Recession = Desperation for Vegas

You know things are getting bad when you have to turn to a sea of worthless college kids in hopes of scrounging up low-margin business.

Ad I just saw on Facebook:


If only Vegas had hostels...

I received an offer in the mail today for two free nights at the Venetian that I can use while I'm in town for their tournament. When Venetian is giving away rooms in this climate (as they should, it cost them virtually nothing to give away a room on a non-busy night) it makes me think bottom-tier Strip places like Flamingo are just completely screwed. I mean, who is ever going to stay there when there is almost certainly free rooms being given away at a nicer place?

Since these lower-tier places are certainly worth far more continuing to stay open for business, even if hardly generating any revenue at all, than they are being liquidated for scrap metal, they will probably continue to stay open. One thing is for sure, their land is of little value right now (who is buying up Strip property for new developments at a time like this?!). The two big companies who own most of these lower-tier properties (Caesars and MGM) might get to the point where they're desperate enough for cash that they're willing to sell off some of their properties of lesser importance at what will likely be heavily discounted prices. MGM has already done this with T.I.; I forget who bought it.

All of that in mind, prediction: in five years, the Vegas Strip will have a number of it's less-glamorous properties under independent control that were bought up by random people for a steal of a deal. The Casino Royale is another such present-day example. Vegas has started to swing back away from the direction of major corporations controlling all major properties.

I, for one, would love to be in a position to buy one of these places on the cheap. Make a little money (not to mention have a lot of fun!) running it, and then make a killing selling it to some big corporation who wants to bulldoze it and use the land for a mega-resort when another Vegas bubble begins to form in ten years. And then be like, "oh by the way, I'll run that new place for y'all when you're done building it." And then next thing you know you're like Steve Wynn taking less-than-ethical approaches to deciding whether or not the new cocktail waitress applicant gets a job. And I think that's all that needs to be said about that.