Yes, the strip is old Vegas, it's gritty old and full of gritty old women, but still is a blast. The strip is where you find mostly naked LA 10's walking around everywhere, so you best hit it at least one or twice. One time I accidentally stuck my hand right in a girls p**** when I was walking, because she was walking so close behind me with no underwear and a really short skirt. My hand swung back from my swagger and I was all like, what is this warm and wet thing on my hand and then I was all like pardon me.
It's a pain to park downtown, I would avoid the car. Everything downtown is in easy walking distance, you only need transportation to get to the strip. Taxi fare to the strip is about $25+tip. 24 hour bus pass on the deuce is $7, and the best way to get around. If you go to the downtown transfer station there is also an express strip bus that is quicker than the deuce. The deuce is a good way to cruise the strip for cheap. Don't try and walk to the strip especially after dark. Las Vegas Blvd north of Sahara is not safe. Areas of downtown outside of the Fremont district are not safe either.
When pulling into downtown, memorize one of the phone numbers from one of the many bail bond places. If you do your trip right, you'll be needing it before it's over.
Good steakhouses downtown are: the Steakhouse at Binions, the Flame at El Cortez and Hugo's Cellar at 4 Queens. Hugo's cellar is probably the most romantic. At any of these places get a nice steak each, a bottle of red wine to share, a salad each and split 2 sides (like potatos and mushrooms) and it will run you around $100/person, for a great and memorable dinner. I heard they closed the Binions hotel down, but the casino and restaurants are still open last time I was there.
Good Grub: the 777 brewpub in Main Street Station has great reasonably priced food and good microbrews, as well as a decent happy hour special. Also, Chicago Brewing inside 4 queens, serves up microbrews and great pizza but is also a cigar lounge, so if smoke turns you off don't go in there. The 4 Queens coffee shop, is reasonably priced and edible. Golden Gate has the best shrimp cocktail special going on, I think it's like $1.99 now but still, a must do. They also just opened a burger place called Heart Attack Grill, I haven't been there yet but looks good, here is there website (includes menu):
http://www.heartattackgrill.com/Buffets: Most buffets downtown are nasty, most are cheap, the best one is at Main Street Station.
Drinks: There are cheap drink specials everywhere downtown, however you must stop into Hogs and Heifers, where bartenders in bikinis dance on the bar, shout crude things into a megaphone and has a bunch of bras hanging on the walls.
Don't: Go into Glitter Gulch, there are much better strip clubs and the hos here really hustle you relentlessly. Unless you like nasty girls that have cigarette burns on them from their pimp and tattoos of their boyfriend name tramp stamped on their lower back.
Gambling: I don't play the machines but if you want to make your buck go furthest, play video poker. There is plenty of full pay VP downtown, just look at the pay tables for jacks or better and find one that pays 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush, with correct play these pay out 99.54% of all money put in.
Clubs: Do not go to any nightclubs, they are just overpriced places to pick up skanks. You will have a better time at a strip club for less money, and there are plenty of places to pick up drunk golddigging skanks without shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Limos: Limos in Las Vegas are way cheaper than here. Call around and you can usually get one for $30/hr. Spending 4 hours cruising the strip in a limo casino hopping can be fun. Also, keep a name of the limo driver on hand, that way if you find a skank you want to bang, don't bring her to your room where your wife is going to find out about it. Tell her that you will "give my limo driver a call, to pull the limo around," then call the limo driver and have him pick you up. Girls will do things in limos they won't do in hotel rooms.
If you need any advice while you are down there, give me a call anytime, I loooooove Vegas and have been all over that town.