What's Wrong With Las Vegas? NYTimes

[edhopper]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/travel/las-vegas-tourism.html?nl=Travel+Dispatch

A microcosm of a land that is owned by a few, caters to the rich, and has become unaffordable to many.

[Aviation Pro]

1. Short answer

It sucks.

[Phoenix61]

27. I went there for a week and was really disappointed.

“Could it be a faded rose from days gone by” is my best description. Cirque O and the side trips were great but the rest definitely sucked.

[BannonsLiver]

28. A week is way too long for Vegas even if someone enjoys it.

3-4 days max.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Funny You Say That

15 or 20 years ago, I was in SoCal for work. I had a weekend to kill.
So I drove to Vegas to see the Star Trek: Next Generation Experience at the MGM Grand.
I went through it twice (including the thrill ride) and was ready to leave.
If I hadn't stopped at The Luxor to eat & stumbled onto a Steely Dan tribute band, I would have been there for all of an hour & a half! With the accidental band find, I was there 140 minutes.
My tolerance for the place must be even lower than your's.

[BannonsLiver]

44. I've only been once, last March

And it took a close friend moving there to ever visit. But I liked it for the most part. I like the show stuff. I’m not into gambling or fake Italy, though I did lol at seeing the gondola set up at the Venetian. They have passengers wear seatbelts! It’s hilarious. And there are some excellent restaurants. That’s my assessment of Vegas. Do I prefer it over London or the Loire Valley? Not even close but it’s not a bad place to spend a weekend. Unless it’s a summer weekend.

[NCDem47]

38. Fees and price gouging

MGM and Caesars own the strip basically. Waaaaaaaaay too corporate now with bean counters.

[PlanetBev]

2. That was my California family's cheap vacation spot in the late 1950's and early 1960's

The food was great, affordable and you could park for free anywhere. You always dressed for dinner in those days. I used to get a Shirley Temple drink and a Cinderella salad off the kiddie menu.

Haven’t been there in 25 years and sure as hell don’t miss it.

[edhopper]

5. It was like that

Until about 15-20 years ago.

[miyazaki]

15. True. The crash of 2008 was an all around mortal blow. nt

[travelingthrulife]

3. I always feel like I am in a doomed city when I am there. Too much electricity used

Too much water wasted for a desert.

The only reason people went there was because it was cheap.

[edhopper]

6. And now

It ain't that.

[dalton99a]

4. $50 'resort fee' on top of exorbitant room rates and taxes and parking, $29 buffet is now $90, etc. etc.

Rampant gouging and greed

[Goonch]

7. ;-{)

[edhopper]

8. Recently there visiting in laws

Outside the Casinos still affordable.
But on the Strip prices higher than New York

[DenaliDemocrat]

9. I used to LOVE Vegas

The whimsical casinos. The cheap buffets. Free shows. Excellent service. I used to play $5 blackjack pit of a two card deck at the Stardust then enjoy their buffet. I had room service coffee and rolls every morning. Comps were cheap and easy.

Frankly - it now sucks. No coffee machines in the room - they want you to go to Starbucks. A burger is $20. A slice of pizza is $12. All the roulette wheels now have 000. Blackjack pays 6 for five instead of 3 for 2. No more free entertainment like the volcano at the mirage. The themed casinos are gone and stupid crap like the Fountain Bleu are the new normal.

It’s a corporate mess. They forgot to cater to the working class and provide an escape and fantasy, amd now try to bleed every last dime out of you.

[edhopper]

12. Exactly

^^^

[DenaliDemocrat]

16. Here's my last experience.

I had not been since COVID because we were taking care of aging parents. They passed months apart and my sister and I decided to spend the holidays in Vegas as a decompression.

We both played the slots a lot. We both lost a fairly good sized bank roll. Neither of us ever hit a payout above $100. Neither of us saw anyone get a hand pay in six days of gambling.

This is weird.

[edhopper]

22. Weird

or designed?

[dalton99a]

13. +1. The changes are jarring and the price increases are obscene

[Old Crank]

34. Sounds like Disneyland.

[W_HAMILTON]

10. Many Americans have been priced out and international vacationers are often chosing to visit elsewhere -- thanks, Trump!

[RandomNumbers]

11. Well ... aren't gambling casinos the main "industry"? There's the problem

right there.

I get that there is SO much more there than gambling. But things like conference centers and so forth are built around the casinos to draw people in ... to then be exploited by the "games".

I've only been to LV a couple times, for professional conferences. It pisses me off that these conferences only seem to be held at gambling venues these days. I don't go to these conferences any more, thank god.

(no I did not read the article, I presume it isn't a gift link)

If there is one "industry" in the US that outranks all others for sheer immorality, gambling is it. I don't favor prohibition because we've seen how that works (it doesn't), but I'm sure there could be much more useful regulation of the worst of it.

----
Okay moral lecture about the obvious aside, it could also be that there are far too many people in that geographic area than the ecosystem can possibly support.

Bottom line it is a place to stay far away from, for me.

[Jerry2144]

14. Billionaires moved in and changed policies

It used to be that the gambling wins by the house covered the costs of the other departments at the hotel/casinos. But then Wynn, Adelson, and the other greedy billionaires decided that every department must make profits. So resort fees, parking fees, expensive food, and expensive shows all moved in. We live in Vegas and usually avoid the strip. We'll go about once per month when we can get free tickets to the shows through a couple locals only options. Heck, Allegiant Stadium is hideously expensive if you want to catch a football game or other event. And it has no parking so you have to pay 50-100 to park in business lots near it.

[Prairie_Seagull]

17. Still want to see 'the sphere'

It grand opening act was U2. I got in the que over the telephone 2 hrs early to buy the most expensive tickets I have ever not bought. I have bought a few in my day. I was even willing to pay some grease. For me and my older smart phone it was a clusterfuck. Never got tickets, was never told sorry you loose. Just cut off.

I hear it was a good show.

Fuckers.

[JI7]

18. People see how much they will have to spend

and think if they are going to have to spend that much they would rather use the money to go somewhere else.

[Celerity]

19. Archive link, no paywall

https://archive.ph/ET5e5

[edhopper]

23. Thanks

[Celerity]

25. here is the archive site's link for future use

https://archive.ph/

[bluesbassman]

20. After leaving the Army in '79 I took a year off to ski bum in South Lake Tahoe.

I got a swing shift job at a casino working in the slot department. At that time all slot machines were mechanical, whimsically referred to as “one armed bandits. The denominations at that time were nickels, dimes, quarters, fifty cent pieces, and silver dollars. As an employee in that department I witnessed firsthand that of all the machines available for play the nickel machines were far and away the most popular. For $10 a person could play for a couple hours, all they while enjoying complimentary cocktails and when done playing could go upstairs to the buffet and eat a great meal for $5. So for $15 a person could gamble for a couple hours and enjoy a nice meal. You might think that this arrangement was a loss leader for the casinos, but it was well known among us in the industry that the nickel machines were so profitable that action on them actually covered the entire expenses of the casino and every other slot and all the table game proceeds were pure profit.

One armed bandits are long gone now, and so are the cheap buffets. I’m no longer in the industry so I really don’t know where the most profits are generated, but having been to Vegas a few times in the past few years for concerts and shows, and not to gamble, my wallet says those overhead costs revenues are coming from food, lodging, and fees now to keep the gamble revenue pure profit.

[Initech]

21. And now nobody wants to come because of the temper tantrum throwing toddler in the White House.

[Bristlecone]

24. Probably my least favorite city in the country.

It’s gross on every level.

[flvegan]

26. Seems everyone can gamble from their phone now.

Why go to Vegas?

[edhopper]

30. So you can overpay

For everything else.

[Deep State Witch]

29. I was There for STLV

Star Trek: Las Vegas. While we enjoyed ourselves at the con, and the couple of things that we did outside of the hotel environment (Meow Wolf, Millennium Fandom bar), we pretty much stayed inside the hotel most nights. Let's see - resort fees, overpriced food, NO buffet anymore, and half-dead shopping areas. Oh, and under-staffed because of all of the undocumented people that work in the back of the house are too scared of ICE raids to work. Not to mention people not wanting to come here from outside of the US, the weather being extremely hot, and the availability of on-line gambling.

Vegas is due for a contraction. What COVID and on-line gambling didn't kill, the Trump Tariffs will.

[markodochartaigh]

32. I was there for STLV this year, and I've been

a few times in the past. I loved the convention, especially the panel with Mary Trump. I stay in the hotel except for getting takeout. There is some pretty good Indian and Chinese food, and I love Chef José's China Poblano restaurant. I also like the buses, it's cheap and easy to get around.

[Deep State Witch]

39. I was Tendi/Elphaba on Friday

I was the person in the scooter with the "USS Cerritos" sign on the basket. I also did my mashup of Tendi and Elphaba from "Wicked" on Friday. Got our picture taken with Noel Wells and Eugene Cordero in it.

[markodochartaigh]

40. That's awesome! One of my favorite parts of the convention is all of the cosplayers.

It's so great to be able to get your picture taken with the stars. I'm sure that a lot of thought and time go into a costume. You picked great characters. I wish that Lower Decks had had a longer run. It's good that they at least had some warning and didn't have to end on a cliff hanger. Or just as bad, have a really strange ending like Enterprise had.

[Bluestocking]

33. You don't need to go Atlantic City or Vegas if you want to gamble

Every State now has multiple Indian casino’s. Atlantic City died years ago and Vegas is on its way out.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

35. Prices too high, plus Trump's policies

The high prices keep locals and U.S. tourists away; Trump's policies and attitudes keep Canadians and other foreign tourists away.

[greatauntoftriplets]

36. I've never had the slightest interest in going there.

[Old Crank]

37. I was stationed at Nellis

Just outside of Las Vegas in the early 70s. It was pretty fun. Pretty corporate ownership and they were working hard at keeping the mob at bay.
Moved back in the early 80s until 92. The place had changed as corporations were taking over properties. Still had cheap buffets downtown. Small casinos were opening up away from the strip to cater to locals.
After we left we visited friends on occasion. Massive growth everywhere. It doesn't appeal to me much any more. When we visit friends we avoid the strip.
Go to Red Rocks, valley of Fire state park, Mt. Charleston.

[GenThePerservering]

42. Valley of Fire is amazing. NT

[GenThePerservering]

41. I worked in a large city hospital for a long time

back in the one-armed bandit days when busloads of seniors would go and gamble. We'd always get a bunch of them coming in a few weeks later with shoulder bursitis.

I've played the slots on Brighton Pier in England - they had the bandits and they had the digital machines. I have NO idea why anyone would bother with the digital machines. The only fun in throwing your money into those things is yanking the handle to make the little icons whirl.

When I was a kid Vegas was a cowtown with a fancy main street - we lived in Boulder City and would go up there to do some shopping. Mom always brought a bag of nickles with her to play the slots at the grocery store (no gambling in BC).

[LS0999]

43. The Turd managed to bankrupt three casinos

Now he's bankrupting all of Las Vegas. They priced out much of the domestic market and the international tourists that they were relying on don't want to visit anymore.