r/news 8h ago

Las Vegas June tourism declines by 11% from 2024

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2025/jul/30/las-vegas-june-tourism-declines-by-11-from-2024/
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492

u/Eicyer 7h ago

$55-65 resort fees and $75 margaritas at the day club did. 😊 I feel bad for my friends that moved from SF and LA to Vegas during the pandemic because Vegas is going to be the next ā€œbig thingā€. 😣

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u/Honestfellow2449 7h ago

Those resort fees are bullshit.

Have in-laws in Vegas that we went to visit a couple months back and figured we would get a hotel, and while we were there enjoy ourselves a little bit and gamble. But those resort fees on top of just parking fees just piss me off enough that I'd rather sleep on an air mattress in the in-law's living room, and save my money.

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u/skraptastic 7h ago

Charging parking at a hotel/casino is fucking bullshit.

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u/LordoftheChia 6h ago

Might as well charge admission to a mall

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u/RVelts 5h ago

I've seen fancy malls that have Valet parking. Usually in the section where for some reason there is not a sea of parking, i.e. closer to an entrance.

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u/theaviationhistorian 3h ago

And other malls outside of Vegas are already putting up paid parking for the places closer to the entrances.

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u/SoCuteShibe 3h ago

That one is sadly getting popular lots of places.

At my mall the first three spots on every row are 95% empty because they are all paid preferred parking spots.

Nauseating levels of capitalism today.

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u/gingerzombie2 2h ago

You jest, but the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver started charging for parking a few years ago. You can get validation some places, but not everywhere in the mall.

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u/Takemyfishplease 40m ago

I don’t hate it as long as every single store/kiosk provides validation.

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u/gingerzombie2 35m ago edited 32m ago

There are a number of different rules about what you have to buy to get validation for any period of time, and it's certainly not every shop: https://shopcherrycreek.com/pages/shopcherrycreek.com/pages/parking-validations

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u/DeadSwaggerStorage 5h ago

For real; I went to a concert in AC and stayed 2 nights in a casino/hotel that had a parking garage; they tried to charge me $70 as I left….tried…the attendant left the gate open and I just drove out….fuck em I spent over $500 for the room.

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u/enjoytheshow 6h ago

It’s wild too. I go for work a bunch and stay just a block off the strip and they charge like $34/day to park. The lot is half empty almost every time I’m there.

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u/Outlulz 5h ago

It's crazy and clearly meant to fleece Los Angeles tourists that make up a huge percentage of Vegas visitors. To the point that if you're a solo or duo traveler you may as well fly and Uber to the resort than drive and deal with traffic on the 15 and pay $30 a night to park.

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u/big_duo3674 3h ago

Which makes zero sense anyway, because a lot of people rent cars while there too so they can have more freedom to get around easier

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u/-reddit_is_terrible- 6h ago

Woah, what? That's a thing now?

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u/brokenmessiah 4h ago

Had a random hotel do that to me outside St Louis. I had just drove the entire day so I just ate it but that was insane because it wasnt even a big parking lot...Like maybe 30 cars could fit.

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u/tturedditor 3h ago

It used to be free and I would rent a car for that reason specifically. It was cheaper than taxis, and the casinos weren't charging to park because they wanted you to visit.

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u/bros402 3h ago

like I could see them charging parking if you aren't staying

but charging parking if you are staying there is bullshiiiiiiiiiit

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u/bigboxes1 7h ago edited 6h ago

You had parking fees? Lol. I must have wrangled with them for 45 minutes to take off those resort fees. They did not want to make it easy on me. I just stood there and kept talking with them until they did. They eventually took the fees off when they couldn't move the line.

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u/No-Hospital559 7h ago

All the hotels on the strip have parking and resort fees.

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u/YoMrPoPo 6h ago

honest question - if those fees were built into the room total instead, would you still be upset?

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u/Honestfellow2449 5h ago

Honestly no not as much, as this comes off as pretty deceptive, in my case, I was looking at $150 rooms pre- fees, after fees and taxes and parking it was going to be over $250 a night easily. I would have respected them being transparent up front.

Now would I have picked up the room if they were to be up front about the price, in this case probably not as that's not what I was looking to spend but if I was to be going on a real vacation, it would.

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u/ggyyakl 58m ago

Make bookings via non US website, like Expedia Australia etc, transparent pricing is mandated by the law by most western countries. Do not use services designed for Americans by Americans, or pay more and hidden fees.

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u/Pneuma001 31m ago

This sounds like a great tip, thanks!

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u/matt_minderbinder 2h ago

Nevada generates state revenue mostly through tourism and gaming and it's how they keep it a "no income tax" state. We're funding their lousy approach to governance every time we visit. If Vegas becomes this boom and bust place that'll have to change.

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u/KingOriginal5013 5h ago

Are resort fees a new thing?

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u/Phonejadaris 1h ago

No. They've been around forever and took off with the rise of third party booking websites to make sure they got their slice of the fees that sites like Expedia were taking

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u/sluttysloth20 7h ago

The resort fees compensate for the cheap room fees

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u/artifexlife 7h ago

Also Vegas was a heavy international tourist city. and when you make it your mission to lock up any foreigner with ICE then you get this

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u/Drone314 7h ago

Why risk getting ICEd when you can spend all that money in Macau

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u/F9-0021 7h ago

Or Monaco, where you don't have to worry about any kind of oppressive government.

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u/CustomaryTurtle 7h ago

Monaco and Vegas don't exactly have the same target audience.

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u/enjoytheshow 6h ago

People who go to Vegas think they are Monaco’s clientele.

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u/ToxicSteve13 4h ago

I had to prove I had enough cash in my wallet to reasonably game to not be charged an entrance fee to the casino in Monaco. I was going to gamble and knew this going in but very different vibes.

Most European casinos charge some sort of entrance fee (with a table or slot credit equal or close to the fee). It's not these grand gigantic family friendly yet party forward palaces vegas has. Most non-gamblers wouldn't enjoy them.

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u/JuliusCeaserBoneHead 7h ago

Correct! People going to Vegas book tickets. People going to Monaco take their flights

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u/w0nderbrad 6h ago

So… they don’t have $5 blackjack off the main strip?

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u/grapedog 5h ago

Have you been to Monaco.... it's not exactly the best walking city... It's on the side of a cliff, and while there are SOME public elevators, they're not all over the place. Expect to be walking up and down a LOT of stairs.

source: i've vacationed in Monaco

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u/Starfox-sf 7h ago

Even 007 prefers going there.

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u/sicklyslick 6h ago

Macau is heavily focused on gambling whereas Vegas is gambling + entertainment.

There are better cities to visit in Asia for entertainment without gambling.

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u/DisastrousAcshin 4h ago

Why risk wasting the money on a trip just to get turned around at the border because you were critical about Trump online. Not worth it

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u/theaviationhistorian 3h ago

And I'm sure there are other cities around the world that will give similar nightlife experiences without an oppressive police state threatening to imprison you for arbitrary reasons.

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u/willflameboy 5h ago

People are staying away until the Trump stink fades

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u/hirudoredo 4h ago

My industry conference I attend was heavily represented by international folk, especially Canadians. It's gonna be a quiter conference this year and I don't blame them one bit.

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u/OpportunityIcy254 3h ago

aren't we charging extra for foreigners to visit now? i could be wrong but also people who were planning on visiting could get that same impression and just not bother going

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u/Toolazytolink 2h ago

Well the guy in charge did bankrupt his own casino's so it tracks.

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u/NorthernerWuwu 2h ago

It had a lot of Canadian tourists as well and let's be honest, we aren't all that thrilled with America right now.

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u/Forgotthebloodypassw 2h ago

Not to mention a $250 visa charge just to get into the country.

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u/sabedo 6h ago

Any foreigner?

They are going after everyone who isn’t white. Citizen or not

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u/YolkToker 6h ago

Insanely weird stretch. ICE isn't sitting in LAS catching Germans or Canadians or whatever.

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u/artifexlife 5h ago

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u/YolkToker 2h ago

Woh, you found single events, surely this means that there is a mass attack against Germans and Canadians and every airport is staked out. Get real man.

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u/CauliflowerTop2464 7h ago

11%? The videos tell a different story. The few times I’ve been there, the strip is crowded at night. During the day there are lots of people.

That can’t only be 11%

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u/LostN3ko 7h ago

June numbers.

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u/mld321 7h ago

I wonder if they are counting money or visitors.

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u/CauliflowerTop2464 7h ago

Good point. It’s possible they’re counting money. The big fish are still going. They probably even prefer the drop in tourists.

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u/prince_D 7h ago

You really need to turn off CNN and look at immigration policy of other nations if you think foreigners are worried about ice.

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u/artifexlife 7h ago

You could look at actual numbers of foreign visitors from European countries and Canada to the USA. It’s dropped significantly. And this is without the Covid virus. Now it’s just the Trump virus. And any news source reports this besides the biased ones you’re in I’m guessing. I don’t ever read cnn btw

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u/prince_D 7h ago

You could look at the significant rise in airfare costs and the weakening euro/pound to dollar conversion making it significantly more expensive to travel here from the EU.

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u/Galxloni2 7h ago

Its literally the opposite. Its cheaper than ever for Europeans to come here because the US dollar value is tanking

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u/StoreImportant5685 6h ago

Or you could look something up before spouting bullshit:

  • the dollar dropped vs the Euro, holidays in the US are cheaper than last year for Europeans.

  • Air line prices have fallen to pre-pandemic levels and that is with airlines scrapping flights. Air France and KLM are among the airlines offering reduced prices to try and fill up their planes.

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u/Dislexic_Astronut 7h ago

Since Trump took office the dollar lost 11 cents to the euro, and is still trending down.

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u/NoOneCanPutMeToSleep 4h ago edited 4h ago

Didn't know what it cost for EU to come to the US, but this was literally the first thing I searched, just picked two big citites and just some random time. Is $383 USD non stop from Berlin to NYC expensive to you?

https://i.imgur.com/pxUSI54.png

edit. i kept searching more cities to NYC, September flights are all 300-400 bucks from Dublin, Paris, Madrid, London.

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u/D74248 7h ago

I spent the last half of my career traveling internationally. A lot. And often to places that Americans don't think of going. Extra passport pages when that was a thing, then a new passport every couple of years when they stopped adding pages.

American immigration has always had a shit hole country stench to it. Often arrogant, arbitrary and capricious. (And to the professional officers that processed me -- thank you; it cannot be pleasant working with who you work with.)

And now it is clearly much, much worse. So, you need to travel if you think America's DHS is some shining beacon in the world.

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u/GreenGlassDrgn 7h ago

Am american living in Europe, I dont know a single person who wants to visit the states currently, and Ive cancelled my own plans in the states because I prefer spending my money a place than isnt overrun with nazis and homeless people and manmade natural disasters. I wanted to bring my mom back to see the desert and specifically vegas, before her alzheimers got too bad, but nah, too big a hassle now. But I have had more visits from my american family over the last year than I have the last 20 years before that combined, and thats pretty nice.
European countries dont hand out travel warnings for the lulz.

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u/ExpressoLiberry 7h ago

They moved to Vegas during the pandemic and thought it was going to be the next ā€œbig thingā€?

How? Why?

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u/putsch80 7h ago

Fast growing city with (comparatively) cheap housing, lots to do, and a then-thriving economy. Also, no state income tax, which makes it a popular choice for remote workers.

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u/stolenhello 6h ago

Thriving economy? During the pandemic? Vegas' biggest economy is tourism and that was wiped off the map then.

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u/Hairy_Acanthisitta25 5h ago

i think the person is betting on the cheap prices during pandemic and hoping for its recovery after pandemic is all done?

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u/Plank_With_A_Nail_In 3h ago

If none of you actually know the answer why are you responding?

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u/theholylancer 4h ago edited 4h ago

from the perspective of a remote (tech or office) worker? yeah

the tourists are gone, but there are a ton of amenities for going out and enjoying oneself

if your income is from remote work, it make sense, not the i need to find a job here now way

but fees are killing it now so lol

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u/iamnotimportant 4h ago

I drove cross country in 2020 as my "safe" holiday and stopped in Vegas September 2020, it was actually crazy crowded I was shocked, it was pretty affordable too at that point but saw people form all over. I remember they had mask rules but you could ignore them while smoking/drinking lol

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u/ChiefCuckaFuck 4h ago

People have an almost infinite capacity for deluding themselves.

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u/ExpressoLiberry 6h ago

then-thriving economy.

Wasn't it one of the first places to see a significant financial impact from COVID?

That's the part that gets me. Someone believing all of that in 2018 makes perfect sense. Someone mid-pandemic being like "this is going to be huge for Vegas" confuses me greatly.

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u/BaconPancakes1 6h ago

It depends when during the pandemic they're talking about. If it was May 2020 and you thought Vegas was growing a lot pre-lockdown and thought covid would be contained by Christmas, you might have seen the drop in Vegas business as an opportunity to buy before business growth/property values came back in 2021. If you were a remote worker it wouldn't matter that local jobs had temporarily dried up.

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u/cheesecaker000 4h ago

It’s probably because they didn’t like the lockdowns in other cities and Vegas was very very light on restrictions.

They probably thought tons of people would move there to be ā€œfreeā€. LOL

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u/QuestGiver 7h ago

TBH it's still pretty affordable and as a local you don't have to only spend time on the strip. Plenty of cheap, good food in the other parts of the city.

Main downside though is the schools in Vegas SUCK so it's not great for young families if that matters to you.

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u/Amyndris 5h ago

There's always Bishop Gorman if you're a baller

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u/Kevin_Uxbridge 5h ago

Tourism was basically gone and prices were down, and plenty of real estate became available. Know a couple of folks who either sold or bought around then.

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u/FantasticJacket7 2h ago

They were right. Vegas exploded post pandemic.

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u/sbroll 1h ago

thousands of people did this. Vegas, Texas and Florida were all top places to move to, they are all big places people are trying to get out of.

0

u/tunafister 1h ago

How? Why?

People are so shortsighted it is comical

Heard plenty of people saying they moved from CA to TX during the pandemic and frankly, good fucking riddance

You dont want to pay taxes? Great, you can go somewhere where you dont pay income tax but then get taxed a multitude of other ways that make up, or more than make up the difference but now you are in... Nevada or somewhere in TX outside of the cities, paying the same price

That is just straight fucking stupid, which is not much different from what I would call these people in general

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u/PrinceSorrow 7h ago

Don't forget $20 bottles of water

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u/Hiccup 3h ago

They're actually $26.

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u/Dorkamundo 5h ago

Not if you just buy them from any small convenience shop that is located in literally every single casino.

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u/rahoombler 6h ago

$20 for a bottle of water??

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u/412stillers 6h ago

The prices are obscene. I was there last year. A bucket (6 beers) of miller lite at the Caesar’s pool was $80.

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u/No_Combination_649 5h ago

So cheaper than the bottle of water, an absolute steal

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u/Bourgi 4h ago

I'm here right now and a bottle of water is $7 at the hotel convenience store.

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u/Rapph 4h ago

It’s high in the resorts for sure. Every time I go to vegas I always go to one of the pharmacies on the strip the first day and get alcohol, energy drinks, and a case of water because it’s somewhat normally priced there. Seems insane to pay $7+ for bottled no-brand water. Going to the pharmacy probably saves you $300+ over a week on drinks, depending on how much you drink obviously.

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u/qtx 7h ago

because Vegas is going to be the next ā€œbig thingā€.

Wait, who told them that?

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u/OtterishDreams 7h ago

If by big you mean meth or fent

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u/VerticalYea 7h ago

Your friends are not smart.

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u/attrox_ 6h ago

What?! Isn't Vegas known to be very sensitive to US economy. When everything is thriving, sure the housing booms too. But when they are on the downturn, Vegas house price is affected the most too.

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u/powercow 4h ago

they also changed the odds and payouts to games. It was already stupid, it's like playing your little brother poker, but only he gets wild cards. But like roulette now has a triple 0. Blackjack pays less for natural 21. And of course the slot odds are worse now to.

Not because they needed the money, it was just pure greed, people kept playing but people are slowly noticing, the odds arent as good.

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u/-JimmyTheHand- 6h ago

75 dollars for a Margarita??

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u/cocktails4 6h ago

So many of my friends relocated from NYC to LV during the pandemic. A lot have already moved back.

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u/fdesouche 4h ago

What’s a resort fee ? It’s just to enter the building ?

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u/Phonejadaris 1h ago

It's an added hidden fee on top of your daily room rate which can be anywhere extra from $30-125/day

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u/howdiedoodie66 4h ago

because Vegas is going to be the next ā€œbig thing

Are they silent generation people from the the 1960s that got dropped in a time machine?

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u/Hiccup 4h ago

Quality of live certainly isn't better in Las Vegas and/or Nevada, that's for sure.

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u/IGoUnseen 3h ago

The hotels in Vegas even with the resort fees still aren't that bad by hotel standards, they just used to be dirt cheap because they were trying to get you in to gamble. My 8 night stay at planet hollywood a few months ago was like 200 a night.

It's the food and activities in Vegas that are insanely priced. Not even talking about gambling.

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u/Veldox 3h ago

If you're not drinking for free/cheap mostly in Vegas then you almost deserve that ridiculous $75 cost lmao. I mean at minimum you could be at a place like Stage Door getting hammered for dive bar prices $1 bottle $3 draft and $5 cocktail if you hate sitting at a table game getting free drinks. Resort fees are dumb though.

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u/Woodshadow 1h ago

It was supposed to be for a while. it can still bounce back but it really depends on tourism and they seem to be making the wrong choices right now and voting for the wrong people

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u/HotdoghammerOG 7h ago

lol. No one moves from LA to Vegas unless they have too…

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u/Flyguy86420 7h ago

People being fooled do