Navigating Sin City

For anyone in southern California, Las Vegas is a staple party town once you turn the big 2-1, when drinking and gambling is suddenly legal! With its constant entertainment and craziness, Vegas is the perfect destination to get away. Since I recently turned 21, I have been on two successful Las Vegas trips with my friends.

Rocking at the Marquee. (Powers Imagery)

Timing is Everything
As a child, my parents took me there during the winter holidays when all of the bright lights and variously themed hotels always fascinated me. But I never understood the saying “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” until I experienced Las Vegas as a fully legal adult. Here are some tips for your trip to Sin City.
I first did Vegas with my friends back in September. Since we were all super busy, we decided to do a weekend trip. Weekends mean more crowds and more money for the hotels. And since it was summer, the rates were on high season.
For my recent December trip, my friends and I decided to go mid-week following finals on a Monday through Thursday. Since we booked our hotel in the summer, we got an amazing deal for staying during the week. Our hotel for December was nearly half the price compared to our summer hotel and our room was bigger and nicer. So my advice: book early and stay mid-week.
Connections! Connections!
If you plan to hit the clubs, make sure you are on the guest list! You can sign up by going to the club’s official website. On the other hand, to be smarter, get in touch with a promoter so you can score extra deals. Our promoter, who works for Marquee, got us on the guest list, open bar for the night at Marquee. The next night, she got us a table and open bar for LAVO. We were told to show our appreciation by looking good when we went out.
We met our promoter through a friend of a friend. But to get in touch with one, look on Yelp.com or explore the Strip. Promoters hang around the insides of hotel and are dressed to the nines.
Where are my girls at?
Sorry boys, but girls receive special treatment in Las Vegas. For both trips, I went with two other girls. As girls, we got to cut in front of the long lines for the clubs and get in gratis. Yes, being on the guest lists helped, but we had promoters coming over to us to be a part of their guest list. Also, at Marquee, the manager gave us a table to sit at and a round of drinks. Hooray for being a girl!
Food
Food in Vegas is expensive. To save money, we brought bread, fruit, and water from home. By already having breakfast in the room, we also saved time. For our main meals, we bought the “Buffet of Buffets” pass. This pass gave us a 24-hour access to the six different Hilton-owned hotel buffets. Trust me, we were in a food coma for a full day after.
Look good and have a good attitude
I overheard this from a worker at XS on how to get into XS. Ever since, I couldn’t stop laughing over this quote. But I came to realize that “looking good and having a good attitude” is what Vegas is all about!

The writer is a current JewliciousU intern and a student at the University of California, Irvine.

Related posts:

1. At home with tent city ‘residents’
2. Meet and greet: UCI Hillel program director Rebecca Goldberg