My second ever La Diosa. Smoked at Casa Fuente.
I alluded to this in my last review but I recently spent a long weekend visiting Las Vegas with a couple of friends. The purpose of the trip was to hang out (the three of us had not done this in five years), relax, smoke cigars and drink. Trust me, we had a good time. Instead of coming back this week attempting to get in a review, I thought our time together this week would be better spent on tips for organizing the trip and things learned while on the trip. Let’s get started.
Smaller Airlines Will Save You Money
I found round trip tickets from essentially St. Louis to Las Vegas for under $300.00 total via Allegiant. You are not going to get that from the big airline companies at all. Plus, if you fly out of a smaller airport, I almost guarantee you that your ‘security experience’ from TSA will be minimized. Allegiant is more or less how I will be traveling to Las Vegas from now on.
Take A Shuttle Service To And From The Airport
Mistake number one we made was taking a taxi from the airport to the Strip. When they ask “Can I take the fast way?”, what that really means is “You’re going to end up with a $35-40 cab bill”. There are plenty of shuttle services that can get to you to your hotel and back to the airport for less.
Find Hotel Deals From The Actual Hotel
The hotel was the toughest part of the trip to plan because we had three guys going (ended up with four at the very last minute and it still worked out). For a few weeks, I hit up all the travel sites and never really got pricing I felt comfortable sharing with the rest of the group. One evening, I ended up at the Palazzo website and happened upon their offers page. By signing up on their mailing list (I gave them a throwaway email address I use), I got 33% off our hotel bill, which happened to coincide with the dates that the offer was valid. So the cost for the three of us was around $85 a night depending on if you counted the resort fees and taxes. And it was a suite with two queen beds and a couch big enough to fit two (V shaped couch).
The Library Room at the Dorsey Cigar Bar at the Venetian.
Bring Your Own Cigars
Most cigar clubs in Las Vegas do not care if you are bringing your own cigars in, as long as you are buying something from them (more cigars or drinks) at the onset. Casa Fuente was happy to allow it since we bought cigars and drinks, as did the Dorsey at the Venetian. The price markup on cigars can be high for Vegas, especially at gentlemen’s clubs, so do not be afraid to invest in a travel humidor and bring several along. Just remember if you didn’t check any baggage on your plane, you won’t be able any cutting devices along. Cigars also work well as a minor deterrent to some greedy strippers, but that is probably an explanation for another day…
Know Where To Smoke
Most of the time, the answer for this is most anywhere. However, restaurants and shopping areas more than likely frown on or prohibit smoking, so don’t try sneaking it. Beyond that, be happy to light up in casino floors and especially during all the walking outside you’ll likely be doing getting from hotel to hotel.
You Can’t Visit/Smoke/Drink/Eat Everything
In the last month or two prior to the trip, one of my friends called me with bi-weekly updates on places we could hit up. And we even had a generalized plan for what we would do when. It quickly got thrown out the window. Plans change on the fly. Events that transpire that evening (or early morning most likely) can change things because everyone isn’t as young as they used to be. The best thing I can tell you for this is look into where you all are going then pick out a couple of spots around that area.
My friends and I had a great time visiting Las Vegas, smoking and drinking our fair share of the town. If anyone has any specific questions about where we hung out, I would be more than happy to answer the questions in the comments or via email. Just hit me up.
And as always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.
