I knew it was going to be expensive on the ride from the airport. Billboards and lighted signs advertised celebrities I thought were dead (Roseanne, Carrot Top) and everything seemed a little too new for a traveler used to paying eight dollars for a foam bed and twenty dollars for a crazy night out in places like Peru and Argentina. If you’re wondering what type of person stays in Las Vegas for seven days, it’s the type who’s used to lounging around in cities for weeks for no other reason than to see who he or she happens to come across. Initially I thought seven days may be too short.

The Famous Sign (Photo Credit: Pirvy)

It’s impossible not to have heard the crazy Las Vegas stories. Almost every single one of my friends has been to Las Vegas but their opinions seemed to wholly depend on their luck at the blackjack tables or in the nightclubs. No one had a similar experience, and my first couple nights showed me why. In Las Vegas, it depends.

It depends on if you get on a run at the tables and cash out early, blowing it on booze for new friends and $30 cover charges at the flashy clubs. It depends if you get in the red and have to spend your entire night trying to win back money you shouldn’t have been playing in the first place. It depends if you eat a meal or not beforehand and how fast that alcohol gets into your system, whether you eventually take home someone you wouldn’t have otherwise or stick it out the entire night in the bars and then the clubs and then back in the bars. The alcohol flows twenty four hours a day and it only helps that you can take it with you on the cab ride from one place to the next thanks to the city’s liberal public drinking laws. It depends on if you’re a high roller able to stay at the fancier Wynn and Venetian hotels with VIP access wherever you go or if you have to wait in line and count your dollars. If you go to Las Vegas expecting something you will be sorely disappointed, because it all depends.

Part of the reason Sin City has this almost mythical status as a must-visit city for any twenty-something out of a college is because much is possible with just a little bit of money and a lot of alcohol.

Daytime skyline (Photo Credit: Christopher Chan)

The city itself is plopped right in the middle of a desert, originally as wayward transfer for railway shipping goods out of nearby mines. Then the mafia and Bugsy Siegel got its hands on developing the Flamingo hotel, the first “complete” casino resort that had the revolutionary idea of making visitors go through the gambling area to get to their rooms. Just like how modern sports stadiums follow the model of Rome’s Colosseum, casinos still match the Flamingo of 1946, with no windows, no clocks, dim lighting, and jacked up air conditioning to prevent gamblers from dozing off. And just like in 1946, everything but sand has to be trucked in from somewhere else.

What has changed in the past decade is a focus on more luxurious and glamorous casinos and lodgings. Long gone are the days of $1.99 buffets that were so common to see in the 80’s, and in have come the Mirage and its exploding volcano, the Paris and its faux Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, the Venetian and its Gondola rides, the Bellagio and its art showcase, and the Wynn and its Ferrari dealership. Over the top is the rule with the Strip turning into a playground for tourists catching just a glimpse and the well-off indulging in bites, usually three days at a time.

If you want the “old” Vegas you’ll have to travel four miles north of the main action on the Strip to downtown, which the old casinos and the city converted into the Fremont Street Experience with light shows and concerts. (For you poker fans downtown is also home to the Binion’s Casino which used to hold the World Series Of Poker tournament, now at the Rio casino.) When it comes to lodging, the internet is your friend. The second-tier casinos like Hooters, Excalibur, and New York New York have average weekend rates of $120 per night and lower for two queen beds. Compare that to the Wynn, which charges over $300 for their most basic rooms.

Fremont Street Experience (Photo Credit: Roadsidepictures)

There’s not too many things to do in Vegas during the day. Besides the Fremont Street Experience you can head towards the top end of the strip to the Stratosphere for a stunning view of the city followed by a long, hot walk on the Strip with a slushy alcoholic beverage in souvenir container to view the decorated casino lobbies. Less than an hour drive away is the Hoover Dam where you can hop on a mediocre tour and then spend your day on the dammed Lake Meed for boating, hiking, and fishing. But unless you’re towing your family I doubt you’ll be come to Vegas for an outdoor adventure.

Hoover Dam (Photo Credit: Timothy K)

At night you’ll be mostly waiting in line, especially if you’re a guy. Unless you come with many attractive girls or are ready to spend hundreds on bottles of Grey Goose and Belvedere in the clubs, you won’t get in during the crowded weekends without greasing the bouncers in addition to paying cover. This is true for the hottest clubs in Las Vegas, like Tao in the Venetian, Pure in Caesars Palace, The Bank in Bellagio, Tryst in Wynn, and Body English in Hard Rock. Mobs of beautiful people buzz around tables of minor celebrities and sports athletes while mostly friendly people share the dancefloor with the few who act like they’re famous but aren’t. Like your gambling luck, crowds can be hit or miss.

The Wynn

If you’re looking for a more relaxed nightlife experience away from the clubs that literally have slogans such as “Status Is Everything,” the bars may be more your style. My favorite was Hard Rock Casino’s circle bar, pumping well after 5am on weekends with music low enough to mingle and flirt. Other bars include Freakin Frog and Crown & Anchor near UNLV for the locals experience, McFaddens for the corporatized Irish experience in the Rio, and the Firefly restaurant for a more distinguished setting to drink while nibbling on Mexican-American tapas. The problem is not if Las Vegas has your type of bar, but if you can find it. At least with buses operating 24 hours a day and taxis wherever you go, exploring from place to place is not much of a challenge.

Hard Rock Circle Bar

It’s doubtful the nightlife alone will pull you in. And it won’t be the locals either — not because they are lacking in any particular trait but because odds are you won’t even meet them. California, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington State are where the people I met live and besides the waitresses and bartenders and table dealers you won’t get to know what it’s really like to live here. The Strip itself and even downtown is eye-catching but manufactured and too perfect and organized, everything new and flashy with very little history or culture. What is the “real” Las Vegas about besides boozing and gambling? Seven days wasn’t enough to find out. Something is missing that prevents you from falling in love with the city and that’s probably why most people only come for a weekend. Do the same, and then see how much you can remember.