IS LAS VEGAS  A RIP OFF SPOT?  "RESORT FEES", SOME PEOPLE THINK SO. 

THE KUHNS REPORT

LAS VEGAS - Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

I live in Las Vegas.  I began working in Las Vegas  as an entertainer way back  in 1953. Then in 1958, I  began living in California, but still traveled to Las Vegas over the years to perform.. I called southern California my home until 1993. I then relocated back to Las Vegas to live. I spent the next 28 years calling Vegas my home.

You can bet, in all of those years gone by, I saw how Las Vegas has changed. There was a time when the  casinos used to provide their guests with amenities just to have the person stay at their hotel/casino.  If you were a hotel guest you had free access to the pool, lounge shows, restaurants, phone, (except long distance), and parking lots, just to name  a few areas.

The casinos had automobiles, trucks, motorcycles numerous other premium items that a person could gamble for. The hotels had $100,000 to million dollar jackpots scattered all over their hotel floors. Guests could usually win some money during their stay. There were times in the 1950s, 60s and 70s , I could bring my lady over to Las Vegas for the weekend, and FIFTY DOLLARS  in gambling money would last the entire weekend. You could see guest walking around the casino with  cardboard buckets with their winning in silver dollars (later hotels casinos did away with paying silver dollars and went to their own dollar coins) which a person cashed in at the casino cashier. Hotel employees would offer guests free meals (comps) , as breakfast, lunch and dinner, only because the employee saw the guest gambling on a machine for quite awhile.

A guest could expect to see  a cocktail waitress  passing by about every ten minutes offering drinks to the customers.  Cigarettes were given away by the pack. A guest who smoked  never needed to buy a pack of cigarettes during their hotel stay.They even gave free cigars to guests. Casino  personnel would  give free tickets to their guests to see the  different shows and artists  working in the showrooms and lounges. A hotel guest could go back home happy, after having a  fun weekend , which included a bunch of free comps in Las Vegas. And it wasn't unusual for the  Las Vegas visitor to go home with a little winnings from their gambling weekend.

I could go on, and on, how Las Vegas used to be compared to what the guest receives now.
I feel really bad about how the the tourists, and locals are treated in  (modern day?) Las Vegas.

Now the hotel casinos treat their guests like the airline industry  treats their  passengers. They ding the tourist and local hotel/casino guests for amenities that they should offer  to the person just for staying at their establishment.And, it's not a nickel and dime ding.  It's a $20,30, 40, dollars  and more DING. I believe the hospitality, gambling, and food industry  took a page from the airlines, and  I suspect Las Vegas is one of the biggest gougers in the country.

Lets start with the infamous: RESORT FEE. Hotels in Las Vegas tack on those hefty fees which often can add up to an additional $50.00 or more a night, on top  of the cost of the room. Many hotels fail to tell the guest about the "resort fee" at the time the person makes their reservation for their room. Then at check out the guest has STICKER SHOCK. A room the guest thought cost for $39.95 a night now is billed out at $80.00 a night.

When the guest asks why the discrepancy in their bill, all of the hotel employees in town at most hotels sing the same song:  They say, it's for the amenities we offer you.  Access to the pool; phone; Wi-Fi-maid service, etc. What? I say, that's what the hotel is there for. It is to offer amenities for the guests comfort as part their stay at the establishment.  For example, if the hotel has a pool, it should be a free amenity for the guest.Its part of the hotel and should be available to the guests that are staying there . And I say, everything else these gouging, greedy hotels hotels are charging the guest (outside the basic cost of the room) , should be a free amenity for the guest. I suggest such things should be free to the guest for  staying at the establishment.

But folks, it nothing but GREED. Now, in Las Vegas,  the only comps a guest gets is , if they put a players card in a machine, they may be entitled to a FREE BUFFET (Whoppee!) There is no more chance of winning cars, trucks, and/or motorcycles, just by playing the slot machine carousel, where the  vehicle is parked. You are lucky if you ever see a car on the casino floor. If you do, it's only one car with a sticker attached saying you have a chance to win (this one car)it if you show up at a specific time, on a certain  day, to compete in a drawing against thousands of people. That's not gambling for a vehicle --that's a raffle, folks.

Over the years, I have watched the casinos cut back on the quality, and types of prizes, a guest had a chance to win. The casinos have also cut back on the size of the slot machine payoffs. The only big slot win in the state now is the MEGABUCKS, and the odds of winning  that slot has been drastically cut back. One used to hear about a megabucks machine hitting quite regularly, at different casinos. Now, your lucky to hear a megabucks hit once or twice a year.

And, it's not uncommon to hear tourists, that have been returning to Las Vegas, year after year, and locals, complain that the  slot machine payoffs, have been  drastically reduced. I have seen people get angry and complain that they put a twenty-dollar bill ($20.00), into a  slot machine and it's gone with three to five minutes, without even a dollar or two payoff..

And now,  the hotels/casinos in Las Vegas, with their never ending  desire to find a way to squeeze still more money out of the tourist and local  visitor who visits their property is charging the guest for (PARKING) --- Some people believe that the casinos and hotels in Vegas are ripping them off. I have had many Las Vegas visitors  tell me they will not come back because they feel they are being  cheated. I have been told by friends and visitors that they intend to stay away from Vegas and visit the Indian casino/hotels near their homes. I don't blame them. This idea of the hospitality and gaming industry looking for every little item they can  add to the visitors bill is out of hand -- and has been for years.

What's next? Are the hotel/casinos going to charge the guest for  using the coffee maker in their room, $4.00 per cup of coffee? Are they going to ding the  guest a dollar a towel, to shower or bath? Maybe they want to charge the guest a charge to pee -- fifty cents a toilet flush --charge for the toilet paper -- five buck a roll.

I see Las Vegas as an empty shell of what it used to be. Great entertainment like the old days of Vegas are gone.  The reasonable buffets that made Las Vegas famous years ago are gone. Hell, some strip buffets run $50-$60-dollars. There are no really good acts of raw talent in the showrooms anymore, like Sinatra, and the Rat Pack, The main acts in Las Vegas today mostly LIP-SYNC (pretend to sing a song), and the class showrooms have now been turned into night clubs catering to booze and drug venues, with DJ's who spin a record. The hotel pool areas have been turned into day clubs,--again, booze, drugs and DJ's. It's all greed, people.

Where is it going to end folks?  Although, I have to give credit where credit is due . There a a FEW hotels in Vegas that DO NOT charge a  "resort fee",  but they may charge other fees (such as parking) to boost up the cost of their rooms, per night.

Truth be told, I stopped going to the Las Vegas strip for any reason whatsoever. I refuse to book a hotel for friends or relatives, even downtown Las Vegas, if the place charges a resort fee. And now if they charge a parking fee to visit their property, they are off my list for visits also, and put on my "poop" list. -- And, that's my opinion. Make your own decisions. You decide.

BRADLEY W. KUHNS, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by email at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com