Laughlin, named in 1968 after its founder Don Laughlin (also owner of the Riverside Resort, the premier entertainment venue in town), is considered an alternative to Las Vegas -- much larger than both Jean/Primm and Mesquite.
Laughlin is located at the southern tip of Nevada on the banks of the Colorado River, where Nevada, Arizona, and California meet. By car it’s 90 minutes south of Las Vegas and four hours from Phoenix or Los Angeles. Five million visitors arrive there annually, mostly by car, but you can fly to the Laughlin/Bullhead City International Airport. The two main airlines are Sun Country and Allegiant; Harrah’s also sponsors regular junkets to Laughlin. You can also fly to the much larger McCarran Airport in Las Vegas and take one of the shuttle services directly to your Laughlin hotel. Amtrak (amtrack.com or 800/USA-RAIL) has train service into Needles, California, an approximately 25-minute drive from Laughlin.
Laughlin offers a picturesque river setting with water activities, big windows in the casinos, and more bargains per capita -- but temperatures sometimes 10 degrees hotter than its big Clark County sister to the north. It’s known for inexpensive food and hotel rooms, plus lots of great promotions. The atmosphere is much more relaxed than in Vegas, the employees are noticeably friendlier, and there’s a good beach at Harrah’s.
The casino district is laid out similar to the Las Vegas Strip, with all the joints on the main drag. There are a total of eight main resorts: River Palms (www.riverpalms.net), Edgewater (www.edgewater-casino.com), Ramada Express (www.ramadaexpress.com), Don Laughlin’s Riverside (www.riversideresort.com), Harrah’s Laughlin (www.harrahs.com/ourcasinos/lau/index.html), Golden Nugget Laughlin (www.gnlaughlin.com), Flamingo Laughlin (www.aquariuscasinoresort.com), and Colorado Belle (www.coloradobelle.com). You can stroll from resort to resort on the Colorado River Walk (about an hour from end to end, though it’s brutal in the 120-degree summer heat) or you can take a river taxi, a fun way to get around.
Entertainment isn’t what Laughlin is all about; Choices are slim and shows are under-produced because of small budgets. A couple of outdoor venues (Harrah’s, Flamingo) have big-name acts from time to time and the Riverside has a semi-regular schedule of top talent. If you can catch one, you can get a ticket for approximately half the price you’d pay anywhere else. Overall, however, we don’t recommend going to Laughlin to see any type of entertainment other than a well-known headliner.
Still, if you’re going and want to check the current Laughlin entertainment schedule, the following Web sites are the places to look: www.laughlin-nv.com (click "Laughlin Shows" or "Show Schedules" for a complete and accurate listing), and www.visitlaughlin.com and www.laughlinnevada.guide.com are accurate and up to date.
