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| - Two of us recently took the Las Vegas Casino Travel & Tours' Hoover Dam Express Tour that was booked through the MGM concierge services at our hotel at a cost of over $85 per person. The brochure stated that we would travel in "a custom mini-bus or van" and be given "a narrative presented by your personal guide."
We were picked up about 15 minutes after the appointed time at our hotel that was located on the strip. The vehicle used was a mini-bus that is typical for these kinds of tours and nothing special. The tour team consisted of a driver and tour guide. The guide explained that because of the large number of people booked, the mini-bus was used instead of a van. Our guide said that our hotel had originally been the last pickup scheduled, however, there was a change of plans and due to some type of mix up the bus would have to travel to another hotel and pick up more people. He went on to say that because he didn't want to repeat himself, the start of the tour narrative would be delayed until the last group of passengers boarded. Nevertheless, almost immediately en route to the next hotel he started his tour spiel. About 10 minutes later we arrived at the final hotel. Because the pickup parking area was congested, we had to wait approximately 10 more minutes to find a spot to park and allow the new passengers to board. Then off we went and our guide repeated much of the information about the dam that he had already provided. In fact, going and returning (significantly later than scheduled) our guide repeated much of the same information four times in addition to telling some very lame jokes.
When we arrived at the dam parking area, our guide surprised us by informing us of where he would be after the tour so that we could rejoin him. He went on to explain that he would not be conducting the actual tour of the dam but that he would pick up our entry tickets and disperse them to us. He said that tour guides are not allowed to conduct tours inside the dam because of a previous altercation between the dam personnel and a tour guide who our guide was quick to point out had been from a different tour company. We then learned that U.S. Department of Interior employees would conduct our tour called the Power Plant Tour inside the dam. Subsequently, our guide provided our tickets and then we commenced the tour.
Our tickets cost only $11 apiece. (Prices are reduced or eliminated for seniors, military personnel, and children, and all tickets can be obtained on-line in advance.) So in effect we paid about $150 plus tip (for which there were multiple solicitations by our guide) to Casino Travel & Tours for transportation and a little historical information.
The dam is an awesome engineering marvel and the Power Plant Tour was very informative and highly recommended.
My advice, however, is that if you are able to drive, purchase your tickets on-line, rent a car for the day (if you do not already have one available), travel to the dam that is an easy drive of only about 30 miles from Las Vegas, and use the car to go to other points of interest in the area. By doing so, two people will save a minimum of $41 and much more for a party of four. ($170 tour cost - $100 car rental for one day - $22 ticket cost - $7 parking = $41 [cost of gas offset by amount of tip]) You can start early (tours begin a little after 9:00 a.m.) and that will give you plenty of opportunity to visit other sights outside of Las Vegas proper later the same day.
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