Question of the Day - 02 April 2023

Many fewer?

"Toll booths on the strip?" Where? What? When?

First, tgabrielli beat me to the punch. Still hanging on to the tollbooth gag? But 2nd, you keep comparing the current situation to the 70's, the 80's, the 90's etc. The casinos have ALWAYS done what was accepted by their customers. And they also keep getting newer visitors who don't see it the way we "old-timers" remember. Things change, always have changed, and always will change. If all of us oldies stopped going, they don't care. They already have our kids.  

"They've got our kids." True that. We are the olds now, the folks that we used to see in the coffee shops late and night and chuckle. My first trip to LV was almost 30 years ago now. My first stop (after Vacation World) was the $2 ribeye at Binions. I miss those days, but I still find great values. Case in point--the steamed egg appetizer on the menu at 8 East in Circa downtown. $8 and one of the finest light bites you will ever eat.

Thank god for the Book of Values. They made a big difference on my last trip.

that a stiff, bracing good old fashioned recession can't recalibrate.

Big Corporations only Care about profits, It's been that way forever, and formally small casino companies (Station, Boyd)where holding , but now corporate greed has reared it's ugly head, I still remember when Mr Gaugahn's Coast Casinos where around they where value, and service oriented, much like South Point (Mr. Gaugahn's Baby)is today, but the rest..the rest, wow, I used to stay at "locals" places exclusively because of fun, value, service, but they are turning into the monsters big resorts are now, and I'm not liking it. Sure hope it all stops and they start thinking about their loyal customer base (which I doubt).

It's not something we like to think about, but a business can purposely REDUCE its number of customers and still make lots of money by increasing what it charges those customers that are still willing to visit. Having less customers means less staffing and expenses needed for the business. If you double your hotel room price and get half as many customers you're still making the same amount of money as before, plus you have less housekeeping needed, less sheets and pillow cases to wash, less soap, shampoo and toilet paper usage, etc. The same thing goes for restaurants. They don't have to cater to the budget-conscious customers anymore, there's plenty of folks willing to spend like there's no tomorrow and that more than makes up for the number of customers lost due to price increases. 

This is the last sentence of today's answer:

"What used to be a bargain destination has become a clip joint and very few people seem to realize it and fewer still care."

Wow! That is terrific writing! I've often been critical of the QoD's writing (Mostly, too many careless typos. My past criticisms earned a separate QoD criticizing *me*.), but that well-written sentence in just 24 words so perfectly summarizes the Las Vegas of today that it more than redeems QoD's prior errors.

Others have described the train wreck that Las Vegas has become, but their lengthy depictions aren't in the same league with QoD's one succinct sentence that tells the whole story.

My wife and I live about a mile from GVR, and used to visit several times per week pre-pandemic.  We always had to park far away from the garage elevators because there were so many cars there.  Now that they destroyed their players club ($3 per point, instead of 3 points per dollar), and took away the buffet, we only visit every 3-4 months to keep the points we have alive.  Since they've done that, we've been able to park right next to the elevators, as the place is never busy anymore.  Ah well, sooner or later the recession will hit, and they'll figure out that they took away too much too soon.  First rule of business is to never let your customer base find a reason to seek alternatives, because they won't be rushing to return.

"steamed egg appetizer on the menu at 8 East in Circa downtown. $8" I would hardly consider that a "value." LOL

I have a saying that the term corporate greed is redundant...Also that Corporate America is a contradiction in terms because corporations don't really care about America except for the opportunity (freedom) to gouge the consumer...

Roughly a decade ago, several friends and fellow Team Members were cast and featured in Station Casinos' "We Love Locals" TV ads. Privately, internally, many of us painfully joked that we were also "locals" yet we were never shown the "love."
From the post-pandemic closures and sales to where Stations is expanding now, to what they've done with their seniors and rewards points programs, it is 110% clear that catering to "locals" is very low in their priority and marketing strategies.
Worse yet, the brand that once attempted to claim that it set the bar for loving locals has now shown every other brand it is neither necessary nor profitable to do so. So ... we spend our money elsewhere.

If youse wnats to writes good, refrain from joining independent or dependent clauses with "and."

"What used to be a bargain destination has become a clip joint, but very few people seem to realize it; even fewer care."

The airline companies know it too.  So we out of towners take it in the be-hind to fly out there and back.

Candy

All the hubbub over the fleecing of customers by Strip casinos and now by "locals" casinos leaves my 2 downtown casino/hotels smelling like a rose:  (1) Four Queens, and (2) El Cortez.  They definitely cater to the middle class, their prices are reasonable, and their requirements for getting free rooms are, or are close to, the best in Las Vegas.  Those complaints from the Q-poster, the LVA, and the responders about Strip and locals places are almost nonexistent in these 2 downtown places.