Non-workshop costs?

[James81]

One of these days, I'd love to attend one of these (not sure if I'll be in a place to make the one in January, per se, but eventually I will be).

And I know the cost will be somewhere in teh $500 range for the workshop itself. And it's fairly easy to get an estimate for a plane ticket at cheaptickets.

What I'm curious about is the other costs.

For those who went who don't mind sharing, what kind of money did you have in other things (like the hotel, food, etc.)? Was it necessary to rent a car or did you use other transportation (and if so, how much did that run)?

I'm just trying to get a handle on what the overall cost would be in general to get an idea of what I'd need if I were to go to one of these.

[seeker5]

Depends. Most people had hotels that were about $100/night. One pair met on this forum and split the cost of the hotel room. I know one other person used couchsurfing.com to find someone's couch they could sleep at which was free for them. That last person also used the bus and got rides to and from the workshop.

There's no need to rent a car unless you're staying far away from the strip.

As for food, that's all up to you. I'd probably figure in $20-30/day so you can eat comfortable lunch and dinner at restaurants with your fellow workshop attendees, but that's optional.

There are plenty of taxis too to go around town, I know some people got rides from those with cars to go to restaurants, but when that ran out, others took taxis too. I don't know how much they cost, but I assume that depends on whether you're going with a group (some did that) or by yourself.

[Amro]

I can give you a quick summation of my costs.

Hotel, 7 nights @ Imperial Palace: $250

The room was classed as a "deluxe", and booked with my flights which gave me 20% discount. See: www.expedia.com

I discovered on the day of my departure that I could have significantly cut my per night costs if I had booked on arrival with a "player's card" (which you can get for free at any Harrah's managed casino) to obtain approx. 50% discount per night.

I spent approx. $250 on food. This was at numerous buffets (Harrahs, Mirage, Creaser's), lunch varied between $15-25. This also factors in raw food costs at the RedVelvet (vegan) and Rawfood cafe.

$50 was spent on transport. Either taxi or SUV limo. Transportation to cafes/events can be significantly cheaper if you go as a large group. We rode a 10 seater SUV limo to Rawvelvet cafe for approx. $6 each from Imperial Palace. Just imagine, a group of highly conscious individuals riding a limo pumping loud R&B/House music with streaming lights to a cozy vegan restaurant a few miles away from the strip. hah.

[MichaelHowe]

I stayed at a hostel for students from out-of-state and international students. It was 18 bucks a night. I drove, so gas for me was $~60. I probably spent another $50 eating out a few times.

So, altogether, I spent less than $150 outside the workshop. Depending on your situation, and what you want to do, you can significantly reduce your costs if you're feeling frugal.