Question of the Day - 21 October 2022

It MUST stay open, if only for the Carnival World Buffet (I've not been for a few years - is it still as good/great value for money as it once was...if indeed it's open at all)? 

For years Rio had a great seafood buffet in the Masquerade Tower.  Caesars killed it off.  Bring it back.  Also bring back all of the fun that has been missing for the last several years.

It has been closed since the pandemic hit.  Like most of the other buffets it isn’t too likely to come back.

According to the internets Carnival World Buffet was a victim of Covid-19. 

Last time I was there was for the WSOP. I got hungry between sessions and made the mistake of trying to get something to eat--thinking, correctly, that I would have to trudge over to the main casino if I didn't want a $9 dried-out sandwich. There was an Indian restaurant. The tandoori chicken was $41. The lamb vindaloo was $46. A la carte.

The casino featured $25 minimum 6:5 blackjack and 4/3 Jacks or Worse video poker (in dollar denominations and up; if you wanted to play for quarters, you'd feed the machine a $20 and it would just laugh at you and tell you to go away).

The buffet is gone, and it ain't never coming back. And neither is the WSOP (it was a shitty venue, actually). So now, the Rio is just a waste of land. Turn it into the world's largest Chuck E. Cheese.

...I've gone to the Rio the last few years has been that I enjoy the Gold Coast so much.  I go there, eat at Ping Pang Pong, play, then walk over to the Palms, play a little, walk to the Rio, play a little, then catch the shuttle from the GC to the Orleans, which I also enjoy.  Nothing against the Rio, but IMO it has become utterly uninspiring.  From the time Caesars discontinued the shuttle from Harrah's (2017?), it became the neglected stepchild of Caesar's properties.  The one time I stayed there, it was, again, uninspiring.

This is a shame, because when I resumed coming to Vegas a decade ago, the Rio was fairly crowded and fun.  Now, no. 

Maybe those numbers were high because of the WSOP. I went to the Rio during a WSOP once; there were two craps tables open - $50 and $15 minimums.

Another thing that made the Rio attractive at one point: the free hourly shuttle to the strip, which they got rid of a few years ago (even before the pandemic). Now, it's either a long walk or the 202 bus (not to mention the walk just to get to the bus stop).

Inside, it's bad plumbing, scarred furniture, noises in the HVAC, and worn, stained carpets patched with duct tape. As you say, and as I've been saying for years, it's the Las Vegas tradition of cost-reduction-by-deferred-maintenance, come home to roost.
Throw in unplayable games, closed restaurants, no "Show in the Sky," no strip shuttle, and no poker room, and you definitely have problems. If Dreamscape’s focus will be on "revamping the hotel product," then they have their work cut out for them: repairing years of neglect, *and* overcoming years of negative guest impressions.
I hadn't heard about Palms "struggling," but it figures. Virgin's troubles have been reported, and need surprise no one. And I suspect we could add Resorts World, and maybe a few others, if the truth were known.
Perhaps they could all take a lesson from Gold Coast, which was quite lively last time we visited--but that was pre-pandemic.
And Kevin is spot-on, as usual. Good to hear from you again.
Cheers.

Maybe the Rio should target the locals again with good games that people have a shot at winning, exciting affordable entertainment and a great buffet. 

Try to describe to someone who never witnessed it, the Carnivale Sky Show several times a night ... live performers on the floor stage dropping down on ropes from holes in the ceiling with Carnival themed floats HANGING from the CEILING track above the casino, moving around the room over the casino guests ... locals and tourists celebrating their birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, or just life, in the floats above, playing percussive instruments and throwing carnival beads to the patrons below. That, with the periodic costumed dancers on mini stages throughout the casino, the huge world renowned Carnival Buffet, and the 7-day-a-week AYCE Seafood buffet is what made the Rio The RIO! My late wife spent many nights enjoying that atmosphere, first as tourists, later as residents. Like so many other things in LV, it's gone, likely forever.