Cost of buffets, parking, etc.
I was reading / viewing / hearing that tourists are complaining that they have made incidentals too expensive. They used to have free parking and cheap buffets, but now expensive parking and expensive buffets. People expected to lose gambling, but not so much other expenses. I guess some can pay for buffets, etc. with points from gambling with their cards.
I know this is different from the experiences of professional poker players, but maybe worth discussing.
It’s true that cheap buffets are mostly a thing of the past, at least on the Strip. But cheap buffets were pretty gross anyway. They’ve been largely replaced by food halls, which for the most part are better.
They do charge for parking at most places now, but basically everywhere this is free if you have just the second tier of the player’s card system. So it really only punishes people who come very infrequently or don’t gamble at all.
The overall trend is that in the past, almost everyone who came to Vegas gambled. So the casinos could provide more free stuff to everyone on the assumption that everyone would lose is back gambling. Now many people come to Vegas and don’t gamble at all, so the casinos need to find another way to profit off these people.
If you still gamble on your player’s card, you still get all this stuff free (parking, rooms, drinks, some food, etc.).
Vegas, as with most everything, has gotten more expensive, but free parking and cheap buffets were gone a very long time ago -- many years.
Vegas had cheap buffets but you have to go back much farther in time. 2015 Vegas was expensive compared to Vegas in 1995.
Before COVID some places spent money either upgrading buffets or opening up new, expensive buffets. I think there is a big difference between eating at a cheap buffet that isn’t good and an expensive one.
Now it’s expensive parking and often no buffet at all, or if there is a buffet it’s much more expensive than it was before.
Vegas had cheap buffets but you have to go back much farther in time. 2015 Vegas was expensive compared to Vegas in 1995.Before COVID some places spent money either upgrading buffets or opening up new, expensive buffets. I think there is a big difference between eating at a cheap buffet that isn’t good and an expensive one.Now it’s expensive parking and often no buffet at all
Expensive buffets are a waste of money. For the $50+ you might spend on an expensive buffet, you can get a real restaurant meal. You can't stuff yourself like at a buffet, but you can certainly fill up on a standard restaurant meal.
When I was in Vegas for the Series a while ago, they had good buffets at Bellagio and Wynn, which were expensive, but not expensive like now. I guess if you gamble enough on slots and table games, you get points on your card that could pay for the buffet or nice regular meals.
When I was in Vegas for the Series a while ago, they had good buffets at Bellagio and Wynn, which were expensive, but not expensive like now. I guess if you gamble enough on slots and table games, you get points on your card that could pay for the buffet or nice regular meals.
Bellagio buffet used to be good. It's trash now. Wynn is still very good.
Wynn is nice. Buffets are worth it for me, because I eat the expensive stuff 😉 Not as much for my husband who sticks to eggs, bacon, steak, etc.
Wicked Spoon at Cosmo is still a very good value if you can get it at half price with MGM Gold card status or higher.
I went to Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars during WSOP 2025. The buffet was excellent in terms of volume of food. All the high-end foods were available. The quality of the food was solid, but none of it was OMG life changing. It was worth doing once, but I wouldn't go there again.
Wicked Spoon at Cosmo is still a very good value if you can get it at half price with MGM Gold card status or higher.
Whoa! I've heard of a buffet that was cheaper with high card status, but that was pre-rona. I can get temporary status match with CET Diamond. Might be worth it for that Cosmo buffet?
For parking, if US citizen, simply applying for a CET or MGM credit card and using it once gets you free self-parking (gives you MGM Pearl and CET Platinum). Harder for overseas tourists though but very easy to get free parking on the Strip for US citizens.
Cheap buffets can stay gone.
For parking, if US citizen, simply applying for a CET or MGM credit card and using it once gets you free self-parking (gives you MGM Pearl and CET Platinum). Harder for overseas tourists though but very easy to get free parking on the Strip for US citizens.
Cheap buffets can stay gone.
The big benefit for local card holders is free parking.
The MGM credit card gets you a separate Pearl Card, for free parking and with which you also can earn comps for dining pretty easily at their properties by either gambling or spending. All you need to do is use it once a year in a slot machine to keep it active for free parking and getting comps issued
Whoa! I've heard of a buffet that was cheaper with high card status, but that was pre-rona. I can get temporary status match with CET Diamond. Might be worth it for that Cosmo buffet?
MGM has been sending all Gold card holders an offer for half-off Wicked Spoon (for one or two people) once per month since the transition of Identity over to MGM. I believe the offer is once per -day- for Platinum cards. It's basically a carryover from the Identity benefit...it's not an official benefit, but they keep extending it I believe through the end of the year at least. I'm not sure if it applies to status matches though.
Expensive buffets are a waste of money. For the $50+ you might spend on an expensive buffet, you can get a real restaurant meal. You can't stuff yourself like at a buffet, but you can certainly fill up on a standard restaurant meal.
I don’t know. I enjoy a good, tasty buffet and their myriad of choices (not talking about Golden Corral types). It’s such a great value. For example, I had the Fresh Harvest buffet at Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa over the weekend for $49.99. It included prime rib, sushi, peeling shrimp, Asian cuisine, tons of desserts, etc etc. If you go to a nicer sit down restaurant, you’re looking at $49.99…just for the meat! Add in the sides, dessert, etc…it’s a horrible value.
There’s a time and a place to drop good money on a meal but you get so much bang for your buck at a good buffet.
even at a place like Excalibur, they have good carving station meats, custom omelet, drinks, bacon, desserts, fruit... sure there's crap but you aren't obligated to try everything. I feel like I always get a good meal there and even at like $30 it's still a value, and it fills me til dinner.
and that's one of the lowest level Vegas buffets
MGM has been sending all Gold card holders an offer for half-off Wicked Spoon (for one or two people) once per month since the transition of Identity over to MGM. I believe the offer is once per -day- for Platinum cards. It's basically a carryover from the Identity benefit...it's not an official benefit, but they keep extending it I believe through the end of the year at least
I was Gold for a little while earlier this year on a CET status match, but that has expired and I'm back to Pearl now. I didn't get any of those buffet offers while I was Gold.
^I also like the fact that at a buffet, I don’t have to sit around and wait and can get my food immediately after I sit down.
Depends on who I’m with too though.
I was reading / viewing / hearing that tourists are complaining that they have made incidentals too expensive. They used to have free parking and cheap buffets, but now expensive parking and expensive buffets. People expected to lose gambling, but not so much other expenses. I guess some can pay for buffets, etc. with points from gambling with their cards. I know this is differ
Everything gets more expensive; it's the way inflation works. If you want no resort fees, free parking, etc., the casino would just build it into the cost of the hotel room. Then, instead of complaining about resort fees, people would be complaining about how much more expensive the hotels rooms are. The bottom line is that Vegas is never going to be as cheap, in absolute dollar terms, as it used to be. Same goes for gas, groceries, cars, your phone bill, etc.
A lot of people claim they'd rather just pay more upfront than pay a resort fee, but I think if that were true, hotels wouldn't be charging them. People don't want to feel nickel-and-dimed, but they also don't want to pay more for their room.
The real question is whether in relative terms Vegas has gotten more expensive. I don't know the answer. Personally, I haven't noticed it. But I also don't rent a car and I never sought out a "cheap buffet," which sounds terrible to me. If I'm going to do a buffet, I want the top-end ones.
I kind of suspect that most of the online griping about the cost of Vegas is from boomers and MAYBE Gen Xers who remember and are nostalgic for the 80s and 90s when the business model in Vegas was just different.
My biggest issue with resort fees is that every casino corporation has different rules for who pays them and who doesn't. Some automatically deduct resort fees at a certain tier level, others don't. Some never charge resort fees on comped rooms, other almost always do, and others charge them on some comp room offers but not others. As far as I can tell, it doesn't change the overall cost of rooms in the bigger picture, it just contributes to customer confusion and labor, so it just seems like a needless cost with no benefit.
Buffets are definitely worth the money and a good deal. Not just in Vegas too. Even lower level like Langdon said are fine and a great value.
My biggest issue with resort fees is that every casino corporation has different rules for who pays them and who doesn't. Some automatically deduct resort fees at a certain tier level, others don't. Some never charge resort fees on comped rooms, other almost always do, and others charge them on some comp room offers but not others. As far as I can tell, it doesn't change the
Why would you expect different companies to do it the same way?
Everything gets more expensive; it's the way inflation works. If you want no resort fees, free parking, etc., the casino would just build it into the cost of the hotel room. Then, instead of complaining about resort fees, people would be complaining about how much more expensive the hotels rooms are. The bottom line is that Vegas is never going to be as cheap, in absolute dolla
Nope, you're wrong. The main things you get for resort fees are internet and spa/gym. They used to charge a la carte for those things. I sometimes paid for internet and sometimes didn't. I think the hotels found that with the prevalence in smart phones, they would just tether their phones to their laptops. So, by forcing everyone to buy those things whether they want it or not, they make a lot more money.
I never paid for the gym. I'm not spending my very expensive Vegas time on something as ridiculous as gym time when I can use the gym after I get home.
Charging for parking is just indefensible. The only "benefit" they gave in exchange for charging $20+ PER DAY are the lights over vacant parking spaces, which are now wearing out or breaking. Plus, we also got the morning traffic jams getting out of the parking garages because people have to feed their tickets into the gates. There were no gates before they started charging.
Nope, you're wrong. The main things you get for resort fees are internet and spa/gym. They used to charge a la carte for those things. I sometimes paid for internet and sometimes didn't. I think the hotels found that with the prevalence in smart phones, they would just tether their phones to their laptops. So, by forcing everyone to buy those things whether they want it or not,
The items included in the resort fee are purely pretextual. You're not actually paying for those things with the resort fee. How do we know that? Because 99% of the time you can't opt out and refuse the resort fee in exchange for not having access to those amenities. I assume for regulatory reasons they need to tie the fee to something that is not a component of the room itself or its habitability.
But it also doesn't really matter. The reality is that the resort fee is a practical matter an additional component of your room rate. If your rate is $200 + $45 resort fee, it's a $245 room. End of story.
And calling paid parking "indefensible" is pretty hyperbolic, given that plenty of hotels in basically every major metro area across the U.S. charge for parking.
