When it was reported that a British fashion executive allegedly spent nearly $200,000 in the PURE club in Caesar's Palace in one night, we thought, no big deal. Buy a round for the house and you're halfway there. Throw in some bottle service, pricey Champagne and tips and you've officially broken the bank.
But what if you wanted to go all out, all over town? How hard would it be to spend $100,000 in a single weekend in Vegas, sampling a little bit of everything the city has to offer — yet without setting foot in a casino?
Pretty difficult.
Whether it's on dinner at the Joel Robuchon, the city's best restaurant, or on something purely experiential, like renting a Lamborghini for the weekend, it takes considerable effort to spend more than a thousand at a time.
To calculate this, we dug through the best of what's on offer in Las Vegas' restaurants, spas and other activities and learned that, while even if it takes a firm commitment to unprecedented excess to drop a year's salary in one Sin City weekend, you'll certainly have a memorable 48 hours.
Hotels
The biggest chunk of change can be spent on where you stay. Our pick: The two-level Hard Wood Suite at The Palm Resort, which costs $25,000 per night. It's spread over two floors and 10,000 square feet, complete with a basketball court — and squad of cheerleaders. Seriously.
Believe it or not, there is a more expensive suite, the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, which runs $40,000 per night, but that just seemed a bit excessive and, quite frankly, constraining, since it'd leave only $20,000 to spend on the rest of the weekend.
Baubles
With that kind of pocket change left over, it would limit our options at the Vertu store in the Wynn Las Vegas Esplanade. If you haven't heard of Vertu phones, it means you can't afford them.
Each is handcrafted and assembled, sometimes in very limited quantities, typically with a sapphire crystal display and jeweled bearings under the keys. The bottom of the line is around $13,000, and if you really want to show off, you can get a phone encrusted with diamonds (which would constitute the entire weekend's budget). We'll happily go with a mid-range Vertu, for $23,000.
Experiences
While the phones are known to be reliable and durable, it probably wouldn't be too good an idea to test one underwater during a dive in the shark tank at Mandalay Bay's aquarium. Yet the thousand-dollar, hour-long dive could cause you to work up a serious appetite — which can be satiated upstairs in Fleur de Lys, where you can indulge in a $5,000 burger.
What every excessive trip to Vegas needs, however, is a take-home reminder of how unique a time it was. So we recommend spending your last $10,000 on the Ono cocktail at XS nightclub in the Wynn Encore resort. While the contents — 1981 Charles Heidsieck Champagne and Louis XIII de Remy Martin Black Pearl cognac — will be out of your system before you're out of Vegas, the set of sterling silver cuff links for him and a 18-karat white gold necklace for her that come with the drink will serve as a fond memory of your $100,000 weekend for a long time to come.
Wear them while you drink Prosecco and Pierre Ferrand since it's all you can afford. It'll sort of feel the same.