Vegas Spending Money

[Mirinjawbro]

Hello all

have a group of friends who want to go Vegas for a week.

they have found flights + hotel for around 1k.

obviously its hard to say. but what sort of daily spending money would be expected ?

ignoring all gambling. just food drink + activities?

thanks

[Jazoli]

You'll need at least a grand just to cover food/drink/entry/cabs/tips for a week, its not the cheapest of places to go, then there's the helicopter rides, parties, hookers etc

[gotoPzero]

IME, you can spend a LOT or not a lot if you want.

We spent a couple of days just chilling in the cosmo and spent quite a bit. $500 on dinner easy. Room service $100-$150. Drinks at the bar $200. I reckon in the cosmo I could spend $250 ppn easy just eating and drinking, twice that if pushing the boat out.

But then we went out and spent not a lot in comparison. Peppermill for breakfast. $80 for 2. Dinner at in N out $50. Few beers locally $50.

So it really depends what you want.

You want to go to Oscars every other night its going to be expensive, you want to stick to McDonalds its going to be a lot cheaper.

I would budget min $100 per day ppn just to be safe.

Dont forget Vegas is the home of the resort fee....

[HotJambalaya]

going to need way more info. way more

Age of group?
Mixed group?
Where are you looking at staying already?
Will you have a car?
What are you interested in?

otherwise I might as well just say you'll need 20 sovereigns every 30 hours and expect it to make any kind of sense.

[Mirinjawbro]

HotJambalaya said:

going to need way more info. way more

Age of group? 30-35 x 6
Mixed group? as above
Where are you looking at staying already? they have booked aria
Will you have a car? no
What are you interested in? im the only one who doesnt like gambling. i like clubs cars and guns

otherwise I might as well just say you'll need 20 sovereigns every 30 hours and expect it to make any kind of sense.

[Ziplobb]

Went last April for 6 nights. Its very expensive $25 for a cocktail in the Venetian $12 for bottle of beer unless of course you are sat gambling then its $1 tip fir the hot chic who brings it. breakfast in the french restaurant same hotel was $60 it was very good though. Somehow did £2k in total

[GiantCardboardPlato]

Keep the money and go somewhere nicer like Baltimore or Detroit.

[djc206]

Mirinjawbro said:

HotJambalaya said:

going to need way more info. way more

Age of group? 30-35 x 6
Mixed group? as above
Where are you looking at staying already? they have booked aria
Will you have a car? no
What are you interested in? im the only one who doesnt like gambling. i like clubs cars and guns

otherwise I might as well just say you'll need 20 sovereigns every 30 hours and expect it to make any kind of sense.

Clubs can cost mega bucks. If you want a table and bottle service and not to have queue for ever then between 6 I’d guess these days you’re looking at north of $1k. Someone else may be able to advise on that as it’s been a few years since I’ve done it.

As above drinks in Vegas are generally fairly expensive. Even in the places that used to be cheap they’re not really any more thanks the $ rate and them trying to claw back some of the covid losses I guess. Food can be moderate to extortionate. If you want wings and a beer it’ll be reasonable ish in the grand scheme of things, if you want Michelin star it’ll be borderline criminal.

I’ve not shot in Vegas so can’t comment on that.

I don’t want to put you off the place, I have an inexplicable love of it despite it hammering my wallet every time I visit but do go in with your eyes open. It’s really hard to say how much you need to budget because I don’t know you, I don’t know how much you drink if anything, how much you want to go clubbing to dance or sit at a table with a bottle or how well you like to eat but I would personally budget as an absolute minimum $200 per person per day and then add any activities including fancy food on top.

I do have a few numbers from January last year when I visited with my wife. Breakfast in the Cosmo for 2 was ~£50 (single course with soft drinks), cocktails at the aria lobby bar were £15 each, Tapas at the Aria restaurant was ~£60 per head (only one beer each and not a great deal of food), two tickets to cirque du soleil £240, 3 course steak dinner at Vic and Anthony’s with wine (nothing outrageous) $500 (~£400) inc tip. As you can see the cost spread is huge which is why it’s so hard to predict.

The Aria is a good choice btw. Mid strip, walkable to most places around the area, decent pool. Don’t drink anything from the minibar, it’s crazy extortionate. Don’t just show up at the Starbucks downstairs if you use it, order online and then go and collect it, the queues are fking mental there. Order a Miami Vice at the pool, thank me later. Walk over to the Vdara and get your Uber from there, the Aria pickup is st and does not work since they moved it to the lower level.

[goldar]

You don't have to spend a lot of money if you don't want, it really depends on what you want to do in that week. I went in September for 6 days with a group of lads mostly in their mid 30's and we did things such as clubbing and pool parties with bottle service, shooting range, helicopter ride, and fancy dinners. I averaged less than £500 a day. Set a budget and work out your itinerary from that.

Edited by goldar on Tuesday 3rd January 23:53

[Truckosaurus]

Most of the hotel website will have price lists for the restaurants and bars, so you can work out some sort of budget from that.

The big problem with Vegasing these days is that things that should be cheap are not. The food court fast food outlets will charge you $20 for a basic burger, fries and drink when you can go to a sit down restaurant and get a proper dinner for $30. The 'gift shops' in the casino selling drinks and snacks now seem to have no prices on anything and charge you $5 for a bottle of water - so it is worth walking out onto the street to one of the many CVS/Walgreen 'drugstores' for incidentals.

For my last trip in November I budgeted $100 a day for food, drink and incidentals and that was plenty - although I mostly gamble on bartop video poker so get 'free' drinks for that. Also had a small 'food credit' with my room booking and some vouchers from the MyVegas Facebook game so had a couple of days of totally free dining.

You could easily spend $500 a day if you are eating 3 proper meals a day (with your evening meal at one of the nice restaurants) and buying drinks at the bar all day (let alone going to a nightclub or concert/show/etc)

[Mirinjawbro]

seems to be another level above ibiza then.

looks like ill be looking around 3-4k all in. for a week

that's a new turbo and extras for my car hmmm

[TTmonkey]

Mirinjawbro said:

seems to be another level above ibiza then.

looks like ill be looking around 3-4k all in. for a week

that's a new turbo and extras for my car hmmm

RESORT FEES
Internet said:

Unfortunately, most Las Vegas hotels now charge resorts fees. They are not part of the final total listed on your reservation and collected directly by the hotel at check-out. Resort fees often cover features you will want to have, such as wireless internet access, 800 number calls, fitness center access, newspapers, bottled water, hotel pool access, etc. The fees are charged nightly per room and are not dependent on the number of guests staying.

You cannot opt-out of paying them, even if you don’t want any of the added perks they provide. The amount of a resort fee is the same if you book directly with the hotel, or through a discount travel site. Below is a list of hotel resort fees and what it includes. In addition, there is a 12.5 percent tax on the fees. For your convenience, we also have a list of the best hotels that don’t charge resort fees. We try our best to keep things updated, but please be aware that fees can change without notice.

[gotoPzero]

Water is a good point, its expensive everywhere - just different levels of expensive! Bottle in the hotel easily $7. Bottle in CVS $3. But $3 is still expensive!

Dont forget to add 8% tax to most stuff!!

My advice is always look at the cost of things first, or ask if there is no price and then add tip and tax! Especially in hotels.

[TTmonkey]

And remember.

If you are in the hotel bar at 11pm on your own (ie, not with the wife), when a nice looking lady comes up to you and starts chatting, she’s a HOOKER and will need paying for services.

[MrBig]

As has already been alluded to, it's all about what you want to do... if you want to eat at high end restaurants and have table service in the clubs at night, you will need very deep pockets. My last expensive night out was in Dorseys where it was $8 for a water, $70 for a cigar and god only knows what the Tequila cost

You can also eat breakfast at Mcdonalds or Dennys and get snacks from CVS and spend your days just walking up and down the strip, through hotels and casinos just soaking it all up.

I would start by pricing up all the activities you want to do and go from there. Shows, helicopter rides, The Gun Store, car hire etc etc...

Personally I would be looking at between $300 and $400 a day (which is why I only tend to go for 4 days at a time!) but I don't really gamble in Vegas, just go for the sights and sounds.

[craigjm]

TTmonkey said:

Mirinjawbro said:

seems to be another level above ibiza then.

looks like ill be looking around 3-4k all in. for a week

that's a new turbo and extras for my car hmmm

RESORT FEES
Internet said:

Unfortunately, most Las Vegas hotels now charge resorts fees. They are not part of the final total listed on your reservation and collected directly by the hotel at check-out. Resort fees often cover features you will want to have, such as wireless internet access, 800 number calls, fitness center access, newspapers, bottled water, hotel pool access, etc. The fees are charged nightly per room and are not dependent on the number of guests staying.

You cannot opt-out of paying them, even if you don’t want any of the added perks they provide. The amount of a resort fee is the same if you book directly with the hotel, or through a discount travel site. Below is a list of hotel resort fees and what it includes. In addition, there is a 12.5 percent tax on the fees. For your convenience, we also have a list of the best hotels that don’t charge resort fees. We try our best to keep things updated, but please be aware that fees can change without notice.

They shouldn’t come as a surprise though because legally they have to tell you what they are when you book. Sure some of them bury the information but it will be there because it has to be. Make sure you know what the resort fee is as added to the room rate it means you can compare overall real price better. People do get caught out.

[Truckosaurus]

gotoPzero said:

....Bottle in CVS $3. But $3 is still expensive!...

At least if you have a rental car you can visit a supermarket in the suburbs and buy a case of 24x 500ml bottles for that same $3.

(Let's not even mention the GBP being in the dumper vs the USD)

If you are a repeat visitor (assuming you sign up for the loyalty cards) then you can get cheap hotel rooms - eg. MGM will give you 3 or 4 nights 'free' other than the $40 resort fee with minimal gambling - which can make it a good value trip overall.

[Mirinjawbro]

MrBig said:

As has already been alluded to, it's all about what you want to do... if you want to eat at high end restaurants and have table service in the clubs at night, you will need very deep pockets. My last expensive night out was in Dorseys where it was $8 for a water, $70 for a cigar and god only knows what the Tequila cost

You can also eat breakfast at Mcdonalds or Dennys and get snacks from CVS and spend your days just walking up and down the strip, through hotels and casinos just soaking it all up.

I would start by pricing up all the activities you want to do and go from there. Shows, helicopter rides, The Gun Store, car hire etc etc...

Personally I would be looking at between $300 and $400 a day (which is why I only tend to go for 4 days at a time!) but I don't really gamble in Vegas, just go for the sights and sounds.

as i dont gamble i can imagine spending most of the time alone watching them play poker

[z4RRSchris]

i've always looked at vegas as a grand a day all in if you want to do it properly, inc hotels and flights.

[gotoPzero]

Truckosaurus said:

gotoPzero said:

....Bottle in CVS $3. But $3 is still expensive!...

At least if you have a rental car you can visit a supermarket in the suburbs and buy a case of 24x 500ml bottles for that same $3.

(Let's not even mention the GBP being in the dumper vs the USD)

If you are a repeat visitor (assuming you sign up for the loyalty cards) then you can get cheap hotel rooms - eg. MGM will give you 3 or 4 nights 'free' other than the $40 resort fee with minimal gambling - which can make it a good value trip overall.

The exchange rate is making it very painful at the moment. We were getting sub 1.10 on our trip a couple of months ago.

Its recovered a bit now but you will still find a lot of stuff is more expensive than the UK to start with. Then add tax and it can be very expensive!
I liked Vegas though, we are not party people but it was very much of something for everyone. The cosmo was great, one of the best hotels we have stayed in in the USA for the money.

I think the only major complaint (other than cost!) is just how busy it can get. We went to the Peppermill 3 times for breakfast and had to leave each time as it was just so busy, it was only by pure luck we were passing another day and we saw there was no line so went in, as it happened I was feeling dog rough so didnt enjoy it at all. Same in the hotels, the bars and snack places can get rammed. Eggslut in the cosmo was about an hour wait. For a $10 egg sandwich, not worth it.

So its a case of pick your battles!! For anything that needs pre booking I would be booking at least 4 weeks ahead!!

We will go back one day, but very much as part of a wider trip rather than just Vegas.