Americans love Las Vegas. It’s where we go to have fun, maybe win big, and enjoy ourselves.
But there’s trouble brewing in Sin City.
More and more visitors are getting fed up with the rising costs at Las Vegas casinos. They’re tired of being nickel-and-dimed at every turn.
“I love paying for an experience, but if you are going to nickel and dime me, in my mind, what you’re doing is saying, ‘I will prey on your ignorance,'” said Dee Ellis, a 63-year-old epidemiologist who splits time between Las Vegas and the Bay Area, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Vegas used to be known for value. You could get cheap rooms, affordable meals, and decent odds at the tables. That was the deal: casinos would offer bargains to get you in the door, hoping you’d spend money gambling.
Not anymore.
Now visitors face resort fees, parking fees, surge pricing, worse odds on table games, and crazy markups on food and drinks.
“I think Vegas is kind of pricing itself out,” said Bill Perry, a 64-year-old retiree who moved to Las Vegas in 2020 after years as a regular visitor.
“They welcome you with their words,” Perry continued, “but their actions aren’t following up with that. You don’t feel welcome at all when you’re charged every time you turn around after you already put out a lot of money just to be there.”
The numbers back this up. The average nightly room rate hit an all-time high of $179.10 in 2024. Visitors are spending more on food and drinks ($615.07 per trip) and shopping ($281.12 per trip) than they did in 2023.
For a city that built its reputation on giving people a good deal, this shift could spell trouble.
Some casino operators understand the problem. Derek Stevens, who owns three properties in downtown Las Vegas, believes in listening to guests.
“Obviously, you got to have some thick skin to read reviews or be willing to talk face-to-face with casino patrons,” Stevens said. “But you learn a lot, too, so I think that’s a very important thing.”
The Palms hotel-casino recently made a move to win back gamblers. They announced they would only offer 3:2 blackjack, bucking the trend toward 6:5 blackjack, which has worse odds for players.
But most casinos don’t seem worried yet. Why? Because people keep coming back.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 87 percent of those surveyed in 2024 said they were “very satisfied” with their visit. That’s down from 94 percent in 2019, but still very high. Another 10 percent were “somewhat satisfied.”
More than half said Las Vegas exceeded their expectations.
Casino operators who responded to the Review-Journal said their costs are rising too, especially for labor and food. They emphasized they’re still committed to providing value for different budgets.
“As tourism and travel prices rise, we expect that the industry’s hospitality standards and guest service levels should advance too,” said Skylar Dice, senior vice president and general manager of The Strat.
But there are warning signs. The average number of annual visits is down. The likelihood of visitors returning has dropped from 87 percent in 2022 to 75 percent in 2024.
Among unhappy visitors, 20 percent said their main complaint was that Vegas is “too expensive.”
Ellis thinks Las Vegas is reaching a breaking point where visitors will start going elsewhere.
“Las Vegas is just not the bargain or the value anymore for the entertainment that you’re actually receiving,” she said. “We are losing the experience while they step over a dollar to get to a dime.”
The business model has changed over the last 15 years. Casinos aren’t just after gamblers anymore. They want to make money on everything.
Amanda Belarmino, a hospitality professor at UNLV, said consumers have shown “an increased desire for higher-end experiences,” which has helped casinos “increase profitability across all of the departments.”
What remains to be seen is whether Las Vegas can keep charging more without losing its appeal. After all, when people feel like they’re being taken advantage of, they eventually take their business elsewhere.
At that point, what happens in Vegas might just stay in Vegas – because nobody’s coming to visit.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
