{"id":96320,"date":"2025-07-27T09:03:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T09:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/96320\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T09:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T09:03:16","slug":"9-cups-of-coffee-and-pricier-rooms-are-steering-travelers-away-from-the-vacation-mecca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/96320\/","title":{"rendered":"$9 cups of coffee and pricier rooms are steering travelers away from the vacation mecca"},"content":{"rendered":"

For decades, Las Vegas was considered a destination of bargains galore<\/a>, offering 99-cent shrimp cocktails, $10 steak dinners and shows that cost no more than the price of a drink.<\/p>\n

But those days are long gone. Instead, think $9 cups of coffee, $100-a-person buffet spreads and a movie ticket that can set you back a whopping $279.<\/p>\n

Most Read from MarketWatch<\/p>\n

It\u2019s prices like these that have some Vegas regulars saying the tourist and gambling mecca has lost its appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cVegas is not fun anymore,\u201d said Amrita Bhasin, a retail-industry entrepreneur<\/a> who has traveled there frequently for business as well as pleasure. Her pet financial peeve? The resort fees that hotels charge, which she said can add as much as $50 a day to the tab.<\/p>\n

Such complaints are coming at a time when Vegas has seen a sizable drop in visits. In June, hotel occupancy rates fell 14.6% versus the prior year, according to CoStar, a global provider of real-estate data, analytics and news. They were down 12.3% for the current month through July 19.<\/p>\n

Among the city\u2019s major hotel and gaming operators are such corporate giants as Caesars Entertainment CZR and MGM Resorts International MGM. Both companies declined comment for this story.<\/p>\n

Vegas tourism officials don\u2019t deny that the city is going through a dry spell, but they say it\u2019s reflective of tourism declines nationwide, particularly as foreigners hesitate to come to the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery little of the drop is a Vegas issue,\u201d said Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Hill pointed to a significant decline in travelers from Canada as a critical factor, since Canadians have traditionally been the city\u2019s biggest international market.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Hill said the number of Canadian visitors has declined around 20% in Las Vegas. That dovetails with a broader U.S. trend, which shows a decline of nearly 19%<\/a> in visits by our northern neighbors.<\/p>\n

David C\u00e1rdenas, a tourism expert who teaches at the University of Nevada\u2019s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality in Las Vegas, said foreigners are staying away from Vegas and other U.S. destinations for a host of reasons, from weak exchange rates to concerns about U.S. immigration policies under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Canadians have also been particularly incensed over Trump\u2019s comments about making the country the 51st U.S. state, as has been widely reported<\/a>, and that may be playing a role in their decision not to travel to the U.S.<\/p>\n

But plenty of travelers say Vegas has simply become a budget buster. And hospitality experts who know the city say the high costs are definitely a factor in the tourism slump.<\/p>\n

Philip Knott, an asset-strategy adviser and hospitality executive who has worked for companies operating and investing in Vegas, is one of those who view it that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cVegas is now seen as overpriced,\u201d he said, pointing to everything from expensive dining to hidden charges at hotels. \u201cAll of those things are impacting booking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even without those hidden charges, hotels have gotten much pricier over the years. In 2015, the average daily room rate in Vegas was $124.42, according to CoStar. In 2024, it was $209.54, an increase of nearly 70%.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about room rates, however. Visitors point to a variety of things that are hitting them in the wallet.<\/p>\n

Like that $9 cup of coffee, which is what you\u2019ll spend for a regular-size brew at Caf\u00e9 Belle Madeleine<\/a>, located in the Paris Las Vegas resort, a Caesars property. Or that $100 buffet, which is roughly what you\u2019ll pay for the spread on a weekend, including tax, at the Bacchanal<\/a>, located at Caesars Palace.<\/p>\n

What about that $279 movie ticket? Technically, that\u2019s the price of a VIP package for what\u2019s called the Sphere Experience, a screening of the Darren Aronofsky film \u201cPostcard from Earth\u201d plus a few preshow attractions at the Sphere, the $2 billion Vegas entertainment venue<\/a> that opened in 2023.<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t opt for the VIP treatment, a basic ticket starts at $89 for upcoming shows, according to what\u2019s listed on Ticketmaster<\/a>. Officials with the Sphere didn\u2019t respond to a MarketWatch request for comment.<\/p>\n

Of course, value-conscious travelers will still find ways to save on a Vegas vacation. Lisa Nicole Jackson, a Los Angeles resident who visits Vegas about three times a year, said she always hunts for deals \u2014 and usually finds them. For example, she attended the Sphere Experience for free as part of a hotel package.<\/p>\n

Still, Jackson admits that there is the occasional reminder of how expensive Vegas can get these days. Her prime example: a $17 smoothie.<\/p>\n

Jackson also said she doesn\u2019t like the resort fees that hotels charge, especially when she feels the service and amenities aren\u2019t commensurate with the tacked-on cost. An example she cited was hotel pools that close relatively early in the day \u2014 \u201clike 6 p.m.,\u201d she said of a recent experience.<\/p>\n

Vegas tourism officials say that deals can readily be found for hotels, particularly during the summer, which is considered the off-season in the city. And sure enough, one of the big deals being promoted right now by some establishments is waiving those pesky resort fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got an offering for every budget,\u201d said Hill of the city\u2019s Convention and Visitors Authority. As for things like that $9 cup of coffee, he said: \u201cYou\u2019re not paying $9 for the coffee. You\u2019re paying $9 for the setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason that Vegas has a $9 cup of coffee, experts say, and that those $10 steak dinner deals of yesteryear are largely gone: Vegas hotels no longer rely as heavily on gambling revenue. Those steak-dinner deals were often loss leaders aimed at getting people inside to play the slots or hit the craps table.<\/p>\n

Now Vegas is about the setting, with elaborately themed hotels \u2014 yes, Paris in Nevada \u2014 along with restaurants helmed by celebrity chefs and performances by star entertainers. In the upcoming week alone, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and the Backstreet Boys are in town, and there are ongoing engagements by the likes of David Copperfield and Penn & Teller.<\/p>\n

The Vegas of today also demands a highly qualified workforce, one that requires good salaries and benefits, says Tony Abou-Ganim, a renowned bar professional<\/a> who\u2019s been based in Vegas for more than 20 years and is now a managing partner at Libertine Social, a craft cocktail establishment at Mandalay Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a $9 cup of coffee to provide that,\u201d said Abou-Ganim. \u201cIn turn, hopefully the guest experience is elevated.\u201d<\/p>\n

But experts say there\u2019s no disputing that such costs can make Vegas seem out of reach for many middle-class travelers \u2014 the very same vacationers who helped put the city on the tourism map.<\/p>\n

As for Bhasin, the entrepreneur who has been a Vegas regular, she\u2019s fairly certain she\u2019ll be cutting back on her trips to the city, in large part because of the cost. Her next vacation there is with family, but she says the plan is actually to visit national parks far from the famed Vegas Strip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only reason we\u2019re flying into Vegas is because the flight was cheaper,\u201d Bhasin said.<\/p>\n

Read next:<\/b> Why American Express and American Airlines shrunk the airport lounge<\/a><\/p>\n

Most Read from MarketWatch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For decades, Las Vegas was considered a destination of bargains galore, offering 99-cent shrimp cocktails, $10 steak dinners…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":96321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63383,2184,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-96320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-cups-of-coffee","10":"tag-las-vegas","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114924395400491798","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}