Vegas News April 10, 2022

A Tale Of A Low-Mid Roller

We’re going to open today with a short tale of a low-mid roller (me) enjoying the casino fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The past year of comps reminds me of getting the most out of the last great recession in the late 2000s.

The Cosmopolitan was my favorite casino on the Vegas Strip before Covid-19 and it’s still my favorite. I love the vibe and always have fun eating, drinking, and gambling. My appreciation of Cosmopolitan grew over the past year. Unfortunately, my spend over the years wasn’t good enough for comps until last year.

Cosmo Staycations

You may have noticed that I’ve been spending two to three nights a month at the Cosmopolitan the past 12-13 months. Here’s a two-second room tour if you’re not familiar. These became a monthly favorite for social media when I was staying at the hotel.

Prior to Covid-19, my offers at Cosmopolitan were for a few bucks a week and maybe a food discount. Never a comp room.

I’m not a high roller or big spender at the property so I was enjoying the offers of good cash and food along with comp rooms as long as I could. Well, it appears as though the jig is up.

From Comp to Discounted Rate

My latest offer was for discounted rooms instead of complimentary. GASP! I knew the offers wouldn’t last forever.

Every casino operator is expecting 80% or more occupancy this month and even more as the summer progresses. It was only a matter of time before my gambling, and mostly solo dining budget would allow me the comp rooms.

For the time being the weekly free play and dining credit are still available. I’m grateful I was able to take the luxury property up on their offers and will continue to do so as long as they last.

History Repeats

I had a similar experience during the last great recession. I enjoyed the best offers of my life. The offers took me from properties like Gold Coast and Flamingo to The Venetian and Encore. 

It was great to be able to afford hotel rooms at the luxury properties for the same price (free or deeply discounted) as the lower to mid-range properties. I look at the past year in a similar light. 

Las Vegas Hotel Occupancy Continues To Rise

Hotel occupancy for the year is continuing to rise and big events like BTS this weekend and conferences like NAB returning will keep demand and prices high. You know the prices are getting high when the local newspaper notices it.

I haven’t had a regular hotel that offers comps on the Vegas Strip since I first moved to Las Vegas and was still a Caesars customer. I would rather be a big fish in a small (less luxurious) pond than a small fish in a big (luxurious) pond. 

It’s been a while but it’s probably time to start exploring other casino-hotel options on the Vegas Strip for my budget. My focus on the Vegas Strip is because 90% of visitors I know never leave the area. It’s time to see where I can get the best bang for my buck next.

I’m sharing my story because this change will impact many other mid-rollers. Black chip players should be fine but those of us who play red and green chips may see drastic changes to our offers.

The casino corporations start reporting earnings for the first quarter in a couple of weeks. I’m expecting record-breaking revenue and profits for some of the casino operators.

The more profitable these corporations are, the less they need to entice less profitable customers. This is just something to be aware of looking towards the rest of the year. 

Let’s get to the Vegas News!

• Palms officially announced its opening day as April 27. Guests can book rooms beginning April 28th. Read more here.  
• There’s nothing new in the Palms press release. The only major change I’ve been reading about is to the sportsbook which should be operated by William Hill. Read more here.
• A few people asked if Ghostbar would be reopening. The answer for a couple of months has been yes. We now know it won’t open until the summer. Read more here.

BTS Invades Las Vegas

• The BTS takeover of Las Vegas is underway. It’s been pretty amazing to watch. Here’s a video from the first night of four shows. The audio isn’t great but it will give you an idea about what they do if you’re not familiar.
• BTS has a fountain show at Bellagio. Read more here.
• Below is a video of the BTS show at Bellagio. More people should be taking pics/vids from this angel – especially at night.

• The free shows at the Fremont Experience are typical of most years with a mix of performers from the past 40 years. Read about Men at Work, Hoobastank and Slaughter playing free shows in downtown Las Vegas here.
• I always find this annual “Loosest Slots” article interesting for some reason. For a change, Reno isn’t leading the way in Nevada. Boulder Strip and other off-strip casinos had the loosest slots in Nevada. Read more here.
• Resorts World released 100,000 killer ladybugs into the world. Read more here. 
• Rhumbar at The Mirage has been renovated and is reopening. I enjoy drinking cocktails outdoors and I hope the new furniture is an upgrade from the leftovers from K-Mart I remember. Anyway, read more here.
• Las Vegas is gross and this town is freaking out. Listen and read more here.
• Related: The Oakland A’s got some big-time Las Vegas drama. Read more here. 
• Related: Maybe there isn’t so much drama with the A’s moving to Las Vegas (there is). Read more here.
• The Wynn Poker Signature Series is underway with events throughout the week. Read more here.
• Nobu at Paris Las Vegas is “officially” open now. It already opened softly so this announcement is just a formality. Read more here.
• The Arts District doesn’t have a lot of parking so Las Vegas decided to add meters. Read more here. 
• Have some extra loot and want to move to Las Vegas? You can live on an island that’s attached to land at Lake Las Vegas. Read/watch here. 
• The Las Vegas Convention Center planned to expand to the Vegas Strip. It didn’t and sold some of the land to Seigel Group. Read more here.
• Resorts World announced that Allergan Aesthetics is its the preferred aesthetics and rewards partner. This is the company that owns Botox. Wonder how many comp points we’ll need to fix our wrinkles. Read more here.
• You’d never expect the buskers on Fremont Street as people who would try to game the system or sell their spots illegally, right? Read more here.
• Online poker players in NV, NJ, and DE should soon people able to play with people from MI. Read more here.
• The EDC festival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway caps off a week of EDM in Las Vegas nightclubs. Read more here. 
• Not sure what this will mean but Howard Hughs Corp. (Summerlin) purchased a steak (pun intended) of Jean Georges restaurant group. Read more here.
• Boyd Gaming reports earnings on April 26. I expect this will be a repeat of calls from the past couple of years. If there’s any Las Vegas news it could be more info about the Fremont expansion. View details on the call here. 
• MGM Resorts will report earnings on May 2. Not sure what to expect besides maybe some information about Cosmopolitan operations. Find call details here.
• Caesars is selling its William Hill foreign assets for less money than expected. Looks like the bean counters to make that money up elsewhere. Hold onto your hats for more cutbacks. I’m just having fun at their expense. I don’t really know that Caesars will try to increase revenue to make up for this loss. Read more here.
• Cake Boss has a food truck at The Linq. Read more here.