Rio Hotel - Casino, Las Vegas

The Rio is a carnival theme hotel off the strip. We wanted to go there to see the free Show in the sky in the Masquerade Village. The Rio provides a free shuttle bus which we caught from Ballys but I think it does do pick ups at other locations (Harrahs etc).

The show in the sky is a colourful show of dancing and music. There were also people walking around on stilts throwing mardi gras beads beforehand. There are also floats which move around at the top of the casino, you can stand upstairs to get a better look or you can even pay (prebook) for a ride in a float, we didn't do this though.

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During the World Series of Poker (WSOP), The Rio transforms into a madhouse :p Pros and gold-diggers with ambitions go at it in the worlds biggest battle for astronomical piles of dollar-bills. If you prefer to spend your cash elsewhere, there is also a good diner there, serving traditional American food close to the sports book that we tried.

PS: Keep your eyes and ears open. You never know what celebrity you might bump into.

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We booked to go to see Penn and Teller before we left the UK. It was easy to collect the tickets at Rio box office but we were surprised at how far off the strip the Rio hotel is. We walked there and caught the courtesy shuttle bus back for picking up the tickets during the day, then got a taxi there and back in the evening as it wasn't the most ideal place to walk after dark.

Penn and Teller were well worth the ticket price. They were fresh as if it was one of their first shows and funny. Some of the jokes were definately aimed at the American audience and we really didn't geddit but they weren't the biggest part of the show. Teller even does a monolgue....which if you know about Penn and Teller, you'll know how rare that is!

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Penn & Teller certainly have a lot of charisma on stage.

Before the show the audience was allowed to go up on stage and checkout the props and take photos.

After the show we where able to get photos with both Penn & Teller. Great Night out !!

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This is an amazing free show to watch at Rio, just above the gambling area. The floats are attached to the ceiling and move around with dancers on etc.

The lights, costumes, face masks, dancers and music are out of this world.

You can also go on one of the floats (I never realized at the time but would have been so much fun).

I would highly recommend everyone go and check this out.

The Rio is one of the newest resorts on the strip and has a distinctive South American/ Latin vibe. Every so often the volume of the music would increase and a few of the wait staff would hop up onto some of the slot machines for a dance. The most striking thing about the Rio was the enrgy surrounding the place. The casino staff is amongst the friendliest on the strip and the customer service was simply great. Its a little off the strip itself, located on the other side of the I-15, but despite the distance, the Rio is well worth the time.

If you take a trip off the Strip out to the Rio Hotel Casino, do not miss the Carnival!! I think this starts about 3pm and then every couple of hours or so, but its worth the wait if you mistime it. Suspended above the casino floor the full Rio Carnival glides out on ceiling runners with floats and dancers equally matching the real thing. People in full Rio carnival dress sit in the floats throwing out jewelery, sweets etc. and you can actually sign up to be one of them. A real spectacular and all free!

Great free sky parade. Sexy people on floats on the ceiling throwing beads. It was fun! The buffet at the Rio hotel was huge with good food. The afternoon vintriolquist show was great. Get a coupon from someone on the strip. You get in for $15.00 and get 2 drinks. Good deal.