How much should we expect to spend in Vegas?

Question

1. My wife and I are going to Las Vegas for the 1st time. We have our plane tickets, so all we’ll have to pay for is the hotel, food and entertainment. We are leaving on a Saturday night and coming back on a Thursday night. So we’ll be there for 5 days and 5 nights basically. Figure about $ 100 a night for a hotel so that’s $500 right there. Neither of us are big drinkers and we’re moderate gamblers. Typically, how much should we expect to spend on food and shows and stuff like that?

Answer 1

As much as you can afford. Not a penny more. Vegas is a fun place but can be quite expensive if you are on a budget. However there are still lots of things to do there if you are. You need to set yourself a budget if you are going to gamble. Don't go over that. If you want GOOD food, Vegas isn't cheap. Decide before hand what kind of food you want to eat. Oh, and depending on where you are staying...100.00 a night isn't going to be enough. If you are staying on the strip, you need to at least double that, especially since you are going to be there on the weekend. If you are not staying on the strip, you need to add in taxi money, which can be expensive in Vegas, or anywhere for that manner.

Been to Vegas twice in the last five year and I rarely gamble. I might have thrown 100.00 total into the slots over a total period of 9 days. I believe you have to be 18 to gamble.

Some cheap things to do:

1. Check out every casino. Seriously. They are simply amazing on the inside. They also have some great places to eat in them. New York, New York has an awesome "fake" old downtown area inside where they have shops and diners. They also have the Manhattan Express which is a roller coaster that flies around their cityscape outside the casino. Most of the casonos have a different theme. New York, New York just happens to be my favorite. You need to check them all out. This in itself can take you a day or two if you take your time.
2. Check out the free mini-shows. The fountains outside the Bellagio, the volcano outside the Mirage, the Pirate Ship show at TI (Treasure Island). There are more as well. They are all worth a watch at least once. If you are on the strip, make sure you take Harrah's free shuttle to The Rio and chatch their Mardi Gras parade in the sky. The "show" is free, but you can pay a small fee and actually ride on one of the floats and throw beads. I haven't tried it but it looks fun.
3. Like to shop? Not big on the pricey shops inside the casinos? There is a very large mall right on the strip.
4. Check out the many cool restaurants inside and outside of the casinos. There are some great places to eat and drink along the strip. Never enough time to try them all out but there should be something for all tastes and all pocketbooks. There are many origianl restaurants as when as chain ones that are kind of cool (rainforest cafe, Margaritaville, ESPN ZONE,etc...). Some of the buffets, while getting to be expensive, are quite amazing.
5. Like to drink? Lots of places to do this as well. Everything from very upscale clubs to sports bars. My favorite may very well be the only outside bar on the strip. That is Carival Court outside of Harrahs. It not real easy to find as it is kind of tucked between Harrahs and another casino. You can't really see it from the street. It's a great place to hang out and one of my favorite places in Vegas. Even if you don't drink, they have live band from noon to 2 or 3 in the morning. The bartenders are amazing to watch as well as they work with a lot of flare (think Tom Cruise in Cocktail). Lots of fun and games going on here. Nice thing about Vegas is it is Like Bourbon Street in that you can buy a drink and walk with it wherever you want to go.
6. People watch. Not a big people watcher myslef but you really do get all kinds in Vegas. Very interesting to see the wide variety of people from around the world the converge on Vegas.
7. At some point of time in your stay, asspecially if you walk into casinos, you will be accosted by workers trying to get you to see a presentation on condos. If you have a lot of time to spare, you want to go through with it. They will tell you it takes about 45 minutes. It actually takes in excess of 2 hours. However, we ended up getting two free passes to the Rio buffet (one of the best), two free tickets to s comedy show (was quite good actually) and a few other perks as well. If you have the time, it might be worth your while. You do have to realize that they are there to get you to buy a condo though and are quite pushy about it. Keep your eye on the prize and just keep telling them "NO". Get your stuff and leave.
8. Take a cab (don't walk off the strip) to old downtown Vegas. Some of the old casinos are down there. It is on Freemont street and they have a pretty cool light show there every night. A lot of people who go to Vegas don't make it out here. It's worth a cab ride. Below is a review to give you an idea of whats it's like:

We have stayed two times in downtown and once on the strip. We are headed back to Vegas in April - only 3 more weeks!! And this time we are taking the kids with us. I will feel more secure downtown than on the strip with my kids. At least there are no guys handing out porno fliers in the downtown area. And there are lots of police officers around on foot and on bicycles in the downtown area. Our children are 16 and 9 and I can't wait to take them there to see the light show. And I feel there is a much bigger chance of becoming seperated from the kids on the strip. The downtown area is just smaller and everything is closer together, so not so easy to lose the party you are with. We love the dancing in the street, the light show and overall atmosphere, along with the vendors. It's our favorite place to go in Vegas. Stay at the Goldne Nugget - it's great!\

Go to Vegas and enjoy. There is so much more to do that gamble. However, I also know people who went and really didn't like it. It's not for everyone. It can be seedy. There are people (slappers as they call them) handing out call girl "cards" on the corners. I can't tell you how many times I was approached by prositutes while at bars in the casinos (most recently at the Luxor). It's Vegas though. You just need to take the good with the bad.

ENJOY!

Answer 2

Las Vegas is the absolute most fascinating and amusing city on the planet and with hotelbye you will discover out more. Nowhere else on earth you will see an area that has all of the journey amenities that just a total resort destination could possibly offer: magnificent casino resorts, great food, wonderful stay activity and state-of-the art meeting and trade display facilities. Las Vegas happens to be a magnificent city and everything that you'd expect from a world-class metropolis, and more, is the following for the travel pleasure. One of the places you should visit in Las Vegas may be the Fremont Street, a pedestrian region with all sorts of distinctive sites.

Answer 3

I hope you know, a lot of LV hotels do not take Saturday arrivals.

How much you spend on the hotel is going to depend on when you go. If you avoid special events and large conventions you can cut the room rate drastically. As in a four star hotel on the strip at the "right" time might run you $49-$69(Sun/Thur) if you go at the "wrong" time that same room could run you 5 times as much.

You can spend just about as little as you want or as much.
You can go to all of the free spectacles and spend nothing for entertainment or you could spend $200(or more) for show tickets each night.

It's the same with food cost, you could take in the meal deals, inexpensive buffets, graveyard specials etc and spend very little or you can eat at expensive restaurants and spend several hundred dollars per meal.

Here are a couple of sites with things to do, many of them free.
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/activities.cfm
http://www.vegas.com/attractions

This site has up to date lists and info on LV buffets, free hotel shuttles, shows, links to all LV hotels, etc.
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com "VEGAS INFO"

to check room rates
http://www.travelworm.com
http://www.i4vegas.com

We go to LV 2-3 times per year for 2 weeks or more at a time and have for more than 20 years.

If you send me an anonymous e-mail through YA I would be glad to help you out. I need the dates you plan to be in LV and the amenities you're most interested in.

~Jack~
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Answer 4

Meals run $8.99 to $35.00. Out Back Steak House costs the same in Vegas as in Texas. There are two McDonalds on the strip and other fast food. Taxi ride for five blocks $6.00 Roller coaster ride $10 each. Oxygen bar $20, Henna Ink tattoo $20.00, Margaritas $1.50 in Slots a Lot?? Shows $50.00 to $150.00 each. Sub sandwich $8.95. 4 donuts and one coffee at Crispy Creme in Circus Circus $7.59. Shopping ??? Night Clubs ??? Gambling $50 to $300 per hour for me unless I get lucky and I did last trip. Boat ride $12 ??? I heard

Answer 5

We are planning a trip to Vegas in July. We did a lot of research on cost. We looked at restaurants we wanted to eat at, shows we wanted to see, things we wanted to do (including gambling), hotel rates, and travel cost. We are looking at 2,000 dollars for our trip. I would start looking into hotels now. Check for special rates. Book shows in advance, they can sell out rather quickly for the good ones. Figure out what you want to do. That will be the best way to estimate how much you will spend

Answer 6

Your entire nest egg, if you aren't careful.

Seriously, if you gamble, take only a pre-determined amount of money with you, and do NOT spend more than that on gambling. If you run out, that's the end!

Never cash a check thinking you will make up your loss.

Good luck.

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