Recently, I took a week off and traveled to Vegas to see friends and celebrate my birthday a few days early. Like many trips, a few things stood out that I thought I’d share.
Vegas in the summer with its oppressive heat would suggest perhaps it being a slower time of year, but it certainly didn’t feel that way during my visit, although it did overlap with the July 4th weekend.
Quality Customer Service Stands Out
For the second visit in a row, unusually good customer service struck me at the Rio. During check-in, which I was attempting at 11 am, an employee went through the line with bottles of water and asked if people were checking in or out. For those checking out, they took their key and said they did not have to wait, saving people time and shrinking the line.
I was able to check in that early, had an excellent room, and proceeded to have other great interactions with staff on the casino floor. It really was impressive the consistency and the quality of the employee interactions throughout this visit, which replicated an experience the previous time. For a property working to revitalize itself, it has a good base with the staff, based on my experiences.
Another great interaction for me happened at the MGM Rewards desk at Aria. I went there to activate a tier status challenge, and while there had a great conversation with the person at the desk, who not only was able to easily and clearly answer a lot of arcane questions about things like the Cosmopolitan transition, they even handed me a glasses wipe when I was trying to clean some dust off my glasses!
I spoke with a friend of mine the next day about the visit and he asked if it was Danielle – which it was. How often does someone leave such a good impression on two people at different times that you know their name and trade stories about how helpful this person was? Great customer service resonates in ways that outlast a visit.
The South Strip is a Struggle
Here, too, a second round of experiences reinforced the first. Construction continues to create challenges, which in and of itself isn’t a problem, but Allegiant Stadium and its limited parking create nightmares if you have a car and are staying on the southern end.
Both times I had a room at Luxor, and both times the parking garage was being heavily choked off. This time it was a lengthy challenge to get through traffic to get to Luxor to begin with, but showing my hotel room key when I finally got to the garage got me a space. Last time, it was after a game had let out, and they were letting one car in as one car would leave.
These very frustrating and time consuming experiences took time away from my getting settled in earlier and enjoying the property. And with the expectation of a baseball stadium being placed on the Tropicana lot still looming, it feels like this is only going to get worse.
Between Allegiant, the baseball stadium, T-Mobile Arena and so forth, I’m not sure enough thought is going to what that does in terms of congestion and ensuring people have a place to park in a reasonable amount of time and can enjoy the facilities. It is certainly something I’m considering going forward when I book reservations.
The Future of Vegas is… Kids Competitions?
I don’t know what it is about dance competitions, but they seem to be increasingly happening at casinos. In 2022 I stayed at Mirage and an overwhelming number of kids were running around the place. I also stayed at Westgate later the same year, when a teen wrestling competition was going on. In both instances certain amenities were overrun and it made it a bit harder to enjoy the stay.
This year, at Luxor, it was another dance competition, creating two hour waits at Starbucks and other resources that created difficulty just going about the day. Fortunately as a solo traveler, it can be a bit easier to slide into a bar seat or somewhere a family of four couldn’t accept, so it was fine from that perspective, but it really takes over the property in ways that are completely unpredictable to guests in advance.
Like the parking situation, it has the potential to make people feel like they’re being pushed to the margins for these other big events. I hope they work on better figuring out how to balance these things.
Live Music is Alive and Well
This trip I spent a bit more time enjoying some of the live music options at various casinos. Many venues in Las Vegas, just like anywhere else, offer various forms of it, whether it be dueling pianos, tribute acts or bands. The Fremont Street Experience has no shortage of this, and surprisingly in the record heat it wasn’t difficult to keep a bit cooler under the canopy and enjoy the music.
The Rhythm & Riffs bar at Mandalay Bay is also a great arena for checking out music, located in a casino that normally feels quiet and stuffy but comes to life with some live music inside. Thanks to Jenny and Ellen for the musical tour!
Honorable mention goes to the Sand Dollar at Plaza, although the noise/space size ratio is more overwhelming there for me vs. the other two. It can be harder to carry on a conversation at Sand Dollar, whereas that wasn’t the issue at Rhythm & Riffs or outside on Fremont Street (although it tends to get harder as it gets later outside).
Takeaway
As a big tourist town, Vegas gets some things really right, and others need work – not a surprise. But it was still a fun week to get away and break out of the normal rhythm of things.
I live in Vegas and I enjoy going to the casinos. However, with the reduction in wins, I have chosen to go less. I’m a platinum level player, and it used to be you would win a couple hundred dollars on free games if you were betting in the $2.50 to $5.00 range. Now, you are lucky to get even a hundred dollars. The greed of casino owners has turned the whole experience sour for many. They may not see a reduction now, but locals are fed up with it all.
To be fair, the shift in games isn’t the casino owners getting greedier – it’s the demands of players to have more of a shot at a bigger bonus. Slot makers make the games we’ll play (the ones we don’t play disappear faster than most of us know they exist), and the casinos put in the games that get the most play. The games work this way now because we’ve all voted with our combined wallets, for better or worse.
I really liked the details of the many different observations regarding things other than just the ‘playing in the casino’. Very good information about things that are very relevant about a trip to Las Vegas. Thank you!
We appreciate your comment, Joy! Our goal is to focus on players like yourself, so we’re glad to hear it was a good piece!