Las Vegas
A girls’ trip to Las Vegas is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve been to Vegas plenty of times through work and with my mom just to sit near the pool. But let's be honest, a trip to Vegas with your friends is a wildly different experience. When a friend of mine suggested a trip to Vegas with a few of her friends, I couldn’t say no. Luckily with my hotel discounts, I was able to get us a room at the Cosmopolitan for a reasonable price-making it impossible to turn down the trip.
Thursday
Four out of the five of us arrived Thursday afternoon at the Cosmopolitan. The hotel/ casino, if you’re not familiar with it, sits on the strip among all the most popular spots on the strip. We checked into our room (yes there was one room for five girls) and popped some champagne immediately. Our first night we didn’t plan to do anything crazy, just lay low, grab drinks and put feelers out for the rest of the weekend.
We made the decision to grab a drink in the crown jewel of the Cosmopolitan which is the Chandelier Lounge. To get to the lounge, you have to go up to the second floor then down a set of stairs that sits you in-between the first and second floor of the casino. The Chandelier Lounge is like floating in the middle of the bustling casino but the drink prices will bring you down real quick. Nevertheless, the experience is so fun. Sipping a dirty martini surrounded by sparkling jewels sitting in the middle of a massive chandelier is an incredible start to a girls’ weekend in Vegas.
Luckily, we had a friend who was in Vegas on a work trip that weekend who invited us to dinner at Beauty & Essex since a bunch of his coworkers couldn’t hang and left dinner early, leaving him with a table full of food with no one to eat it. The dining experience here, as it is with many places in Vegas, is such an experience. When going into the restaurant you enter through what seems to be a high-priced pawn shop full of diamond trinkets and extravagant jewelry. The host then leads you through an unassuming side door that leads to an expansive restaurant.
The food we had here was some of my favorite on the whole trip. We had tomato soup bites with little fried cheese in the middle and dessert served in a Ferris wheel. Safe to say the dining experience was a pretty dope one.
After dinner, we all grabbed a few drinks in the Clique lounge continuing our fun. After that, we made the absolute best decision we could and called it a night.
Friday
Friday morning we woke up feeling just fine since we went to bed at a (somewhat) decent hour. So what did we do with all this free time before our first pool party you ask? We went to Margaritaville obviously. Now, before you judge me, this spot was hilariously perfect. It sits right on the strip so the people watching was spectacular. The bartender was talkative and fun, we got to sit outside and enjoy the heat, and when you walked in to get to the bathroom you got to walk over fake water and boat-like booths. Once in a lifetime experience and quite mild compared to the rest of our trip.
We didn’t go into the trip with any concrete plans but my friend and I had both reached out to some promoters before the trip. They got us a table at Drai’s during the day next to the pool and on the list at XS that night so we didn’t have to pay admission.
After our Margaritaville brunch, we went back to our room where we girls fought for mirror space while getting ready to head to Drai’s for the daytime pool party. One of my friends knew this promoter from back home, so he was able to get us the table with two pitchers of a mixed cocktail and admission to XS later that night.
Our table sat right next to the pool which was convenient since it was hotter than hell that day. It was the perfect little secluded spot for us, four girls, to have a few drinks, even if we got hit by beach balls a few times. To be honest I have no idea who the DJ playing was that day or if it was even anyone worth noting. The day club wasn’t wild by any means but still a great time. We splurged on one $20 drink after we’d gone through our free pitchers and then headed home to get ready for our dinner and night out.
Shortly after getting back to our room, our fifth girl arrived. We opened another bottle of champagne (the not expensive kind) and got all dolled up. Dinner was at RA Sushi. The dinner was great, but also not over the top expensive, which in Vegas is a novelty. I definitely recommend going here if you’re not looking to blow your budget but also want a nice sit-down dinner. It was the perfect start to our night and after we headed to the clerb (club).
This is probably something you’ve heard but if not, Vegas can be a lot easier for girls to navigate. Especially in groups. After getting into the back of the line at XS nightclub in the Encore hotel/casino, as most girls waiting in line, we were escorted to bypass pretty much any party waiting with guys to the front of the line.
XS is half outside by the side of the pool and half inside, with the DJ booth sitting in the middle separating the outside from inside. There are bars both inside and outside. There are tables both inside and outside, but the best tables seem to be behind the DJ booth in the VIP area that’s in the outside area.
The five of us each grabbed an overpriced drink and danced near the stage for a little bit. After a short while, some guys asked us to join them at their table. This is definitely the move in Vegas, find some fun people who invite you to their table and drink their alcohol. However, their table was in a spot where everyone was walking by, and let’s just say their alcohol of choice was not anyone’s favorite.
We decided it’d be more fun to be on our own and dipped. That’s when our guardian Vegas Angel appeared. (Disclaimer: of course always be careful and alert in big cities and venues when drinking). Robert*. He invited all of us into the VIP area behind the DJ booth to his table, which had top-notch liquor; a great view of the DJ; and most exciting to me, couches I could sit on and rest from my six-inch heels.
Don’t you worry though, I powered through and danced all night to Dillon Francis and some other DJ I don’t remember. The spot we were in couldn’t have been any better. But it got better, and Robert* who seemed excessively plugged-in in Vegas got us into the DJ booth where we could look out into the crown inside and back to the crowd outside.
Believe it or not my night got even better when I started to talking to a cute guy at the table next to us who I will forever now refer to as my Vegas boyfriend.
Of course, we made it out till bar close which is later than what I’ll admit to so if you’re really curious google it. On our way out we ran into our friend from home who got us a ride back to the Cosmopolitan in a limo. We ended the night by watching the sunrise over Vegas which felt like a scene straight out of the movie The Hangover.
Saturday
As I’m sure you can assume we slept until around eleven. Despite behaving like we were in the movie The Hangover, none of us felt too awful. We went and grabbed some coffees from The Coffee Bean in the mall across the street from our hotel to help revive us for our busy day ahead.
Robert* being the Vegas angel he is, invited us to, what at the time seemed too good to be true, VIP for the Chainsmokers concert at Encore Beach Club. We seriously underestimated what a plug Robert* was. We showed up, gave the name, and were escorted into a huge back lounge area behind the DJ booth that looked out over the massive pool-club area that is the Encore Beach Club.
The back lounge area was covered from the sun and the table we were sitting at was an arm’s length away from where the Chainsmokers were about to play. Suffice it to say we had a great day. The Chainsmokers were so great in concert and after being stuck inside for over a year, this was one of their first concerts back and they crushed it. But the best part of being in the back lounge area was private bathrooms, not gonna lie.
We decided it was time to put ourselves back in our place, so we headed to In-N-Out for dinner. It was time to remind ourselves of what our actual price range was. It ended up being a good call, getting something filling for dinner and not going all out on a fancy dinner.
After our day out, we headed back to our to get ready for another night out in Vegas. We knew later in the night we would be meeting our Vegas angel again and heading back to the same table we were at the night before. Before we headed back to XS for another night, we wanted to grab a drink somewhere in the Cosmopolitan and grab a drink just us girls.
Not having a reservation, we had to try a few places before getting a seat. Eventually, we got a few seats at the bar at STK. It was packed and looked like it would’ve been a fun place to have gotten an actual meal. We got some drinks and apps in our corner of the bar. The music was bumping and a perfect spot to get hyped for another night out.
We made our way over to XS just as we had the night before, but this time weaseled our way in through the VIP entrance thanks to our Vegas angel. Saturday night was much more packed than Friday and I would soon realize why. David Guetta. His set was just insane. So much fun, there was smoke flying at you half the time, his energy was insane, and you knew he was good because they wouldn’t let girls dance in the booth.
Don’t fret though, during the following DJ’s set we were able to get back in the booth and dance. Being in Vegas though, I knew I had to gamble at some point so I left a little earlier with our friend from home and we met up with my Vegas boyfriend to gamble.
I had no idea what was going on during said gambling, even though my dad made me read a book on Craps before going to Vegas. But I will tell you we sat next to a C list celebrity from a show I’m obsessed with while gambling which made the whole experience unforgettable.
Sunday
Sunday was our last full day before we headed home Monday morning. We went to bed just as late as we had the night before, racking our hours-slept total about 10. The group consensus was to skip the aggressive pool parties for the day and head to our hotel pool, the Chelsea Pool, and chill.
We ordered drinks and food by the pool, I got these fish tacos that were to die for. It could’ve just been the lack of nutrition throughout the weekend, but I would race back to Vegas for those. We lathered on the sunscreen and waded in the pool for the day.
Since it was our last night, dinner had to be fancy. I found a reservation at Lago which I’d been to before on a working layover. The restaurant is in the Bellagio and overlooks the Bellagio fountains, the ultimate Las Vegas view.
Getting a table for five at 7 pm seemed lucky enough, but when we arrived they sat us in a corner booth right next to the windows. We sipped red wine, got gourmet food, and watched the water show every 15 minutes. I ordered gnocchi which was served in this white sauce and tasted incredible but the real star of the culinary show was the tiramisu we split for dessert.
The goal for the end of the night was to go to a Marquee night pool party to close out our trip, but this is where we fell short. Everyone was dead and full by the time we got back to the room so after pretending to be down and even starting to get ready, we all went to bed at a reasonable hour.
Great call since most of the girls had to leave for the airport at 5 am. Now, this is where the clutch-ness of being a flight attendant comes in. I was able to change my original flight home to Chicago to a later flight back to my mom’s in Minnesota where I knew I’d be spoiled by my mama and able to recover in peace.
My main major tips for your girls’ trip to Las Vegas would be
Go with a group of girls (maybe 4-7) not too big and not too small
Message promoters before- to get into the club at least, or purchase tickets for the clubs if you can’t find any promoters you can trust (get recommendations through friends! I got mine through a Facebook group)
Pack reasonable heels- I didn’t and whoops. You walk a lot.
Bring or buy snacks. We spent a lot of time in the room getting ready, luckily I got some snacks at a CVS before the other girls arrived, food in the hotel convenience stores are overpriced
Stick with your group! We were all really good about sticking together and checking on each other which made the whole trip more fun and SAFE for all of us!
If you want to see a highlight from my Las Vegas adventure click here!