Due to an odd set of circumstances I will be visiting twice in the next month, first time since before the pandemic. I will report back and update as appropriate.
I used to go twice a year as it was an easy hop from SF (and those $25 National Air flights and $100/nt rooms didn't hurt either). Why did I stop?
- Cheapest weekend airfare (e.g. FR/SU) usually runs $500-600pp RT.
- Cheapest "discounted" rooms (e.g. club members) at 5* properties usually run $500/nt all-in with taxes, resort fees.
- Front desk lines are absurdly long (see VFTW). In past years we have mostly managed to avoid waiting (luck of the draw, timing, elite status etc.) but I fear the next trip. One thing I absolutely do not do anymore is wait in line for any service where I am paying good money. Checkout is also bad and unfortunately necessary as credits rarely post correctly.
- I was never a huge buffet fan, but they are a complete nonstarter now due to absurd pricing and long lines (see last point). Even the "VIP" line is 20 minutes - not worth it even for "free"
- The $10 steak dinners have long since disappeared. Thankfully there are still many decent steakhouses (see existing thread) but it has become more of a PITA to get transport around and off the strip.
- The pools all have ridiculous fees for chairs etc. and good luck getting drink service or finding shade.
- The shows are crap, especially in the summer. In the past I saw Sam Kineson, Jay Leno, Tom Jones. Good luck finding talent now except maybe at the Sphere.
- Smoking! This has always been a nightmare in Vegas but seems worse than ever especially as people don't seem to understand that "no smoking" includes "no cannibis". It is a rare occasion when I stay at a Vegas or California hotel and don't smell some type of smoke in the elevators, corridors and sometimes even drifting into my room from HVAC. Makes no difference if it is a non-smoking hotel or floor.
- Denigration of odds and increase in table minimums. Vegas has always been stacked against the gambler (doh!) but a good player could still make a run with .5% odds at BJ, 2% at craps and double zero roulette. Now it is impossible to find 3:2 BJ anywhere on the strip and many casinos have 3 zero roulette. The high minimums also make it more difficult to bet the odds at craps (I do not like to have 100s on the table when the roll 7s out). The only way to get decent odds is to play the high limit rooms which used to run $100/hand but I think much more now.
- Automaton dealers. In the old days you had dealers that were encouraged to be friendly to the players (no doubt in their self interest for tips). It definitely made the experience more enjoyable, and probably kept me at the table longer even when losing. These days I might as well be playing against AI robot.
Originally Posted by
mikeyfly
For me as a Brit, it’s the cost of everything which is now eye watering, compounded by our weak £. When other Brits visit they can’t believe how much everything costs. At least as a seasoned Vegas visitor, I know how to get cheap eats and gambling, but it’s too expensive by far.
It's not just Brits. I live in one of the most expensive areas of the USA and I find the prices horrific. As in much higher than SF. But of course I first visited Vegas in the 80s when you could still get cheap eats in casino restaurants, cheap or free rooms and decent odds (relative to now) at the BJ tables and poker slots.
Originally Posted by
corky
Maybe I am the oddball but I still find LV as fun as ever. Yes, prices have gone up but that is true for a lot of entertainment. Still fun casinos, shows, restaurants, shopping, people watching, scenery, pools etc. I am lucky to get some comps and I am as excited as ever when I go.
I'm sure I would find it to be more fun if everything was "free". Prior to Harrahs program overhaul I would receive free rooms like clockwork. But now that is impossible unless you are a heavy online player (outlawed in California) or are betting obscene amounts at increasingly worse odds. No thanks, I'd rather pay for my room.
Originally Posted by
Pickles
Vegas has always been a dump. In the old days, it was louche, so it had its appeal. Now it's just crass.
Bellagio, Wynn, Venetian, Caesars were dumps?
Originally Posted by
mecabq
Agree, OP. I was there in April and again last month and it felt like a place in decline. The Strip escalators were the first thing I noticed. This is an abomination, as it gives a horrible impression and shouldn't be that difficult to manage. (The escalators in the Washington, DC metro are a running joke, but you expect that from a government-run boondoggle in DC, not in Vegas.) The marijuana smell everywhere and proliferation of homeless are minor nuisances (meanwhile, you can't smoke a cigar at the gaming tables just about anywhere anymore besides Wynn/Encore).
The prices are eye-watering indeed, but more specifically, the nickel-and-diming (resort fees, parking, drinks at the bars on the casino floor) takes a lot of the fun away. As an example, I redeemed a two-room complimentary package at Encore, which was exempt from resort fees. I added two adjacent paid room nights, and they told me that now the resort fee would apply to all four nights. Why? (To make matters more shambolic, when I checked out, they charged me for six internet connections over the four days. I asked how the laws of physics would allow that, and doesn't the resort fee include internet access anyway? Their reply: well, we didn't charge you the resort fee of $50x4 due to some glitch, so you're better off with the $19.95x6 internet charges, right? I agreed in a huff, but was perturbed at the poor processes.) At Mandalay Bay, they charge you to use an inner tube on the lazy river. If that's not included in the resort fee, what's the fee for? (It now costs $20 per day, at least last time I was there, to rent one. I suppose you could carry it up to your room every day, but that seems impractical.)
It seems that complimentary drink service has really declined too. I was almost never indulged at machines at Wynn, Encore, or Cosmopolitan. I work in F&B outside the U.S., and always told my colleagues how Vegas was the American epitome of upscale dining, with extremely high quality, great service, and innovation always producing something new. I feel like that has eroded significantly. I usually indulge in one steakhouse meal per trip, and this one, at the Wynn, was very poor, especially for $250. I felt like I was in Dubai, where things were more for show than exhibiting excellence. (In fairness, I had a great meal at the Cosmopolitan steakhouse.)
More of a matter of personal preference, but I also lament that there are no more Broadway-style shows such as Mamma Mia or Phantom. All of the shows now seem to be merely lowbrow antics on stage or Cirque du Soleil. I have no interest in either, and the market speaks I suppose, but does the market really need a 10th Cirque du Soleil production instead of something different?
I love Vegas, and will continue to go, but the magic is well below what it used to be. I suppose we can blame consolidation of ownership groups to an extent. I am not sure what other causes are. Catering more to the Instagram/night club crowd at the expense of old codgers like me who just want to gamble and have a great meal? You would think that with casino gambling becoming more available globally -- e.g., there are very respectable Indian casinos closer to southern CA, which surely must take some business away from Vegas -- they'd need to stay on top of their game.
A very good summary.