Things Nobody Tells You About Visiting Las Vegas (Until It’s Too Late)

Hey there fellow travelers, Frank here with Wolters For Homes. Today we're in Las Vegas. Today we're going to talk about are some of the regrets that first time visitors have when they come here to Las Vegas. And basically, what I'm giving you here is what I wish I would have known before the first time I came here to Vegas. And I want to tell you the first thing that people forget is, yeah, getting sunburned before lunch. Look, if you're going out, you're going to explore the city anytime before lunch, just know by the end of day, you're going to get fried. So make sure you're bringing a hat, make sure you put that sun block on before you explore for the day. If you're going to go out hiking to your Red Rock Canyon, wherever, have plenty of hydration and you keep filling up, but also keep that sun protection. Cause honestly, you think of Vegas is nightlife and casino stuff, but a lot of times you get fried just walking around. Okay. Now you may be saying, Mark, I'm not going to get up before lunch. So I don't have to worry about that. Well, that's true. But another regret you might have is if you go too hard on the first night, you know, you're so excited. I'll meet the boys in Vegas. We're having our buddies to get together and you've been at work all day, you get that flight, you get in and you party all night long and you're just wiped out the rest of the trip because you're so tired from all the travel. So tired from that day at work that when you get here and then you overdo it the first night, it really knocks you out the next couple of nights. So maybe, maybe I'm not saying do it, but maybe the first night take it a little bit easier. And then the other nights here, that's when you go really crazy because then you can sleep in and avoid the sunburn, but also avoid being wiped out the entire trip. Now, another thing is really important when you come here to Vegas is, um, don't forget to bring cash. Look, this is a tipping place. You're gonna be tipping literally anybody that helps you. You're going to be tipping them and you want to have cash with you. But if you're on the strip, those ATMs there, $10 ATM fees, $15 ATM fees, it can hit you pretty hard. So I do recommend hitting your local bank before you come to Vegas and stop stock up on your cash. Make sure you have singles, fives, tens, twenties, because if you're going to be tipping, you know, the, the staff that's cleaning your room, you might only be five bucks. You want to get those free drinks keep coming. You got to have some bills for them to have them keep coming, but cash is king when you're here. And I really recommend you bring it with you. So you're not paying those exorbitant ATM fees. Now, when you come to Vegas, you always see people dressed up as Elvis or maybe the showgirls, and you want to get your picture taken with them. It's like a thing to do when you're here. But one thing I want to tell you is to make sure you are negotiating that price before you step into that picture, because you don't want to be in there and they're all of a sudden like, oh, it's $100 for a picture with me and Elvis at the sign. No, no, no, no, no. Negotiate the price beforehand and do that. And remember, if you're at the Las Vegas side, you don't have to take a picture with that Elvis is there, you can take your own pictures. And if they're jumping into your picture, when you're taking a picture, you don't have to pay for that because you didn't ask them to be in it. However, if you're going to get that picture with them on your shoulders, or you with the dancing girls or whatever, do know you should negotiate that beforehand. Otherwise, they can get a little bit aggressive in terms of, hey, we want our money because you got to pay him. So just be aware of that. That's why it's a good idea. Negotiate the price before. Now another mistake I know I made my first time here, and I keep making every time we come here is that the perception that all the casinos are right next to each other. Like you see it on the map, you're like, oh, they're right next to each other. They're all right there. And when you fly in, you'll see, oh, there's a sphere. Oh, there's the Bellagio fountain. And you're like, oh, it's all just right there. What you have to realize, and you will regret is just not realizing the distances between the casinos, not their property lines, but from the actual casino to the next casino. These are huge, huge, huge blocks. These aren't normal city blocks. These are Vegas blocks and they're enormous. And so you're going to walk a long, long, long time. And you want to make sure you have the right shoes, have good broken in shoes, because you're going to be walking around a lot when you are here. Also, you're going to play in games. Probably not going to sit the whole time. You'll be up on your feet. So it's really good to have the good shoes, but it really comes down to just not realizing just the big distances you have here in Vegas. You can walk them, but you're going to get fried the sun and it's going to be a long, long day for your little footsies. Now, another thing I wish I would have realized before I came to Vegas the first time and literally every time I come is never think Vegas is going to be cheap. Look, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, we were coming here. You could do Vegas on a really good budget. Now, with the price of going to shows, hotels, resort fees, all these things, your cheap Vegas vacation isn't really cheap anymore. So you really have to plan ahead. So make sure you're finding like deals, sign up for the loyalty programs, sign up for those emails. They might have announced and say, oh, we have no resort fees. If you book with us this week, you can save money that way. But in general, it's just not going to be a cheap thing. So make sure you're paying attention when you're booking your accommodation. How much is that resort fee? Is it $25 a day or is it $50 a day? Or maybe you stay off the strip and you don't have resort fees at all because those resort fees, think about it, $50 a day, you're here for three nights. So that would be $150 for just three nights because $50 each night for the resort fee, it can really add up. And oh yeah, I will tell you this, um, don't bother even trying to negotiate out of those resort fees. Cause I remember the first time I came or this is years ago when they weren't even that bad. And I'm like, wait, your pool's out of commission and the stuff's not working well too bad. You, you get the wifi when you're here and you can make domestic phone calls. So I'm like, I don't even know enough people to call to spend $50 in phone calls, but you want to kind of think about that and be aware and look for all those little things because another little thing I wish I would have known are all the little hidden fees they like to tack on. Look, if you're checking into a hotel, look and see if there's any fees you can ask them, Hey, are there any optional fees I can option out of? Because you do want to tip the, you know, the people cleaning your room, but maybe just leave the money there as opposed for them automatically charging your room. There's a CFN service fee that sometimes pops up on restaurant bills, which another four or 5% that goes to the restaurant. It's not for tipping. It's not for the service people, just more charges on there. So really always, always, always look at your bill and see if there's any service things on there that you didn't ask for, or you didn't get something for and ask about it and be like, Hey, can we take that off? Because that didn't relate to me. Now, when you're in the casinos, there's one thing when you think about coming to Vegas, it's like, Oh, it's all the free drinks. It's all the cop stuff you can get when you come here. But I'm going to tell you, the whole comp rooms and comp stuff is nothing like it used to be. Also, if you're thinking you're going to get free drinks all the time when you're in the casinos, no, you get free drinks when you're in the casinos and you're gambling, okay? Because they're not going to give you free stuff unless you're putting money into the system. So make sure when those waitresses come by, the cocktail waitresses come by and bring you your beer or your drink, you want to make sure you're tipping them every time. A buck or two, you know, if it's a beer, if you got a fancier drink, maybe tip them five bucks or something like that, but you want to make sure you're tipping because I will tell you, you can do the nickel slots where you can find them. And if you're tipping that person, they're going to be bringing you beers like you're a high roller. But if you're like in one of the higher paying things and you're not tipping the waitresses, they're not going to be bringing your drinks very often. So make sure you do have that. That's why, remember, have those singles, have those fives because yeah, it's free drinking when you're gambling, but it's not always free because you do need to tip. Now, another thing with the casinos is how do you get out of a casino? Like you go into, it's like a labyrinth of stuff and you're like, how do I get out? And you'll look on the wall and there'll be an exit sign, but you follow the signs on the exit on the walls. You're like, oh, I mean, it's like, you're just walking around and trying to find your way out of there when reality, what you should do is don't use the exit signs that are on the wall, use the exit signs that are kind of hanging over the walkways because I find those are a better way to actually get you out versus the ones on the wall. It's a little thing, but it can save you much headache trying to get out of some of the casinos when you're here. And speaking of the casinos and just in general, hey, you want to know a way to save some really good money when you come here to Las Vegas, don't stay on the strip. Seriously. I know the strip is like the place to be, but if you're here downtown, you know, Fremont street experiences right over there, or you're staying off strip, you can save a lot of money in the hotels, casinos, eating, all kinds of stuff. So you don't have to spend strip prices to have an experience. And I'm going to tell you, if you're gonna be staying hotels off, you know, off the strip, they might not even have, you know, resort fees. So you can save a lot of money that way. Also, since they're, you know, the casinos that are on the strip, they have to give you a reason to come out to them. So they might pay out a little bit better. So it might be better for your winnings that way. Also, another thing, a little tiny thing, um, if you're looking to do like the slot machines, maybe it's a good idea to do the ones that you don't recognize any of the famous people on the slot machine or into the stuff, because think about it. If it's going to be based on something popular, they're probably paying a royalty on that. So they have to make that money up somewhere. So maybe try the more like chillax, you know, slot machines when you are there. Okay. And another thing you need to realize when you're coming to Las Vegas, it is not just gambling yet. There are so many other things to do, whether you want to go shopping, whether you want to go explore like fun stores, or you go to the container park here in downtown, or you want to go to Red Rock Canyon and go hiking there. I mean, there's so many things you can do that isn't gambling that you can enjoy, whether you want to enjoy Ethiopian food and crazy things there, or see some of the fun museums like the Ma Museum or the Atomic Museum. There's a lot more to Vegas than just gambling. So these are just some of the little things that I regret not knowing before I came to Vegas the first time. What's the advice that you have for first timers that you wish you would have known? Put it down the comments below so we can have other travelers enjoy this fun city. Anyway, I wish you all the best. I'll say bye from here in Las Vegas. Oh, also want to say a big thank you to all our members on YouTube and our patrons on Patreon who help make honest travel videos like this possible. I want to say thank you to all them. And if you want to help support, check us out at or you can go to the little button down there that says membership, you can click and become a member here on YouTube as well. So wish you all the best and happy travels.