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Rating: 
Summary: Access Las Vegas (5th Ed.)
Review: 'Access Las Vegas' was not exactly what I was looking for, but is a well rounded guide to the city and the attractions. I am a college student taking my first trip to Las Vegas, and I was looking for a guide to the sites on a very small budget. This would be a good book for someone with more of a budget to work with, and more time to spend in the city.
Rating: 
Summary: An astonishing number of mapping errors
Review: I am a fan of the Access Guides because of their unique format, which divides a city into neighborhoods and then describes specific buildings, but this particular guide is a disaster. With this format, the neighborhood maps are especially important, and the most important of all - the map of the Strip - is riddled with errors. I counted 19 key buildings that were incorrectly located on this one map, including such landmarks as Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Paris, Aladdin, New York New York, MGM, and Tropicana. The New Frontier, a Strip hotel, is shown as being on Industrial Road! Who edited this debacle?
At the time I am writing this (early 2005), this 2000 edition is the most recent version available. It is shorter than the others in the Access series, about 140 pages, of which 20 pages are devoted to gambling tips. Coverage of the Strip and Downtown is thorough (if you can figure out where things are located), but outlying neighborhoods get less attention when compared to other guides in the Access series.
Rating:
Summary: Skip the book and use the web sites
Review: In 1996 I purchased several books about Las Vegas for a trip I was planning. I found that the third edition of this book, Access Las Vegas, was a great source of information. I found the maps and the information cross referenced to them especially helpful. Plus the size of the book made it very easy to take along as you explored Las Vegas. Since I was highly impressed with the 3rd edition I decided to purchase an updated book for our up coming trip. Upon looking thru the book for the additions to the ever-changing landscape of The Strip, it became apparent that the map of the strip was filled with errors. Based on their map the Monte Carlo was built on the site of New York New York. The MGM Grand has moved east on Tropicana Ave. New York New York has moved to the site of the Tropicana and the Tropicana has moved off of the map. The Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay are not even referenced on the map. The majority of the maps cross-references for the Strip are inaccurate. Did anyone with any knowledge of Las Vegas check these maps before they were published? If the maps are this inaccurate what other information is incomplete or inaccurate? It is a real shame for what was a great vacation guide to become useless. I am highly disappointed in that Mr. Wurman produced in this 5th edition. I went to the Access Guides web site to see if they posted corrected maps for this book. Unfortunately they have not made corrections available. I looked for a way to email them about the problems with their book. However they did not offer that option. For correct maps of Las Vegas visit the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority web site. There are numerous other Las Vegas web sites with very useful information. My recommendation is to skip the book and use the web sites.
Rating:
Summary: Access Las Vegas
Review: While I have enjoyed the compact format of Access Las Vegas with its color-coded run-down's of various restaurants, casinos and hotels in the past, I found this edition to be slightly out-of-date, especially in the section on shows (featuring several that closed or changed stars prior to January 2000). I enjoyed the featured "Bests" comments by local Las Vegas personalities and trivia boxes with interesting Vegas facts. However, [..] for 140 pages [..] I found this to be a little pricey.
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