Booking a Hotel with the Help of a Fake ID in Vegas
Las Vegas is a city where the limits of luck are tested, where every cardinal human emotion is brought to life, where drunken memories are made and then forgotten. This city of sin is etched into the backdrop of the harsh Nevada deserts. What was once a hapless desert that could support no life is now a sprawling escape from a hopeless job, a stressful weekend, or a failed marriage sometimes in the same order.
It’s hard to imagine that this city of glamour once stood in a place where the only sin you could commit was your wardrobe choice. Even the name of the city sheds light on its once inglorious past, originating in Spanish and meaning “The Meadows.” It’s downright impossible to conjure up a mental image of what would be the proving grounds for the gambling capital of the world.
Eventually, the wasteland landscape was carefully carved, shaped, and sculpted into a city that was a wasteland of different sorts. What emerged was the 28 the most populated city in the US that sees more than 38 million people a year. With close to 166 different casinos in the county and dozens of luxury hotels – some faded with their former glory – it’s a city that promises to keep you on your toes at all times.
Booking a Hotel in Vegas: The Basics
It’s no real surprise that this 24-hour getaway from reality would have a hotel or two or maybe even 1300 and counting. Even on a bad day, there are 150,000 hotel rooms up for grabs in the Strip. Whether or not those rooms are really up for grabs is another issue.
Remember when I said Las Vegas sees 38 million people a year? It’s possible that a sizeable portion of these patrons of entertainment will be confined within these rooms, emptying the contents of their stomach into a toilet or coughing up a lung or two.
The only recourse, then, for a would-be “sightseer” is to actually book the hotel room days, if not weeks, in advance. You also have to be a legal adult to make this booking. This doesn’t exactly line up with the quick getaway mentality that Las Vegas likes to put up, but sometimes, you have to face facts and accept ground realities. Or do you?
This is why my journey began. It was a late Friday evening when I was sitting in a decrypt corner of my local bar in rural Arkansas, hunched over my laptop and leeching off the free Wi-Fi from the coffee shop across the street. My eyes were bloodshot from the harsh, blue backlight as my fingers darted across the laptop furiously, alternating between keystrokes and mouse clicks.
I had a simple mission: to find out how I could book my very own hotel room in Las Vegas without a legal ID card. This was a task where the phrase “it’s easier said than done” couldn’t be relevant enough. For the uninitiated, Las Vegas enjoys its position as the entertainment capital because of stricter regulations and rules and not in spite of them.
If you’re looking to book a room or two for your misadventures in Vegas, here are the requirements that you are expected to meet:
- You have to be at least 21 years of age or older to make reservations in a hotel or to check in.
- If you are under the age of 21 years, you must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
- Minors cannot stand next to slot machines or loiter near any other gambling activity.
- A minor can only walk the casino floor (with an adult) and must keep moving.
- You must carry a legal ID with up-to-date information as well as a credit card to make hotel
bookings.
Since nearly all of the hotels on the Vegas Strip come with a complementary casino and bar, it made it easier for lawmakers to simply put an umbrella age restriction of 21 years, even for something like booking or checking in. Now, if you wanted, you could still get a hotel room off the Strip if you’re 18 years old, but where’s the fun in that? I wanted to see just how far I could make it, so I soldiered on through.
Making the Hotel Booking with a Fake ID
My first step was to get hold of a fake ID that could pass the visual test. One of the perks of living in a rural area, rather the only perk of living in a rural area, is that you’re intimate with the people in your town.
A tip from an old buddy and two days of waiting later, I had a convincingly real-looking fake ID card just asking to be used for all kinds of nefarious activities. I spent the next hour carefully memorizing the completely 100% legitimate details on my new ID.
I then went online to make some bookings for my flights and hotel. After about an hour, I set up everything. I made my booking on a popular hotel on the Strip that shall not be named for obvious purposes. I was all set to enjoy my time in America’s playground, for better or for worse.
Interestingly enough, Las Vegas was set up for success as early as the 1940s when projects like the Hoover Dam and the Nellis Air Force Base helped the region gain economic stability. By the 50s, casinos and hotels started popping up everywhere for locals and visitors. In 1959, the infamous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign went up, which set the stage for modern-day Vegas.
Arriving at the Strip, I began to take in all the sights and sounds around me. It’s hard to gauge the scale of everything in person, but from my perspective, all I saw were casinos and hotels as far as the eye could see.
I arrived at my undisclosed hotel and went straight to the front desk. Unsurprisingly, they asked for my ID and credit card. I pulled out my trusty Fake ID™ and handed it in, hoping it wouldn’t draw too much attention.
As it turns out, Lady Luck was on my side that day. Five minutes of careful scrutiny later, I was handed back my ID and met with a smile and key card. I had accomplished my goal and set out into the town on a haze of energy drinks, jet lag, and residual nerves from my scam on the system. With that, I finally put an end on a weird chapter of my life.
As for my experience in Las Vegas itself, it’s weird. The city has an unapologetic charm within it. You learn to appreciate it for what lies underneath its shiny exterior. You love it the same way you would love your drunk uncle at every family gathering; he may be loud, he may be brash and he may even be rough around the edges, but he’s unassuming and that’s why you enjoy his company.