Sin City vs. The Big Apple Abstract The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the two cities of Las Vegas, Nevada and New York, New York. Both cities offer a vast array of entertainment, luxurious accommodations, and world-class dining. There are many things that are close to being the same in both cities, a visitor is able to gamble in either place, a visitor is able to see a beautiful skyline, and take in the sights of a world famous city. There are marked differences in the weather of the two cities, and each city offers its own unique styling.
This paper should help to decide which place you would rather visit on your next trip to a big city. When people are planning a vacation, three cardinal things to consider are weather, entertainment, and lodging. Without careful consideration of any of these three areas, the trip could be surprising. Las Vegas, Nevada and New York, New York both have many things to offer the visitor, a large selection of really neat places to stay, and a ton of activities to keep you entertained for days and days. The two cities both have their own unique offerings of style, luxury, and excitement.
Take a look into the two cities contained in the same country, yet a world apart. Las Vegas weather can be surprising to many people. The area often has temperatures well over one hundred degrees and rarely dip below freezing. The climate can be thought of as a subtropical desert climate, with little precipitation. There are approximately 300 sunny days a year in Las Vegas, equating to an average of 3800 hours of sunshine (Vegas, 2013). During the summer months (June-August) the average high temperatures are ninety-four to one hundred four degrees (Vegas, 2013).
The nighttime lows for the same period of the year range from sixty-nine degrees to seventy-eight degrees (Vegas, 2013). The winter is usually short, mild, and usually doesn’t even reach the freezing mark. The average high temperature in the winter is around sixty degrees, with the nighttime lows around forty degrees (Vegas, 2013). The valley in which the city resides rarely sees snow in the winter, but snow can be seen on the tops of the surrounding mountains. Las Vegas receives about four and a half inches of precipitation per year, with most of it falling in the winter (Vegas, 2013).
New York City weather is varied greatly through the seasons, with cold, snowy winters, and hot, humid summers. The city has about 234 days per year that the sun at least peeks out of the clouds a little (New York City, 2013). In the summer months, June through August, the average high temperature is around seventy-six to seventy-seven degrees (New York City, 2013). The nighttime lows for the same time frame are around sixty-six degrees (New York City, 2013). Spring and autumn temperatures have great fluctuation, and are sometimes chilly and sometimes very warm.
In the winter months, the high temperature averages around thirty-two degrees, with a low average temperature of twenty-nine and a quarter degrees (New York City, 2013). New York City receives around fifty inches of precipitation per year, with it being almost evenly spread across the twelve months of the year (New York City, 2013). Las Vegas has long been known by many as a hot spot for gambling, but there is much more that goes into entertaining a Vegas visitor. With a nickname like Sin City, one might wonder what kind of trouble is begging to be caused in a city so “hot”.
Every year, Las Vegas amps up its entertainment game with new and better attractions, focusing more and more on the young. Young people are becoming better stewards of their money, and often save thousands of dollars for a trip to Sin City, and they have no reservations about spending it all. It is topping the lists of young, fashionable co-eds across the country as a must-go vacation destination. Whether the idea of the trip is to drink and relax poolside in the warm desert air, party all night in a nightclub, “shop until you drop”, gamble away six months of savings, or take in a unique show, Vegas has something to offer.
With party pools on the rise in the hot desert air, liquor and sun are becoming a very popular combination. People are paying hundreds of dollars to have bottle service in their poolside cabana while listening to DJ spin dance music all day long. The downtown area of Vegas is becoming a popular place for standalone bars, which are usually high end and keep in step with the Las Vegas Strip entertaining people with live, local music and specialty cocktails that are infused with rare herbs (Vegas Trends Toward the Trendy Crowd, 2012).
The focus of the young crowd is evident when you look at the roster of celebrity hosts for New Year’s Eve 2013. Kim Kardashian, famous reality television star, hosted a party at The Mirage’s 1OAK Club, while Nicki Minaj, female rap phenomenon, was hosting at Pure in Caesars Palace (Vegas Trends Toward the Trendy Crowd, 2012). Some of the lounges in large hotels have begun their transformation to being ultra-lounges or turning into clubs. As with traditional nightclubs, the lines are long, and many of them have dress codes, especially for the male patrons.
The Hard Rock Hotel has jumped on board with the younger crowd trends through introducing the “Rehab” pool parties on Sundays in the summer, and just added Vinyl Lounge, where live music is played (Vegas Trends toward the Trendy Crowd, 2012). There are also several museums and galleries in Las Vegas and on the first Friday of every month, local artists’ works are on display downtown (Vegas Trends toward the Trendy Crowd, 2012). Las Vegas also offers shows of all calibers, ranging from melodramatic to the very risque. The casinos and hotels are the main reason people visit Vegas.
With New York City having a long standing reputation as the business mecca of the United States, the city has recently softened its image a little to be friendlier for tourism, but New York is in no shortage of bars and nightclubs. There are even nightclubs for those under twenty-one years of age. There is night life for anyone that wishes to see what the city looks like when the sun goes down. Even gambling has become a thing to do, either by betting the horses at the track, or playing in the casino, or “racino”, as it is commonly referred to.
In 2011, New Yorkers found a way around the gambling laws, by having electronic gambling machines at the race track, making it legal for a casino to be in the city (NYC’s First Casino Opens Today, 2011). There is also spectacular shopping, world-class dining, fascinating shows, wondrous art displays, and a rich history to explore. Shopping is a huge tourist attraction in New York. There are several world famous designers who have made homes in the New York shopping scene, with their most famous locations being Fifth Avenue, and Madison, respectively. There are high end jewelers, luxury retailers, vintage shops, department stores.
Most of the heart’s desires can be found in New York. New York has long been the fashion center of the United States, setting trends for decades. In New York, the drama industry is alive with spectacular wonders. The most popular destination is Broadway, where some of the most famous musicals in the world take the stage. This is also a source of a large amount of revenue for New York. The 2010-2011 season, which runs May-May on Broadway, saw a gross of $1,080,562,880 (Broadway Season Statistics, 2012). You can also see shows Off-Broadway shows, which are generally lower priced tickets, and sometimes may include dinner.
The shows are usually played Tuesday-Sunday, with Monday being the “dark day” for a majority of theatres and shows. “Dark days” are the days when shows are not performed. Most of them start at eight or nine o’clock at night with matinees on some days. Las Vegas lodging offers a lot of options for the visitor, with 150,161 hotel and motel rooms in the city, there is something for every traveler (Las Vegas Stats &Facts, 2012). The average nightly rate for a room in Vegas is $105, making it an affordable vacation destination (Las Vegas Stats & Facts, 2012).
The average length of stay for a Vegas visitor is 3. 7 nights (Las Vegas Stats & Facts, 2012). With so many rooms to choose from, and such an affordable price base, it seems a large majority of people would want to visit “Sin City”. Some hotels are more expensive of course, and some are less, it will all depend on budget, length of stay, and amenities that are important. Averaging each night of the week to determine how many rooms are filled, would leave a percentage of 86. 9% (Las Vegas Stats & Facts, 2012). New York City hotels and motels are a little less numerous and a little more expensive.
There are around 90,000 rooms in New York hotels and motels (NYC statistics, 2013). The average price of a hotel room is $277 per night (NYC Statistics, 2013). With the cost of the rooms being a little higher, the NYC visitor might be able to expect a little more luxurious room for the money. The average length of a stay in New York is 7. 2 days (NYC Statistics, 2013). The average hotel occupancy is 85. 4% in New York City (NYC Statistics, 2013). In consideration of the weather, entertainment, and lodging available in both cities, I would have to choose Las Vegas as a vacation destination.
Las Vegas is more budget-friendly, has a vast array of entertainment, and has a warmer climate. Since I live in Michigan, I can visit cold, damp winters anytime and do not have a problem locating humidity in the summer. New York is definitely near the top of my “bucket list” of places to see and be, but it is expensive, and geared more toward the business professional rather than the leisure traveler. It would be really enjoyable to take in a real Broadway show, although the price of a room in New York would allow me to settle on seeing Cirque du Soleil in Vegas.
New York and Las Vegas each offer a different version of escaping the everyday ordinary of West Michigan, but the sun would win my affection. Therefore, Las Vegas would be a more interesting and exciting place to vacation. References Abramovitch, S. (2011) NYC’s First Casino Opens Today. Retrieved from http://gawker. com/5854153/nycs-first-casino-opens-today Broadway Season Statistics. (2012). Retrieved from http://www. broadwayleague/com/index. php? url_identifier=season-by-season-stats-1 Las Vegas. (20 Feb. 2013). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia.
org/wiki/Las_Vegas Las Vegas Convention. , & Visitors Authority (2013, February). Las Vegas stats and facts. Retrieved from http://www. lvcva. com/stats-and-facts/ New York City. (20 Feb. 2013). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/New_York_City NYC Statistics. (2013). Retrieved from http://nycgo. com/articles/nyc-statistics-page Yancey, K. B. “Vegas trends toward the trendy crowd. ” USA Today 21 Dec. 2012: 04D Infotrac Newsstand Web. 18 Feb. 2013 http://go. galegroup. com/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA312747880&v=2. 1&u=lom_glenoccl&it=r&p=STND&sw=w
