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twitterSeduction by room rate
Las Vegas’ luxury hotels are using bargains to lure tightfisted tourists. But could the strategy hurt them in the long run?
Chris Morris
Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Rooms in Aria at CityCenter, which has yet to open, are going for at least $359 a night during the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Sun Archives
- Room rates to rise from rock bottom (5-11-2009)
- Capacity crunch (4-24-2009)
- Cheap rooms could sell casinos short (3-23-2009)
- Casinos again loosen up on rooms, meals (12-15-2008)
- Pssssssst! Cut-rate rooms in classy Vegas (5-28-2008)
Related Document (.pdf)
Rob Kronman, who works in finance in Los Angeles, would have been willing to pay at least twice what he spent for two nights at the Encore last week. Thanks to a heated price war in Las Vegas, Kronman snagged a suite at the Encore for $109 per night, with a $50 credit toward resort purchases.
“I’ve stayed at the Hilton and Monte Carlo but this was a whole level above,” he said. “It was an extraordinary stay in what was probably a $400 room.”
Philadelphia schoolteacher Jackie Degregorio, who longed to stay at the Bellagio after previous stays at lower-end properties in Las Vegas, recently jumped at the chance to pay $180 per night for four nights in a room facing the dancing fountains.
“I probably would have paid more, but I felt better about getting the discount,” Degregorio said. “It was definitely worth it.”
They are among many consumers who are reaping the rewards of an unprecedented price war in Las Vegas, where four- and five-star properties are going for two- and three-star rates.
As an example, more Las Vegas properties and especially posh hotels are turning to Priceline.com — which advertises four-star hotel rooms in Las Vegas starting at $90 and three-star rooms starting at $66 — to sell unused rooms at deep discounts.
And business is booming for Internet travel operator Expedia in Las Vegas, the company’s top destination by volume.
Las Vegas bookings through the company’s Expedia.com and Hotels.com Web sites are up in the double digits so far this year versus the same period a year ago.
Consumers who typically booked a three- or four-star room a year ago are now moving up to five-star properties offering big discounts, said Ash Kapur, Expedia’s Las Vegas-based director of market management for casino hotels.
Luxury hotels — which have slashed room rates in this recession — face some of the industry’s toughest challenges.
In Las Vegas, the decline in travel and travel budgets in the poor economy is compounded by intensified competition among high-end hotels. All of the inventory added to the Strip over the past several years has been at the top of the market, with thousands more rooms to open this year at CityCenter. They include 4,000 rooms at Aria, CityCenter’s gaming hotel, which expects to top the market with rooms starting at $359 per night during the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Most rooms at Aria are priced at more than $700 during the convention.
Hoteliers in the major convention cities, including Las Vegas, have turned to tourists to fill rooms that otherwise would have been filled by business travelers who have cut back on trips, said Brian Ek, a spokesman for Priceline.com. This shift, according to hotel insiders, has disproportionately affected deluxe hotels that built posh meeting rooms to lure expense-account-wielding business travelers.
Las Vegas hotel rates been disproportionately hit by the downturn, with rates falling further than those in most other cities, according to local and national travel statistics.
That leaves posh resorts with little choice but to cut room rates to match — or beat — competitors’ prices.
Representatives of hotel companies contacted for this story wouldn’t talk about their marketing strategies.
The steep discounts appear to be working in Las Vegas where occupancy is still at 82 percent — compared to 64 percent nationally, according to data from hotel research firm Smith Travel Research and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The bad news is that Vegas occupancy was down 7 percentage points in June and the average daily room rate was $84.50, down 26 percent from a year earlier.
Discounting is a risky strategy for luxury hotels, which have the most to lose by lowering rates, travel experts say. Not only is it difficult for high-end properties to raise rates after prolonged price wars, they risk sacrificing brand images they have built up over several years.
“This is a huge issue,” said Jan Freitag, a vice president at Smith Travel Research. “Rates are a signal of quality in the hotel industry.”
Price wars topped the list of concerns of hotel revenue managers surveyed recently by Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.
While hotels have been forced to cut prices, they could be more strategic about it, said Sheryl Kimes, the hotel school professor who conducted the study.
“There’s nothing wrong with offering selected discounts but hotels shouldn’t give them away to everybody because their occupancy will still be down,” Kimes said. “With fewer people traveling, everyone is fighting for a smaller pie.”
Another top concern among hotel operators in the Cornell survey was the longer-term effect of discounts on their properties’ ability to charge more in the future.
Although rates at Las Vegas hotels bounced back after 9/11, a more comparable scenario to the present recession might be found in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, where room rates are still recovering four years later, said Mehmet Erdem, an assistant professor of hotel operations at UNLV.
Las Vegas gaming hotels can generally offer more aggressive rate discounts than their noncasino counterparts in other cities because they generate revenue from many other sources, including gambling, malls, nightclubs, bars, shows and dining outlets.
Even a hotel room that is sold near what it costs to maintain — which insiders say is $40 to $60 for a high-quality room in Las Vegas — it could be profitable if customers drop money elsewhere in the resort.
Las Vegas hotels can spread discounts around to different parts of the hotel, effectively discounting the room without sacrificing rates — and image.
Hotels constantly tweak these offers — 2-for-1 offers, dinner-and-show packages, airfare and room packages and tours.
Consumers want quality deals rather than those perceived as “cheap,” said Howard Lefkowitz, CEO of Vegas.com. Vegas.com is owned by the Greenspun family, which also owns the Las Vegas Sun.
“There’s been a fundamental shift in the way people spend money that’s different from the go-go days of the past two decades,” Lefkowitz said. “People who have lots of money have become much more value-oriented.”
More consumers are booking travel on the Internet, which enables easier price comparisons and the sharing of information about hotel discounts on message boards and other online forums. Armed with more information, consumers can bargain with hotels for even better deals, according to travel experts.
Web sites also benefit hotels by allowing them to sell unused rooms on demand — even more critical now that many visitors uncertain about their futures are booking rooms at the last minute. Some sites such as Priceline allow consumers to name their own price, effectively disguising steep discounts and enabling hotels to advertise higher rates.
Consultants believe hotels are throwing caution to the wind in their quest for customers.
Hotels might be discounting more than is necessary while alienating regulars and people with higher expectations, UNLV professor Erdem said.
“Not everyone staying at these hotels minds paying $300 for a room but may mind hanging out with the people who paid $120 at the pool,” he said. “Price isn’t a simple matter.”
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Vegas has turned again from a high priced destination to a low budget traveller paradise......under the condition that the visitor will not ..."spend the money elsewhere" (gamble). Why don't they talk straight forward and avoid the word gaming/gambling etc? I mean, after all, Vegas was built by gamblers, made for gamblers. And if the visitors keep gambling, then the citiy will prosper. If instead they attract "watchers" and families with children that have absolutely no intention to gamble, then it's a tough deal for the casinos, giving away great rooms and dining deals for non gambling families and "anonymous gamblers on cold turkey" and such.
Another good way to increase the casinos' profit would be lowering the comp requirements and advertise this accordingly. I remember the days when there were signs on the walls of some properties, advertising the free rooms based on 4 hours of play with 25 dollar bet minimum. Today, nobody really knows at what level he gets his room comped. Instead of luring in non gamblers that come to loiter in the casinos, taking pictures and eat at the inexpensive buffets, it would a greater idea to cater directly to real gamblers and offer great gamblers' packages. That's how I see it.
From Switzerland
right on boris,
These people also will not use room service or the upper end restaurants or use the hotel spa or go to the inhouse nightclubs or shop at the hotel stores. They carry there own bags and bring there own food and drink and stiff the taxi drivers and also park there own car. Then they eat everyday in the food courts and drink all night long on $20.00 and then stiff the bartender. The hotels are losing money on this cheap crowd but won't admit it.
What the hotels should do, instead, is starting a special protion series for real gamblers, willing to challenge their luck against the house's advantage. Such people should definetely get the discounted room , and should get it quickly. People that just show up because they found a cool deal online and plan to block a casino hotel room, sitting at the pool side all day and then in the evening watch tv or go taking pictures on the Strip, that's not what the casinos need. The way to go would be attract the serious gambler , offer good videopoker , high jackpots, good food and comped rooms for the real players. Gamblers should be shown that the casino appreciates their business and therefore a enhanced customer support is inevitable. Promoting cheap hotel rooms over the net will lure people to Las Vegas. But it's not sure whether these people will gamble at all ("spend their money elsewhere"). Vegas should return to its basics, back to the roots, e.g. become a gambling destination and not a family theme park or a djungle of shopping arcades and night clubs with casinos adjacent. Back to 3-to-2 b-j (double deck) and full pay videopoker at all properties would be one first step. And then rather comp the players instead of giving discounted hotel rooms to the non gamblers.
From Switzerland
" . . . may mind hanging out with the people who paid $120 at the pool,"--elitist much? People willing to pay $400 a night for a hotel room are probably ignorant.
why would anyone, at any time spend $400 night for a bed? Ever!!!!
$120 for pool access? Right. Give me a cabana and a $49.00 drink...i'm so cool. Right!!!
Back to basics, casinos! When are you going to get off your arrogant, ignorant thinking?
Jimmy D. from PA
Oh, I'm just getting started.
If these 5 star properties lowered their room rates to $49.00
they could fill their casinos with millions of penny slot players wearing
those poly-green shorts. Give em those foo-foo drinks for .50 cents
and all you can eat hot dogs for $1.25 so they can stuff themselves.
Then those fancy casinos would be making loads of profit. cause it's documented that 92% of all Americans fit in that category. or 8% are the
fancy types. Just ask S.W. or that lug CEO from Harrahs
I say Wynn should slash their rates to $29.50 night then Todd Dashel would be happy and change his tune about LV
K. Bill Alaska
But could the strategy hurt them in the long run?
The long run is going to be 10 years...with all that new capacity. Casinos have no options left but to lower rates accross the board...Even F & B will drop 20%.
The rates should be 180 usd at the Wynn. Perhaps 129 during the week and 169 plus tax on the weekend. But the rate show online shoud have a * attached. This (*) should be explained below just like Station Casinos did when they invented this highway robbery surchanged named "resort amenity fee". 25 usd extra fee on top of all room taxes etc, turning an advertized room of 59.95 per night into a 95 usd room, that's like stealing for me.
Now, what these 5-star casinos could do, AS WELL AS ALL LOCALS CASINOS, desperately looking for people sTaying (and SPENDING THEIR MONEY ELSWHERE), IS NOW creating a "flexible room rate", based on your action and level of play. The more a player is willing to wager, the less he's supposed to pay for his room. Until he gets it fully comped, of course. This would be a cool promotion and keep the tourists looking for nothing but cheap hotel rooms to sleep in but still getting the most possible luxury on the side, to the property and help increasing the business. What good it is for, after all, if somebody checks in at the Encore, just to find out that he lost his money across the street at the Treasure Island after watching the new volcano of the Mirage and checking out the T.I. from the inside?
Hey, marketing managers, get your job done. But first of all, listen to what the people want. This is more full pay videopoker, easier comps for players, and back to the old rules of B-J :)
From Switzerland
Boomer111. I completely agree with you. Most people just want a nice clean place to stay. My wife always ask me: Why does it matter what the room is like? We are not there much anyway. I feel that people are probably in awe the first time they come to Vegas. After that it really doesn't matter what the room is like. They find their favorite location, and their favorite casino. As many posters on here have said, Vegas bean counters are so worried about the hotels that they have forgotten about the things that really make Vegas what it once was.
When I was still in the process of buying my condo in March, I needed a hotel to stay. I was first thinking of getting something closer to Henderson, but I couldn't help myself when I found a suite at Encore going for $120 per night via Expedia.com. This was my dream come true, and I FINALLY had the power to fulfill it!
For five days and four nights, I had one of the best weeks of my life. I ate at places like Sinatra and Daniel Boulud. I saw Le Reve. I partied at Blush. And of course, I FINALLY had a chance to laugh at the folks paying the same or more for inferior rooms on The Strip. ;-)
The article is quite correct about those of us who shop around for low rates at high-end properties. But contrary to what some the commenters are saying here, most of us online bargain-hunters aren't the typical "discount travelers". I actually put much of my hotel savings back into the local economy as I was able to afford luxuries like 5-star restaurant meals, more souvenir gifts for the family in California, and more gambling money. IMHO these Vegas hotels are now offering rooms at something closer to fair market value than ever before.
I know that the hotels will eventually raise rates again as the economy recovers and the desire to expand profit margins returns, but now really is the best time to see the best of Vegas at shockingly good prices. If I weren't already a Henderson homeowner, I'd probably be grabbing one of those $109 per night suites at Mandalay Bay's THE Hotel!
With the casino operator's ego and mentality of recent years to outdo the other, they have built and financed properties and amenities way above what the visitor ever expected and wanted. There are only so many "whales", but to build so many properties for such a small number of high rollers makes no sense. Billions could have been saved by building great properties...instead of these super, over-the-top properties that stand way above the visitors needs and wants. They should not complain if they have to provide their rooms at low prices...they are getting the market that can only afford these prices and may not have the profile or budget for gambling, super fine dining, and super priced shows. We need an upgrade in the quality of the visitor that is coming here today. What does the Convention Authority do with all of their Millions of advertising dollars...our visitor counts are dropping, air passengers are dropping, gaming volume and taxes are dropping, so perhaps the advertising efforts should be re-examined. I do not think the rates going up in the future should be an issue...if the demand is there, and the occupancy remains high, people will pay more for the room. You cannot get "Las Vegas Bargain Rates" TODAY in New York, Chicago, Orange County, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas, - we are pricing ourselves too low at this time. Cheaper to stay today in a four or five star hotel than it used to be in an average motel! Our operators need to get out of the panic and give it away mode...it's okay to trade some occupancy for a higher room rate and a better spending guest! People are spending more on their rooms everywhere that is a leisure or business destination...When will the advertising gurus get away from 'What happens in Vegas...' It is over, it is done, it backfired on us...time for change, new thinking, and gutsy leadership!
Woodman-
I guess I'm the contrarian here today. It's OK. My dad's like you in that he doesn't care about the room or the meals. When he's in town, he just wants to gamble.
However, there are folks like me who do care about the room. When I'm back in my suite, I like being able to do a bubble bath in the soaking tub while watching TV... Or do work on my laptop as I listen to my fave songs on my iPod (stationed at the dock). For me, I care more about the quality than the quantity. That's why I'd rather spend on lodging and dining than lose it all at the casino.
Boris-
Your "flexible room rate" idea really does sound interesting. I just wonder how it would work. Would people booking the room in advance have to make a promise to gamble at least a certain minimum amount to get the discount? Or would they pay the regular rate first and get the refund after gambling the money away? Or would this be a new adaptation of the Old Vegas comp policy where someone would have to come here first and play all that money to get it (i.e. no reservation in advance)?
Seduction by headline. Statistically, People who can afford $300 a night rooms, don't comment on talkback. But I would like to hear from someone who can pay $300 a night for a room and not blink, or wince at the cost. I would ask "are you having a good time?" Believe it or not, there are happy, fulfilled, people who stay in Laughlin, not out of ignorance, but choice. Devil's prices down there. Happiness is having an expense account. Hell is having to account for the "escort services"
As a frequent visitor to Vegas, I usually stay on the strip at the Bellagio or Mirage. What I think has hurt the majority of the casinos on the strip is the fact that most of them are owned by 1 of three companies. This has almost eliminated any creativity once held by idividual casino owners. (Steve Wynn for example)
When I gamble at Caesars Palace, one of the Great Casinos of the past, I don't want a TOTAL REWARDS CARD, associated it the Harrah's corp., one of the cheaper casinos on the strip. The comp structure is the same at Caesar's as it is at Bally's and Imperial Palace. All owned by Harrahs and connected through the TOTAL REWARDS CARD. I know Harrah's and their comp system sucks. Therefore, I won't play at Caesars, Bally's, Paris... anymore.
Mirage / MGM does the exact same thing with the Bellagio, Mirage, Excalibur and Luxor....
When I spend the money to stay at a premium property, it should have it's own Player Comp system and Comp accordingly. Don't tie me to the same comp system as Circus Circus if I play at the Bellagio. It's an Insult.
In my opinion, Harrah's has built a negative image in other states where they operate. So why go to Vegas and play at one of their casinos. They own about 1/4 of the strip, so there is where vegas loses.
Las Vegas should have never let the strip get over monopolized. It has taken the Vegas gaming experience and made it a cookie cutter one.
Anybody that pays for a room in excess of $100.00 is on an ego trip and many sandwiches short of a picnic. When I come to Vegas I spend little time in a room. I require a clean room a comfortable bed and a clean bathroom since I will only be spending less than 8 hours in it per day.These new managers of the Mega Casinos are losers when it comes to efficiently and effectively managing a facility. In most cases leveraging is the road to bankruptcy and many more on the way.
There is no reason to pay more than $100 a day for a premium Casino. How long do u stay in the room? With City Center opening I think $100 is too much.I wouldn't even go to a strip restaurant. Example any steak house on the strip will cost u $350-400 for dinner when you can go to Austins at Texas Station and get the same or better for $200. Enough said.
i got a room at the riviera recently for $99...it was over-priced by $98.
what a DUMP!
VEGAS HAS FOUND OUT IT IS NOT THE BIG BLOWHARDS THAT REALLY PUT VEGAS ON THE MAP. IT REALLY IS JOHN Q WHO DID IT.
I ONCE WORKED FOR A MAN WHO RAN A LIQUOR STORE. HIS THEORY WAS "IF I GET 33 PER CENT OF THE CUSTOMER HAS TO SPEND EVENTUALLY I WILL RETAIN THE OTHER 66 PERCENT". HE WAS VERY WELL RIGHT. BEFORE HE PASSED ON HE OWNED ONE OF THE LARGEST CHAIN OF LIQUOR STORES IN THE U.S.
HE WAS NOT GREEDY JUST PATIENT.
THIS IS A TRUE STORY.
HOW DO YOU THINK (WYNN) GOT WHERE HE IS TODAY?
HE DID NOT HAVE A FAIRY GODMOTHER.
Yeah, there are some very good inputs by interested readeers about a very delicate subject. Needless to say, everybody wants to pay as little as possible but get the best ever possible on the dollar. And then again, it's very true that nobody probably goes to Vegas, just to spend his time in a nice hotel room. Something between 6 and 8 hours is probably the most someone needs to get his amount of sleep, shower and other stuff. It is also true that probably nowhere else in the world can be found rooms at rates as low as in Vegas. Apart from the fact that some older hotels offer rooms that aren't actually cheap (Plaza, Vegas Club are actually to be avoided if you think about it), some other places have rates that are absolutely in the payable range....during the week. I think the weekend-explosions of most casino hotel rates drive people away from the Strip, so they simply stay elsewhere or leave the city on the Friday morning plane. Or there's the chance that people check out on Saturday morning , just to re-check-in on Sunday again, avoiding the high rate and staying up all night.
There are certainly people who now book a nice room at the Wynn or Venetian but otherwise wouldn't. It is questionable, however, if the restaurants and the gaming floor is getting the action expected from these "budget watchers". After all, these restaurants in the top hotels have prices that are way too high for some people and staying at such a super hotel usually does not only include the room occupation. To some, maybe it does.
its all discretionary money we're talking about here. as long as the consumer holds out for a better deal the hotels have no choice but to drop room rates. they know they can recover the loss in the casino,restaurants,gift shops and other on site outlets. all they want is your foot in the door, so they can empty your pockets.
the last three time we were there we couldn't win anything. So we've been spending most of our money on the high end restaurants and less on gaming.Don't get me wrong we love to play but if you can't play for a while it's not alot of fun.
As for someone that has lived here for many years(i did live here dureing its heyday),on a recent visit to the strip(one that hasnt been made in about 7 years)both my wife and i were amazed at all the gloom on everyones faces.It didnt matter what property we were at,the looks were the same!Never heard anyone yelling and screaming about a big win,infact many of the tables,and slots were bare!All it showed me is that the bean counters havent heard anything that the people have been asking for.They dont want the cheap rooms!They want the bang for your buck that vegas was known for!Machines that eat your money like its nothing!Food that costs more than a weeks pay,and not worth what youd pay at micky d's!9 dollars for a beer!And yet we still hear there crying.Everyday gets better and better as we count down our days in the dustbowl!LOST AND WASTED!Great job corprate america!MAY GREED BITE YOU RIGHT IN THE A$$!
"Hotels might be discounting more than is necessary while alienating regulars and people with higher expectations, UNLV professor Erdem said."
They're defeating their purpose by catering to the low-brow flip-flop crowd.. meanwhile regulars and big spenders walk away in disgust.
Location is important and I can see that Encore, being at the far end of the strip would have to work harder to get visitors. The other factor, as other posters have mentioned, is that there are only so many visitors who ar ewilling to pay extra for the luxury rooms. It seems that there are no more luxury rooms than visitors looking for such accomodations - room rates will be affected. Lastly, I agree with other folks that casinos should target their discounts to visitors who will actually gamble at their casinos.
Idealpoker & rumrunner-
How very true. The megaconglomerates have taken The Strip and turned most of it into a somewhat generic experience. So many of the casinos don't seem to have any character these days. While I'm certainly not one of those folks who wish for the "Old Vegas" days of mafia rule, cheap & crappy food, and rigid racial segregation, I can see how "New Vegas" hasn't always lived up to its promise with lame players' club benefits, low payout table games, "skin tight" slots, "celebrity chef" restaurants that are all celebrity and no chef, and once-overpriced rooms at the mid-range places that even Motel 6 would be embarrassed to call its own. (Hint: Don't ever stay at Harrah's or Imperial Palace! At least save up a few extra bucks to go to The Rio.)
The key here is value. I can't speak for all of you here, but I can say for myself that I don't mind paying for something good so long as I know it's truly good quality. Don't make me fork $100+ for a dinner for that I could have had at the neighborhood diner for 1/3 of the price. Don't expect me to spend more than $20 at the slots if I know all of that will just be flushing it down the drain. And for goodness sake, don't expect me to pay $10+ for a cocktail with cheap liquor!
I hope the "independent" casino bosses like Steve Wynn and Phil Ruffin still have enough sense in them to rethink "New Vegas" in a way that will really bring the consumers back and get them spending again. People want value. If we're paying a premium for "five star cuisine", that meal should knock my socks off. If we're paying for a luxury hotel, I want room to roam, a comfortable bed, and a big enough tub for me to enjoy a nice bubble bath. If I'm paying, I want real bang for my buck!
I agree with a previous poster. The strip becoming over monopolized is a major contributor to it's current problems.
Atdleft-
Great post. I completely understand your' preferences and can very well understand why they would be important to you. I think what confuses me is the sheer quantity of luxury properties and hotels on the strip. I personally feel that a desire to always keep an edge on the competion has really gotten out of control. These resorts are so heavily leveraged that the only way to pay the bills is to try to drain every dollar out of every tourist. The result is tight slots, high priced meals, and players clubs that really don't reward play.
I do not consider you to be contrary at all. We all have our preferences. I just feel that alot of things are really out of balance in Vegas these days.
Amazing how some peeps think that because they paid $180+ per night and played $50/min BJ - they shouldn't have to rub elbows with the ham & egg, flip-flop crowd. The reality is -70% of those $45k per year earning - wanabee "Millionarios" of the past 5 years - with the bling, fat cigars (trying not to puke as they puff on them) who pulled $100k on a HELOC loan so they could drive a crappy Cadillac Escalade and pretend to be some high roller...ARE exactly the same crowd that is defaulting by the thousands on a daily basis.
You show me a High roller and I will show you a High loser. It's all relative.
I blame Harry Reid.
We skipped Vegas this year and ventured to Tunica, Mississippi. Had a great time, and the slots at least let you play for a while. I just received a phone call from the Harrah's at Tunica offering us a 4 night stay with airfare for $199 per person. I've gotten great room offers from Vegas, but no one ever offered me airfare included, too.
Regarding BorisR's suggestion for getting rooms comped to real gamblers: The hotel management should get together with the casino management. At check-in a gambler could request, let's call it a "GmblrTrak" card. Upon sitting down at a table game, you give your GmblrTrak to the pit boss, and start gambling. The pitboss tracks your play and makes periodic entries to your card. When you are fiished, the pit boss closes out your card, and tells you how much room credit you've received. Simple?
stay downtown people
Everyone wonders why people are not coming to Vegas as they did in the past. The ecomony has a little to do with it and also,because the average person can not afford the prices it cost to stay and the machines do not pay as they did in the past. Look at the winners from years ago. Every week or so you would hear of big winners. Now, not that often. Keep the prices down, loosen up the machines and they will return. Because everyone dreams of hitting it big and if the prices are more affordable for the regular person and they hear of more winners, 10K, 20K 50 K etc they figure they will have a better chance and they will return.
Most people come here to have fun, not to be fleesed.
skerlahdee-
YES! I like the idea. I'm admittingly a light gambler, but my dad plays more. He can probably net us a free room, or at least one at a deep discount. ;-)
LVgaycar-
Only if it's The Golden Nugget. That may be one of the most underrated and underappreciated places in Vegas. If you want true 4-star luxury for half the typical 4-star Strip price, DEFINITELY GO THERE! "The Tank" pool's a fun way to spend the day, and the location's quite convenient as Fremont Street is literally right out the front entrance. Grotto's good for Italian food (and quite a steal of a deal!), and even the buffet is pretty decent.
Woodman-
"I think what confuses me is the sheer quantity of luxury properties and hotels on the strip. I personally feel that a desire to always keep an edge on the competion has really gotten out of control."
Yeah, that's a good point. And not just that, but how eerily similar so many of them are. Much of The Strip from The Bellagio to The Venetian is one, big Italianate blur. This is one reason why I'm actually excited about City Center opening. At least it isn't another cheesy copycat of some world landmark or another damned neoclassical building with the same ol' "European touches"!
And honestly, there are some times when I do miss The Stardust or The New Frontier. They were a glimpse into the past of Old Vegas, but at least The Stardust attempted to stay relevant in the present. It's so sad to now see that part of The Strip occupied by only a shell of what was supposed to be another overhyped "resort" that died on its own debt before it could even be finished.
Maybe you're right. Perhaps someone should consider buying the old Stardust site from Boyd and actually finish something there?
milkers will win, these place are washed-up overbuilt 4x times. No one is going to come, why? better deals elsewhere.
Competition - wow! Don't you just hate it?
No more posters please, this is the final comment. I just talked with the big wigs and because of me, they are all lowering their room rates to $19.95.
thats the good news. The bad news is they have a daily resort fee of $175.
per day.
I feel this is ABSOLUTELY FAIR. Resort fee covers things like: room key, bed spreads, foofy soap, cleaning the room, light bulb access, "extra" things like that to make the stay very special.
Now move on to other articles, please
"Only if it's The Golden Nugget. That may be one of the most underrated and underappreciated places in Vegas. If you want true 4-star luxury for half the typical 4-star Strip price, DEFINITELY GO THERE! "The Tank" pool's a fun way to spend the day, and the location's quite convenient as Fremont Street is literally right out the front entrance. Grotto's good for Italian food (and quite a steal of a deal!), and even the buffet is pretty decent"
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I agree on this recommendation!! Also check out Main Street Station. I also hear the Gold Spike has stepped up their game!! Downtown can make a comeback if they play their cards right....
I think The Writer misses the point completely. In the long run we will all be Dead. I am with the Hotels on this one. Fill your rooms, bring in the revenue and pay your staff. If you don't then your competitor will fill his room and not you.
You watch your competitor now and tomorrow is another day. Will I be around tomorrow or my competitor. The brutal price war is here or coming and will I be the survivor.
I love the Golden Nugget - very classy - good rates - love to gamble there - always win - keep the rates low - this will be my 3rd time to LV this year - I come to visit 10 days at a time because it's so affordable...
Dump the tickets,get some coins clangin,everything will be OK.
LVGAY is right.Downtown or Hooters! Hersh!
Most of the people replying here are illiterate about business and economics in general. The rule of business is Charge what the marketplace will bear. If you can get $400 a night for a room then charge it. Of course that not possible in these economic time so as good business people they've lowered the rates, because that's what the marketplace will bear in this downturn.
All you whiners about high room rates probably believe the government should regulate room rates too, while providing free health care. You will continue to fill the ranks of the ignorant masses.
LV Tom.
I am in business also. I definetly agree that one should charge what the market will bear. My problem with the whole situation in Vegas is that I feel that the bar has been raised so high that there won't be enough people to provide the support that it will require. The whole thing just seems to be destined to fail. With the leverage on the properties I completely understand the necessity of the high room rates. I just agree with many posters on here that debt leaves the casinos very few options. In the real world you either make more money or you get rid of the debt. With our overall economy I'm not sure either one has a very good chance of happening.
At least you can still rent a machine gun at the range off the strip. That's one amenity I have always liked in Las Vegas. I love their cheesy billboard with the large chested woman and a MP5 in the airport.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2006/apr...
Even the other downtown properties are getting a classy facelift and stepping up their game. Just go to the Plaza or the Vegas Clug sometime to see what I mean. Binion and the Four Queens are getting better of taking more market place. All these Las Vegas Downtown Hotels are marketing themselves with the Fremont Street Experience and telling people that you won't be ignored, like what happens to 99.99% of people on the Strip.
LV Tom-
No, not all of us are. I've taken business courses in college, and I got a 5 on my AP Economics in high school. And frankly, I think many of the folks here are showing more business sense than the CEOs of the big casino companies!
Let's face it, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, et al, went too far too fast in developing new casinos on The Strip. They took on more debt than they could handle in the hopes of snatching more and more high-roller "whales", many of whom were themselves too much in debt to support their "wealthy lifestyles". The high demand for many of these high-end properties was really inflated and artificial, so the casinos were destined to collapse as soon as the "borrow, tax cut, and spend" Bush-Cheney economy of the 2000s collapsed.
Hopefully now that we're hitting rock bottom, the casinos now have a chance to reevaluate what went wrong and make sure the same mistakes aren't repeated in the 2010s. They need to learn not to chase after something that's unsustainable, and they need to relearn how to take care of customers. While it may be good business to build high-end casino resorts to cater to the glitterati jet set, it isn't a good idea to do so with money they company doesn't really have, oversaturate the high-end market to the point of self-defeat, and forget about the low to middle-income customer base that made the company profitable in the first case.
Woodman-
Good points. The Strip might really benefit from seeing more independent folks like Phil Ruffin coming in to buy casinos from Harrah's and MGM Mirage. Those two companies have perhaps become too big to fail, especially with all their debt.
It seems Vegas starts a massive transformation every 20 years or so. The Flamingo opened in 1947 and ushered in the start of the modern Strip. Howard Hughes then came in the late '60s to end the mafia's monopoly on The Strip casinos and usher in the corporate era of Vegas. And of course, Steve Wynn started the luxury megaresort trend when he opened The Mirage in 1989. I just wonder how this recession will get someone to think up a good idea and transform The Strip again for the better.
I'm not a gambler, but my wife and I spent about $2000 in five days, if vegans don't like money from people like me, that money will go someplace else and I bet it will be millions; if I say ( I bet ) is just a saying, I don't really bet anything.
all I know is the odds and pay back better change at the strip....or its gonna look like the movie Species..lol
The casinos deserve the lack of customers due to the overwhelming poor customer service they provide.
I used to shoot craps daily and I made the casinos a lot of money from the chicken feeders who would join my table after I was shooting darts for hour after hour.
If you are an advantage craps shooter, you are Not Welcome in most of the casinos especially the Southpoint. I have had many rediculous rules be made from my advantage shooting. I stopped shooting craps due to the heat I was getting.
These crooked casinos prey on people who know nothing about gaming.
Las Vegas has lowered prices and people are coming. Good Move. I just booked a whole week, which I would not have done at last years rates.
In 2000 I went to Bellagio and was disappointed that the hotel was filled with red state trash with plastic cups and big guts. Dressed like trailer trash. That is really the downside of paying a lot in Vegas, everyone gets in.
At the same time, it is the great part of LV too. Everyone experiences the life of a king for a weekend.
I don't think low prices will upset any consumers. Fill the city and keep people working.
Hey there is always Circus Circus...$30 rooms and you even get to sleep with the cock-roaches!
LV_Tom & Business Professionals,
It's so simple, yet even the highest casino executives can't figure this one out. So I'll give you the answer in one sentence:
"You shear a sheep many times, but you skin him only once".
That's the answer. Set the hold too high on the slots and they won't play slots any more. Put the payouts ob blackjack at 6:5 instead of 3:2 and thy will stop playing blackjack. Set the room rates too high and they will just stop coming or have they already stopped.
Idealpoker.
Amen from the choir.
Where are these "Seductive" room rates? I can't find them. I have checked a lot of the major websites like Priceline, Hotwire, Expedia, TripRes and a few others, but no seductive rates there. Any idea of where they are hiding? More like "elusive" room rates.
akortiz, I think the best promotions and offers come directly from the hotels, and not through search engines and operators. Also, it helps being on the email list of each property. They even keep sending offers to me, although I can at best fly to Vegas 2x/year. Still, I receive these offers regularly. The latest offers came from the SunCoast and the SouthPoint, both are nice locals casinos with a tremendous offer of things to do. It's a shame I don't have any vacation time left as otherwise I wouldn't hesitate for a second to book me one of those offers.
From Switzerland