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How much has Vegas changed in the last few years?

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by pressitagain, Mar 30, 2014.

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  1. pressitagain

    pressitagain VIP Whale

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    We have been going regularly to Vegas in the past year. Many changes have occurred within the past year alone.

    Resort fees
    Increased airline costs
    Convenience telephone charge at MGM properties

    Since the 2010 lows. What other changes have you seen? How much were flights? How much have comps changed? Was the food cheaper?

    I want to know how good it actually was.
     
  2. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    Clubs are big.
    Less comps
    The new trend is for hotel/casinos to add more shopping
     
  3. eltotaupin

    eltotaupin Low-Roller

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    I heard something in a video the other day that I've bee thinking since our trip back in 2012. Vegas has decided that the clientele it wants most of all is the20 somethings with disposable income. Bigger Better clubs, a bar stuck ANYWHERE there is an empty space. Not for my 50ish disposable income. Is there a difference in adult debauchery:drunk: and 20 somethings debauchery??:vomit: Absolutely!!!
     
  4. dglen

    dglen Low-Roller

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    If all hotels would include the Resort Fee in the nightly rate this wouldn't be an issue. Having the rate separate let's customers compare rates, it's not a big deal.
     
  5. jr7110

    jr7110 VIP Whale

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    I started going to Vegas exactly 10 years ago. It has changed so much in the last 10 years - there were not as many hotels and some that are no longer in existence. City Center did not exist then ( there were little strip malls with souvenir shops on that side of the Strip. There was a small casino called The Boardwalk where City Center is now. The Frontier and the Stardust stood proudly against the Vegas night sky (they were two of my favorite hotel signs).

    There were many lounge acts, magicians and showgirls - the things that are iconic to classic Vegas. Barely any of that is left. I would have liked to have seen Vegas when it was really in its glory days of the Rat Pack.

    As it is, I haven't been there since last summer, and on my next trip there will be new things like the Linq to explore. Vegas is always changing...since 2004 when I first started going, there has never been a time when some sort of construction was not going on along the Strip.
     
  6. Persistent Cat

    Persistent Cat Tourist

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    The changes are part of what keeps me returning. I'll be there next month which means I'll miss The Cromwell, the new stuff in front of Bally's, whatever is being built at the north end of the Strip and whatever is happening in front of TI. Plus the other changes I don't know about. This means I'll want to come back and see what I haven't seen yet.
     
  7. engicedave

    engicedave VIP Whale

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    Pretty much the same for me, but I also see it as evolving. I remember that I started going right at the end of the "family destination" thing and it's evolved from a cheap hotel & buffet destination to a high end luxury bacchanalia of celebrity restaurants, true fine dining, multi-million dollar nightclubs with $600 bottles of booze (that retail for $50 at a liquor store) and day club/pool parties that cost as much as a nightclub. Hell, some hotels you can't even use the pool during the summer because of the parties.

    Vegas is now $600 Grey Goose, Louis Vuitton, Bobby Flay/Gordon Ramsey, and $100 at the door to get in if you're a guy.

    Now you have to look into the future and look at the next evolutionary step on the Las Vegas ladder...right now it's trust fund babies and wanna-be rich 20 & 30-something's willing to dump a month's pay in a night. So what's next, because as with anything popular, it will become unpopular and uncool, or at less cool.

    I mean, gambling will be the one constant, but gambling is available nationwide now almost, and keeps expanding.

    IMO, the next evolution is beginning now, with concentrating back to the core principles of personal and top notch service. I think you see that in the NOBU concept, the Cromwell concept, the Delano concept, going back to smaller boutique and personalized service.

    Caesars will always be Caesars, but they'll pair it down to smaller hotels into one large building. I see MGM Grand doing same, likely beginning with like a Hakkasan Tower or floors. You'll have multiple hotels within a hotel. No more gazillion room hotels, now it'll be about pairing it all down to smaller and more intimate towers or sections, each with it's own special amenities. You'll have several styles, themes and experiences within one hotel. How else can you keep people wanting to come back to a place like MGM Grand over and over, after you've seen most all the rooms you can afford or be comp'd? By that point, you're ready to try a new property, so why not make another property within the same property, where by just getting on another elevator, you arrive in another place?

    Couple Margaritaville floors of Harrah's, totally different from Harrah's front desk. Not hard to do, and it will renew interest in someone returning to Harrah's.
    Lease or license out a few floors of one of your properties to a club company or a high-end hotel or restaurant chain. Why not lease out a few floors of Bellagio to the Four Seasons, to add another level of service and luxury to a property already known for luxury service? That'd be bank for both parties.


    That, IMO, is the next evolution and it's starting now.
     
  8. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

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    Biggest change for me, after 15 years, is loss of north Strip. As a newbie, places like Westward Ho, Stardust, Sahara, the Frontier were good places to get started as a gambler and plenty of cheap lodging abounded.
    A person could blend into those places and not be intimidated.
     
  9. nickle

    nickle Low-Roller

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    First trip to Las Vegas some 20-25 yrs ago, my wife and I ate at the Aladdin. She had lobster, I had steak, both had a drink and dessert. After a healthy tip, I received change from a twenty. We ate at he Rio in January...hamburgers , fries and drinks...after tip and tax here was no change from a fifty.
     
  10. pressitagain

    pressitagain VIP Whale

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    I understand the changes that Vegas always has. It's a whole new universe from the first time that I went 20+ years ago.

    I am asking since, the "building bubble." From my understanding, Vegas was somewhat of a ghost town.

    What did they do to entice people to come to Vegas after the "bubble"?

    Were comps better?

    Were flights cheaper?

    Was food cheaper?

    Those types of questions.....
     
  11. Gator5220

    Gator5220 Low-Roller

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    Flights from TPA to LAS in 2009 and 2010 were had for a little over $200 round trip. Now nothing less than $400.

    Free room comps were readily avail, it was not a problem for me to get 5 nights (sun-thur) at NYNY or Ballys. Now NYNY is $39-59 weeknights and Ballys about the same. My gambling hasn't really changed but my offers are way less good.
     
  12. ajonate

    ajonate Low-Roller

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    The recession has taken a toll on Las Vegas, even in the past year. The properties are having a more difficult time staying alive. Even a year ago it was possible to find a weekday room for somewhere in the $20s (Four Queens, The Quad, Hooters, etc.), but today it's $40 minimum. Likewise, meal deals are scarce and gambling conditions have deteriorated.

    I think it's temporary though. Properties are doing what they have to do to survive. When the economy loosens up in a few years then casino/hotel deals will also loosen up.
     
  13. Wolfman619

    Wolfman619 Low-Roller

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    ? You say that like the act of people blowing money in Vegas is some new fad. Everybody spends like a pimp in Sin City, whether they're a trust fund kid at a club, or an 80 year old lady blowing her S.S. check at the penny slots.

    FWIW, I do agree that its silly to pay a 10x markup on a bottle of booze in a club, but at the same time I've done it. The way I looked at it, I more than likely could've lost $600 at a table, or gotten something (however foolish) for it.

    I like your prediction about the mega resorts splitting into boutiques. It seems to be heading that way!
     
  14. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    Yes, things were much different in the few years following the crash. If memory serves, most of 2009 and the earliest part of 2010 seemed to be the worst. Room rates were dirt cheap. Comps were easy to come by (the “teaser” offers for new players were quite attractive). Table minimums were ridiculously low (especially compared with the years leading up to the crash when table minimums were starting to get crazy high). Cab lines were non-existent.

    But it wasn’t all good for the consumer, IMO. Restaurant and bar hours were slashed. I remember having to walk around for what seemed like hours trying to find a sit-down restaurant open for dinner at like 9-9:30 – even though the signs would still list the restaurant as open until 11 or whenever, it would be closed. In addition, staff was cut back in a big way. You can certainly argue that staff cutbacks can still be felt today in the service levels, but it is nothing like it was during the really bad times. I remember being at Paris one slow weeknight when there was only one bartender working in the entire place – and I’m not talking at 5 am, I’m talking 11 pm.
     
  15. engicedave

    engicedave VIP Whale

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    Excess is the norm in Vegas, that won't change, but I find it hard to believe the high priced nightclub thing that's going on is anything more than a fad. There will be nightclubs, always has been, but at some point that table is going to tip and the nightclub in Vegas as we know it will change and evolve into something more social and intimate.
    Even though it's been there forever, look at Cleopatra's Barge at Caesars, it's small, intimate and open and seems always crowded. I see the downsizing and more intimate and personalized experiences is that next step on the evolutionary ladder, across hotels, nightclubs and more.

    It used to be about mass and scale, look at the layout of the older strip hotels, long rows of gaming/slots, talking up all the eye can see, then look at newer hotels and those lines are now more broken up creating a little more intimate spaces.

    I think that you see the same in shows with big name residencies, rather than have one night filling one concert hall like the Grand Garden Arena, bring them in for a couple weeks in a smaller more intimate venue like Caesars Colosseum (though big, feels intimate) and the new Axis Theatre at PH or the other smaller theatre at PH.

    I see excess being a "less is more" business plan, where things are not about mass scale and volume, but about you and your personal experience.
     
  16. Wolfman619

    Wolfman619 Low-Roller

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    Well said, Dave. I agree, there is a saturation point for everything, it's only a matter of time before everything goes supernova, and people start craving the polar opposite.
     
  17. Breeze147

    Breeze147 Button Man

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    I've noticed that the people keep getting younger than me!:thumbsup:
     
  18. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    What did they do to entice people to come to Vegas after the "bubble"? I think the core Vegas people and yearly conferences helped a lot. Vegas is still one of the cheapest places to hold a conference.

    Were comps better? If they did I didn't receive any.

    Were flights cheaper? For us flights are less available and more expensive.
     
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