Waking up in Vegas (Tips and Trips to a Girls’ Weekend Done RIGHT)

I write this drinking a venti iced coffee, nursing a sore throat and hangover; all consequences of a nonstop 3 day (and 3 night) party in Vegas.

How was it? you may ask.

My friend B said it best:

“It was like The Hangover except instead of losing somebody we kept getting a better booth.”

It really was a once in a lifetime experience. We had an itinerary filled with restaurants and reservations and had bought tickets to several DJ events.

We ended up making zero of those reservations and not using any tickets for anything or anywhere we went.

Turns out, if you go to Vegas as a group of 8 girls in their 20’s you don’t really need to pay to party… and when you are hopping from pool party to night club and back again, you don’t really have time to eat leisurely fancy dinners. (Shoutout to the Taco Bell Cantina across from our hotel!)

I was not expecting to love Vegas as much as I did, and had we not had done our research and made some of the connections that we did before we went, I’m not sure it would have been the same adventure.

So, without further ado, here is the rundown of our girls’ weekend in Vegas, and tips and tricks of what to do (and not do), to feel like a VIP everywhere you go without denting your bank account.

Tip # 1: Make it a Girls’ trip (as much as possible)

This little tip I am putting first for a reason. The more girls you have with you in your group, the more likely it is you will have club promotors and hosts offering you all kinds of free sh+t. Not only does this mean getting put on guest list, and receiving FREE admission (and early entry) to some of the top DJs that we are shelling out upwards of 100 dollars to see in Toronto, but it can also mean complimentary bottle service. On our trip, we saw promotors advertising this for clubs such as XS, Omnia, and Encore Beach Club as long as it was a minimum of 6 girls at the table.

You may be thinking that if you are a guy, you are sht out of luck, but that’s not always the case. As long as you have at LEAST the same number of girls to guys your crew (and the more ladies, the better!) many clubs are willing to let those guys ride on the coattails of those perks. Just be upfront with your numbers when reserving tables or admission with the club. They will be much more willing to accommodate you if you are honest from the get-go, and not taking them by surprise at security check.

Tip # 2: contact promotors BEFORE you go (Don’t buy tickets!).

We had heard that as girls we will likely get on guestlists and in clubs for free except if there is a big name playing. So after booking our trip and seeing big names like Zedd, Aoki, and Diplo, we were eager to buy tickets before prices increased or they sold out… and then we found a promoter, who not only promised us free entry into ALL of these big name DJs, but comped bottle service as well!

I asked what we should do with our tickets. As it turns out, they are nonrefundable or transferable. And with a name on guest list, you really do not need them. So save yourself some money, and do not buy tickets.

With a big name DJ playing every night of the week at 8-10 resorts on the strip, there is not the same limitations or rush to get a ticket somewhere as you see in Toronto or other cities, where these kinds of big events are few and far between.

So how do you find a promotor if you’ve never set foot in Vegas before? Search Instagram and Facebook, or ask friends who have gone recently. While you are sure to find promoters there more than willing to get you in clubs free, often with booths or alcohol its good to show up to the first club on your first night with an in to start feeling like a VIP

our first night in Vegas— Diplo @XS in the Wynn hotel

Tip # 3: Thank your Promoters

Too many girls are either too drunk or to caught up in the party to acknowledge the guy pouring them their free drinks, or escorting them ahead of the line into the club. DO NOT be that girl. Thank your promotors!

Not only is it a polite, Canadian thing to do, but thanking your promotors for any hookups before AND AFTER an event will help you keep that connection open for you.

We quickly discovered that all the promoters run in the same circles. Promoters at different clubs all know each other, and hosts who can set up things like comped tables and cabanas. Our promotor who set us up for our first pool party at the Marquee introduced us to a host there (Rocco!) who happily gave us a table (and tequila!). We hit it off, and that night he set us up with another VIP comped table at Omnia with one of his friends there.

For the rest of the weekend, we didn’t wait in a single line or pay for a single drink, simply because we formed a good rapport with our very generous hosts and promotors.

Feeling lucky @ the Cosmopolitan’s Chandelier bar

Tip # 4: Eat whatever you can, whenever you can.

This Grande Starbucks iced coffee is $7 USD

Vegas can be a foodie’s paradise. With hundreds of five star restaurants, Michelin-rated chefs, and cuisines and flavours to please every palette, there is no shortage of options.

However, if you are coming to Vegas with an itinerary centered on partying and attending DJ events day and night, don’t count on hitting many (if any!) of these restaurants.

As we learned unfortunately a little too late. A group of 8 people (even girls!) cannot simply walk into a restaurant on a resort around dinner time and get a table. Even calling ahead, we were continuously met with the response of no reservation, no service-- not if you wanted to eat before 11:30 PM. And for a bunch of girls whose last meal had been breakfast before hitting the pool party all afternoon, there was no way we could wait for that. And besides, we had dancing to do.

As unglamorous as it sounds we basically ate for survival. Waking up in the morning, we would head out in search of Starbucks for a hit of caffeine, and then either grabbed a bagel or breakfast sandwich there OR a rice and beans filled burrito or bowl from the Taco Bell Cantina (which was thankfully right across the street from our hotel).

We thought we would have time for a big leisurely brunch every morning, at some cute poolside cafe like the Overlook Cafe with plentiful vegan options. How wrong we were.

After going to bed no earlier than 4 AM, we were doing good if all of us were out of bed by 11. And with a table waiting for us to claim it at a beach club by 12:30 or 1 PM latest, we barely had time to get into our swimwear and guzzle down an iced coffee before hitting the club. Our options were basically the nearby fast food breakfast options or granola bars. And when we were partying through lunch, a granola bar ain’t gonna cut it.

Don’t be that girl who gets kicked out during Aoki’s set because she did tequila shots on an empty stomach. So when you have the chance to eat, fill up!

Tip # 5: Wear comfortable shoes (no matter how fire your stilettos make your legs look)

I am the kind of person that walks into a club and will be on the dance floor until the lights come on. Dancing and moving is my happy place, with or without even a drop of alcohol.

The times I had the absolute most fun on our Vegas trip was at the pool parties, and it comes down to one simple thing: I was NOT confined to heels.

Sure, I strutted into the venue in a classy pair of wedges, but they were at least comfortable enough to dance and walk around. However, it being a pool party, it was very much the norm for people to be barefoot, and dancing in the pool and on the deck with no shoes at all. This foot freedom allowed me to be the goofiest, silliest, most all-out dancing queen who I innately love to be.

In the evenings, I put on my “comfortable heels” (is there any bigger oxymoron?) and by the time we walked across the expansive resort and stepped into the club, my feet were throbbing. I still danced, as best I could, but half my brain was attempting to hone in on all the meditative techniques I knew to master the pain.

Next time, I will wear wedges. Perhaps not quite as sexy, but my dance skills can and will make up for it.

True foot freedom @Wet Republic for the Aoki pool party

Tip # 6: Make Friends

When you are at a pool party or a night club, and you find yourself at a table whether it is one set up for you or someone else’s, DO NOT feel like you need to be rooted there all night.

Be friendly with whoever you might be sharing that booth, or bottle with, but unless you think the may be your soul sister or the love of your life, keep your options open by circulating the space and interacting with other groups and individuals.

I learned this the very first pool party we were at. While my friends had found us an invite to share in a cabana with a private pool, it was with a group of (over)friendly middle aged men, having some kind of “boys” weekend reliving their youth. So although the set up was nice, it was not particularly a group with whom I wanted much to do with.

So while they all stayed splashing around the pool of Dog the Bounty Hunter and friends, I went exploring. And in that time, I ran into another group of guys, who just so happened to be some very wealthy criminal lawyers from New Mexico…Whether or not they had links to the Cartel remains to be seen. BUT the important thing is that they were super fun, not creepy at all AND ended up funding most of our weekend. $$

After the pool party that day, they took my friend and I to the casino to gamble, giving us each a couple of chips with the pep talk of, “if you win, its yours, if you lose, its on me.

And maybe it was simply beginners’ luck, but I came out of that game 7000 US dollars richer than I went in. Without having to bet any of my own money.

So make friends. You can be selective.

Tip #7: Don’t Over-Plan.

Vegas is huge. It is impossible to do it all in one trip-- and that’s just the strip, NOT even touching downtown Vegas or the grand canyon and other attractions!

In our 3 days and 3 nights, we managed to hit 4 clubs (2 of them twice), 3 hotel resorts, 2 casinos (briefly) and 1 restaurant. We did minimal shopping, eating, and sleeping.

We planned for ourselves a very flexible itinerary, packed with beach and pool parties, and even had the intention of party hopping from Pauly D to Zedd.

However, we quickly learned that it can be more stressful getting from A to B with Vegas traffic, and longer of a walk in the desert heat, than it is often worth to pack in multiple things in opposite ends of the strip.

So pick one of the things each day you really want to do, and be fluid around that.

For instance, had we been tied to a dinner reservation we made for the saturday night, we would have never accepted the invite of our New Mexico friends to go gambling, and I would not be here 10000 richer.

That is the beautiful thing about Vegas- Its a place to be spontaneous, and take some calculated risks. And always evolving and alive, its a place that you can come back to again and again for new experiences and adventures.

Who knows? You might just get lucky.