batch! :)

American's tend to skip around with Imperial measurements, so they stick to Ounces for fluid measures and not really use pints, then move to Gallons.  They stop at Pounds for weight.  Oddly, I do see Pint used, but usually for Chinese food - so a Pint of Egg Fried Rice, or a Quart!  

They also introduced Federal Guidelines for Weights and Measures in the 1970's I think, which never got forced.  As a result you have some quirks like a Liter used for large fizzy drink bottles, where it was an early adopter, likely due to global sales at the time.

I guess it's no different than the UK switching from Decimal to Imperial with distances and speed.

The use of cups as a measurement in US recipes is a mild inconvenience.
Just have to remember that 1 cup is roughly 250ml.

The Thirteen Colonies are probably beyond saving now. Even bringing them back into the Imperial fold wouldn't help.

Loved Vegas by the way.
Stayed in the pyramid for 4 nights back in 2001 as part of a 60 day pass Greyhound bus jaunt across the country.

Pretty certain that we're not gonna be hitting any of the clubs, short of finding a rock or metal bar, ha! Looking at the temps over there at the minute and wincing... but can't bloody wait.

The heat is so very dry.
Stick your head close to when you open up an oven. It’s like that 😎

Our oven broke yesterday, I'll try not to look for any hidden meaning in that... :-D