Features

Survey: The horrors of dating in Las Vegas

Image
It’s rough out there. Have a heart.
Photo: bored-now/flickr

In preparation for our annual Love & Sex Issue, we asked readers at lasvegasweekly.com to share their thoughts on dating in Las Vegas, and the responses were predictably depressing: Not only do you guys think the local singles scene is a bottomless pit of despair, but you’ve got the war stories to prove it. The only upsides? Apparently we’re hotter than folks on the East Coast, and there are plenty of places to go on dates. Uh, sweet?

What’s the best thing about dating in Las Vegas?

The best thing about dating in Vegas is that the city is 24 hours. So if you and your date want to have a late date, that's possible for all the graveyard shifters.

There are so many people here, it's easy to find a new candidate. Like, super easy.

There is an onslaught of females in Las Vegas. You have so many to choose from.

That there are so many different types of people in the city, as well as endless date ideas and places to go.

People are physically more attractive here than, say, on the East Coast.

This city has an unlimited number of options for dates.

It is a cultural melting pot. Many people from different cultural backgrounds.

There really isn’t one.

The abundance of bars and the heavy hand of bartenders. Because you'll need it during and after each "date." Because in Vegas, it's not dating. That would imply commitment.

The best thing about dating in Vegas is that it's easy to find people outside of your circle. You could go to the same place every week and meet someone new there every time.

What’s the worst thing about dating in Las Vegas?

The worst thing about dating in Vegas can be summed up by this quote, said to me by a guy I had gone out with three times: "You're a really cool girl, Katie. You'd make a really great girlfriend. But I just moved here, and I kind of just wanna ... f*ck around."

The people. The shallowness that everyone complains about.

The men only wanting to do date cocktail waitresses/showgirls/dancers/performers/nightlife girls.

The locals are either taken or so jaded you don’t even want to be their friends, let alone date them. The rest of the time you meet a great person and they are a tourist (usually from another country), and you only get a few days with them.

Finding people worth dating and finding someone with similar work hours.

Las Vegas does not value anything longterm. It's a transient city, and that is reflected in the dating scene. Men want it quick, easy and lots of variety. I know men that date four or five women at a time and never pick one. They just replace the women at will.

1. Transient nature of the city. 2. The fact that dating is nonexistent; people hook up, they don't date. 3. Instant gratification culture—if guys (or girls) can't get what they want from you, immediately, then they can get it somewhere else. 4. Phony, cheap and tacky are the least disturbing qualities of most residents, and I use the term resident loosely. 5. From a woman's perspective, education and intelligence works against you. If you have either of those things, don't tell your date or else game over. 6. Finding someone who is undiagnosed, not suffering any kind of addiction or who isn't still caught up in what they perceive to be the Vegas lifestyle is an act of God.

Everybody knows everybody.

Gold diggers.

A labyrinth of noncommittal individuals looking for "a nice person" but really full of disillusioned thoughts about said "nice person." David Bowie's in there somewhere, too.

Would you describe the dating scene as good, bad, okay or a bottomless pit of despair?

A bottomless pit of despair. I'm ready to move.

It's just as hard as anywhere else to wade through the madness and try to find a guy who’s decent.

Cavern of unspeakable horrors that aspires to be a bottomless pit of despair.

A psychotic bottomless pit of despair. Females are given just about everything in this sexist town.

Depends on what you’re looking for. If you just want to date and have fun, it’s GREAT! If you’re looking for "the one," you might want to reconsider the pool where you're fishing.

The dating scene is what you make of it. There are a lot of singles, so you just have to sift through the undesirables to find someone worth your time.

It's okay. Some people are lucky and find a loyal person. Then there are those of us who keep the douche bags busy while everyone else gets their Prince Charming.

What’s your favorite date in Las Vegas?

Karaoke at Dino's or Firefly for sangria and tapas. Depends on if I feel like showing off my wild side, or if I'm feeling like just keepin' it classy!

Something with a view is always ideal. A nice dinner on water somewhere like Yellowtail or Lakeside at Wynn is great, followed by drinks at Mix or Mandarin Bar or Ghostbar.

Definitely Lake Las Vegas! The shops, hotels and the outdoor concerts at night are amazing!

Every date in Las Vegas is the same. You meet online and sit at a bar. You nervously fumble through your first drink. By the third she is laughing at your jokes and touching your leg. By the fifth you are in the parking lot making out and fumbling at each other's clothes. You go home. Two weeks later you can't remember her name when you are looking through your phone. You see her at a concert two months later and she calls you an asshole.

Vanguard is a good place because the bartenders are good, and if you're familiar enough with them they'll probably get you out of what inevitably will turn into a bad date.

Neon Museum was so fun. You have to go when the sun is setting.

Going to Insert Coin(s) and play some games with drinks.

Motorcycle ride out for a warm summer evening at lake Las Vegas.

Il Mulino at Forum Shops for patio drinks and running in and out if the shops afterward.

Pole Position Raceway in Las Vegas.

How do you meet people?

I joined a dating website because I moved to Las Vegas last August without knowing anyone here. So far, no good.

I've met many nice people volunteering at church.

I meet them through intramural sports after work—i.e. soccer and kickball.

Mostly through mutual friends. I'm the one single friend in a group of people in relationships. They all set me up constantly.

Work, work, work. It's the best place to meet someone. … Going out to bars or local places isn't happening anymore. Women are getting more and more weird.

Tell us a story! What was your best or worst Vegas dating experience?

Worst: Guy invited me over to his place for dinner and then fell asleep an hour later. Tried to wake him up several times, but no success.

A guy a friend set me up with took me to a movie, which was nice, but then he proceeded to attempt to be romantic by driving me to the middle of nowhere with no cell reception or lights of any sort to "look at the stars." I thought I was being kidnapped.

I had a matchmaker a few years ago and got set up with a wealthy guy in town. We met for the first time at Simon Brunch at Palms. I really liked him at first, but then he started talking about how all his exes were Playmates and models and strippers, but that he couldn't stop dating those girls because he refused to date anyone who didn't have blonde hair and implants. He even remarked that brunettes were invisible to him. He said he wanted a serious relationship and wanted a girl who was really smart and a good girl but looked like a Playboy model. I got further and further turned off by him throughout brunch and after I got back to my car he texted me that he no longer wanted any relationship and didn't want to date me, but that if I wanted to bang him, he was up for it. I was completely disgusted.

My worst experience has been being matched up with men that I already know and wouldn't date under any circumstances—friend's boyfriends or husbands that they are still married to.

I met a guy online, and a few days after we hooked up (because it wasn't a "date!") his pregnant ex-girlfriend hacked his phone and called me. I left town shortly after. Literally. I was born and raised in Vegas, and it will always in some weird way be home, but enough is enough.

My date took me to dinner, fine. Then wanted to take me to his favorite club for dancing, which turned out to be Goodtimes on Tropicana, where everyone knew him, and he ended up leaving with a ponyboy in gold hot pants.

Share
Top of Story