Planning Your Trip
Whether or not you've been to Las Vegas before, you probably have some questions about what it's like to travel to Vegas alone. I'm here to answer those questions. Let's get started.
Solo Dining
Many people feel awkward eating alone in their home towns, and it’s no different for solo travelers. They’re afraid they’ll feel conspicuous, that people will stare at them with pity, or that waitstaff will treat them shabbily. If you think you might be uncomfortable eating alone, try these tips.
Solo Safety Tips
One of the solo traveler's top concerns is safety. Las Vegas is generally a very safe place as long as you stay in well-traveled tourist areas and use common sense. Here is my best safety advice for the solo traveler in Las Vegas.
Sep 10
2
Reading Las Vegas: 24/7
Are you one of those travelers who likes to psych yourself up for your trip by reading books set in your destination? I am. Early on in my “career” as a traveler to Las Vegas, I looked specifically for books set in Las Vegas and Nevada. In the process, I bought a book called 24/7: Living It Up and Doubling Down in the New Las Vegas by Andres Martinez. As it was published in c. 2000, I’m sure hard-core Vegas fans already know about it, but newbies might not–and you should, because it’s a fun read. Granted, a lot has changed in Vegas since 2000. The city is constantly reinventing itself, so some of the hotels mentioned in the book are gone or have changed, and new ones have sprung up in their places (RIP Desert Inn, hello Wynn Las Vegas). But the culture hasn’t changed, and this book is about the culture of Las Vegas more than any particular place.
Martinez, the author, convinced a publishing company to pay him a sizable advance for his proposed book–the concept of which was that he would use $50,000 of the money to go to Las Vegas for a month to live it up as a gambler. It was a huge risk. Either way, he’d get a book out of the experience, but he and his wife really could have used that $50,000 for a nest egg. By taking the money to gamble in Las Vegas, the potential was there for him to lose it all. That alone was fascinating enough to draw me in and hold my attention, but the book offers so much more than this gimmick.
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The response to last week’s post, 10 Vegas Breakfasts Under $10, was so positive, I’m following it up with my strategies for saving money on lunch and dinner in Las Vegas. Again, the best way to save money on meals in Las Vegas is to stay off-Strip, where prices are cheaper. If you’re traveling with someone, definitely take advantage of those 2-for-1 coupons or split a meal (God knows the portion sizes in Vegas are big enough). But if you ‘re traveling solo, staying on the Strip, and don’t have access to a car, there are still ways to save money on meals. Here are 10 of my favorite tips:
Ellis Island (Koval Lane, behind Ballys) – Ellis Island has a terrific $6.99 steak dinner special that’s available all day. As I mentioned before, as a solo female, I personally wouldn’t make this walk after dark (your mileage may vary), but I’d totally do it for lunch.
Posted in Budget/Discounts Las Vegas Restaurants by .
Aug 10
18
10 Vegas Breakfasts under $10
When I go to Vegas, I’m usually on a budget. I can’t control airfare to Las Vegas, but one way I can stretch my budget further is to try to have only one splurge meal per day, and make the other two as cheap as possible. Veteran Vegas bargain hunters know that to truly save money in Vegas, you stay Downtown, or pretty much anywhere off the Strip where hotels and food are much cheaper. But what if you are staying on the Strip without a car, as I usually do? You hunt down every cheap meal deal within walking distance, that’s what.
Here are 10 breakfast ideas for under $10 on or within easy reach of the Strip. (Prices do not include beverages–which can easily add $3-7 to the cost. No joke.)
Posted in Budget/Discounts Las Vegas Restaurants by .
Aug 10
11
Las Vegas Restaurant Week 2010
Foodie alert: Once again this year, Las Vegas is hosting Restaurant Week (August 30-September 5) to benefit Three Square, a local food shelf. This is one of my favorite times of year to travel to Las Vegas. I have been in the city for the past two Restaurant Weeks and can attest that this is a great way to try new restaurants–particularly restaurants that might otherwise be out of your price range–while at the same time contributing to a worthy cause.
Here’s how it works: You make a reservation at the restaurant of your choice (generally for dinner); let them know you plan to dine off the Restaurant Week menu. Once there, you will be served a 3-course meal from a special menu for a prix fixe price which is a discount over what it would normally cost you for those same three courses. (You generally have a choice of 2-3 items per course.)
Posted in Restaurants by .
Aug 10
5
The Vegas Solo
For those of you who don’t know me from my other blog, SoloFriendly.com, my name is Gray, I’m a 40-something single woman, and I’m a HUGE fan of Las Vegas as a vacation destination. Naturally, I wanted to share that love with others, and so this website was born. When I first announced this website over on SoloFriendly.com back in April, I said that one of the things you wouldn’t find here was a blog, since I really didn’t have time to maintain two blogs. Yeah, well. . . .I changed my mind. (Hey, I’m a woman! I’m allowed!)
Introducing the new and improved VegasSolo.com. You’ll still find extensive pages of information (by category) to help you plan your first solo trip to Las Vegas. But with ongoing posts, the website will now have fresh content on a regular basis. Which only seems fitting, since Vegas is constantly refreshing and reinventing itself.
