- Hey, fellow explorers.
A lot of people often ask me,
"Chris, when I go to Las Vegas, where should I stay?
Should I stay on the Strip,
should I stay off the Strip,
or should I stay in Downtown?"
Well, in this video, I'm gonna give you 10 good reasons
why you might wanna consider staying in Downtown Vegas
for your next visit.
I'm also gonna give you some reasons
why it might not be the best place for you to stay,
but let's go ahead and jump in right to number one.
Now the first reason you might wanna consider staying
in Downtown is, it's cheaper.
The affordability aspect
of the area is definitely what draws a lot of visitors
to stay here.
In particular, hotel room rates in Downtown are often half
of what you pay on the Strip.
Watch out, you'll often still pay resort fee down here,
you may still pay parking depending upon the hotel
that you're staying at,
table limits are gonna be less,
drinks are gonna be cheaper,
foods are gonna be less.
Overall, you're gonna spend less money
on a Downtown Vegas stay than on a Strip stay.
And yes, you still can find
99 cent shrimp cocktails down here.
You should also know
that Downtown Vegas has different liquor laws.
You can't carry a glass here.
So many of the hotels will actually have plastic cups
by the door.
You can pick one of these up
so you can carry your drink with you
but only in a plastic cup on Fremont Street.
The second reason to stay downtown is,
there's actually really good public transportation
from Las Vegas Airport to Downtown.
I know it's hard to believe,
but you can take the Centennial Express Bus direct
from the airport here.
It takes you an hour, but it costs only $2.
It'll drop you off right in the heart
of the Fremont Street Experience.
Get off at the stop named 4th Street after Carson.
Now the third reason is that,
Downtown Las Vegas is vintage,
and vintage is cool.
Now some people might say old, it's not old.
Old is not cool, it's vintage.
Vintage is cool.
But seriously, when you stay here,
you can really feel the roots of Las Vegas.
Looking up at the Golden Gate Hotel,
you can imagine how it looked in 1906
when it had the first working phone in Nevada.
The El Cortez Hotel was once owned by mobster, Bugsy Siegel.
And right at the end of the Fremont Street Experience,
the Plaza Hotel, classic Vegas.
You don't find these blinky lights many places anymore,
but this is one place where you get that super classic feel,
great Instagram picture too.
And the fourth reason is that, there's luxury here too.
It's not just all vintage and old,
there's actually new and luxury,
in particular at the Circa Hotel,
which is where I'm staying right now.
This is my room at the Circa.
This is the newest hotel downtown.
It's really quite nice.
Circa is famous for their really big sportsbook area
and also their Stadium Swim pool.
Even if you're not a guest at the Circa Hotel,
you can go to the pool.
It'll just cost you 20 bucks.
And if you wanna see more about the Circa,
well, you can check out my whole review of it.
I'll put a link in the description
where you can find it at the end of this video.
The fifth reason is, the gambling is just better downtown.
First, you'll find lower table minimums.
You'll find table minimums as low as $5 here in Downtown,
upwards of $25 out on the Strip.
The returns on the slot machines are better.
You'll get better odds there.
Also, just kind of the action and the vibe in Downtown
when gambling I think is a lot more fun than on the Strip.
And over at the Circa,
they've got some really neat dancing dealers.
The sixth reason is the Fremont Street Experience.
Around the central core of Downtown Las Vegas
on Fremont Street,
there's this really awesome light-up screen
that has shows every hour at night.
It is super amazing,
another one of those attractions only in Vegas
You need to come and see
the Fremont Street Experience light show at least once.
By the way, they also do
a really good New Year's Eve party downtown
if you're here for New Year's Eve.
The seventh reason is for free entertainment,
not just the screen that's above me,
but you can hear the loud music,
there's often DJs, live performances.
It's really lively here down at the Fremont Street area,
and they pipe their live entertainment
through these speakers.
The eighth reason is,
it's smaller in Downtown than on the Strip.
The Strip can feel overwhelming,
and you definitely can't see all of the Strip in a day,
two days, even a week.
You probably can't see all of the Strip.
But Downtown Vegas is really quite compact.
You can walk most of the core of Downtown in 45 minutes.
I should know it, I've done it making this video.
But it doesn't make you feel as rushed seeing everything,
you feel like you can linger more, explore more.
Now I will point out
that if most of your activities are on the Strip,
it might not make sense to stay Downtown
because you'll be spending a lot of time
and money going back and forth from Downtown to the Strip.
So if you're staying downtown,
definitely try to keep your activities
in the Downtown walking area.
And by the way, that doesn't mean
that you stay downtown your whole trip.
Actually, on this trip,
I'm staying downtown for the first part of it,
and then on the Strip for the second part of it.
The ninth reason is, it just feels more real.
The Strip can feel really manufactured,
but Downtown Vegas just has that kind
of earthy natural vibe to it.
By the way, if you're looking for good pizza,
Evel Pie right here in the Fremont Street East District,
one of the best pizzas you can get here in Downtown Vegas.
And speaking of this Fremont Street East District,
this is the part of Fremont Street
that's across from Las Vegas Boulevard,
so across the Strip.
There's a lot of reasonable restaurants here,
bars, and things like that.
And then there's also these old neon signs
that you can check out down here of hotels
and things that have closed,
but some more classic Vegas down here
in Fremont Street East.
The 10th reason to stay
in Downtown Vegas is to ride the zip line.
Really, there's a zip line,
it's called SlotZilla.
It goes from right up there,
and you take it all the way
along the screen to the end by the Plaza.
By the way, you might not wanna ride it
during a power outage.
When I was here, there was a power outage,
and somebody got stuck,
but that only happens like once in a blue moon.
I'm sure you'll have a really great time on it.
Now, although I painted a pretty positive picture,
it's not all rosy downtown.
There are a few cons,
in particular the loud party atmosphere might make it hard
to sleep if you're a light sleeper and you have a room
that faces the Fremont Street Experience.
Also, there is a large unhoused population down here,
so that might make some people uncomfortable.
Also, many of the street performers entertainers
can be a bit scantily clad,
so it might not be the best option
if you've got young kiddos with you.
Well, if you are coming to Vegas,
you might enjoy some more of my videos on Vegas.
I've got over 50 here in this playlist,
but you really might enjoy my video review of the Circa,
the newest hotel to open here in Downtown Vegas.
Check it out because as usual, I won't say goodbye
'cause I'll see you in one of those videos.