When staying at a large hotel on the strip in Las Vegas I've seen bottled water priced at $8 per bottle and there's not water fountains anywhere. Ive Also seen 12 oz beer at the pools in Vegas hotels go for $15. The big hotels also charge a $25-35 "resort fee" per night for wifi access or whatever they claim it's for on top of the room price.
It didn't used to be that way. 15 years ago a decent hotel room could be found for $40-60 a night and alcohol was reasonably priced bc they made their money off of the casino and gamblers. Now it's more like a movie theater or an amusement park--captive audience and you have to take a cab or walk a ways off the strip to get something without a 1,000% markup or more.
I still like Vegas and I go to visit my Dad about once a year but next time I'll probably stay somewhere off of the main drag and just walk or take a cab when I want to go gamble or see a show. There's hotels close to the strip with small kitchens and the rooms are reasonably priced. you won't even find a mini fridge in your room at the big hotels anymore and if you do it's stocked with over priced alcohol.
So that's my experience with price gouging / rip offs.
Now the casinos are trying to charge for parking.
You're right they are...and they're executing it very poorly too. They tried to automate the whole system instead of having an attendant at the garage exit but the few I've had to use don't work very well. You have to pay at a kiosk inside the casino and not in the actual garage in some places which means if you don't realize that when you're leaving you could have to backtrack by a quarter mile, pay, and then return to the car and finally leave.
My dad says people are mad mad mad about it too. Especially Vegas residents who go downtown to see a show once in awhile. I can't believe I forgot about that part!
It has gotten to the point where it is cheaper to take Uber or Lyft than to deal with parking - and I can get picked up/dropped off closer to where I want to go.
WHAT? ?// well it's another castle there for sure, I suppose everyone is winning the machines and getting jackpots
i wonder what happened to the world, having water in public places, having fruit trees by the side of the road, having dollar corner stores, even on the highways, sure you have to do a lot of transportation, buuut still, what's up with all the prices going haywire
Wow what an experience. I Was there about 25 years ago and I remember food and drinks being very cheap. It was a big bonus for a guy like me because Imdont gamble!
Yes I went in 2005 and stayed at the Sahara (now SLS) and it was only $40 a night on the week nights. I was only making 30k per year back then but I could still afford to stay there for nearly a week, eat, drink, gamble a little and see some shows. To do all the same things I did 12 years ago there would cost probably 3x as much now at a similar hotel.
I also went in summer 2001 and it was reasonably priced. I love Vegas but I wonder if at some point people will get sick of being nickel and dimed to death and either stop going or stop going to the big resorts on the strip and go to hotel / casinos on the outskirts of the city. I just don't know how so many ppl have all that money to blow on food, drinks and entertainment.