Honestly, Vegas is always a good idea. I like to go at least once a year to Vegas and when you have a sister who has been there about 25 times, yes 25 you learn a thing or two on where to stay/what to do/ where to eat.

If you’re a girl prepare to barely spend any money

If you’re a guy.. prepare to spend some money simply put

I’ve stayed at MGM signature suites , Luxor, and the palazzo/Venetian. But I’ve been to the hotel rooms and pools of the bellagio, cosmopolitan, and Caesar’s palace.  I highly recommend cosmo if the prices are reasonable cuz sometimes they can get out of hand.

I’ve lost track on how many times I’ve gone to vegas, but each time gets better than the one before. We were about 10 people and I stayed in Palazzo once again.

 

Clubs/pool party recs:
1. I always end up wet republic at mgm don’t know why but must be a reason I keep going back there
2. Encore beach club
3. OMNIA- my fave club ever you’ll see for yourself why
4. Hakkasan – not one of my favorites but if a dj I wanna see is spinning there then you’ll find me there too
5. Xs

Show recommendations :
1. O
2. Ka
3. La reve

The list can go on forever. If you want to know what DJ’s are gonna be at the pool parties and clubs months in advance go to:

https://electronic.vegas/vegas-edm-event-calendar/

Restaurant recommendations:
1. Olives at bellagio for sick views of the fountain
2. Beauty and Essex
3. Estiatorio Milos-  has a great lunch special
4. In n out- being from the east coast this is sadly what I look forward to the most  🤤
5. Earls – if you want a quick sandwich
6. Yardbird if you’re into southern food
7. Zuma
8. Javier’s

 

Tips for Vegas:
1. If you’re 4 in a room.. just say you’re two so you don’t pay extra and get multiple room keys.
2. If you have have friends staying in other hotels you can easily use their pool you just need to show a hotel key to get in
3. Get yourself a promoter and put your name on a guest list (girls)
4. Guys- if you know you wanna go to a certain club/pool party and a popular dj is spinning than buy tickets ahead of time. It walkways starts off at like 30-50 bucks and then if you wait till night of you can spending 100 bucks to see Calvin Harris
5. Uber/Lyft everywhere
6. Go on the linq Ferris wheel for sick views of Vegas .. I suggest doing the open bar for 30 min 🙂 and you can get discounts on living social it’s usually on there
7. If you’re in Vegas long enough take a trip to the Grand Canyon! It’s about 3 hours away and well worth it. ( I booked it on Viator but you can rent a car and go yourself)
8. Walk inside some of the hotels even if you’re not staying there.. they’re beautiful
9. Buy yourself some water snacks and alcohol and chasers from the nearest ABC convenient store or Walgreens etc

 

 

Is Nola as fun as it’s hyped up to be? Yes, my answer is yes. Decided to go with the fiancé during Christmas weekend to New Orleans. We booked way ahead of time and paid about 250 round trip flight which is pretty reasonable for the holidays!

Know the weather before you go! Our weekend started off at 78 degrees and by the time we left it was 35 degrees so just pack appropriately!

We stayed at the Omni Royal in the French quarter which was in the PERFECT location and a really nice hotel. They also gave us a free upgrade without even asking. I obviously took advantage of the weather and went to the rooftop pool for a little bit. Fun fact… I found out later that my hotel is haunted and some guy actually jumped off the roof where the pool is and people claim to see his ghost pace back and forth from time to time.

There are a lot of free walking tours offered by Free Tours By Foot that you can reserve in advance and basically cancel any time! We did a couple like a ghost/vampire tour, French quarter tour and garden district/Lafayette cemetery tour.

We also did a swamp tour which was fun if you’re into that and want to see some alligators. I booked my tour through Viator and did a small group tour ( was just another couple on our airboat) which I highly recommend! It also included hotel pick up and drop off which was useful since it was a solid hour drive.

If you’re into riding bikes I suggest a bike tour of New Orleans! It was a 3 hour bike tour that basically was just me my fiancé and the tour guide. We got to see the different neighborhoods and it was really beautiful and scenic !

Okay now for the good part… the food. Let’s just say the second I got back I went on a juice cleanse….

Restaurant Recommendations:
1. Brennan’s
2. Willa jean
3. Sobu
4. Coquette
5. Shaya- the best Israeli food I’ve ever had
6. Commanders place
7. Antoine’s
8. La petit grocery
9. Cochon
10. Cochon butcher
11. Killer Po boys
12. Cafe du mond (beignets are not worth the hype OR calories but it’s still a must)
13. May pop
14. Kingfish
15. Crescent city brewery
16. Compete lapin
17. Bacchanal- you can get wine and cheese from the grocery store and they plate it for you and bring it outside where you can listen to jazz music

Bars:
1. Sazerac bar at the Roosevelt hotel
2. Pat o briens Piano bar
3. Obv anywhere on bourbon street has a ton of bars

Tips for NOLA:
1. If a restaurant takes reservations MAKE THEM
2. Some places are closed on Christmas so keep that in mind
3. Uber’s are pretty cheap and are all around
4. Take a bike tour all around New Orleans!
5. Go to Frenchman street for jazz
6. Magazine street for restaurants/bars