May 1st, 2027 · South Point Casino · Las Vegas, NV
Make a Weekend of It
You are already putting in the work. Do it somewhere worth traveling to.
The Desert Classic is a national qualifier at a resort where everything you need sits under one roof, ten minutes from the airport and fifteen from the Strip. Here is how to plan the weekend.
The Venue
Everything Under One Roof
South Point is a full resort on sixty acres, and that matters more than it sounds like it does on show weekend. You check in, tan, eat, sleep, and step on stage without ever moving your car.
- Ten minutes from Harry Reid International with a complimentary airport shuttle
- Free self parking, no long walk from an outer garage
- Eleven restaurants, a 24 hour cafe, and a 24 hour Starbucks
- Costa del Sur Spa and Salon plus a 24 hour fitness center
- 64 lane bowling center, 16 screen movie theater, 400 seat showroom, arcade, pool
No rideshare at 5am. No hunting for parking. Walk downstairs and go.
Post-Show
You Earned This
Plan the meal before you plan the posing routine. Show night reservations fill up, so book before you fly in.
Steak & Sit-Down
Silverado Steakhouse, Primarily Prime Rib, Michael’s Gourmet Room, and Don Vito’s for Italian and seafood. The classic post-show table with your coach and your crew.
Something Different
Zenshin for contemporary Asian, Big Sur Oyster Bar for seafood, Baja Miguel’s for Mexican, Garden Buffet if the whole family is eating.
The Actual Cheat Meal
Steak ‘n Shake and Kate’s Korner Ice Cream Parlor are both on property. No judgment.
Still Hungry at 1am
Coronado Cafe is open 24 hours. It is the unofficial post-finals headquarters.
Bring Your People
For Family & Friends
Prejudging to finals is a long day, and the athlete is backstage for most of it. Nobody who came to support you should be sitting in a hotel room. Everything here is a walk from the ballroom.
- 64 lane bowling center with a lounge and snack bar
- 16 screen Century Theatres complex
- Costa del Sur Spa and Salon
- Outdoor pool and poolside bar
- 80,000 square foot casino, race and sports book, poker room, and a 600 seat bingo room
- Equestrian arena events, depending on the weekend schedule
Beyond the Property
Ten Minutes or Less
South Point sits at the south end of the valley, which people treat as a drawback. It is the opposite.
You are past the Strip traffic, ten minutes from the airport, and closer to some of the best of Southern Nevada than anyone staying mid-Strip. Everything in this section is a short drive from the hotel lobby.
Silverton Casino
A 117,000 gallon saltwater aquarium sits in the middle of the casino floor, stocked with rays, tropical fish, and a handful of small sharks. Divers feed them on a schedule and there is a mermaid show that is exactly as strange and delightful as it sounds. Admission is free.
Attached to the same building is a full Bass Pro Shops, which is a genuine attraction in its own right if you have never been in one. Easy hour, no tickets, good for kids.
Town Square
An open-air shopping and dining center built to look like a small downtown, with a park in the middle and a movie theater at one end. This is where you go when the group cannot agree on anything.
Roughly two dozen restaurants across every price point, plus normal stores where you can replace the belt or the shoes you forgot. Free parking, and it never feels like the Strip.
Pinball Hall of Fame
A nonprofit warehouse on Las Vegas Boulevard holding several hundred restored pinball and arcade machines going back to the 1930s. No admission charge. Games run a quarter to a dollar, so bring cash. It is one of the few genuinely unpretentious things left on the Strip corridor and it will eat two hours before you notice.
Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign
The Betty Willis sign from 1959, with its own free parking lot and a dedicated photo line. Go early or late to skip the wait. There are freelance photographers working the line who will offer to shoot you and expect a tip, so decide in advance whether you want that. A decent post-show photo with the trophy.
Allegiant Stadium Tours
Guided tours of the Raiders stadium run on non-event days and go deeper than you would expect: the owner’s suite, the press box, the locker rooms, and out onto the field itself. Check the schedule before booking, because a concert load-in will close the field portion and that is the part everybody comes for.
M Resort
The next property south, sitting up on a rise with a view back across the valley. A quieter casino, a good pool, and a handful of restaurants. Useful as an overflow option if the South Point block sells out, or as a change of scenery for a drink that does not involve walking back through your own hotel.
Training
Where to Get Your Pump
The hotel fitness center is open 24 hours and included with your room. It covers maintenance work and a light pump, and for a lot of athletes that is all show weekend requires.
If you want a real session, Las Vegas is one of the best gym cities in the country and several serious bodybuilding facilities sit within ten to twenty minutes of the property. Most sell day passes in the twenty to thirty dollar range, several are open twenty-four hours, and a few have posing rooms you can reserve by the block, which is worth knowing if you want mirror time that is not the back of a hotel bathroom.
Official gym partners for 2027 will be posted here before registration closes, with addresses, hours, day pass rates, and any discount codes we can negotiate for registered athletes. If you run a Las Vegas gym and want to be on that list, get in touch through the sponsor page.
A few things worth sorting before you land. Confirm the day pass policy by phone rather than assuming, since some of the better rooms cap guests or require a waiver signed in advance. Ask about posing room availability at the same time. And if you are training the morning of prejudging, pick somewhere close, because nothing good comes from fighting Las Vegas Boulevard traffic in a tan.
Peak Week
Food, Supplements, and Water
Vegas is unusually well set up for how competitors actually eat. There is a substantial meal prep industry here serving the local fitness and competition scene, most of it macro-labeled, most of it available for storefront pickup rather than a delivery subscription, and several locations sit within ten minutes of the hotel. If you would rather not fly with a cooler, this is the easiest city in the country to solve that problem on arrival.
The same goes for supplements. There are well-stocked independent shops in the south valley carrying the full range of competition-week products, and staff who understand what you are asking for when you walk in three days out. Big-box options exist too if you just need basics.
For groceries, there is a full supermarket a few minutes from the property, which handles egg whites, rice, chicken, and the gallon jugs. Rooms include a refrigerator, and the hotel can usually accommodate a request for extra ice.
A vetted list of meal prep and supplement partners will be posted here before registration closes, with locations, hours, and athlete discounts where we can arrange them.
One practical note on the desert. Las Vegas sits at about 2,000 feet in extremely dry air, and it will pull water out of you faster than you expect. Whatever your protocol says, the travel days on either side of it are worth paying attention to.
Off-Property Dining
Worth Leaving the Building For
The eleven restaurants inside South Point will cover almost everything. But if you are here for three days, or you want the post-show meal somewhere that is not attached to a casino floor, these are the ones to know.
Town Square, About 8 Minutes
Yard House
Huge menu, huge beer list, and enough televisions that nobody misses whatever game is on. Gluten-free menu available. This is the reliable pick for a group of eight where three people have opinions and five do not. Expect a wait on a Saturday night.
Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar
Mountain lodge styling, comfort food, and an unusually deep set of lower-calorie entrees for a place that also serves a bison meatloaf. Good middle ground when half the group is still dieting and the other half is very much not.
The Guest House
The most upscale room in the center. Short rib, branzino, scallops, a real cocktail program, and a DJ later in the evening that shifts it from dinner to something livelier. Reservations recommended. A strong alternative to a casino steakhouse for the post-show table.
Nukha
Mediterranean and Central Asian. Kebabs, manti, and mixed appetizer spreads, with a lounge atmosphere and live music on weekends. Open to midnight most nights and one in the morning Friday and Saturday, which makes it viable after finals.
Brio Italian Grille
Straightforward Italian in a large, slightly noisy room. Pasta, grilled salmon, lamb chops, a decent calamari. Nothing surprising, which is exactly what you want when you are feeding a group that has been on chicken and rice for sixteen weeks.
Milano Restaurant & Bar
Smaller family-run Italian with indoor and patio seating, closed Mondays. The chef comes out to the table. Better for a party of four than a party of twelve, and the eggplant parmigiana has a following.
Breakfast Where the Locals Go
Vegas has a genuinely good independent breakfast scene, almost all of it away from the Strip and almost all of it closing by mid-afternoon. Go early on Saturday or plan to wait.
The Original Sunrise Cafe
The closest of these to the hotel and a true neighborhood spot. House-flavored coffees that change daily, a long specials board, and staff who have been there for years. Closes at 2pm on weekdays, 2:30 on weekends.
Mr. Mamas Breakfast and Lunch
Strip mall diner covered in sports pennants, generous portions, and a cinnamon roll that arrives warm. Steak and eggs, French toast, standard American breakfast executed well and priced reasonably. Open until 3pm daily.
Lou’s Diner
Classic American diner with homemade jams brought to the table when you sit down. Expect a thirty to forty minute wait on a weekend morning, and expect it to be worth it. Opens at 6am, which suits anyone still on East Coast time.
Omelet House
Open since 1979 and looks it, in the best way. The building it sits in is unglamorous and the restaurant inside is warm and full of history. Enormous omelets, biscuits and gravy, chilaquiles. Closes at 3pm.
Outdoors
Get Out of the Valley
Early May is the last comfortable month before Las Vegas becomes genuinely punishing outdoors. Highs run in the high 80s and the air is bone dry. If you are staying an extra day, this is the best possible use of it. Take more water than you think you need, and go in the morning.
Red Rock Canyon
A thirteen-mile one-way scenic loop through red and white sandstone formations, with pullouts, overlooks, and trailheads ranging from ten-minute walks to serious scrambles. The drive alone takes about forty-five minutes with stops and needs no hiking at all, which makes it the rare thing that works for the whole group.
Important: a timed-entry reservation is required for the scenic drive from October 1 through May 31, which includes show weekend. Book online in advance through Recreation.gov. There is also a per-vehicle fee, and cell service inside the loop is unreliable, so screenshot your QR code before you leave the hotel.
Hoover Dam
Still one of the more staggering things built in the twentieth century, and you can walk from Nevada into Arizona across the top of it. Guided tours go down to the generator floor.
The adjacent Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge has a pedestrian walkway with the best view of the dam face. Parking runs about ten dollars. Go in the morning, before the heat and the tour buses.
Valley of Fire State Park
Nevada’s oldest state park and the most spectacular landscape within reach of the city. Fire-red Aztec sandstone, petroglyphs, bighorn sheep, and short well-marked trails off a scenic road. Less crowded than Red Rock, particularly midweek. This is a half-day commitment rather than a quick stop, and it is the one people talk about afterward.
Clark County Wetlands Park
The surprise on this list. A large, quiet park of marsh, ponds, and trails on the east side of the valley, with a visitor center and serious bird activity. The walk out to the Weir Bridge and back is about a mile and a half on flat ground. Free, open from 5am, and the best low-effort way to get outside without leaving the city. No bikes or dogs.
The City
Vegas Things, If You Want Them
The Strip is fifteen minutes north and downtown is about twenty. If it is your first trip, or you are bringing people who have never been, here is what is actually worth the time.
Sphere
The wraparound venue behind the Venetian, running immersive films during the day and concerts at night. The scale is the point and photographs do not convey it. Tickets are not cheap once you add fees and parking, and it sells out, so book well ahead if you want it.
Fremont Street Experience
Five downtown blocks under a canopy of LED screens, with free live bands on multiple stages, street performers, ziplines overhead, and cheaper drinks than the Strip. Louder and rowdier than Las Vegas Boulevard and considerably more fun. Not a place to bring young kids at night.
AREA15
An immersive entertainment complex just off the Strip: interactive art, Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, VR, a zipline, a bar, and several hours of things that are hard to describe without sounding ridiculous. Ticketing is by attraction, so decide what you want before you go or the cost climbs fast.
The Neon Museum
An outdoor lot of salvaged casino signage from the city’s entire history, from the Stardust to the Moulin Rouge. Go after dark when the restored pieces are lit. The guided tour beats the self-guided walk, because the stories behind the signs are the actual attraction. Around thirty to thirty-five dollars.
Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay
A proper aquarium at the south end of the Strip. Sharks, sea turtles, a walk-through tunnel, and a stingray touch pool. The closest real attraction to South Point on the Strip itself, and the best option on this list for anyone traveling with children. Buy tickets online.
The STRAT SkyPod
The tallest observation tower in the United States at 1,149 feet, with a 360-degree view of the valley and three thrill rides bolted to the top of it. Big Shot launches you straight up off the roof. Go for the view even if nobody in the group is riding anything.
High Roller
A 550-foot observation wheel at the LINQ, thirty minutes per rotation, air conditioned, with an open bar option on some cabins. Best after sunset when the whole Strip lights up and you can see the Sphere from above. Book online for the discount.
Ethel M Chocolates and Cactus Garden
A working chocolate factory in Henderson attached to a free three-acre botanical cactus garden with more than three hundred species. Samples at the door, a shop at the end, and a genuinely nice walk outside. Free to visit and an easy hour for anyone who has had enough casino carpet.
Rideshare from South Point to the Strip runs roughly fifteen minutes outside of rush hour. If you are going downtown or making more than one stop, a rental for a single day usually costs less than four separate fares.
Logistics
Getting Here
Fly into Harry Reid International. South Point runs a complimentary airport shuttle, and rideshare runs about fifteen minutes. Driving in, the property sits at 9777 S Las Vegas Blvd with free self parking.
Book inside the room block for the show rate. Rooms release closer to the date, so lock yours in when registration opens.
★ National Qualifier
May 1st, 2027. See You on Stage.
National qualifier. Full division lineup. One of the best host properties in the country.