[h0tmess]

The first time my family and I went to Vegas I was 16 and my brother was 4. We stayed at the Excalibur and had a fantasic time. The pool, from what I remember, was amazing. Besides the pool (and the other million things about Vegas I fell in love with --whole separate thread --), I was really amazed at the castle. Sure, I was 16 and new to the whole Vegas flashiness , but with the castle..and that Pyramid next door...and the Statue of Liberty across the steet...the Eiffel Tower several blocks down.. it was such a unique experience.

Even going in these 'themed' casinos.. they really played it up inside. When we went back, about 8 years later, I just didn't get that charm. I understood more of Vegas now that I was much older (and allowed to do EVERYTHING this time!), but I wonder if that charm was there simply because I was 16 and easily impressed with everything...or things really have changed, and they no longer care about their themes?

Perhaps it's because most casinos on the strip are either MGM or Caesars now? I'm much more familiar with the Caesar's brand casinos (as I'm a Total Rewards player in Atlantic City, hence my free rooms in Vegas!).. but I DO remember when we were there back in 2001, each casino had a different card (My parents wanted to get one from each casino, just because lol).

With City Center and The Comso being the new things in town.. they are just fancy looking sky scrappers. I can't say that I dislike them, but I can not say that I DO like them.

If things are changing towards a much more 'City Center' approach, is this a good thing or a bad thing? I know that a theme doesn't MAKE the hotel/casino, it's what IS inside (and service, food, etc) that counts...but it def gives you something to expect.

Again, maybe I was just so amazed at everything when I was 16, that my mind was warped and everything was a lot cooler than what it actually is .

I miss the Aladin!

[h0tmess]

Sorry to double post (if no one else posts by the time this was submitted).
The reason this came up was because I was talking to a co-worker about Vegas (he is planning to go). He wants to stay at, of course, Aria or The Wynn or the Encore. I advised him that.. yes, they are nice places, but this is your first time there.. how much time are you going to spend in the room?!?!

I was telling him about the other places (mentioned in the OP) and he wasn't very impressed and thought they were just gimmicks meant for children. I understand Excalibur is very very family friendly, but just because.. NY NY looks like NYC, it's for kids? It's weird. I might be the minority in this, but I just felt that I was more impressed by these hotels & casinos that offered more than just a fountain outside (no, not talking about the Bellagio lol)

[VegasMJ]

I think the themed casino's are at their ends. The places that have been around for a while will still be here for probably another 20 or so years, but come time to "redesign", they'll probably go the city center route. I work at New York, New York, and business has been dwindling, despite our low room rates. It seems Vegas has been more focused (and more successful) at targeting the decadent, high roller crowd. Take a look at Wynn, for example. Like your friend, who's willing to blow $500 a night for a room that he'll spend maybe 6 hours a day in, people want to able to say, "I'm staying at the Wynn, which means I have more money than someone staying at an "old" casino." While the streets by Venetian, Mirage, and The Wynn are swarmed with people, you can count on two hands the amount of people up here by NY-NY, Tropicana, and Excalibur. The newer places are also much less focused on "family appeal" (strollers are not allowed on Wynn or Bellagio property unless the parent has a room at the respective hotel) and it seems to be working well.

Personally, I think the "family oriented" casino idea and phase was a bad idea; people who have money and hit casinos to gamble certainly don't want little kids running rampant around their legs while they're betting $300 a hand on blackjack. On the flip side, the casino's themes were what made them all different enough to bring in customers just to see the decor and set-ups.

[MomMom]

For years now, Las Vegas has and still is, marketing itself to the 25-35 year old crowd. Not so much the old timers and not the middle aged either.

And those 25-35 year olds don't like old, themed, run down, historic...they like new, swanky, ultra chic, modern...

[h0tmess]

Originally Posted by VegasMJ

I think the themed casino's are at their ends. The places that have been around for a while will still be here for probably another 20 or so years, but come time to "redesign", they'll probably go the city center route. I work at New York, New York, and business has been dwindling, despite our low room rates. It seems Vegas has been more focused (and more successful) at targeting the decadent, high roller crowd. Take a look at Wynn, for example. Like your friend, who's willing to blow $500 a night for a room that he'll spend maybe 6 hours a day in, people want to able to say, "I'm staying at the Wynn, which means I have more money than someone staying at an "old" casino." While the streets by Venetian, Mirage, and The Wynn are swarmed with people, you can count on two hands the amount of people up here by NY-NY, Tropicana, and Excalibur. The newer places are also much less focused on "family appeal" (strollers are not allowed on Wynn or Bellagio property unless the parent has a room at the respective hotel) and it seems to be working well.

Personally, I think the "family oriented" casino idea and phase was a bad idea; people who have money and hit casinos to gamble certainly don't want little kids running rampant around their legs while they're betting $300 a hand on blackjack. On the flip side, the casino's themes were what made them all different enough to bring in customers just to see the decor and set-ups.

I have this weird feeling -- I'm very negative towards society lol -- that most people can't really afford to stay at the Wynn, Bellagio, etc. They do it simply for the fashion of it; to say I'M STAYING AT THE ENCORE .. and maybe they really just go there for a few days and don't spend much more money because they don't HAVE much to begin with!! We have a relative like this.

The family friendly hotels work well, IMO, as long as the parents are.. well, good responsible parents. They SHOULDN'T be at the slot machines with their kids just walking around. But guess what? Kids will eventually sleep. If you have VERY small children, this may be a problem. When I was 16, at the end of the night I would be in the room with my brother (both exhausted) ... my parents were both downstairs in the casino. We had cell phones back then, so they were a phone call and only an elevator ride away.

Basically they spent the entire day (literally from very early morning, to fairly late at night.. maybe 11pm) for us, and they spent their evenings downstairs together. It worked!

Originally Posted by MomMom

For years now, Las Vegas has and still is, marketing itself to the 25-35 year old crowd. Not so much the old timers and not the middle aged either.

And those 25-35 year olds don't like old, themed, run down, historic...they like new, swanky, ultra chic, modern...

But I'm 26 and I love the themes and hate the modern crap !!
Maybe because I work IN Philadelphia and I see these buildings every single day. Maybe we need a pyramid and a castle here, too! lol

[dynimagelv]

But it cant be taller then William Penns hat can it?

[Buzz123]

Las Vegas is always reinventing itself according to what the public is buying at any given time. That's why hotels never stop remodeling and adding on. Sometimes that's a bad thing ─ The Dunes, The Riviera, The Sahara, all ruined themselves by too much adding on the wrong way.

I think it was in the 70's, or at least early 80's, that the marketing people decided to go after families. They knew exactly how much the average person would spend on gambling, on food, on rooms, etc., so they decided to make the town family friendly. Volumne over high rollers. It was big news at the time. Before that, Las Vegas had some themes going that appealed to adults ─ The Dunes, Circus Circus, Sahara; and even if the hotel didn't really go overboard with it, there were implied themes in the names ─ The Stardust, The Mint, Golden Nugget, The Horseshoe, The Tropicana, The Flamingo, etc.

Then came Steve Wynn with really big ideas and it all started changing again with The Mirage, Treasure Island, and the total reinventing of the Golden Nugget. The Las Vegas International was Kirk Kerkorian's big project, then he sold it to Hilton, and it became the Las Vegas Hilton. Later he came back and built the MGM Grand, which he later sold (or lost - I forget) to Bally's. He had even put in a theater that constantly ran old MGM movies. And he built the new MGM with the Emerald City theme, which is still visible, but not highlighted. Kerkorian and Wynn both started on a shoestring and have been trying to outdo each other for 40 years. I think that's why Kirk did a hostile takeover of Wynn's properties, and why Steve came back even bigger with Wynn and Encore.

After about 20 years of the family thing, they decided that it should go back to being an adult playground. But instead of going after middle-aged folks who had finally made it in life, and would get all dressed up in a tux or gown for a classy evening on the town, they discovered that the disposable income was now in the pockets of twenty-somethings with hot bodies, and probably questionable income sources. So you suddenly got "clubs" in place of "joints", and instead of all the concessions being cheap or free, they found out these fools think the more they have to pay, the bigger deal they look like to the other fools, so now you have New Yawk/Jersey Shore/Hollyweird prices on everything.

It's just marketing. Always try to give people what they want, not what you think is best for them, and you'll be successful.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[pocketaces74]

^ Agreed.

20 years ago, Vegas was the "Cheap, family destination".

Now they've reinvented themselves as the high-class adult playground.

It's funny how many people still visit, expecting $2.99 all-you-can-eat buffets and the like.

[quixotic59]

Ahh, people are too pretentious for their own good. No one wants to have fun anymore, it's all about posturing and displaying.
Ironically, as "cutting edge" as the new places appear, the whole concept is pretty old, much like a peacock's plummage!!! Pretty basic instinctual stuff!!


YouTube - ‪Right Said Fred - I`m Too Sexy (The Original)‬‏

[yamota]

Back in the day if you were caught cheating in a Vegas casino they'd take you to a back room and smash your fingers with a hammer