A horrible place that should be shut down, but you kind of have to visit once. Please feel very guilty everytime that you shower there and everytime that you see a green lawn. Things like that are why the Colorado river never even reaches the ocean anymore. There are tons of casinos to see. I have only ever been to the Circus Circus. It had the world's largest buffet, with huge plates and so much to choose from. I ate so much that I thought that i'd injured myself internally. I went and laid down in the sun for a half an hour before I could even move again.
I have heard that the former state of super cheap hotels and meals to keep you there, and keep you gambling are no more. The cheap room rates are now only Sunday through Thursday. Is this true?
Robert, the chef in the cooking class i sometimes go to, recommended the International Buffet in the basement of the Aladdin. He stayed at the Flamingo hotel. He said that they tried to push strip facing rooms on them, which may have been nice, but he ended up with a NW facing room that overlooked a huge, beautiful garden (with flamingos!) and guessed that the view couldn't be beat.
http://www.aureolelv.com/wine.html Inspired by a scene from Mission Impossible, Aureole has a 42 foot tall wine tower served by a slick wine attendandt who zips up to the appropriate level on a cable!
Reno has a lot of the good of Vegas, but not as extreme, and doesn't have that shitty plastic feel that Vegas does. There are plenty of lights and casinos, but you don't have to feel guilty going there.
Once a year in the Black Rock Desert is a huge party/art-show/rave/whatever. There is no money exchanged within the grounds, yet people spend inordinate amounts of time and money setting up their camps, art cars, ideas, and much more. It costs a pretty penny to get in, and it's simply not worth it unless you're going for the whole time. People that go think that it's the greatest thing in the world. It's too big and complicated a thing for me to say much here. With all that exists on the internet about it, read some other sites to get a better opinion.