Posted on 09/17/2015 10:15:38 AM PDT by Vigilanteman
Don't get me wrong, there is STILL a lot I like about Las Vegas: cheap flights, lot of choices, inexpensive rental cars and relative proximity (six hour drive) to three of the four most important people in our lives: our grandchildren.
But this time, we agreed to a three night stay at a brand name hotel along the strip in return for listening to a time share spiel, which we politely declined.
It is a LOT different from the Las Vegas I knew as a pup when I was single and working in the LA area and my kid brother was also single and a cook at the Lady Luck Casino on Fremont Street. In those days, I could take a morning bus from a shopping center and return 24 hours later for a nominal fee. My kid brother and I would hang out, gorge ourselves on reasonably priced food, play nickle poker and admire all the nearly nekkid females in the casinos, at swimming pools and walking down the streets. It was guy heaven and it didn't cost a lot as long as you just looked.
So, while I expected change, I was shocked at the magnitude of the change. Reasonably prices food is hard to find. If you go to a brand-name commoner chain like Denny's a little off the Strip, it is there but the places are packed be people looking for the same thing. Beyond that, knowing a local namely, my elderly Uncle who no longer drives, but we took to a place called Boulder Station which is FAR off the beaten track and caters to locals and an occasional bus tour, or take out such the "world famous" Port of Subs which is in a Shell gas station not far from our brand name hotel, food is priced almost as bad as New York without their hot dog and snack carts.
In fact, the source URL shows my credit card receipt from the Port of Subs, where we paid nearly $12 for two small bags of chips, a soda and subs which would cost us about $8 at a Sheetz or WaWa here in Pennsylvania for 2-3 times the selection of ingredients and breads.
Still, it was one of the best eating bargains in the area by far. But look at the slip . . . everywhere in Vegas has a space for tips-- even if you wait in line, take it out, eat at the counter and do everything but sit and be served as is a normal prerequisite to expect food on tips everywhere else in the country.
Lordy! They want you to tip on already overpriced food? Even the buffet at Boulder Station wanted tips where you got your food cafeteria style and wait staff did nothing more than bring your drinks. Hey, but at least the food here wasn't overpriced.
And don't get me started on the hotels. They are only lightly occupied these days (the reason we were getting three nights for the city occupancy tax of $9 per day), but they still have a lot of people standing around doing little, including jealously guarding a luggage cart, which would've been handy for check-in and check-out, but I didn't want to p*$$ anyone off by offering an insufficient tip, so we ponied our own damn luggage in and out.
And where did all the foxy nearly nekkid women go? You can see them on billboard and billboard sized bused driving around, but their numbers are scarce compared to when I was a pup. The cowboys and manly dudes you used to see have all been replaced by metrosexual men in tuxes and pony tails which, I suppose, is why there isn't much market for nearly nekkid women anymore.
We call them "Mexican Porn Slappers".
Back in the 70’s We would load up the car at MCAS El Toro and drive to Vegas for the weekend. It was great. 20 dollar rooms and 3 dollar meals. Great time for cheap.
It started as a toilet, and, as toilets are wont to do, accumulated a variety of bodily substances that have never been flushed. It is a fake, tawdry, carnival for adults who are so desperate for fun that they’ll buy into the lie.
Give it back to the scorpions.
I’m planning a trip there next spring to see Rod Stewart at Caesar’s for three people, my wife and I and her best friend. We will stay 2 nights.
Air fare - Free (Miles + small fee)
Car Rental - Free (points)
Accommodations - Free on points or $80/night at a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo (VRBO.com)
Tickets $80 to $250 each.
Food ????
A condo through VRBO is much better all round deal than hotel especially if more than one couple is travelling.
I was in Vegas in October/November of last year... I sat down at the hotel Sports Book area to watch a little of the games on TV, and to maybe grab a drink before heading for a walk. The waitress asked if I had my betting receipt, and that it had to equal $100 or more for ONE drink.
I told her Honey, I can buy 2 or 3 bottles for that $100..
I had to make a number of trips to Vegas a couple of years ago (stayed off the Strip in a chain hotel with no casino catering primarily to business folks). Folks in a position to know said that the hotel occupancy and shows were doing well, but that gambling revenue had not recovered since the recession.
“Time-shares are no longer the rip-offs they were a few years ago. “
Yes they are. Try selling one.
One of the folks I worked with stayed at the Orleans once. Said it was a dump. Looked like one from outside, but I never went in. Took her word for it.
Above is the advice I give to first timers, get the LV experience without the prices. Locals love it and the other "Station" locations, too. Drop in for the Strip experience and slide away to your lower-cost retreat. Same thing for Fremont Street. Besides, you have to drive right past the In-N-Out Burger to get from the Orleans to the Strip so that works out, too.
Vegas is not cheap unless you stay off the strip or at places like the Luxor. Food varies from cheap to 5 star, but most is very expensive. FLights are fairly expensive even with low oil prices.
Been there many times, time to start going elsewhere.
I think this applies to gambling in general.
It was said gambling is for people who don't do math.
People started doing the math.
Plus, it's a demographic thing. Older the better.
In years past, gambling was remote and glamorous. Now it's ubiquitous, nearby and ordinary.
Today, you might get a quarter on the dollar. A few years ago, you were lucky to just walk away from them.
My experience today is that you just walk away. You can’t even donate them most of the time.
Even adding a $30 checked bag charge, Spirit is way cheaper than anything else. On my recent flight from Las Vegas, our plane stopped in Chicago (ORD) for an hour. Half the people on the flight were in Cubs gear flying in for the Pirates game. Don’t know what they paid from ORD, but I paid $118 from LAS, including a checked bag.
Don’t book thru hotel dot com they hit u with a separate booking fee, in their “small” print.
It has become a popular destination for large conventions rather than a mecca for individual gamblers and run of the mill tourists. Costs are always higher near large convention centers. The attendees are pretty much locked into using the nearby resources and are willing to pay a higher price for the convenience.
They’ve gotten way smarter. No longer are you limited to Friday-Sunday check-ins. You can split the weeks, trade a week in Wisconsin Dells for a weekend in Maui, no exchange fees, etc. Still, they will have to offer a lot more before I nibble.
Whatever happened to the United States of America....?
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