Questions. We Get Lots and Lots of Questions

Questions. We get lots and lots of questions.

We will admit that yesterday’s question was made up, but we figured April Fool’s Day gave us the literary liberty to do so.

But the following questions are bona fide submissions. Please forgive us in advance for a being a little flippant with the first three; we certainly don’t mean any offense to those who sent them in.

Why are Las Vegas buffets always out of spoons?

Well, obviously, the dishes ran away with them!

(While the cat fiddled and the cow jumped over the moon — for those of yiz who might be slow on the uptake this morning.)

Actually, it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy: You expect buffets to be out of spoons and viola! Nary a spoon in sight. Or perhaps you have a vision disorder, an impairment in the optic pathway that blocks spoon images.

Seriously, we’ve been to hundreds of buffets and never noticed a spoon shortage. Has anyone else?

Is there anything free offered by the casinos or is there a fee for that?

Somehow, we suspect this is a trick question. Or we could quote the West Side Story tune “America”: “Everything free in America/For a small fee in America.”

We’re certainly aware that a lot of things that used to be free in casinos no longer are: cigarettes, popcorn, parking, rolls of nickels, funbook souvenirs, souvenir photos, and the like, just for showing up and asking for them (the free photo in front of $1 million at Binion’s is an exception, which is why it’s in our Top Ten). But we’d say that almost all the “free stuff” that’s still offered by the casinos has a gambling requirement, which is definitely a fee.

Why is everyone charging resorts fees now? We come to gamble; we don't use any of the facilities. It's making it too expensive. That's why we haven't come to Vegas in the last few years. I would love to come again, but the fees are too high.

There are plenty of “reasons” why hotel-casinos and non-casino hotels charge resort fees — from a simple gouge to making up for discounts hotels have to fade with affiliates and aggregating OTAs (online travel agents). But for us, the bottom line is simply this: They charge resort fees because they can, so they do.

My wife and I like to use the monorail and the various trams to get around to the Strip locations. We’re aware of the one from Mirage to Treasure Island, from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay, and from Park MGM to Bellagio. Are there any others? And are the ones I mentioned all still operating?

Good job; you’ve named all the free trams on the Strip. And they’re all operating — except for the one between the Mirage and TI. That one closed exactly a year ago for a complete upgrade that rendered it completely automated. It reopened around nine months later, only to close again a couple months after that. When we called for an update, we were told by a PBX operator that there was no word on a possible reopening date, and “we check on it every day.”

With the Hard Rock changing over to Virgin soon, are there any plans for the Rehab pool party returning this summer? I would think it's a huge money maker for the property.

Sadly, the Rehab Beach Club is no more. It closed for good after a big blowout last Labor Day weekend. It was the 15th year that Las Vegas’ first dayclub had operated and it even spawned a TruTV reality show, “Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel,” in 2008, 2009, and 2010. It remains to be seen whether or not the new Virgin continues the tradition with its own beach party when the hotel-casino reopens in early summer 2020 after closing for four months for the rebranding.

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Comments

O2bnVegas Apr-02-2019

getting a little

The spoons may be spooning and don't want to be disturbed.  Everyone else is, after all.

I thought the TI to Mirage tram closed many years ago.  But that just shows how little I get out anymore.  It was Treasure Island last time we roamed that territory.

Avram Caspy Apr-02-2019

Spoons

I eat at a variety of buffets and find a teaspoon at my place at the table about one time in four.  It's sometimes (but not always) possible to get one by asking a waiter.  It's usually possible to get a soup spoon by going to where the soups are kept.

gaattc2001 Apr-02-2019

"I would love to come again, but the fees are too high."

That's the other side of resort fees. They do it because they can, and so far most folks are willing to pay. But they are sacrificing long-term customer good will and loyalty for short-term profit. Sooner or later it will come back to bite them, and the same with parking fees and "franchise recovery" fees. 
Feel free to pass this on to Mr. Murren.

Sharon Apr-02-2019

Spoonless!!

I have to say that the many buffets I’ve eaten at often have NO soup spoons near the soup!!  It’s just not the same eating soup with a teaspoon!  Couldn’t believe the question, but it is Sooooo true!

Kevin Lewis Apr-02-2019

There's a connection

...among the first three questions. Vegas casinos used to offer everybody free spoons. When they stopped doing that, indignant visitors who had counted on getting free souvenir spoons started stealing them from buffets. Then, of course, the casinos were forced to impose resort fees to make up for the expense of constantly replacing them. See, it all makes sense!

Doug Bergman Apr-02-2019

It's not a sacrifice

I respectfully disagree with @gaattc2001. There is no long term downside.  Resort fees have existed in some form for 15 years now. Longer term than that and we're all dead. Nobody under the age of 35 is old enough to remember Las Vegas without them. 
Resort fees WILL go away, temporarily, the next time we are in a recession. I encourage folks to stop worrying about resort fees,  learn how to do addition and subtraction, and book online directly with the hotel so you can offset the fee with food credit.

Randall Ward Apr-02-2019

questions

never noticed a spoon shortage but don't usually eat soup, and I have never seen that TI tram working, just gave up on it. I think the fees are just part of it now, something the casino can waive for playing more.  I miss the freebies, down to just a couple of Fitzgeralds coffee mugs and Lady Luck key chains.

Boogieman888 Apr-02-2019

Think

How do you think they pay Celine $500,000 per show? It isn’t ticket sales, it’s resort fees!

Marla Corey Apr-02-2019

Trams

Does the tram from the Bellagio to Park MGM stop at Aria?

James Mason Apr-02-2019

Resort fees not understood

Here is how it works. OAT's get a percentage of the resort fee if included in the price(approximately $2.00 per reservation) To save this fee Vegas bean counters think we are stupid. What a scam to rip off visitors. To save $2.00 in fees they doubled the hotel price with fees as an excuse and exclaim you  got a "great deal" before you get the real bill. No surprise visitation is down. When the price doubles(for a puny $2.00) the market reacts. Just saying.

Apr-02-2019

Part-explanation: Resort Fees

Not all of you know this, but the #1 constituent of visitors to Las Vegas is the residents of Southern California who make impulse trips to some Strip hotel/casino on the weekends. While the majority of those residents are regular working folks, a surprisingly large portion are male military guys from bases in the San Diego area or otherwise southeast of Los Angeles. They really want an escape trip to Vegas, which is an exciting contrast to their drab everyday life. They will frequently cram 4 guys into 1 vehicle and off they go. They don't always make reservations like normal visitors. They just don't think about how much it will cost for the lodging, the resort fee and the parking; they will pay all these costs. So the casinos have no reason to not impose every cost that they can. This is a nonstop source of visitation and income; Southern Californians will just not stop going to Vegas in large numbers due to higher costs. So these casino policies and charges will continue.

Question of the Day - 02 April 2019

Comments