J1 in Vegas 2011...

lilyman

Hi me and my friends all over 21 were thinkin of goin to Vegas for the summer just wondering has any one bein to Vegas for the summer... whats it like for jobs, accommadation, is the nightlife only good if ya have loads of money, is it expensive etc...

Any information would be really appreciated thanx a mill....

macky4jd

I doubt you'll find many people who have spent the whole summer in vegas. Vegas is absolutely unreal but the max you could stay there would be a week or 10 days. It's just a holiday place and definately not somewhere you'd want to be livin.
You'd be far better to do your j1 in san diego or santa barbra (both close to Vegas) and then head there for a couple of day before ye go home. Thats what I did and it was the best craic ever, but there is no way you could stay in vegas for the summer. The heat reaches 40+ degrees and it's like a hairdryer being blown in your face both during the day and night. In terms of cost, Vegas is very expensive if you stick to the regualer tourist spots- $10 bottle of beer, $13 for a shot. You can get cheaper drink in the non touristy spots but these places can be dangerous. Also some taxi drivers will offer to bring you to strip clubs outside of teh strip and promise to get you free drink when there... DON'T go with them as it is a scam and you can end up getting robbed or worse.
I say these things not to warn you off Vegas as it really is an amazing place and the few days I spent there were the best of my life. However you still need to be careful and realistic and listen to the advice people give you

Best of luck

Hockney

Yeah I did my J1 in Vegas in 2003, loved every minute of it!

Jobs were tricky enough to get, as most strip casinos require you to have experience working on the strip itself, even for regular bar/waiting jobs.
We ended up working in a waterpark (since closed) serving food and drinks, money wasnt fantastic but we had enough to booze and live comfortably.

Nearly everything in Vegas is some sort of scam to keep you there, and you can really play this to your advantage.

Cashing paycheques in Casinos gets you a free cocktail, stay 4 nights in a hotel get the 5th free, that kind of stuff. Food can be found extremely cheaply on and off the strip, with most casinos undercutting each other on their buffet prices. Take outs were unbelievably cheap too, we almost never cooked for ourselves since food delivered to the door always seemed to be cheaper.

Some bars allowed us to bring your own alcohol (Harrahs on the strip being one) which we found great, and we did quite a few stints drinking in casinos just getting free drinks all night for playing 5c slots!

We ended up staying in a long term renting apartment complex with it's own pool, of which there are lots in Vegas, and plently are about 15mins walk from the strip. We constantly filled a cooler with beer and had parties by the pool costing next to nothing, a brilliant setup. Sounded way better than the dives lots of our friends said they stayed in in San Fran/LA, they couldn't believe our place when they came to visit.

Shows on the strip etc were definitely out of our budget, and we rarely did any big gambling.

Vegas is also very close to some beautiful scenery, so we did a few road trips renting cars to the Grand Canyon/Utah/Arizona which were spectacular and again costed very little.

I would definitely recommend hitting Vegas for a summer, I dont know why people never consider it for J1. Its got music venues and shopping centres and cinemas and bowling alleys and bars just like every other city, but with all the strip activity thrown in for good measure. It does get extremely hot, we worked outside in 45 degree heat for all of August, but after two weeks we were pretty used to it, and it's a dry heat so its not sticky.

One other thing to keep in mind is that drinking outside of your apartment if you're under 21 in Vegas is tough. I had my 21st birthday there (and what a birthday!) but prior to that I was getting thrown out of everywhere. I had kind of assumed that because its in the middle of the desert they'd be more lax about ID but I was very wrong!

Your biggest problem will be finding work though, I'd get emailing around and see can you sort something prior to heading out, we got lucky with our jobs. Once off the strip waiting jobs are out there, I'd say that would be your best bet.

Best of luck anyway, PM me if you need any other specific info.