David J. Danto
Travel thoughts in my
own, personal opinion
eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD on all 
Leaving Las Vegas – January 2024
My last few blogs have mostly been
about Las Vegas. I wrote about the new Sphere,
and about how the town is
getting harder to navigate, and about the
recently concluded CES conference.
Before I leave the Las Vegas topic for a while, I wanted to get one more
blog in about arrogance.
The prior existing properties in Vegas have been
raising prices, eliminating customer-friendly services and doing whatever they
can to squeeze more cash from the throngs of visitors. As long as the throngs keep coming and
tolerating the new, sub-par treatment, the establishments will continue cutting
and squeezing. None of that is a surprise.
What was surprising to me was the arrogance of some of
the newer properties to open. They have
no history of being customer friendly at any point, they just opened-up already
snooty. I first saw this at the newer
Resorts World complex, where the self-service food court had the gall to ask
for tips on the kiosks. Really? I’m taking my own orders yet you want me to
tip you for me providing myself my own service?
It takes a special level of arrogance to even come-up-with that as an
idea.
The newest property to open in Vegas is the Fontainebleau. It is gorgeous, and it is wayyyy over the top
in arrogance.
Fontainebleau Lobby
and Casino
I stopped by there during CES to get a sense of it (as
I do at all new properties) and 
the “we’re better than you are” feeling was
dripping from walls at every interaction.
I was relieved to read
this article from a local who picked-up the exact same vibe for the exact
same reasons. When a casino is too
arrogant to “tier-match” to bring in business, that tells you they’re not going
to be friendly to customers anywhere.
This is reinforced by this recent social media post where someone paid
$24 and waited an hour to get a plate of s-i-x nachos at one of their
restaurants. When I stopped by there it
just so happened that a friend of mine was across the street at the Las Vegas Convention
Center’s new West Hall. Stunningly,
there was no way for her to walk across the street to get to me, or for me to
drive across the street to pick her up. We
wound-up meeting at the Westgate (former Las Vegas Hilton) as there was at
least a place there where I could pull-over and wait for her.
It's one thing for existing firms to ride the tide of
increase costs and decreased services as the market changes. It’s yet another for new entities to come
along and just arrogantly gouge as if people don’t care. Trust me, they do. Without an established clientele, and with
apparently no desire to build one up, the Fontainebleau is in for a load of
headwinds. This historically jinxed
property doesn’t seem to be changing its luck.
Also, p
OK – as the title implies, no more Vegas blogs for a
while. My next three business trips are
to Florida, which isn’t my favorite place, but that’s where the events I’m
attending are.
This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal
opinions.
All image and links provided above as reference under
prevailing fair use statutes.
Copyright 2024 David Danto
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As always, feel free to write and comment, question or
disagree. Hearing from the traveling
community is always a highlight for me.
Thanks!