Las Vegas – slowing down?
2008
Las Vegas doesn’t feel as busy as when I was last here about two years ago. Then it was January, and people were still in holiday mood. Although the temperature was below 5 degrees Celsius – it was so cold the fountain outside The Venetian was frozen - people were out in force, enjoying the sun and the cold brisk air. There was a definite buzz and I could hear cash registers ringing everywhere.
When I arrived on Sunday night, it was so quiet at the airport. Maybe it’s the time of the night. After all it was already 8.30pm. It was like a ghost town. Cashiers of the one-armed bandit in the departure/arrival halls were waiting for customers. There’re no queues for the taxi. Within 20 minutes of arrival, I was at the hotel where I checked in within 5 minutes.
What a difference from the time I was here two years ago. People were everywhere. I had to jostle with the crowd just to get from one place to the next. I queued for everything – for food, drinks, taxi, shows. The casino were full of gamers (they don’t call them gamblers – bad connotation).
Financial crisis seems to have impacted Las Vegas. No queues anywhere. Gamers were few and far in between. I’ve been walking past the room where the high rollers play – stakes up to US$10,000 several times in the last two days. I’ve seen only one gamer there when there’re 4 tables opened for gaming. The croupiers were twiddling thumbs and looked bored.
So what’s busy? The pubs and the restaurants. People have to eat and there aren’t that many restaurants outside of the hotels.
One thing though, I wandered over to a luxury hotel and saw that the casinos there had more people than in the hotel I was staying at. For the wealthy, the financial crisis has no impact.
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