- 11 common mistakes that tourists make
when visiting Las Vegas during the pandemic.
Mistake number one, not checking the hours of operation.
Many people think that Vegas is a 24/7 town,
and you know what?
It used to be, but during the pandemic,
there's very few people coming,
and so casinos, restaurants, shops
have all shortened their hours of operation.
Sometimes they close in the middle of the day.
Sometimes they close early.
Many places in Las Vegas aren't even open on weekdays.
Even places that are open on weekdays,
for example, the Circus Circus,
their table games are closed on weekdays.
And so if you wanna gamble the table game
at the Circus Circus, you can only gamble on weekends.
So whatever activity you are doing in Las Vegas,
make sure you check the hours of operation before you go.
Mistake number two,
not making restaurant reservations ahead of time.
The current pandemic regulations in Las Vegas
require diners to have a advanced reservation
before eating at a sit-down, dine-in restaurant.
Now with the proliferation of online tools,
you might say, "No problem.
I'll just make it right before I go to the restaurant."
Well, there's also capacity restrictions
that limit the amount of diners
that can be seated at restaurants,
so reservations at popular restaurants in Vegas
are actually gone quite a bit ahead of time,
so make sure you make that reservation for dining
before you go well before you go
so that you can eat at those places you want to
and not be out of luck
for your favorite dining destinations.
Mistake number three, waiting until too late to have dinner.
In Vegas, restaurants are closing
a lot earlier than they used to.
Many people who go to Vegas
often don't eat dinner till late
'cause they don't get up late,
but if you're looking for dinner at 9 or 10:00 at night,
you might find all of the good restaurants
that you usually like to eat at are close,
and you might find that McDonald's
is about the only thing open.
So make sure to plan your dinner reservations earlier.
I would recommend 6, 7, 8:00 p.m. at the latest
to make sure you actually get something tasty in your belly.
Mistake number four, going with a big group
and particularly expecting to eat
with the big group all at once.
I've heard this one a lot
from fellow explorers going to Las Vegas
that typically go as family outings.
They said they got to restaurants and the restaurant said,
"Oh, I'm sorry. We can't seat all of you.
The current limit due to pandemic regulations
in Las Vegas is four people per table."
So if you are going with a big group,
don't expect to seat all together.
You'll have to break up into smaller things
to actually sit down and have a meal.
Mistake number five, staying at the Circus Circus Hotel.
Now you might be thinking, "Chris, isn't it always a mistake
to stay at the Circus Circus?"
And generally, yes it is.
But in particular, during the pandemic,
the ends of the Strip are basically dead,
so staying at the Circus Circus is a mistake
because there's nobody there
and almost nothing's open down there.
Also, staying at the Mandalay Bay on the south end
of the Strip is also a mistake.
I've heard many fellow explorers say they stayed
at the Mandalay Bay and nothing was open.
It was also just like a ghost town.
So when you're going to Vegas,
if you want the most amount of life
and liveliness like usual Las Vegas,
definitely stay Center Strip.
Stay around Bellagio, Caesars Palace.
The link right around there in the middle,
that's where there will be life.
Staying at the ends of the Strip,
you'll find it to be dead and devoid
of the happiness and liveliness that Las Vegas usually has.
Mistake number six,
expecting Vegas to be as lively as it was before.
You know, what made Las Vegas so vibrant
were all of the visitors from all over the world,
all the people coming there for conferences,
and then, of course, the casual tourist
coming there to gamble and eat,
but it was that potpourri melting pot of visitors
that made Vegas what it was,
and currently, visitor numbers are way down.
In December, hotels were reporting
like 5 or 10% occupancy rates in these huge hotels.
So if you are going to Vegas during the pandemic,
know that it's gonna be a different Vegas.
It's not gonna be a lively Vegas.
It's not gonna be an exciting Vegas.
It will be a different Vegas.
And just expect that, you know,
plan to watch the Bellagio Fountains by yourself,
plan to stroll The Venetian shopping center
with way fewer people.
So if you're going and expecting
that sort of Vegas vacation, you'll be okay.
But if you're going and expecting the one
with tons of people, everywhere crowded, and life,
that's not what Vegas is right now.
Mistake number seven, staying at the Westgate hotel.
This used to be the Hilton hotel.
It's the one right next to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The reason why this is a mistake
to stay at during the pandemic
is what makes that hotel nice and convenient
is there's a Las Vegas Monorail stop right in front of it.
But due to the pandemic,
the Las Vegas Monorail is currently not running.
So if you're staying at a hotel,
the Westgate, or even the SAHARA,
where you said, "Yeah, it's a little bit remote,
but it's cool, I can take the monorail."
Well, make sure you check
whether the monorail has actually resumed operations.
At the time of making this video,
the Las Vegas Monorail said they expect to resume operations
on March 31st, but like everything,
that date keeps getting pushed back and pushed back.
So don't stay at a hotel expecting to take the monorail,
unless the monorail is actually running again.
Mistake number eight,
forgetting to factor in resort and parking fees.
The room rates right now may seem really cheap.
Actually, many hotels are offering complimentary room rates
to people that have even gambled a little bit
in the past in their casino loyalty programs.
But definitely, don't forget to factor in
the 30, 40, $50 a day resort fees
that go along with those complimentary free rooms.
And also, don't forget to factor in parking.
Although parking was waived at many casinos
at the beginning of the pandemic,
a lot of them have started charging for parking once again.
So that free room might actually be $65 a night
by the time you add all the fees.
Mistake number nine,
walking the Las Vegas Strip late at night.
This is one of my most popular pastimes in Las Vegas,
to walk the Strip, 11:00 p.m., midnight,
1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m., even 3:00 a.m.
Particularly on a weekend, it is an interesting sight to see
with people from all over of the world,
carrying their really big, foot-long margaritas,
but today, because there aren't as many people,
the Las Vegas Strip at night
actually gets kind of creepy, actually gets kind of weird.
It's so creepy and weird
that many of the casinos and resorts on the Strip,
like The Cosmopolitan and the Wynn now have security guards
and metal detectors to enter their casinos on weekends
because of the variety of unsavory characters
that are now hanging around on the Las Vegas Strip.
So what once used to be a really safe place
to walk at night isn't quite so safe anymore,
so make sure you walk the Las Vegas Strip
in a little bit of earlier hours
than maybe on your last trip to Vegas.
Mistake number 10, going to Las Vegas on a weekday.
You know, my favorite time
to go to Las Vegas before used to be weekdays,
but there's almost nobody going on weekdays anymore
because there's no more convention
or business travel to Vegas.
It's all leisure travelers.
And because it's all leisure travelers,
lots of stuff on weekdays is closed.
So if you want the closest liveliest experience
with the most of Las Vegas being open,
visit Vegas Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
You'll find that many hotels and things like that
are just completely shut, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Mistake number 11,
bringing your kids to the Circa or The Cromwell.
A new trend for Las Vegas are 21 and up hotels and resorts.
The Circa, the newest hotel to open in Las Vegas
in Downtown Las Vegas is a 21 and up hotel.
So if you've got kids, unfortunately, they are not welcome,
unless you're eating at the steakhouse.
The Cromwell on the Las Vegas Strip
recently redid itself as a 21 and up resort as well.
So if you'd like to stay there with your kids,
well, consider staying someplace else.
Now the biggest mistake that anybody could make
going to Las Vegas during the pandemic
is not watching my video right here about what's new,
but most importantly, what's closed for 2021
because lots of things have closed.
So if you're visiting Vegas
and you haven't watched this video, go check it out.