Short Vegas trip & report

momopi

momopi

Well-known member
Took a short weekend trip to Vegas:

* Much less traffic than pre-pandemic.
* The outlet mall at Primm is dead.
* Restaurants and stores outside of LV strip still having labor issues. The White Castle that I went to closed at 4PM because they couldn't get enough people to work night shift for $16/hr. At least the sliders were slightly greasy and tasty, not dry and overly healthy. Confirmed labor shortage issues with 2 off-strip restaurants and a Sprouts supermarket. They put a sign up "due to staffing shortages..."
* Went to several casino resorts: Mandalay Bay, New York New York, Bellagio, and Venetian. I think only Venetian did not charge for parking, all others charged parking fee.
* Although LV strip major casino resorts appear fully staffed, things are not going well behind the scenes. At New York New York I saw a homeless lady asking for money, and the security guard was sitting and playing video games on his cell phone.
* At Gallagher's Steakhouse (in NY NY) their computer point of sale system has been down and they couldn't get people to fix it. The wait staff was professional but the quality of the steak was... very inferior to the Gallagher's in New York City. Frankly, I can cook a better Stater Brothers supermarket steak on my backyard grill than their kitchen.
* At Venetian I noticed one of the fountains was turned off, and although their shopping mall was full of open stores, the number of shoppers probably equaled to store employees. Some shops were running 50% discounts. At one store the female employee stood by the doorway and called out to people walking by "hey sister! hey sister!~" The displays at Venetians are still top notch and the restaurant square by the canals still have free entertainment.
* I could not get an early reservation at Raku and ended up eating at Toridokoro Raku. The menu was a mixed bag but their Foie Gras w/Duck Meat yakitori was delicious.
* Due to time constraint we did not make it to any of the buffets, but we'll be back in LV in Dec.
 
Resort world parking is still free.

That clay pot rice place in the food court is pretty good....for $15.
 
Hired a cleaning crew to do final move in/move out cleaning of the rental. Didn't want to deal with the sneaker net, know someone, cash thing, so called many services. Getting call backs was like having contractors call you back for a smaller job, maybe 1 in 6 responded. Going rate from any service ran $65/hr. Per person cleaning. Three people, two hour minimum.

Also looking at re-establishing cleaning service for our house. Running into the same rate for a one time clean. A bi-weekly clean is more than a car payment.

Much cheaper going thru a contracting website. Sneaker-net probably even better.
 
Additional comments:

* We stopped by Cracker Barrel in Victorville on the way back for dinner. I had good experience dining at Cracker Barrel in the South back in 2009, but this time the food was like smaller and inferior version of Claim Jumpers, dry and microwave dinner quality. The only saving grace was the biscuits, which was excellent. Fluffy, flaky, not dense, and delicious.
* The gift shop in Cracker Barrel has also declined in quality, selling mostly candy, Cocomeleon / baby shark stuff, and the same "man soap" impulse buy items found at Bass Pro Shops cashier station line and the big Chevron gas station at Jean on way to Vegas. Whatever happened to the Amish hand made soaps?
* That gas station in Jean is advertised to be the largest in Nevada with 96 pump stations and large indoor shopping/rest area. About half of the gas pumps were taped off (out of service). Not many customers.
* Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga and Victoria Gardens next door was kinda empty. Outlet Mall at Barstow seems to have more customers, judging from the parking lot.
* Lotto store at Primm was very busy with line out the door.
 
I just spent five days there at a company sponsored event. Stayed at Caesars and had several private events at small and large venues around that site. Had dinner at Prime and it was excellent. Shot machine guns outside of a helicopter and spent one night up at top golf, had a great time offsite. Ran around the Venetian and Bellagio all week. Vegas has really gone downhill on the strip, homeless were everywhere. I’ve gone to Vegas for decades and have never felt threatened, when on the strip I definitely did. Watch this poor woman mumbling walk right across Las Vegas Blvd. never looking up, four cars screech to miss her. I really don’t like that town anymore.
 
momopi said:
Additional comments:

* We stopped by Cracker Barrel in Victorville on the way back for dinner. I had good experience dining at Cracker Barrel in the South back in 2009, but this time the food was like smaller and inferior version of Claim Jumpers, dry and microwave dinner quality. The only saving grace was the biscuits, which was excellent. Fluffy, flaky, not dense, and delicious.
* The gift shop in Cracker Barrel has also declined in quality, selling mostly candy, Cocomeleon / baby shark stuff, and the same "man soap" impulse buy items found at Bass Pro Shops cashier station line and the big Chevron gas station at Jean on way to Vegas. Whatever happened to the Amish hand made soaps?
* That gas station in Jean is advertised to be the largest in Nevada with 96 pump stations and large indoor shopping/rest area. About half of the gas pumps were taped off (out of service). Not many customers.
* Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga and Victoria Gardens next door was kinda empty. Outlet Mall at Barstow seems to have more customers, judging from the parking lot.
* Lotto store at Primm was very busy with line out the door.
Click to expand...
What happened? Two words, man soap.
 
morekaos said:
I just spent five days there at a company sponsored event. Stayed at Caesars and had several private events at small and large venues around that site. Had dinner at Prime and it was excellent. Shot machine guns outside of a helicopter and spent one night up at top golf, had a great time offsite. Ran around the Venetian and Bellagio all week. Vegas has really gone downhill on the strip, homeless were everywhere. I’ve gone to Vegas for decades and have never felt threatened, when on the strip I definitely did. Watch this poor woman mumbling walk right across Las Vegas Blvd. never looking up, four cars screech to miss her. I really don’t like that town anymore.
Click to expand...

When I was there in early OCT I saw the show girls that take pics with you for $10.....
Then I thought about how vulnerable they are to stabby homeless fools....

I'm not sure if there are more homeless than before, but that knife attack was still on my mind.
 
when I was there the show girls were back out on the sidewalk. This time there was a significant and visible armed police presence on each side. Felt like I was a checkpoint Charlie
 
I was there 2 weeks ago for a conference. Mon through Weds. I stayed at Aria and visited Caesars and the Wynn. The tables were decently populated at all 3 casinos for early in the week. I hit up Gen Korean BBQ at the Planet Hollywood and the Wynn buffet - both were very good and busy. Outside of the casino and restaurants - things were dead. There wasn't much of a buzz at all. If you enjoy staying in the high-end resorts, it's a good time to go because service level is still about the same but fewer people. I didn't venture off the strip but my Uber drivers told me things aren't good.
 
potsticker said:
I was there 2 weeks ago for a conference. Mon through Weds. I stayed at Aria and visited Caesars and the Wynn. The tables were decently populated at all 3 casinos for early in the week. I hit up Gen Korean BBQ at the Planet Hollywood and the Wynn buffet - both were very good and busy. Outside of the casino and restaurants - things were dead. There wasn't much of a buzz at all. If you enjoy staying in the high-end resorts, it's a good time to go because service level is still about the same but fewer people. I didn't venture off the strip but my Uber drivers told me things aren't good.
Click to expand...

I'm looking to do some interior remodeling of my Las Vegas home so I'm thinking sometime next year may be a good time to start getting some bids.
 
We will be back in Vegas in Dec and staying at LV Resort World. Booked a room at the Hilton tower and our friends are staying at Conrad tower next door. Crockfords was a bit pricy. The Hilton tower has a bad rep for smaller rooms and lack of view, so the rooms were at bigger discount. I'll report back after the trip.

If you're looking for show girls in skimpy outfits, they hang out in front of Bellagio fountain for paid photos.

Most major casinos have switched to networked slot machines, with relatively high requirement for bigger payoffs. Thus you have penny machines with minimum 40-50 cents per play and dollar machines where you have to play as much as $12/spin to qualify for highest prizes. If you're looking for older, non-networked machines that only requires $2 or $3 for max spin, you have to find them in far corners of the casino. Needless to say slot machines on the strip have poor payoff odds and your... "donation" contributes to the resort's upkeep.
 
I used to love Vegas but last time I went for the Pac 12 tournament it just wasn't the same - reservations required for anything good though I managed a bar seat at Joe's as a solo before meeting up with buddies. The most fun thing was the brewpubs in the Arts district. Sportsbooks require paid admission. Without the ability to meander about your day and eat and drink whatever you want when you want Vegas just isn't the same.
 
The black stripper @ sapphire told me she paid $110 for her entry fee.
Inflation!...use to be $100
 
Later that night, she asked my wife if we wanted to take her home..

LOL...I said...yyeeeeno...sorry
 
It's a fun Vegas story I like to think about.
It's actually kinda hot.....but I didn't really say no.

My wife told me about it after we exited.
 
OCtoSV said:
I used to love Vegas but last time I went for the Pac 12 tournament it just wasn't the same - reservations required for anything good though I managed a bar seat at Joe's as a solo before meeting up with buddies. The most fun thing was the brewpubs in the Arts district. Sportsbooks require paid admission. Without the ability to meander about your day and eat and drink whatever you want when you want Vegas just isn't the same.
Click to expand...
Wow, sportsbooks require paid admission? Is that the norm everywhere?

I've probably done better on sportsbooks than any other form of gambling in Vegas. It's a great way to stay entertained for hours while capping your potential losses.
 
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