Holiday costs help

[Happyface246]

My friend is getting married in vegas - can anyone give us an idea of how much food/drink/costs are please. The hotel is room only and would be for a week - 2 adults. Many thanks.

London prices dependent on exchange rates. There weren’t even kettles in the rooms! There are supermarkets though.

I found eating out seemed to be either cheap fast food or fine dining with not much in the middle.

worth looking online at restaurant menus for prices

Vegas is expensive. I’d budget £100-£200 per day between you for meals. If you want fancy, then £100-£200 per person. We were there in November and ate mainly in ‘diner’ type places. Breakfast was around $80 for the 2 of us, we skipped lunch most days and then spent around $100-$150 on dinner.

It’s really going to depend, but to give you a starting point. The buffet at MGM on the strip is between $30-45 pp +tip. These are generally not a great bargain ala carte is usually cheaper.

Here’s a trip advisor link for cheap dining https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g45963-zfp16-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html

Usually you find grills in the casinos that you can find pretty good deals on food but grills can get old after a while.

If you’re wanting fancy sit down dinners I’d plan on at least $300-$400 for two.

Here’s another quick article I found….https://vegasexperience.com/downtown-insider/best-places-eat-las-vegas-budget/

It really will depend where you stay and where you eat / drink. A cocktail by the pool can be £30 , can of beer £10 in a higher end resort or you can get fast food / beers to walk the strip much much cheaper. When we go for a week we tend to go one night restaurant then next more casual and check out the prix fixe lunches at some of the high end restaurants as that can be way to eat really well on a budget too

America is really expensive now. Partially poor exchange rate, partially their wages have gone up after inflation whilst ours have stagnated.

I went to Vegas October last year. Did stay on the strip so expensive anyway but even a macdonalds type meal deal was $30.

Hotels had food courts where you could just about get some fast food and a soft drink for $25.
Chain restaurant burger and fries was $35
Main in a slightly nicer Italian was $50
Alcohol was pretty much $15 a drink regardless whether with a meal or bought on the street.
Morning coffee (just filter!) $5 and same for a croissant.

I wouldn't mind so much but none of it was even nice, didn't have a single good meal.

Tipping is pretty militant now, doubling the sales tax is seen as minimum, 20% of Bill in general.

There were small supermarkets in walking distance, $1 for an apple, $3 sprite, $8 convenience sandwich. So many small kiosks didn't even have prices, $6 for water!

Its the first holiday ever where I didn't gain weight. Still loved it but food and drink are usually a big part of our holidays and the expense combined with poor quality was disappointing.

All for a destination wedding but a Vegas one would be a no thanks. Each to their own but for the same money I would prefer the week in the Maldives.

How long is a piece of string? You can pay a few bucks for a hot dog or a slice of pizza, or thousands for a Michelin star meal.

However unless you want to scrimp and save, Vegas isn’t cheap. Do some research and look at restaurant menus online. Don’t forget tax and a tip (roughly 25% of the menu price).

Look at the trivago website for hotel prices.

generally hotels and restaurants away from the strip are a lot cheaper, but do your research before grabbing a bargain. Some of the areas can be very rough.

If you’re also looking for hotel costs, be open to staying downtown. It’s generally cheaper than the strip and I prefer it. (I like the Golden Nugget).

But this may not be the best option if all of the wedding party will be on the strip. There are buses you can take between the two areas. Also be careful of the resort fees added to the hotel bill.

the other thing to consider is if you want to to any of the shows. I’ve never been interested in the big headliner shows but have done some of the smaller ‘off strip’ shows that were a lot of fun. The strip headliner shows are pretty expensive.

The strip is expensive for food and drink however you can find deals…..2 dollar beers at the stage door casino, cheap hotdogs etc. if you want a great meal that doesn’t cost the earth try going off strip for example Esther’s kitchen is in the arts district (you can get the deuce bus to it!) our dinner with starters and main and drinks for me (oh doesn’t drink) was about 120 dollars (including tip). Was also best meal we had in vegas. Another tip is get to CVS etc and buy alcohol, you can drink wandering around the casinos and put them in a refillable cup (you’ll see loads of people doing it!).

In terms of paying for things to do there's an app called Go City. You can buy an all inclusive pass for a number of days or one that is a fixed number of visits.

We went with 8 visits for about $160 and it got you into lots of the strip activities eg top of the eiffel tower, the big viewing wheel, new York new York roller coaster, bellagio art gallery, open top bus tour, mob museum, etc. Most activities cost $25 - $50 so it was great value.