I remember when I first noticed it. About 10 years ago my friend Minnie (who has lived in Las Vegas for 40 years) had a meeting at Mandalay Bay. She was running late, and pulled into valet. The valet said, “Are you staying in the hotel?”
She said, “No, just here for a meeting.”
“I’m sorry but the valet is full, and we can only take hotel guests.”
Minnie said, “I understand” and tried to hand him a $20. “This is for you. I’m late for a meeting.”
The valet said, “I’m sorry, I can’t park it if you’re not staying here.”
Minnie’s reaction was, “Am I still in Las Vegas?”
Vegas was the town where a $20 handshake got you an upgrade to the presidential suite, or front row to see Frank Sinatra. Eating at a casino was cheaper than buying food and cooking at home. I started to look around and saw that now the buffet wasn’t $4.95, it was $49.95. And it all just kept coming:
Resort Fees
Late check out fee
Early check in fee
Pay for the coffee pods in your room
This year – pay for parking
And finally – pay for drinks while you are gambling at the bar.
Benny Binion is rolling in his grave. (Bennie was the first guy to start giving away free drinks to his players.) It has gotten so bad that this was an article recently discretionary comps help casino build loyalty. Think about that. It has gotten so bad that someone thought it noteworthy to report on a casino giving out comps!
Change is inevitable. This all was brought to mind this week when I stopped by The Klondike for their $1.49 bacon and eggs. I thought, yeah, this is what it was like. But at the same time I came out reeking of cigarette smoke. Not everything about the old days was so great.
Never miss another post
Started in earnest when Harrah’s bought Park Place Entertainment but may have begun when Bally Gaming merged with Hilton’s Casino group and then bought Caesars World from Sheraton. Anytime you reduce competition in the marketplace the consumer gets screwed.
Nevada’s casinos have lost money for six straight years. Is this what happens when companies can’t turn a profit? Or are these types of fees counterproductive and actually cause casinos to loose more money?
I personally believe that casinos are loosing money because too many people are broke. This includes millennials that some people say just don’t like to gamble. The fees definitely don’t help but investors are pressuring them to do something.
There is no basis in fact for the idea that Vegas’s casinos have been losing money for the last six years
Ever since the crash of 2008-2009 everything in the economy has went up in price. As an example when I get a free room comped to me it still ends up costing me half of what the room would rent for without a comp due to the fees. So it’s really not a comp, the customer has to pay the taxes and fees.
http://www.rgj.com/story/money/business/2016/01/08/casinos-tally-lose-less/78439440/