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It’s looking a lot like Old Vegas
Economic plunge has resorts looking to less pricey, more everyman-friendly amusements
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 | 2 a.m.
After years of pushing the pricey and posh and salivating over the luxe and exclusive, Las Vegas appears to be testing a return to its honky-tonk badonkadonk roots as America’s Boardwalk.
A carny-style sideshow called “Freaks” has suddenly sprouted on the Strip at O’Sheas.
A rattletrap heavy metal revue called “Monster Circus” recently stomped into the ordinarily sedate Hilton, home away from home for Barry Manilow.
And next week, the teasingly titled “Peepshow” will pop up at Planet Hollywood.
Is this triad of attention-getting entertainment apparitions just a coincidental blip, or do they herald a move away from high-priced headliners and a return to this town’s everyman appetites?
More likely this is an indicator of a savvy and necessary economic reaction in the entertainment sector, a sign that Vegas is on the verge of seriously scaling down, de-emphasizing the deluxe and courting the coarser tastes of a more down-market demographic.
Vegas began as America’s affordable getaway, and aside from the gambling, the whole point of the place was that the food, drink and entertainment were cheap or comped.
But the past decade of high-rise investments, and their accompanying egomaniacal expectations and affectations, brought with it a calculated change of perception. Moguls and marketing campaigns strained to create a top-of-mind image of Vegas as an apex of high-end glam and luxury, a red-carpeted, velvet-roped haven for reality stars and impossibly wealthy foreign nationals.
That image makeover may have been too successful. Suddenly we’re gazing down into an economic Grand Canyon, and it seems many of the down-market mainstays of our tourist economy may be thinking our town has gotten just too fancy, too snooty, for its own good. And certainly too expensive.
On Tuesday the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced that the number of visitors to Las Vegas declined 8 percent in February compared with a year ago. Air passenger traffic is down about 15 percent. And more of the people who are choosing to come here are driving.
So watch for a renewed emphasis on the scandalous and salacious, as Vegas reverses course and tries to regain its appeal to our basic tastes for the sweet and salty, the shocking and sensational, the cheap and the free.
The Strip wouldn’t really have to change that much to bring back that boardwalk feeling. All the staples are in place:
Vegas offers the supreme “breakin’-the-law” thrill of walking on the street with an open beer or gigantic cocktail.
Like a 24/7 year-round state fair, our menus offer fried everything. And huge portions! One casino is currently boasting of its six-pound, “child size” burrito.
Wax museum? Check. Go-carts, roller coasters, flair bartenders? Check, check, check.
Most visitors are dressed for the boardwalk, happily, if not defiantly sporting flip-flops and rude T-shirts in even the toniest joints.
Everyone hopes this downturn turns up, of course, but maybe this financial lurch has a lesson for Las Vegas. Something about remembering where you came from, and not neglecting or marginalizing the folks that made you what you are.
Of course some still don’t get it: On Monday, the new Joint concert venue at the Hard Rock Hotel trumpeted an occasional concert residency by Carlos Santana, with a top ticket price of $299.
It will be interesting to see how that flies.
In the meantime, whatever you may think of the not-for-the-squeamish substance of a show like “Freaks,” it sure seems like a smart sign of the times, a low-overhead, self-promoting enterprise, free of pretension and full of peculiar talent.
You won’t soon forget it. And it’s priced exactly right.
Discussion: 18 comments so far…
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My husband and I come to Las Vegas every year(We just returned from Vegas last week) he for business and I for vacation and we always enjoy our stay at The elegant Mandalay Bay resort where his company puts us up each year. We do most of our dining there too, but last week we decided to one night find some dining a little bit cheaper which is hard to come by in Las Vegas now. Gone with the many hotels hit by the wrecking balls are the $5.00 buffetts. Among the last is the $7.99 one at the historic Sahara. So I told my husband lets go down to Fremont St there you get not only a taste of old Las Vegas with the older hotels/motels but where you can find the cheaper places to eat too. We decided on the buffet at The Fremont Casino Hotel, under $10.00 per person and fairly good too. Packed with people too who are having a good time and not paying full price for it either. So Iam all for bringing back some of old Las Vegas. It is ashame we cant bring back The historic "Sands" hotel too and the recently closed "Folies Beigere' , but at least The classic old "Tropicana" Hotel continues to stand gracefully on the strip at least for now.
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It continues to mystify me why the powers that be in Vegas have this "everything" mentality. Instead of everything in town being either upscale or economy-based, why not have a mix? Have your $299 a night rooms, but set aside a floor or two for $79 a night rooms. Continue to have your $500 a bottle nightclubs for the high-end clientele, but have a second nightclub that's more affordable for the masses. Have your $120 a plate restaurants, but keep your $8.99 buffets too. Have your $130 a ticket headliner... but keep your secondary theater with $15 entertainment going too. It's not like these huge joints don't have the space or the workforce.
Am I wrong on this? I'm sure there are a thousand bean counters in town that would state that it just wouldn't work, especially within a single property. But Vegas has done crazier things. And how are their business plans working out with the staus quo?
Harske, you hit it right on the head. The Las Vegas hotels would do better to look at the LVMS's NHRA event as an example instead of simply charging more for all rooms on 'special event' weekends. The NHRA race at LVMS had ticket prices ranging from "free" ( for in uniform military personnel) to $19 general admission bleacher seats, a little higher for reserved seats (w/ back support, a little higher for preferred seats, more still for the Nitro Club (w/ food and drink tent) all the way up to $600 for a seat in one of the suites. But everyone is equal in the pits, Nitro Alley and at the multiple fan events (Cashman Center & The Palms for free on Thursday were great). LVMS does a great job of providing a wide range of ticket prices and the NHRA does a great job of putting on an exciting show.
Bring back the old places! Sands, Thunderbird, Stardust..... Ya gotta love the Sahara, I do!
Oh, for the good old days, .50 cent beer/ $1.79 steak and eggs/ $12.00 casino show/ 1 drink lounge show. You Las Vegas have out priced yourself for the everyday American, just stop and remember who made you Not the whale but just the everyday folks from main street America
$2 steak and baked potato dinner at Binnions. God I miss that!
Imagine, instead of dollars on a few big spenders, think of nickles on thousands...
Those that survive will be better for it, and hopefully the employees that work the hardest are the ones left as well. Enough of the give me all of it because I deserve it mentality that has grasped this nation. It's time for survival of the fittest.
Until these wizards of the strip can get there heads out of there butts,vegas will stay the same! I have a very good question, if someone you knew went to vegas,and came home and said what they paid for lodgeing,food and gameing,and came home feeling fleeced,would you go to that town? I didnt think so! Thats what vegas has become,word of mouth,if you want to loose it all,and have nothing to show for it.
Hey, I remember 19.95 rooms, .99 all you can eat breakfasts, .99 giant shrimp cocktails, free shows and all the other good stuff that WAS Las Vegas. It was why I went several times a year and always had a blast no matter whether I won or lost a few hundred bucks at the tables. What's Vegas now? Paris Hilton and a bunch of other "celebrities" that I wouldn't cross the street to have dinner with. $300 a night rooms, $100 dinners, etc. Who needs that crap? That's why I go to Reno now, at least they still know how to have fun without trying to extort every possible dollar from people.
vegas has lost the repeat customers that carried vegas for years. airfare was never a problem for most of us out of staters, but ruining slot play has been a big problem. i have to laugh when i see slot percentage play payback from bean counters. who the heck are they kidding. wasn't that long ago you could play $1's and have a good time. now waiting for our relatives to come down for breakfeast, i can lose $100 just playing penny machines in half an hour. most of us older generation have found we can get same deal closer to home. my heart is with you guys, hope someone gets the message, just afraid there is to much greed. one stupid thing that bugged me and showed how cheap these owners are was when i went into station coffee shop to eat and ordered a cup of coffee, there used to be equal, well some bean counter realized he could save a penny and not offer equal but some cheap substitute. that has filtered through the whole casino. love you guys out there, you're the ones who've made vegas.
Poondog:
Rock on man. There are litterally thousands if, not millions of folks that remember those good times that are now gone from Vegas. So what if you lost a couple hundred playing blackjack for the last eight hours, you drank a drink every 15 minutes, woulda spent most of that in a bar tab anyway, and you'll be eating steak & TWIN lobster tails at the Old Alladin in a hour. Cost $4.99 + tip. Best of all, when you came back in a few months, they actually knew who you were, even if you were just a decent tipper.
Average Joe didn't expect to win, we just wanted SOME value for our entertainment $$$. If I want to throw my money away I can buy lottery tickets, or go to any of the rip off Indian joints that have spung up all over this country.
Unfortunately, if you are old enough to remember those times, you are also old enough to know that the chances of even a temporary return of that "vibe" is more remote than hitting 10 hard 12's in a row on a crap table.
My guess is that now that Nevada's gaming revenue has fallen to 2004 levels, it will get much worse before it gets better. With lower gaming revs, the State will merely increase the %tax to make up the difference. Unfortunately, it is the average Joe worker/resident that will take the most pain. The big wheels will once again come out smelling like roses.
From someone that lives here let me add this, VEGAS DOSENT EVEN CARE ABOUT ITS OWN PEOPLE,SO HOW DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY FEEL ABOUT VISITORS? YA,YOUR ALL JUST A BUNCH OF NUMBERS!!! VEGAS PRESSED THE BUTTON ON ITSELF IN THE WAY OF GREED!!!
I've been visiting Vegas for 20+ years and as someone commented previously, a bargain vacation, but NO MORE. How sad....
How about the 'powers at be' get it and go back to the old Vegas, get away from so much attention to filth, sex and such. Would be great for Vegas to get back to being family oriented and themed. Now that was the good ole days. Maybe someone will get it, when it gets bad enough and, we all begin to stay closer to home to gamble, dine out and support local entertainment.
I love Vegas and look forward to coming back when Vegas is for everyone, again........................
The casinos will never revert to days of old. They may offer better rates for the time being, but as soon as he economy picks up, so will their prices. They do not want the average Joe 'hanging around' for any great duration. They want your money fast to make room for the next sucker. Right now, they are in survival mode and that is all. They ain't looking to make things better for the average Joe. They could care less if you were put on the street, just get out of the way so the next sucker can come in. Welcome to Corporate America where customer service means nothing. 'How can we best get the customers in the door for the cheapest cost?'
Las Vegas has gotten out of control in the last ten years. The catering primarily to "whales" has taken the fun out of this town. I used to love it when I could go to Las Vegas and eat in a gourmet room but still have the option and fun of dining on $5.99 Surf and Turf or 50 cent shrimp cocktails. Las Vegas is a symbol of what America is very bad at doing: treasuring and remembering it's past.
I remember in the late sixties early seventies when the breakfasts were 29 cents,If you got arrested when you got out you took your booking slip to Binnons Horseshoe and Benny would give you a free steak dinner or a bus ticket out of town. All they wanted you to do was gamble you could stay,eat,and drink for almost nothing,Who cares if they were skimming a little off the top.Any body that thinks this town is better since the mob is gone hasn't been here very long!