On Expedia, all 5 star hotels in Lisboa are 170€/night+ which is pretty exactly $200?

We went to a wedding in Vienna last year and couldn’t find a single 5 star hotel for less than 250€. Maybe that was an overall expensive weekend?

And hotels in Vegas are usually expensive weekend-only, while in most other cities the difference between weekday and weekend is significantly smaller.

But that’s beyond the point. Fact is that if you pay $4bln to build a casino resort, giving out rooms for $100/night won’t net you any profit. Depreciation alone is $30/day for the average room at the Wynn.

I didn't think the Vegas strip casinos were considered 5 star hotels.

Expedia is where fish book hotel rooms. Vienna is much more expensive than Lisbon. Hope that helps.

And comparing vegas hotels to european 5 star properties is completely idiotic.

+1

Good advice.

They are, at least by European standards. There’s a list of criteria your hotel must satisfy to get that rating and all of the high-end Strip resorts satisfy them. Venetian/Palazzo, Wynn/Encore, Bellagio, Aria, Cosmopolitan, Vdara all do.

FWIW, booking on Expedia.com is pretty expensive, but if you use German/French versions of Slickdeals to find deals for Expedia.de/.fr, you can find some decent deals. We always get our rental cars in the US on Expedia.de and usually pay half of what Expedia.com quotes.

Excellent post. But this isn't exclusive to just Vegas though. It's a pretty clear sign of growing income inequality and the disconnect corporate America has with middle America. Look at any attractive, vibrant, growing city in the USA and you'll find it's all being catered to the 1%. The percentage of real estate owned by wealthy foreigners/ companies in major cities across the USA is staggering.

It doesn't make sense that the most liberal hubs/ cities in the USA are also the most expensive and toxic af to live in, but that's what we're seeing across america if you're not wealthy. It's definitely become pay to play/win at a price middle America simply can't afford. Unfortunately capitalism corrupts even the best/ airtight liberal ideals.

Where do sharks book? I’ve found decent deals on travelocity packaging air and hotel. Am I doing it wrong?

I have always loved Vegas and always will. However, $20 beers on the strip and $30 resort fees make me not want to go there anymore.

If I have cheap beer and cheap accommodation I will probably gamble that money or feel fine about dropping a few hundred at the tables.

The strip is just too expensive.

Hanging out off strip or at Fremont is still cool but the strip is overpriced and the life is being sucked out of it.

hotwire/skyscanner/travel pirates/airbnb/etc. The "package" deals are 95% of the time drastically more expensive than your other options.

The sad thing is Strip resort fees are now closer to $40 than $30.

The other thing is it has changed the type of people that fill Strip casinos. It's a lot more of the "I can spend money faster than you" douchebag types. There's nothing wrong with someone spending money, but these pricks try to make a big deal of it. The other thing you never see any more is the 5 broke chicks piling out of a cab, that are staying at Circus Circus or the Riviera, that just want to drink it up and stumble through the Bellagio, looking at everything. They were more real and fun than the spoiled brats spending daddy's money, because the broke chicks are not coming to Vegas any more.

Maybe when MGM and CET send you their VIP surveys you can tell them that to regain your very valuable business, they should cater to broke ass drunks who stay at other properties, instead of catering to the rich playboys engaged in dick waving contests to see who can spend the most money.

Agreed. On my last trip a few weeks ago I was surprised how attracted I was to Fremont. Everyone just felt more authentic and fun. Even the staff at the casinos seemed more real and less corporate (for lack of a better word).

On my next trip I will seriously consider just staying on Fremont and spending most of my time there. Golden Nugget seemed nice and clean and actually wasn't smoky at all inside.

They changed out the carpets and painted all the walls at GN in the last year or so. It used reek of stale cigs, now it's much better.

give me an off strip property anytime. At least they pretend to want you as a customer. Buy in for $200 at the Orleans and they perk right up.

In Vegas now.

Honey wants to see Ka at the MGM.

Good tickets are $125.

PLUS a "service fee" WTF?

And a tax on the "service fee".

Will they validate parking if I drop $250 plus the fee?

No.

OK, it's not like I am ever going back there again.

***

Different night.

We used to eat at Wolfgang Puck.

Fast forward today, will or can they validate parking?

No. MGM policy.

I canceled the Wolfgang Puck reservation, told them why.

We shall see whether there is price elasticity for others to decide where to eat dinner.

To paraphrase Rounders :

"You can shear a sheep many times, but skin him only once. This is a lesson Vegas has never bothered to learn, because the sheep keep coming back."

Ka is terrible, don't go.

This, cancel if you still can.

Has anyone who has seen LOVE comment on if me purchasing front row seats was a good or bad thing? I feel like we may almost be TOO close and unable to see some of the show?

If you gamble that money, the beers are free, even on the Strip.

Just figure the room cost = quoted amount + resort fee .... then decide ?

The show changes over time, but a seat about 5 rows back has worked well for my family's visits. Never sat in front row, but you might be out of sight of the opposite side of the stage.

(Definitely do not sit toward the rear of the theatre, that loses a lot.)

Agree.

Damn. I lost my MLife free parking card .... I think it was at whatever hotel you were staying at.

If you pm me, maybe you can find it and let me know ?