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*$$ anyone off by offering an insufficient tip, so we ponied our own damn luggage in and out.
And where did all the foxy nearly nekkid women go? You can see them on billboard and billboard sized bused driving around, but their numbers are scarce compared to when I was a pup. The cowboys and manly dudes you used to see have all been replaced by metrosexual men in tuxes and pony tails which, I suppose, is why there isn't much market for nearly nekkid women anymore.
Once you get away from The Strip and Downtown, Las Vegas is almost normal except for the expectation of tipping everywhere.
Next time we go, we're going to get out of town and stay at one of those $40 per night places in either Primm (south on I-15) or Mesquite (north on I-15). The drive isn't long for some healthy $$ savings.
Proximity matter, as well. Vegas used to be the closest gambling to Dallas. Then Shreveport opened about 3 hours down the road - an easy weekend driving trip. Then a couple of casinos opened an hour up the road - now it’s a same day trip for the price of 4 or 5 gallons of gas.
Atlanta is still a multi-day driving trip to NC. But sooner or later the Creeks will probably get a casino an hour or so west of Atlanta.
I think there’s a casino between Lake Charles and Houston. So that’s 3 metro areas where the gamblers don’t have to buy plane fare to Vegas.
You’ve always been able to trade but there aren’t many good trades available. Nowadays, you mostly buy the points to trade but the costs rival renting.
First let me say I don’t gamble or womanize.
I went to Vegas 20 years ago to a trade show expenses paid.
The strip was decent, it was clean (as in no trash on the sidewalks and road) and the food was great. There was lots of fresh fruit and the prices were extremely reasonable even cheap especially for the quailty.
Two years ago we moved one of our foster sons who was is in the Army from Fort Bliss to Fort Lewis. His wife wanted to stop in Vegas because she had never been there so we did stop. It was a dump. It was filthy, trash everywhere, hookers coming right up to me while holding my wife’s hand, bums living one street off the strip, buildings half built, buildings on the strip boarded up, and very questionable looking “immigrants” everywhere. Probably what stood out to me the most was the debauchery of a sexual nature that was much much more prevalent on the strip than 18 years earlier. It was very much in your face.
I asked a guy that worked in Vegas about my observation. He said that when the economy went done all the smut that was off to he strip came to the strip.
Search youtube, sort by date to get the newest vids, skip over the real estate listings and Bellagio fountains vids, you'll eventually get to some of those 'walking the strip' vids, then you'll see what I am talking about.
I could never spend enough time at a table to get free drinks. I am good at losing fast.
IOW, more like New York sans the hot dog and snack stands, eh?
Nice to know that there is something worth looking for if we decide to walk The Strip again. The porn slappers and trash was kind of a turn off this time. Didn't see any hookers, but that was probably because we were back and in bed by 9 pm.
Me too.
Vegas adapts quickly or else it dies.
It doesn’t want to die.
So instead of catering primarily to American gamblers, who happen to have many non-vegas choices, it’s pursuing younger nightclub/dayclub goers and chinese gamblers. These two groups have large disposable incomes. It makes no sense to me that they do, but they do.
The convention business and resorts are the two other pillars keeping vegas afloat.
When the water and then, power, runs out, i suppose burning man can come and take the place over.
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