Summary

The author describes how they creatively sneak food, drinks, and a coffee maker into a Las Vegas hotel to save money on overpriced hotel amenities during a week-long stay.

Abstract

The article recounts the author's experience of staying at the Venetian in Las Vegas with their daughters for a week. To avoid the exorbitant prices of food and drinks within the hotel and on the Las Vegas strip, the author devises a plan to bring in their own supplies, including a coffee maker, which is typically not allowed in hotel rooms on the strip. The author faces challenges at the hotel's valet when trying to bring in a cooler containing these items, leading to a stealthy operation to smuggle the coffee maker and other supplies into their room. The narrative highlights the lengths one might go to save money on travel expenses without sacrificing convenience or comfort.

Opinions

The author believes that Las Vegas hotels overcharge for food and drinks, possibly due to the assumption that patrons will be willing to spend more while intoxicated or gambling.
There is skepticism regarding the hotel's policy of not providing coffee makers due to fire hazards, with the author suggesting it's a tactic to force guests to visit hotel amenities and potentially spend more money.
The author is critical of the hotel's policy that allows styrofoam coolers but not plastic ones, viewing it as an arbitrary rule designed to deter guests from bringing their own supplies.
The author expresses a strong preference for having their own coffee maker, emphasizing the inconvenience and unwelcomed social interactions they wish to avoid by not using the hotel's coffee services.
Despite the initial setback with the cooler, the author is resourceful and determined to have their own amenities, indicating a strong DIY ethic and aversion to overspending on travel.
The author values comfort and routine, as evidenced by their need to have their own coffee setup and snacks, as well as their ritual of eating sunflower seeds while watching TV in the evening.

TRAVEL TIPS

How To Save Money by Sneaking Things into Your Hotel Room

These are very important travel items so I broke the rules

My daughters and I checked into the Venetian yesterday for a week. Yes, a whole week in Las Vegas.

How do you pack for a week when you don’t want to spend your life savings on food and drinks?

They charge you an arm and a leg for food and drinks in Las Vegas. Maybe they get away with it because people are drunk? I know most people don’t win big while they are here.

We had our treat at the pool yesterday. A 14-dollar virgin pina colada that wasn’t even worth it.

Expensive Pina Coladas- Photo Credit: Author

I couldn’t fathom doing that the whole trip along with the 20-dollar salads that we got for lunch that literally consisted of lettuce, peppers, corn, tortilla strips, and salsa.

Granted, the food in Las Vegas is pretty amazing if you want to pay top dollar and I have been to some delicious restaurants here in the past.

The last time we were here, we went to Gordon Ramsey’s Hells Kitchen and they have a killer vegan menu but this trip we are saving money.

We have a big trip coming up at the end of the month and spending tons of money on food in Las Vegas isn’t on my list right now.

Did you know that they don’t provide or allow coffee makers in the rooms on the Las Vegas strip?

Last year we were here for another dance competition and found that out the hard way.

I even called from my room asking where the coffee maker was.

“We don’t have coffee makers in the rooms because it is a fire hazard.”

Really? Literally, almost every other hotel has one, even the hotels off the strip in Las Vegas.

Fire hazard my ass.

It’s another ploy to get you downstairs walking through the casino to Starbucks. Anything to get you downstairs to spend your life at a slot machine.

No, thanks, I am not trying to be my mother with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth while she plays penny slots and drinks all day long.

What does this all have to do with my packing list for Las Vegas?

I’m writing this to share my tidbits about how to survive a week-long Las Vegas trip without breaking the bank.

8 mornings of Starbucks for myself and my daughters would cost us about $120. I am not spending that much money on coffee. I rarely get coffee out at home, either.

Also, I brought water, teas, seltzers, snacks, breakfast, and lunch items. It looked like we were moving in when we arrived yesterday.

I don’t want to eat out for every meal. Plus, that is a pain in the butt.

Our smaller cooler was packed with all of the drinks, plus my coffee maker and kettle which I use for heating water for ramen cups, tea, and oatmeal.

Another shocker

When we pulled up to the valet, he proceeded to put our bags on the cart and got to the back of the trunk to see my cooler.

“You can’t bring your cooler in, sorry Ma’am.”

First of all, don’t call me ma’am! Sigh! I guess I am a ma’am, now.

“Why not?”

“It’s hotel policy but you can get a styrofoam cooler from the store and bring that in.”

“So, I can’t bring in my plastic cooler but you’ll let me bring in a styrofoam one?”

What am I missing here? Is this a step of their deterrence process?

“The styrofoam cooler is smaller and we believe that the ice bucket provided in your room would fill that with ice, but not your larger cooler.”

My cooler wasn’t even that big.

I started to panic. My small coffee maker was inside the cooler along with my kettle.

“How am I going to sneak these in without him seeing me??”

As he takes one of our bags to the rolling rack, I bust out the coffee maker and shove it into my daughter’s costume bag and the kettle followed.

Hoping my stealth moves saved us…

He turns around to see me struggling trying to zip the bag closed. Sweat beads start running down my face. It’s 110 degrees out and I’m nervous, what do you expect?

Thank goodness I brought a tiny lunch cooler bag and two trash bags for my drinks. They do allow you to bring in a trashbag side bag of drinks, but just not the cooler.

Again, another WTF moment before realizing it’s just another deterrence.

I MacGyvered everything onto the rack and the lonely cooler sat in the back of my car ready to say goodbye as the valet drove off.

Coffee times flashback

I can live without the cooler but not without my coffee maker. The thought of having to get dressed to walk down to Starbucks at 6 am makes me shiver.

I’m having flashbacks of last summer when I had to witness all of the people that hadn’t gone to sleep yet, staggering around with one eye open. A couple almost got into a fist fight in front of me and all I wanted was my jammies in bed with my coffee.

So, back to the bellhop. He takes our 13 pieces of luggage, that was including my trash bags and we were off to stand in the hour-long line to check-in.

Our room wasn’t ready yet so we went to get those 20-dollar salads and have some time at the pool.

When we finally received the text that our room was ready, it was now the moment we’d all been waiting for.

Did the coffee maker make it to our room intact? Remember, I did shove it in the bag as fast as I possibly could, not thinking about what might break.

The moment of truth

Slowly zipping the garment bag open, my coffee maker smiled at me. It wasn’t broken, just a little twisted but I’ll take twisted over spending $120 on coffee.

My water kettle also made it along with all of our snacks and goodies.

My essential Las Vegas travel list includes

Coffee Maker

Filters

Coffee

Cups

Creamer

Snacks

Quick lunch items that aren’t very healthy but we will live. Cup of Noodles, Mac n Cheese, and ingredients for PBJs.

Breakfast items like oatmeal and bagels. My cream cheese and vegan cream cheese are in my lunch cooler that I have to fill with ice.

Plates and utensils

The number one thing I never leave at home without might sound strange to most of you but I need my sunflower seeds.

I eat them every night while I watch tv.

Also, if I am driving to a destination, I never forget my pillow.

Thanks for coming along for my hotel outlaw thug life story.

Check out my friend Susan Wheelock’s story about her cute lucky charm that she doesn’t forget on her travels. Oh, and the most important thing that I would hope most writers don’t forget, and that is a book… or several!

I Always Travel With Luck and Books

And a few superstitions

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Thanks for reading!

Much love, Michele