I hadn't been to LV in 18 months even while living in nearby Scottsdale. I probably visited more often (~10 nights a year) when I was living on the east coast.

I went with my GF last Sunday (we were doing a road trip) and Monday nights. I have to say while I enjoy LV a number of things have gotten progressively worse and are reasons while I don't really crave visiting there anymore and would prefer a trip to Europe.

We had a deal with Caesars that included 24 hrs of buffets. I never get my money's worth on those things but since it was included we ended up visiting Caesars, Rio and Harrahs. I'm sure it won't surprise anyone that Caesars buffet is very bad. Cold or at best warm food, limited choices and marginal quality. It is at the Lago Cafe which had bad service and food when it was a 24 hr cafe so nothing has changed there. Obviously Rio was extremely good with the selection and having hot food. Harrahs was a solid ok.

The games the hotels play to try and take a few bucks off you is tiresome. Obviously Caesars doesn't have the ridiculous resort fee but that doesn't stop them from trying to get a few dollars from the minibar. They tried to get us for coffee and some snack item at checkout. Neither of us used the minibar nor do we drink coffee. Having sensors that seem sensitive to motion is an easy way to charge people for items they never used. The front desk took off the charges. I'm sure other people probably pick up items before they read the small sign that is located behind the items.

Check in time was suppose to be 4pm so we showed up a little after 4pm only to be told the room wasn't ready (kind of defeats the check in time doesn't it?). Then they had to constantly tell us the room we were getting was the most sought after room (Augustus Tower with a jacuzzi and a view of the Bellagio fountains). Personally I think if a room isn't ready at the time the hotel specifies that check in time is, then you should get an apology and maybe a free drink/dessert/etc. Not an excuse that it is most sought after.

After 30 minutes they called me to let me know the room was ready. The room was very nice and except for the minibar annoyance we didn't have any issues. The room safe is quite small and located in the closet wall which makes it a bit tougher to get to.

I've never been a big fan of Caesars casino, nor of the staff and nothing really changed there. It is like they want to be considered elite but things such as the buffet and lack of consistency of quality service seems to lack behind places like the Bellagio.

The pussycat dolls at the tables were a nice sight to see but certainly wouldn't cause me to change where I would gamble (either some place like Bellagio or lower end at Monte Carlo).

We had a nice time, won a few dollars and enjoyed the sights. We saw the show at the Wynn (Le Reve) which was nice (seemed to have a number of empty seats but maybe that is normal for a Monday night).

Just my 2 cents.