Vegas Pt 1: Partying & Gambling

March 23, 2026

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I have been fortunate to visit Vegas twice, once on a very tight budget as part of a longer trip in October 2013, and more recently in April 2024 for my friend groups 40th birthday celebrations.

Hotel: Bellagio – hotels are typically very reasonably priced. We booked through Booking.com, and paid less than £200 each for four nights. I’ve also stayed at the MGM Grand, Flamingo, and Stratosphere and beds are big, with twin rooms often two double beds so can make it very cost effective!
Flights: British Airways

Partying

There are plenty of cheap tickets around for music at the clubs or pool parties, starting around $30. However, we quickly learned that a) this only gets you in the door and there are NO seats for this type of ticket holder, and b) you have to arrive early which ultimately can cost you more cash through drinks etc via waiting so long for things to kick off.
Booking a table/daybed and paying the price is worth it. We upgraded from the $30 tickets to Tiesto at MGM Wet Republic (now known as Palm Tree Beach Club) to a day bed which was about $90 extra for the day and was redeemable against food and drinks. I would 100% recommend getting a bed, its a long day to be stood by the pool without a base.
For a city that is all about partying, unless you are in one of the major clubs such as Drais, Hakkasan, OMNIA etc, there aren’t many bars. For late night drinks it’s either the casino bars, or clubs, which makes me feel there is a massive gap in the market…if you see me living in Vegas in the next few years you know i’ve opened a bar…There is a relatively new joint in town, Ole Red, launched by Blake Shelton in 2024, which is a three story country music bar and I loved it. Live music every night, but it did get busy so expect lines at peak hours.
Its worth checking the line up for the Fremont Street Experience nearer the time of your trip. We stumbled upon it and ended up in a free concert featuring various band members from O-Town, N-Sync, LFO (looks like it was called the ‘Pop 2000’s Tour’. Iconic moments for the millennials…

Tips for Gambling in Las Vegas

Gambling is obviously a core part of Vegas and you have to try it once, but it can feel overwhelming. If you are not a pro poker player then look for the roulette tables that start at $15 per play, with minimum bets of $1. You can get caught out where you have to bet chips worth $5, or the minimum spend per bet is $50 and your turn can be over pretty quickly unless you have a lot of cash to burn.

Drinks at the higher bet tables tend to come for free, but of course this can loosen your judgement too….if you want free drinks and cheaper tables head to casinos at the Fremont end of the strip where things are a little more casual.

The Croupiers that manage the gambling tables can be hit and miss. We had some very friendly guys that could tell we hadn’t done this before, but also some really grumpy and rude people. It can affect your vibe so if you find an arsehole, move to another table!