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Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Coverage
Mr. Sun, I just visited Las Vegas and stayed at the Luxor. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that the Egyptian theme was gone and was replaced with modern decor. The same thing is happening with places such as Treasure Island, Monte Carlo, Excalibur, Mirage and, of course, the Luxor. The question is why.
Las Vegas’ shift away from themed resorts reflects a couple of trends.
The city had — at least until the downturn — succeeded in luring an increasingly upscale traveler. Attracting wealthier visitors made sense from a business perspective — the bubbling world economy minted a lot of millionaires over the past 15 years.
These tourists weren’t the type to stand in slack-jawed awe at some Las Vegas imitation. They had probably visited Egypt, Paris and Venice and didn’t need a foam-and-stucco stand-in. They were also more interested in world-class dining than cheap buffets and in high-end retail over T-shirt shops.
Casino operators simultaneously became less preoccupied with luring vacationing families to Las Vegas.
This trend of catering to the worldly traveler has echoed up and down the Strip over the past decade.
The Luxor opened in 1993, in the heyday of the themed resort. Inside its 30-story black-glass pyramid were talking mechanical camels, statues of pharaohs, a faux Nile River and so on.
By the early 2000s, Luxor President and Chief Operating Officer Felix Rappaport, who helped oversee the property’s recent makeover, said it was obvious “the competition has just moved by it. You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that it needed to be freshened up.”
This trend will reach a milestone with the opening this year of MGM Mirage’s CityCenter project with its sleek designs executed by renowned architects.
Not everyone in the business is convinced it’s the right direction for resorts or the city.
Architect Joel Bergman, best known for his work on Caesars Palace, the Mirage and Treasure Island, has criticized CityCenter.
“People come to Las Vegas to be entertained, not educated,” he told the Sun last year. “They don’t want to look at buildings like they’re museum pieces.”
As one of the non-millionaire crowd who used to come to Vegas yearly for a conference, I enjoyed the themes.It is what made Vegas a true "fantasy" world, as escape.
I think there is room for both, but themes should be restored in existing resorts.
I only stayed at the Luxor once, and I loved it just the way it was!
The problem I see it is with MGM-Mirage. The vast majority of the resorts being "de-themed" are MGM-Mirage properties(TI, Mirage, Monte Carlo, NYNY, Luxor). Instead they would rather have a bunch of blue glass hotels all over the place.
That makes a lot of sense, lets make the Las Vegas Strip look like every other major city by putting glass skyscrapers all over the place. Las Vegas is losing its uniquness.. its identity.
I like the themes and the look/feel of them. Hotels like that have a personality of their own. Bellagio, Venetian, Paris, Rio, Caesars, Mandalay Bay etc.. And then you have City Center.. WTF is that? It looks like someone took a bunch of office buildings, threw them in a pile and said "ok, that will work". So retarted..
Wife & I stayed at Paris in April for our 25th. In the early 80's I dealt craps for several years at the shack located where Paris now sits, hence my screen name. The Dunes and it's theme were right across the street, the Aladin and it's were next door. I dealt at the Hacienda which had it's own. There was something magic about it all.I was saddened to see City Center scar the strip as it does. Big just to be big, hanging out over the strip. As they started tearing down old Vegas I found refuge at the Stardust... you could look out the window and see halfway down the strip.. always breathtaking. I bet they wish they had waited a little longer before tearing her down, I think they would have changed their minds. I wish they had. Caesars had the majestic fountains and wide open enterance.. Now I can't tell which is front or the back of the building.. or if there is one. It's getting a little claustrophobic lately. When you cant tell which casino you're in without seeing a sign, then it might not matter which casino you go to. If it gets that point, i'll drive down the street to Connecticut instead of flying the 2,700 miles each way. I really hope it doesn't.
I go to Vegas two or three times a year. One of the reasons I like Las Vegas so much is because of the glitz and excitement. I think that the themed resorts are a lot of fun and every time a new one opened I was excited to go back to Las Vegas to see it. It was different. City Center, Wynn, Encore, etc. to me looks like something you could see in any large city. There is excitement in a themed resort that I think makes Vegas different from other vacation destinations. Gambling is everywhere now but the Mega Resorts and neon make Vegas special and different. In the long run it is a big mistake to take away the personality and uniqueness of Las Vegas that draws people to it. I can see huge sleek glass towers anywhere in the United States and they are not something that would make me want to go to Vegas to see.
All the buildings look the same. It's boring. It was always so exciting to look down from the plane and point out all the different casinos. Now I can't tell one from the other.
Smokinkman - you are correct. Las Vegas used to be a fantasy/escape, now it looks like every other town in the country. I can drive 30 minutes to the casinos here in Colorado and feel that sense of escape. Bring back old Vegas, where I felt special.
Times have changed, people have changed, even Americans have changed. And that statement by that Bergman person is remarkably ignorant. Fortunately his view represents the past and Vegas now is also about art and beautiful buildings. It's time to leave the kitsch behind.
The Luxor though is fine example of theme-buildings, and fortunately they can't do much to change the striking exterior, and the interior has improved a great deal. Compare that to the garish NYNY, which is an eyesore. Then there's Weinberg whose building look great from the outside but the inside of the resorts is atrocious.
I will grant that it looks like CityCenter will turn out to be a missed opportunity by having been designed around cars and streets- although some buildings are interesting. We'll see what it looks like in the end.
Vegas is losing its touch with everyday visitors to the city. Middle class people with somewhat disposable income go to Vegas to escape what they have back home. We don't go to drink $250 bottles of vodka or eat $500 meals. We enjoy themed resorts to a degree like the Venetian or New York New York. When we go back home we don't tell people about the thread count of the sheets but if we had fun. When we go to Vegas we want to feel like a million bucks not spend a million bucks.
The thrill of visiting Vegas was seeing there what you couldn t see elsewhere. To see skyscrapers I have plenty and better in new York, Chicago or even Houston.
Vegas was like a grown-up fantasy, like an adult Disneyland and now is losing it s appeal for the sake of the big whales, but Vegas was built up thanks to the middle class folks that might never be able to go themselves to Venice, Paris or Cairo. Traveling from one spot to the other thanks to the architecture was the big attraction, now what is left? A bunch of business look casinos that remind us aour everyday life that we try to forget when we are in Vegas. Gone are what you call despectively the "cheap buffets" also the compt rewards and budget rooms, so when one has to spend a lot in rooms, food and shows one plays much much less.
But it will take the complete bankrupcy and the emergency of alternative resorts in order of the big honchos of the Vegas casinos to figure out that the big whales that go only for the game are not enough to sustain Vegas.
It s a pity!!! I promise never to go back for holidays to a place that reminds me exactly the atmosphere I am trying to forget.
Vegas has gone down the darin and that is that! Yoi don t need to be Nostradamus to forsee that the middle class people with kids looking for a fun place to spend their time will look elsewhere and it will be mighty difficult to put back again what you have distroyed already.
Vegas is officialy death!
I believe themes can still be relevant. The Luxor is a good example of that. But cmon themes can't over come the laziness in design that has proliferated casinos over the last decade or so.
Is it me or did anyone else believe the tri-spoke design though practical had long since served it's purpose? There are at least half a dozen hotels that used that design and I wanted to throw up when it kept popping up. It was great when the Mirage did it and you couldn't blame Wynn using it again on the TI but after that it became a design that they just threw a motif on.
I love CityCenter's designs. The grand structures on the Strip deserve nothing less than great architects to design them. I believe in the fullness of time people will come to admire them and the project as a whole. I spent many a day walking around the project from the ground up and appreciated the effort and vision it took to see it through. I don't think people yet appreciate the scale of it and eventually I think it should be spoken of in the same breath of Boulder Dam. At peak over 8000 workers were on that site working. Nothing comes close on the Strip to CityCenter.
I still believe that the Mirage people flow design inside should be studied by anyone designing a casino. I still think it's the best.
I guess I'm somewhere in the middle here. On one hand, I LOVE the design of Wynn & Encore. Hands down, they're my favorite Strip casinos. The gardens inside relax me, and the gaming "rooms" give the casino a nice, intimate feel.
I'm also excited about CityCenter. A number of the buildings were just awarded LEED Gold for their eco-friendly design, the architecture really proves that Vegas has "grown up" and become a truly sophisticated destination.
But OTOH, I'll also admit that I have a special place in my heart for Fremont Street and the old grande dames downtown. Yes, they're mostly kitschy and trashy... But they're also Vegas history and it would be a shame to ever lose them.
Maybe I'm being too Goldilocks here, but I do think there's a "just right" balance between the old and the new for Vegas that I hope we can achieve and sustain. I personally don't miss the cheap buffets and lousy hotel accomodations at all, but there's some redeeming value in downtown that I'd never want to lose. I also sometimes feel that MGM Mirage and Harrah's have gone too far at times in redefining The Strip and making way too many Strip casinos just generic, but at the same time I hope more residents and "old timer" visitors also open their minds to the new "Haute Vegas" of The Strip at the casinos that have done it right (like Wynn/Encore, Caesar's, and Mandalay Bay).
boy those upscale non t-shirt crowd has done great for you. they are not gamblers, middle of the row crowd built vegas and have gone elsewhere since they are not welcome anymore. i get more free comps from indian casino in upstate ny in 1 day than a full week in vegas. jugheads at top know how to fix problem, just don't want to rub elbows with my jc penny collection.
Very good topic, I agree with many... Vegas is losing it's themes and I truly miss that. I visit every couple months and just love walking down the Strip and see different themes -- just like different worlds. If hotels all look alike, what's the point? [I don't gamble much and I can have buffet where I live too].
CityCenter has it's place too with a unique architecture. So do classy places like Bellagio or Wynn/Encore with their sophisticated art and lack of flashing lights. But the rest should keep it's uniqueness and exotic flavor as well.
Then you wonder why people don't come to Vegas? Top Execs should stop staring at their (-red) financial statements and hit the street to find out why, economy is only part of it.
If the trend continues, the next step would be to eliminate gondola rides at the Venetian and... just take down Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas to finish it off?!?! :-(
True or true?
Most of the posts here reflect the truth, it's common sense!!!!!!
HOW COME THE DORKS AT MGM DON'T GET IT?
1) ULTRA STUPIDITY? Loveland is such a Number crunching dork!
MUST BE TRUE!!!!
Interesting how all of those pining for the "theme" days fail to notice the corresponding decline in gaming dollars per visitor during those years. That's right, during the midst of the MGM/ Oz, New York, New York, and Excalibur, the gaming actually was in decline.
What say y'all now?
Incorrect, inaccurate, and false.
Gaming revenue in Vegas fell only after 9/11 and this recession.
Every other year, including the theme "boom" years was an increase.
I come to vegas every year just for the themed resorts, make no sense to me to fly 6 hours to stay in hotel like the one here in my city ( 20 minutes driving ). Change all the hotels like a downtown building and you will see it empty both the hotel and the city.
Vegas, wake up! The world has changed - playing field has shifted forewever... the big casinos have all built copycats of Las Vegas all over the world - closer to all those big spenders who used to come to Vegas. Now all those big spenders don't have to deal with long airport lines and a prudish Vegas to spend and play - they just go to Macau, Singapore (soon), private JVs in Russia, etc... Vegas bigwigs have sowed the seeds of their own ruin - why would anyone go to Vegas unless its for a convention - unless Vegas develops a unique value proposition, its decline will become the new normal. I love Vegas - please, please don't just go for modern decor and cookie cutter design. The world wants the USA to lead with "new" design. Break out of the past - do something that nowhere else can copy - of course, right now, the casino CEOs are all building those unique things overseas... god help America.
It may be true that revenue decreased slightly when the themes took over, because now people didn't lock themselves in one casino, but loved walking the strip and visiting all the themes.
But once you've seen them all, you still spend as much money, maybe just spread out thru more resorts.
The first 2 times I visited Vegas, I went to all the resorts, to check them out.
After that, it was just an adult fantasy land. IT was so awesome to fly in at night and see all the resorts lit up.
And I didn't spend any less money. I just had more to "wonder" about.
I like modern architecture also. I think City Center is awesome. But I'd hate to see a town of nothing but City Center's. There has to be a happy medium, and places like Luxor, where the theme is so obvious, should not try to play down the theme, but should work on enhancing it to keep it fresh and new. JMHO...........
I've been going to Las Vegas once or twice a year for about 20 years. It was the Grateful Dead and Phish & Bob Stupak that lured me to Las Vegas in the good old days. I'm still going but its getting harder to justify. Two points:
a.) It seems like about 10 years ago, after the Palms and the Hard Rock opened and the consolidation that lead to MGM and Harrahs as the giants in the Strip -- that they all wanted to go after the same customer, a crazy spending 30 something, probably from LA, who really enjoyed the status of being overcharged. The type of person whose self-image is reinforced by spending $1,000 on a bottle of booze or $250 for a meal.
I like a bargain and I feel like a chump when I get ripped off.
b.) The entertainment has become so limited. I like the Cirque shows but once every 10 years is enough. There are very, very few venues for music besides the Joint & the House of Blues and the tickets go for a lot more than the rock clubs in my home city. Since the Huntridge Theatre closed I can't think of a single venue in Las Vegas that showcases up and coming music acts. I really enjoy old-style lounges but it seems like they just don't exist anymore -- at least lounges that feature live music, even an old crooner, rather than an ear-splitting DJ. The entertainment options in Vegas just seem limited to Cirque, strip clubs, cheesy shows and way, way overpriced nightclubs.
I really did enjoy the 1960's promotion in Downtown this last Labor Day, my las visit to Las Vegas. Downtown never seemed more alive. Nest time I'll stay Downtown, probably at the Golden Nuggett or somewhere else that offers value. I just don't enjoy getting ripped off.
Here is the new theme for Las Vegas:
Come to Vegas, We treat you like Sh#t, Take every last dollar you have, You go home with your tail between your legs!!!
Out with the old, in with the new... Its what keeps Vegas 'fresh' and 'attractive' - People arnt visiting the city to see the same old every time... We need to give them a reason to keep booking their flight I think Vegas is doing a good job - Hopefully we dont screw it up by making the entire strip look the same but as of yet, I dont think thats the case... Each property (for the most part) is defining their property well
Yep. Having sat in front of Anthony Marnell III (M Resort) and Glenn Schaeffer (former CFO Mandalay) and the Boyd Gaming executive crowd...it is obvious that they have become pawns of the board of directors at their respective owners. That is: "let us be safe", "let us put in yet another Cirque du Soleil show"...or how about another comedian act. And as Boyd Gaming and CityCenter decided to put in sterile glass towers with no personality, designed by architects with their 50-something outfits of crew neck T-shirts and sports coats driving BMWs, proclaiming how "cool" their boring designs are...
Well Vegas CEOs: you did it. The latest MGM offering soon to open is BORING. The themes are gone. The fun is gone. Keep replacing pyramids with glass towers that all look alike. Put in another "oriental"-themed tower. Put in some more up-scale night club that looks like a dozen others. Compete with cookie-cutter venues until Vegas becomes *ahem* boring.
You forget what Wynn did. Wynn forgot what Wynn did.
Idiots. Fools. All of you CEOs with your NW Vegas addresses and huge houses near Red Rock. You are sterile, boring, uncreative fools who should have taken a few courses on how to use the right half of your brain...not just the left half that reports to ignorant public stock holders who forget what made Vegas different.
Can't wait for CityCenter to fail after about 18 months... due to boredom.
I'm a relatively new Las Vegas resident who works in the casino industry. I'm still mesmerized by the majestic quality of the strip. I will never forget my initial visit, around six years ago. For me, it was the exterior of the Venetian that sold me on the city. I'm a Chicagoan, and I can see attractive buildings back home. I had never seen anything like the faux Venice architecure of the Venetian.
When I have friends who are new to Vegas visit, it's always the themed casinos that impress the most. Paris, The Venetian, Caesars, NYNY, Luxor, even the aging Excalibur offer an escape from reality - they are the casinos that really bring the bigger than life experience that I feel is crucial the southern Nevada experience.
If I may offer an example, let's explore this scenario. Two recent casinos opened - Encore and The Palazzo. Both expensive, both gorgeous, and both kind of dull from an excitement factor.
Let's assume a third casino opened at a similiar cost. It's called "Planet Mars". It's constructed as a red globe, with the interior designed in a deep space fashion.
My question is; if you asked one hundred potential Vegas travelers which casino, if you could pick only one, would you like to see: Planet Mars, Encore, or the The Palazzo, what would be the response? My guess is eighty percent would pick Planet Mars.
As local gaming proliferates the United States, the Palazzo's of the world are everywhere. The Circus Circus' of the world are not.
The gaming aspect of Vegas isn't unique anymore, but the visual splendor still is. I believe that Vegas needs to embrace it's unique quality as a hodgepodge of everything, from the opulent, to the kitchy, to the tacky. There is something for everyone here.
I just hope that the casino companies don't forget the average joe. It's that average Joe that stands in front of the castles at Excalibur and takes photos of his kids. He might not drop five hundred dollars at the crap table in the Bellagio, but he will tell twenty friends about his terrific experience in Vegas.
one of the reasons i always wanted to go to vegas WAS to see the themes and that goofy stuff.
before twitter and youtube and facebook, you sort of had to rely on reports from your friends that had gone and they'd be like you gotta see this or that.
remember the old warner brothers store at the forum shops? they had bugs and taz in roman outfits above the entrance?
that was adorable! all those little things here and there like the talking camels made it seem like "wow, if i go there on vacation for 3 days...i'm going to see SO much!"
and you DID!
now...it's just one bebe / starbucks / victoria's secret store after another, bette midler ( really?! ), and night clubs that at 39...i feel like a dirty old man walking into so i can spend $500 to sit down and hang with morons that think it's cool to be in the same room with kevin federline.
stupid.
then if i want to just chill in a lounge and actually TALK to someone, it's $9.00 for a beer.
i visited in the summers of 2000 and 2001 and most of the themes were still there. glad i got that chance.
Yes the days of Themed casios are soon to be a thing of the past.Not only the physical theme that the casino gives to the eye of the tourist but the most important theme.Customer service.The board of directors bring in the number crunchers and all they care about is the bottom line and have forgotten what Vegas was built on.Oh yes they are not only physically building buildings that look like every other building across the country but they are also building the same atmosphere corperate America has built all over this country.A robotic employee who is miserable with their job.No smiles, no coversation,no joy in their eyes,just I have to deal so many hands per hour and who is looking over my shoulder pushing me harder.Personally I have never been in the casino industry myself but I have been in customer service and managment all my working career.You can have a theme yes but you also have to have a positive atmosphere in the work place wether it is in Casino/resorts or sales of all fashions.Corperate America has adopted the theory if it can be weighed it can be measured and put the blue collar worker in missery at the same time.The philosophy drives on negativity and negativity spreads like a virus and infects everyone and thing in its path.This relays into the tourist and depreciates into their stay.Now how was there visit when they get back home Well lets see Hmmm!!!The hotel rate was really high,the food was extremely high,the drinks at the club were watered down and way to expensive,I sat at that blackjack table for an hour before a waitress came by. I lost 100.00 before I ever ordered my drink and then another 100.00 before she brought to me and when I threw her a tip for her poor service she sneared like I was a cheap scape.I walked around and saw what I wanted a bunch of Cirque de Solel shows that were pretty much the same.There Just was not much variety there.Now why would I go back to a place that is just like where I live.
The Big wigs have lost what got them there to begin with and What made Vegas special all those glory years.They treat there employees like numbers from they day they are hired and force them to swallw there garbage because the emplyee knows there is no other jobs to be had if they leave and if they do leave the managments attitude is the HR dept has 2000 other apps. waiting to be called.When your are called they have some inexperienced person sitting there with a script to go by that tells them what to ask and there is no personalization so it begins the day you are hired. The day Vegas gets its theme back is the day Vegas goes back to the best and most traveled to destination in the world.
One of my favorite themed resorts was the Boardwalk--yes, that hokey little joint with the big clown smiling over our heads as if to say,"Come into my funhouse, kids! You'll have a great time!"
And I did--cheap hot dogs with a trimmings buffet to make them really delicious, a casino host who put flowers and chocolates in our room, a slot director who filled the casino with crazy machines that hooted, and howled, and whistled at us when we walked by them.
I spoke with an MGM-Mirage official on the morning of Boardwalk's last day. He was strutting about in his $250 suit and was oogling the diamond display in the doomed gift shop.
When I asked if the new development that was to replace the Boardwalk site would carry forward its theme, he looked at me as though I were a child asking if there was really a Santa. He explained about how "themes" were passe. The new development would bring in world class sophistication, set a new direction for Las Vegas.
The crooked, glass and steel hodgepodge that grew out the whole left by Boardwalk leaves me as cold as an icycle. The leaning buildings make me tense. (I keep wishing they'd just stand up straight.)
I can still see the little Boardwalk there, and I feel so, so sad. There is no more make believe in Las Vegas.
I visited Southpoint a couple of years ago when it was new. I was struck by its austerity. Clearly, it had been designed that way. Anti-theme was the new theme. But I still thought it was a nice clean place to play and enjoyed the food in their coffee shop.
You can go back in time a little by going downtown. Do you see themes there? No, not really. What's the theme at the Plaza, Fremont, Binions, or El Cortez? No theme!
The themed resort IS passe. Good riddance.
Give me a clean, cheap room, a $10 buffet, and a smoke free poker room, and I'm happy.
world class sophistication-how has that worked-lol. me the middle class will stay home as you don't give a rats ass for us anymore.anyone that's posted comment here knows more about running a casino than these morons. limited ownership has really taken it's toll
The themes were all used up and they need to reinvent themselves. The Luxor, Mirage, MGM, Tropicana, and a few others need to be demolished and rebuilt to attract people to visit them. This goes along with their entertainers, how many times can you see the same old people performing their gig, a couple at best. They've put all their eggs in a few baskets, the eggs have become rotten. Vegas is supposed to be exciting and something new with every trip, the strip is stagnated.
Vegas is the new Detroit. I love Vegas, but I travel around the world for business, no one want to come to Vegas... its not unique in any way... not one. Its prudish, bad customer service (even for whales), old shows, etc.) and all the CEO's are offering incentives for them to visit other gaming locations away from the USA! Vegas is the new Detroit. It is no longer cool or special or hip. New night clubs do not make a place hip. Vegas will not recover for a long long time, just ask Detroit. Even if it rebounds, it will be a shadow of the new global gaming centers around the globe. Wake Up CEOs!
How can you have creativity, when the majority of the casinos on the strip are owned by 1 of 3 major companies. Competition was the best thing for both Las Vegas and the visitors. With that gone, who needs to do anything new and exciting.
Take for instance Harrah's. They have taken over a share of the classic strip casinos (Caesars, Paris, Flamingo...)and put the corporate spin on them. Now your TOTAL REWARDS are not only crap, but they are now accepted at all Harrah's cookie cutter ran properties. They don't need to be creative anymore and the people still keep comming.
Harrah's figures Joe visitor will have a bad experience at one of their properties and leave to visit another one owned by Harrah's. WHY CHANGE ANYTHING?
I do not go to Harrah's properties anymore for that exact reason.
caltraveler, I dont know how much world traveling you actually do, but your argument is pretty weak. Next time you are in all those airports around the world compare the level of excitement of those arriving flights to those in Las Vegas. It may be dull to you, but it is obvious that others disagree. The strip was the second most visited landmark behind times square last year.
That being said, LV still holds the golden egg and is still the center of hospitality. I am just unsure that the City Center is the direction this city should be taking. It is time for this city to think outside the box to recapture that uniqueness that made it so attractive. I would much rather stay in a hotel near skyscrapers in Chicago, NY or San Fran. This nonsense of paying $45 for a buffet on the strip can not possibly fly much longer either.
I agree, I used to love luxor. It was so intresting to "travel back in time". I grew up here and am not attracted to gambling.. So having exciting animals, rides, and shops was more appealing to me. People like to come here on vacation... let them spend more money on gambling & souviners and not way expensive buffets and over priced watered down drinks.
Are you guys dillusional? CityCenter is themed to exactly what its name represents: A CITY CENTER! When you think of a large city, the first thing you think of are huge illustrious, glass paned skyscrapers, of unique and magnificent architecture. CityCenter will be a GREAT and AWESOME experience for everyone. I am truly excited about it and what it will bring to Las Vegas.
to put a sports spin on it ... if i had an opportunity to go see an NFL game played in any city i would pick green bay's lambeau field or chicago's veteran stadium. same in baseball, give me wrigley field. nascar race? i'll take darlington or bristol. Why? because these are original venues that still showcase their ancient histories; very nostalgic. Same thing is going on at the Gulf Coast casinos in biloxi .. 9 casinos only 2 are themed (Boomtown (old west theme) and Hard Rock (obviously musically themed as is the one in Vegas). We actually had a casino pirate ship "docked" in the gulf - Treasure Bay -- you know, i always ended up there because it was unique/cool/different. Sometimes change is not always good.
Las Vegas is no longer a top brand globally - people have come here and done that. Vegas can no longer count on global travelers coming in - there are too many resorts, gaming cities, etc. being built around the globe. Even City Center is outclassed by Dubai, Macau, etc. Vegas must stop its self denial in order to realize what it must do to compete. If it does wake up, then I think it will have a real chance to stay top tier. Otherwise, even though visitor numbers may hold up, it will not be anywhere near the global icon it is today. Customer service for all visitors, unique value propositions, history and nostaligia... you are all correct. But don't be in self denial about how real the challenge is... Vegas politicians are no where near the level of intensity they must exhibit to compete globally.
Too much "what happens in Vegas." Nothing happens here unless you are 22, feel like waiting hours in line to enter a crappy nightclub with bad, homgenized music and pay $200 for "bottle service." Even if you have thousands of dollars to blow, the customer service isn't there anymore. Your a number, not a guest. And now the strip looks dumpy because of the construction sites and dark stretche's. Bring back the old Vegas so that tourist's will tell their pal's back home about what a great time they had in Vegas. Ninty-nine cent shrimp cocktail's, not $200 vodka! Wise up, fire the corporate suit's and bring The Boy's back!
depoRTE's!
Oh how I remeber Treasure Bay in Biloxi and in Tunica Ms Originally from Memphis I would go to see those casinos quite often.When I moved to Vegas 9 mo. ago I had never been to Vegas before.I had always wanted to come to Vegas but never did do to time.I would hear of How great a place Vegas was from friends who had been here.
When I came across Hoover Dam and drove a little ways The lights of the city were beautiful and there stood the Strip.I had seen the light that beams from the Luxor in pictures and on TV.Comming from Memphis and having The Pyrimid Arena I wanted my first casino visit to be the Luxor.Do not get me wrong the Luxor Casino and Resort is nice but when I walked in there was no character,no uniqeness except the architechure of the building itself.Having a architechural background I was able to appreciate the design to a degree but if I had not had that there would have been nothing appealing to me.
I have gone to a web site Las Vegas then and Now and it shows the different casinos and resorts that were planned and scraped.Or ideas not completed on exsisting casinos.There are some really great ideas that I believe would do well here in Vegas and draw the tourist back to Vegas.
I believe that the Luxor,Excalibur should go back to there original themes and market the heck out of them.At the sametime they also need to really focus on customer service and employee relations and create a positive, joyous atmosphere.Make it fun and memorable to those who visit.Treat the guest like Kings and Queens and charge them a Jestures and Servants budget.The casinos in Vegas are charging way to much on rooms,food,drink and cutting into the gamming dollars which cuts into tips and hurts the employees.My favorite place right now in Vegas is Freemont Street.It has a uniqueness of its own and you are entertained at little expense and it frees me to go in and drop a little more dollars on gamming.Good job Downtown
I vacationed here every year and the reason we came was for the excitement and THEMES...i can't afford 2 go 2 Egypt, France or Italy...but i can come here and see all that...this town is based / built on "magic" and the hope that u can win big...now that i live here, it's almost embarrassing the way in which this city has changed - and not 4 the good...TI took down their cool sign and changed the pirate show...volcano was shut down 4 a year and now it's awful and uses so much less water, it's not even fun anymore...wynn has 2 resorts which u could see in any major town and city center is gawdy and ridiculous...vacations r 2 escape our lives and see thing we can't see anywhere else...if i wanted a museum vacation, i would stay home...vegas is NOT getting it right...return 2 the themes or suffer with lost revenue.
What is this bad customer service that people are complaining about? Compared to what? 50 years ago? Maybe, but then 50 years ago there weren't that many visitors in Vegas. If you want to old Vegas feel, isn't that what Downtown is for?
Customer service in Vegas is still better than most places in the US. And if you're not getting decent service, maybe it has to do something with you.
As for City Center look at who ownes it operates it.The corperate giant MGM/Mirage has actually done nothing more than build some more hotel rooms and condos Which there is plenty of here in this town.Out of the Top Ten largest Hotels in the world Las Vegas owns the market.Having at least 7 if not 8 in the top ten.
My gosh what is the occupancy rate at the Belagio,MGM,New York New York,Luxor ane Excalibur
right now.The Strip did not need more rooms it needs an attraction beyond anything in the world.
It needs a new difinition that sets it apart for the compition they have built around the world.I believe they could have scaled back some of the buildings that will sit 75% empty and put in an attraction that would draw guests from around the world and use that attraction to fill the half empty resorts they already have.I just dont see the reasoning other than no reasoning at all.Yes it has created jobs but if they had gone on an attraction rout the other properties would have required more employees due to the rise of occupancy of their rooms more activity in there gaming areas,resturants,bars,shows.What is City Center offering that brands it different.
Critias,
The attitudes of the casinos are horible.Its not anything but in how there employees are treated and it relays over into the guest.go to Disneyland for example there employees are treated as a valued asset and you see and feel that when you visit there go to a resturant and you recieve bad service that is because the managment does not treat or respect their employees and it relays into your service.Go to a Strip casino and sit at a slot machine and see how long a takes for you to get a waitress or sit at a table and see how long it takes you to order a drink and how long the turn around time is.Ask the employees Truely how does the resort treat you take a survey and you will see that customer service and employee relations have gone down here in Vegas.Heck I just moved here and I can tell that Vegas is not Vegas anymore.Great city yes but this great city is getting destroyed by Wall Street just as the Housing industry was destroyed by Wall Street
I am so sorry to hear about the sterilization of Vegas! I haven't been able to get to Vegas since 1971; real dinosaur time -- but I still hope to. After reading this, however, I think I might as well save the money & just go to AC which is closer. What these developers are forgetting is so obvious, LEGAL GAMBLING IS AVAILABLE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY! There are also entertainment hubs like Branson, MO closer to people's homes.
Yet, Vegas had a special appeal for being the most magical & entertaining of all! Like a disney land for adults, a wonderful Land of Oz for sinners and innocents who just wanted to be a bit naughty. After Vegas started to explode with themes & fun in 1990's my friends would come back just awed by the city, and how much fun they had! What a site it must have been, and now it's all steel & glass with Gaming?
Come on LosVegas, u can do better than this! Be proud of your imagination. Stop this plunder of fun and color. I hope somebody reads this & decides to open up a pleasure palace to surpass all others. A healthy trend will be started! What is going on now, with this dull depressing normalization will hurt your city. Why spend money on aggravating air travel (and it is getting worse) to go to someplace so boring?
This article explains why the Hilton got rid of "The Star Trek Experience," which came as a bit of a shock to me.
how about a vegas theme casino.
they could have "foreclosure" signs in the windows, a nightly murder / suicide re-enactment, they could have a ramen noodle buffet, crooked politician museum, etc.
rodtig,
Good points and I'm sure that is the case about how employees are treated, but I suspect there's also a high turn-over rate of employees everywhere in Vegas- for all sorts of reasons, which makes good and consistent service difficult. It can't be easy managing all those cocktail waitresses while answering to some Wall Street type clowns. But Americans just aren't a service oriented crowd- they all want to be serviced but don't want to offer service. Plus with the sense of entitlement of kids these days, I predict that not long in the future almost all of your service peope will be foreign- for better or worse.
I agree that Vegas needs attractions aside from expensive luxury. CityCenter could have been that attraction, but it doesn't look like it will be it. At least from the outside. I hope that inside all these building things will be pretty good. I actually prefer MGM properties over the competition, so I'm optimistic that somehow CityCenter will turn out to be a decent experience.
Oh how I miss the Hilton Flamingo.Old MGM,Dunes,Stardust,Silver Sliper, Old Aladin,Frontier,even the Westward Ho, just to go back 20 years ago. And sorry yes service was much better then, you saw a smile on 99% of the employes.
I have been coming from Canada to Vegas for the past 8 years...loved the theme hotels however my wife and I have become regulars at theHotel. She is recovering from cancer and I had planned a trip to any new suite in Vegas - she looked at the CityCenter offerings and felt the facades were nice however the Oriental theme of Vdara was about 8 years late...that sound you hear is MGM splashing in the tub as they are going to take a bath on CityCenter
Vegas doesn't know what it wants to be. And it doesn't have to be just one thing. It can keep the themed resorts for those that come for that, and have City Center for people that want to feel like they're staying in their own downtown area. I come for the gambling, and so that means downtown and off-strip, because the odds on the strip stink. But when we first came, it was to see the themed casinos. Minnesota has plenty of casinos now, with odds in-line with the strip. But the comps are better than the strip, even if the odds are just as bad. Why spend $500 or so for a couple of plane tickets to Vegas, then have the same gambling experience as here? Waste of money. So it's either come for things only Vegas offers (better odds off-strip, or themed resorts) or stay here.
Apparently Cirque du Soleil has started the new tradition of $100+ shows. The last shows I saw were "Bite" and "Scarlett Princess of Magic" when it was at Planet Hollywood. Those are $50 shows and I was able to get a half price ticket for Scarlett. These cheaper shows are small productions with a team of 5 or 6 dancers. Despite the small casts, I really enjoyed both shows.
now that those 30 year old's are tapped out of their credit cards, how's that going vegas. it's the older gambler that played all day on their stay that got forgotten. customer service in vegas is way better than ac. won't go there, only time people are friendly is when it's tip time.
For me, the cable reality show "Rehab" shows precisely what's wrong with the corporate attitude in Las Vegas these days..rope 'em, rob 'em, head 'em up and move 'em out. Add the all day air trip and I think I'll pass.
After reading all the responses, I wonder why the local strip properties dont access their customers and ask them what they want. Players club cards can only show gambling trends. Asking two simple questions to every guest..what did you like, what did you not like would go miles. As long as they were runing 90 percent occupancy they didnt care. Has anyone ever had a strip poperty ask you what you like?
Themed environments addressing adults are "apropos" the current LV visitor. Eliminating the cheesy which speaks to the kids or indiscriminate adult merely focuses the attraction in favor of the age and purchasing power which LV needs to succeed.
Vegas needs to be the "adult disneyland", with the emphasis on adult. Pirate ships and Egyptian tombs are fun for adults, but really, leave the kids at home, or create really cool summer/vacation camps for them while mom and dad do what adults like to do without kids hanging out on the edges of casinos.
And for crying out loud, expand the game offerings by a factor of 10. How can you compete with other casinos which offer the exact same games and machines? Check out playBJX.com for a new way to build revenue.
After crawling myself through these many comments, I believe that there's ONE BIG CHANCE FOR SOME RESORTS: DOWNTOWN AND BOULDER HIGHWAY (HENDERSON) , plus some other casinos in North Las Vegas. Gold Coast that never actualyl wanted to be a real "theme resort" but still has some sort of theme (gold coast). These downtown hotels could take a shot at the customers by offering really decent room rates and by remodeling a bit on the gaming floor. Vegas Club stinks and needs new carpets and brighter lights. The upperdeck restaurant was great but now is closed. The steak house turned into coffee shop but still doesn't attract the customers. Is it closed yet? Anyway, The El Cortez knows how to do it, and they did it JUST RIGHT. Great place, good food, nice rooms , 3 or 4 different price levels for everyone's need, and great gambling. The tourists should appreciate this a bit by tipping the dealers better. A 1 dollar tip at the El Cortez is so little compared to a 3 dollar tip at the Mirage, but it means so much more to the downtown casino industry.
Also, let's not forget, if you deposit 2000 dollars at the cage and play around a bit at these casinos, it won't take much until your room is comped. If you do the same a the Mirage or Venetian, they look at you like..."Why do you need to deposit pocket change (2000)? Just keep it in your pockets till its our money, dude."
Downtown casinos and the litle ones on the Boulder Highway will go through this recession at ease. The high-debt-loaded giants like MGM and Harrah's will have to re-evaluate their strategies. Perhaps they will sell the properties to the open market again?
From Switzerland
mgm HAS to know citycenter is going to flop. there is no doubt in my mind that all the "job fairs" they did was to get as many press releases ( free advertising ) in the papers as possible to reduce the marketing cost for that stillborn project.
unemployment nationwide went up AGAIN last week.
until that trend changes...and changes GREATLY...vegas is never going to recover.
it's time for Vegas to shrink. Sounds crazy for the people who just got there and have no job, but moving away is probably the right plan right now. Conditions in Vegas for tourists are not as good, despite the low room rates. Some hotels believe that it's fun to add crazy "resort fees" on top of all fees and taxes, making the room not as inexpensive as it seems at first glance. And since there are so many casinos world wide, the dry heat in the desert is not that healthy for the body, either. I noticed that after about 2 weeks my entire body starts to itch. I heard that it's from the water quality. I used to think it's from the bed bugs or the sun, but somebody told me that the chlorid inside of the water being filteres 20x before returning back into the cycle is affecting the skin pretty much. This and many other factors keep people from visiting Vegas. Could also be that some tourists are finally sick of all these Mexicans handing out fliers of 75 dollar entertainers, which, after calling up and dating, turn into 300 dollar rendez-vous!!!
The city needs to re-evaluate and go back to the roots again. This might be the way to go.
Greetings
No matter how hard you try, you still can't hide the fact Luxor is a PYRAMID! Until I can see the finished product, I will hold judgement on City Center. I am disappointed with some of MGM Mirage's recent remodeling efforts, particularly at the Mirage and TI, where a lot of the details that made the resorts unique (e.g., the Tiki-themed canopies in the casino at the Mirage, the pirate props at TI, etc.) were ripped out in favor of a homogeneous "upscale luxury" theme that varies little from one property to the next.
It would be fun to see Steve Wynn take another crack at the mid-market and create a property like Treasure Island, but without the compromises he made with the original effort. Fill it with good gaming (no 6:5 BJ, 10x craps, some full pay VP), and the crowds will be back.
I saw an interesting documentary last night on tv. It showed in detail who was responsible for the disastrous 2007 mortgage bubble bursting and following, the stock market crash , and the beginning depression and unemployment rates exceeding 10 per cent.
The problem is not only that there are not enough tourists coming to Las Vegas, but also that all the home owners can't no longer get home equity loans for their homes because home values are decreasing, instead. This is a global effect as most international banks tried to participate in the boom. The City Boys from London became so greedy and reckless that they really didn't care anymore. And all the other investment bankers didn't care, either.
What we have now is a clear over-offer of casinos, homes, etc. These super-bankers do no longer fly into Vegas for a fun weekend, and many locals don't have the money for gambling. So, no matter how cool the new casinos will look like, it doesn't make a difference. There are too many casinos around for not enough gamblers. Period. Unemployed people have problems make ends meet and will only return gambling when they get back into the business world and same applies to all other people hit by this downturn.
This all is no news for the reader, of course. It's a reminder. The casinos has "green lights" to build whatever they wanted, financed by the banks that had more money to lend than you could imagine. The market was over-heated and some investment bankers saw it coming, yet, still kept going on, just to get their BONUS. The Bonus was the main objective to them, regardless of all consequences to come after. But, somebody would have to pay for all that. The society and the next generations will have to pay for it.
Vegas will survive, probably, not it has to scale down a bit. Therefore I have some concern that it can take another major project such as citycenter to fit the demand.
The casinos are not running at full capacity, and not generating enough cash to pay back their debts. Another big casino is like another airline trying to fly passengers around when the other airlines are not booked out yet.
I think that the old style casinos in Downtown and the Boulder Strip and in North Las Vegas can't be hit as badly than the MGM and Harrah's resorts. Therefore, people will return to the basics and appreciate Vegas how it once used to be. And me too, I will book my next rooms somewhere in Downtown or Off-Strip. These Strip Casinos turned to big and too greedy. It's no longer fun going there. And it's not impressive, either. Rather intimidating I think.
From Switzerland
I love the comments here... Not what I thought I would have heard thou - I am all for the change IF the casinos can execute it well... If they start to look the same = problem... BUT we all have different opinions of 'different'. Therefore everyone will never be happy... My opinion is that this is just another trend in the ever evolving history of Vegas... Maybe short lived? I dont mind either way - BUT the casinos are obviously reacting to some indicator by striping their properties of their 'themes' or the majority of the themes anyway... I mean Circus Circus will always be a circus tent and Luxor will always be a pyramid - so they can only do so much to strip the themes away... My only hope is that they do it well and make each property and its offerings unique and everyone should be happy (again everyones definitions will be different)
I am from Europe and had a stopover in L.V. at all of my US trips so far.
Let's be honest: For me, it's easier, cheaper and quicker to visit "the real thing". Egypt, Rome, Paris, Monte Carlo, Venice... most of these theme inspirations are less than two hours on a plane and a hundred bucks away. So why did I go on a "trip during a trip" to Vegas though I stayed elsewhere?
It's about the condensed ambience and the abundant glamour, though it is admittedly terribly overcooked. I stayed at the Luxor because of the awesome architecture, walkways high up in the pyramid, special room decorations and things like that. Gambling has been just a side issue, not the main event to me, and I could get a decent hotel "room with a view" over here as well if I felt like it.
I think the problem is the underlying pre-regression strategy of megalomaniac inflexible managers. Maybe they thought, hey, let's try to appear premium so we can demand premium prices for our mediocre assets. We'll just try to low-cost-pimp them so that there's a change. Those few commoners who have to turn every dime, well, waste'em, they can stay off the strip or at downtown.
You know what, Harrah's, MGM? I'll comply. You are about to kill the unique Vegas glamour, so in the future I might stay off your turf and spend my money elsewhere.
I remember my first visit to Vegas the themed hotels bright lights you got a real buzz from the place. During this visit we went in every casino and spent money in them. Over the years we have made many visits back. but on our last Two we feel the buzz excitement is disappearing.
we walk around the palazzo the encore they look nice, the shops all top end but empty, the buffet and restaurants over priced and not many people in them, we didn't spend any money there. The themed hotels were busy, shops full queues for the buffet. Vegas is changing and not all of it for the better its going to much top end of the market And forgetting about the lower and middle class people. I loved the place but now iam staying nearer to home in the uk
It's amazing, but the East Side Cannery, the Jerry's Nugget and the Cannery have all one thing in common.....anybody got an idea?
Let me help: They all have a section at which people can play on vintage videopoker machines, FULL-PAY-JACKS-OR-BETTER, 4-6-9, WITH QUARTER hard money insertion. It's amazing, but these machines are always (almost always) packed. People play with coins, and you can hear the plingeling all the time. People are happy. Everybody's happy. These machines have no credit meter and you can't double-down. It's just old style videopoker. Oh, I forgot, the El Cortez also has a few machines with coin play only.
It's something the people always enjoyed doing, but only very few casinos accept the little extra work (coin selling, hopper-refills, etc), but they should see that the people like it and it would be a little something on the way back to the basics. We want Vegas as it used to be. Back to old style Las Vegas, no fancy schnick-schnack.
From Switzerland
Does anyone remember the Klondike hotel and casino? Now thats where the fun was!
Sure t4trble, I remember both Klondikes. They were great. I also remember the Sands, Stardust, Frontier, Binion's Horseshoe, Desert Inn, Tropicana, Sahara (pre-Nascar BS) and Holiday Boardwalk. That was Las Vegas! What we have today is an example of corporate greed, Wall St. crime, and just a plain old boring hotel city that does not even come close to the excitement I used to feel there.. shame..
and the Continental , with the All-American style Coca Cola coffee shop with these great specials. I had fun going there for breakfast.
And the Showboat before they got that big bowling lane. Station Casinos made a killing on that project that later on was called the CastAways before they couldn't compete against the powerful Station property on Boulder any longer.
Good days, all gone, corporate greed and super size Vegas turned this city into a madhouse.
Dear Sun Editors,
I think that the commentary on all of your articles should be distributed to all of the gaming bosses in Vegas so they WAKE UP! and give us back the Vegas we all knew and loved. These postings are valuable data or what we used to refer to as focus groups back in my advertising days. Vegas is at a cross road these days, an decisions made right now will determine the success of failure of recovery here.
The thing is....I believe that only the top casinos with top offers will get the business right now. Competition is on the hunt and checking every competitor's move. The M resort had a terrific success in the first 3 months of operation. They had a cool deal for signing-up and everybody got a free breakfast buffet. When I finally made it to Vegas and got to visit the M, there was no more such a promotion. Actually, I think I didn't get anything special for signing up. So I filled my stomach with the free fountain drinks available every 100 ft within the casino :)
I don't know if they still have these free beverage stations in the casino, but they're a cool thing and definetely don't cost much. What costs much more is the downgrade of certain videopoker machines. Not only does the casino lose certain customers, it also earns the reputation of not being honest with the locals. At the beginning, the M advertized having all these cool machines, best place to gamble, good food, decent prices etc, but then, after just a few months in business, they start cutting down!!!
The mouth-to-mouth negative advertizing will have an enormous impact, no doubt about it. Also, the room rate is being supercharged with additional "resort fee schnick schnack", turning the rate into a quite expensive overnight stay. I don't see the point. But I know that the M is one of the greatest casinos in town, but due to economical conditions had to cut down and lost my personal value. And probably even other people's interest.
I am deeply saddened that Vegas casinos have removed all traces of individuality & uniqueness from their properties. What is a pyramid-shaped casino without an Egyptian motif? Why build every single casino in the exact same cookie-cutter boring style that you cannot decipher one from another unless you see a name inside?
The whole DRAW of Vegas was for people to visit a fantas world of exotic places from all over the globe, all central in one place. Vegas USED to be a city with creative ideas, and while some may have been tacky, at least they had a style & purpose which was strictly to entertain us. Most everyday people cannot afford to take trips to Paris, Egypt, Venice or escape to a fantasy world of pirates, castles or tropical splendour, yet they once could when they came to Las Vegas.
When Treasure Island decided to destroy their pirate-theme & removed The Strip's most amazing jolly roger marquee from the property, it was the beginning of the end for all that was cool & unique about Vegas. It seriously broke my heart to see my most favorite property being dismantled to resemble an uninspired hotel similar to every other dull hotel in big cities across the USA. And the timing couldn't have been more ill-advised, as Treasure Island could have made billions cashing in on the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies - brilliant financial move there casino execs! Who was the Einstein who didn't coincide that decision with the release of the movies? I am just glad they lost out on all that revenue for ruining my favorite casino.
Now Vegas has become a playground for the millionaires who can afford high-end mega-suites & designer boutiques where a simple tshirt price is $75. Where's the fun for us middle class people who used to love the bargains we found in Vegas? Where are the affordable buffets & shows whose price tags don't break our bank accounts?
Even gaming has lost its excitement & appeal. When you replace slot machines with ATM-style devices that simply print out receipts with your winnings rather than producing that thill of the never-ending clang of quarters into a tray below, where is the FUN in that? It's become so incredibly mundane that there's no joy in even playing slots anymore. Did the casino execs ever take THAT into consideration when they wonder why gambling revenues are down? Give us back the enticement about wanting to gamble instead of the feel of standing at our bank's ATM machine. Once again, more "reality" when we come to Vegas for fantasy.
I visit Vegas at least once a year & become more disillusioned everytime I see the innovations & less of the old Vegas that I first fell in love with in the early 1990's. Now, more than ever, people NEED an escape from reality. Vegas used to be the only place in America that provided a fantasy-land of affordable properties & diversions for everyone to enjoy. Now it's just another city of skyscrapers for the wealthy. How horribly sad & heartbreaking.
Vegaspirate22 - AMEN BROTHER!!!
I've visited 17-18 times in the last 10 yrs. and it's definitely interesting to see how various properties change/evolve over the years. I would agree that most of the changes/renovating/freshening has seriously diluted many of the properties.It's obvious that MGM/Mirage particularly has had a simple focus, squeeze to 20 somethings (and 30 somethings trying to act like they are 23) for all they are worth. This is the club crowd that will spend big on the rooms, the food,and of course the drink! We've all seen this crowd, they stand in line, get in the way, behave poorly, etc... A few years ago it was reported that non-gaming revenue had surpassed gaming revenue, how is it possible? Simple, $250 for a bottle of vodka in room with bad lighting and uncomfortable couches, what a concept! It's unfortunate that virtually every property(with a few exceptions, like "M") is chasing this crowd/business.
Let's hope that one of the results of this economy is better total gaming value. The free rooms are great but I should'nt have to run all over town trying to find gaming tables that are'nt "tricked-up". Like everyone else if I want to be ripped off, I'll stay local and pay the indians.
Everybody wants luxury, nobody wants to pay for it. All these crowds strolling through the Bellagio at nights for instance, staring at the phantastic garden, all these flowers that need to be nursed early in the morning. The floors that are polished till they're shining while security are watching the cleaning crew making sure that no drunk tourist may slip out on the floor and then suing the casino. This all costs a lot of money, but need to be won somewhat.
Locals casinos do not need such sophisticated stuff. There are a lot of nice casinos , such as the red rock, the "M", the Santa Fe, Sunset Station, The South Point, but they focus on the real stuff.
What good is when these tourists come into these Strip casinos like a herd of sheep....taking pictures....meeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh, mehhhhhhhh, and then proceeding forward, extiting on Flamingo, entering the Caesars Palace complex for more photo shooting. Very impressive, yes, probably the biggest accumulation of great casino resorts at such a tight place, but sorry,...a herd of sheep making a lot of mehhhh meeehhhh is not feeding the cash register of the casinos. But that's what's needed to offer good and inexpensive buffets and fair room rates in return.
Vegas, think about before creating a super size CityCenter Titanic collapse.
From Switzerland
Wow! There's a lot of correct statements made here by people I assume who do not work in the casino industry. I have been a cocktail server at one of the theme hotel casino's since the mid 1990's and have watched Vegas fall victim to the corporate greed and gross incompetence that has forever ruined our livelyhoods. The BOYS may have killed a few people but they knew how to run Vegas. And everybody who worked here in the 1970's and 80's made great money. The Mob got theirs and still gave away the house! People didn't leave feeling ripped off, they got to see a legend perform in a lounge for free and get a prime rib dinner for $9! Then those idiot college twits came in never serving a drink or dealing a card in their lives telling us how it was going to be. Their bottom line comes from giving you less and charging you more. My casino fired hundreds of essential employee's last year and figured out a way to get one employee to do the job of three and remind us that we are lucky to have a job at all. Gone are the days of employee appreciation, as well as the level of customer service that I used to give. My casino had four service bars and 20 waitresses on shift, now we have two service bars and 10 waitresses. They eliminated positions and justified closing those bars while making the server cover almost three times the distance and the customer wait even longer. He's irritated and is less likely to tip. So if it takes longer and she looks miserable give her a break. Not to mention complain to us about that weak over priced martini. Our hands are tied, and we are embarrassed. We were told recently to not give out napkins unless it was necessary so that the company could save money. Also corporate told us profits were down so we couldn't have our employee picnic/talent show/holiday party. But they reported to the share holders that we were up and gave themselves a bonus! WTF?
hello writewhatuknow
Your comments pretty much reflect the situation as it presents right now. It sounds sad what happened to Vegas and the reasons the situation has gotten worse and worse on the Strip I decided to spend my time off-Strip. To some people, this may sound crazy, but I even prefer the Jerry's Nugget casino from Caesars Palace? How is that? Let me tell you: You can park your car right in front and walk in. No 15 minutes hassle before you are through the shopping mall and all the tourists toddling around like a herd of sheep..mehhhhhhhhhhhhhh mehhhhhhhhh, not even playing. 2nd, you have security, although some people believe it's a dangerous neighborhood. I had never any problems there. And the presence of the security guards in the parking lots shows that you don't have to be worried.
3rd, they do have 99 per cent nickel videopoker. And that's something you definetely can't find on the Strip. 4, the beverage hostess passes by so often when you tip 1 dollar per beverage that you will not walk out thirty. On the STrip, you must be happy if you're playing in a section that hass a cocktail waitress passing by once an hour.
And there are many more reasons why playing on the Strip has become a de-generated matter. Clearly the probably best places for gambling right right , that's the locals places and the little joints, such as El Cortez, The East Side Cannery and such. The bigger the casinos got, the worse the customer service. OK, it has to be diversified. For the real big players, I am referreing to the high limit players in the special sections, then the Strip is a great place to be. These players are still getting all kinds of comps and special treatment. But for Joe-Sixpack, the strip has lost its value completely. To all the future visitors planning to go to the Strip, they might perhaps find a last escape at places such as the Riviera or the Sahara, just to let the good old times shine. But it's not the same anymore. Everybody knows. And the big corporations have no alternatives to get out of the situation they have maneouvred themselves into it. They built these mega casinos on debt, and now they must keep the juice running as otherwise Chapt 11 keeps calling.
I have been visiting Vegas for so many years, but I noticed the change in the late 90s. Right now, Vegas is in a big mess. With the credit bubble to burst soon, we might entering phase two of this financial crisis. Good luck to them who still believe that we're getting out of this recession so soon. Bank of America and Citigroup just told us otherwise. The party's just begun.
First off, I travel almost every week for business, and am fortunate enough to squeeze in many vacations per year (usually around 12 trips to vegas per year).... not nearly as frequent anymore however due to the dull changes Vegas has undergone.
I used to travel to Vegas with family, alone for business, and with colleagues for business. In all of these situations the Vegas of 5-10 years ago always would surpass my greatest expectations and that of my family and the large majority of my colleagues.
The Vegas of that time was simply mind boggling fun. If offered something for everyone: Great themed and fun resorts for families or simply those that enjoyed that (I am in this category), the gambling / drinking / partying debauchery was still there for those looking for that (of course I am included here as well), fabulous dining, shopping, the list goes on and on.
The changes that have taken place are without a better word: disgusting. Las Vegas has become a much duller place in every sense of the word. I certainly will not be taking my discretionary income to Vegas nearly as often since if I wanted to see standard everyday blah blah type city building structures I could drive 15 minutes to my own city's business district.
The casino atmosphere's are horrificly boring and all the same anymore except for slight variation in the simplistic modern type so-called designs of twisted shapes and unimaginative lighting.
Walking into a casino anymore is like walking into a .......... well, I'm not even sure what it's like but it is very boring and dull. Even the casino employees seem bored out of their minds. In the Themed Vegas of even 5 to 10 years ago, the atmosphere was exremely fun and exciting.... for both families and wild party loving money spending business guys like myself and most associates I travel with.
Anyway, this has been a long post and I'm sure you know where I am going with this. This new Vegas gets two huge THUMBS DOWN for me in every way imaginable. Not even a fraction of the fun/excitement of the themed years Vegas offered. The new billion dollar City Center project also is an extreme bore. Sure it is a nice building, but nothing that you wouldn't see in NY, Seattle, Atlanta, or most other large city business districts. Borrrrrrrring. That's why people used to come to Vegas in droves... to escape the bore of everyday life for something different and exciting. I am very upset and bummed out with the Las Vegas changes and really look forward to the day Las Vegas comes alive again with the themes, fun, etc.... and finally figures out a way to get a hold on the horrific crime rate that has skyrocketed upwards since the theme hotels have been pushed aside and this stupid brainless dirty adult theme has taken over.
I loved the themes. I walked last week through City Centre and only liked the art galleries - and the slots all along the strip were tight. I went to see Laughlin, rode a river boat, won a bit at the slots, saw Charo and the Rat Pack for not a lot of money. Maybe Laughlin will take over??? There are lounges on the other side of the river, in Bullhead, where live musicians play for free and the wine pours are generous. The slots are looser and the rooms are cheap in Laughlin. When you are not gambling you can rent off road vehicles and explore old mines in the desert, you can go kayaking on the river. Vegas is getting too uppity. hmmm...