What to Bring Back to Las Vegas From its Classic Past — Poll

Posted on: January 30, 2025, 03:56h. 

Last updated on: January 31, 2025, 09:07h.

Our friends at the Las Vegas Advisor (LVA) website on Thursday published the results of a poll asking readers what they would bring back to Las Vegas from its glory days, if they were in charge. Not surprisingly, the Top 10 vote-getters were all casino perks that have been incrementally stripped away over the decades.

AI responds to a prompt to render modern-day Las Vegas transported back in time to the 1940s. (Image: GROK2)

The Winners

  1. No resort fees
  2. Free parking
  3. Buffets
  4. Casino funbooks with free money
  5. Meal deals everywhere
  6. $5 table limits
  7. Full-pay video poker
  8. No 6-5 blackjack
  9. 99-cent shrimp cocktails
  10. Lounges with live music

“Picking resort fees, parking, and buffets as the top three had to be the easiest parlay in Vegas history,” LVA publisher Anthony Curtis told Casino.org.

AI renders resort fees as a monster attacking the Las Vegas Strip. (Image: GROK2)

Last Resort

Indeed, returning to the days without resort fees was an unsurprising poll-topper. These fees — implemented so resorts could compete on online travel sites without having to lower their advertised prices — are universally despised by tourists across the US, but especially in Las Vegas, where they reach as high as $55 per night at properties such as Bellagio and Mandalay Bay.

Resort fees are frequently unlisted on travel sites such as Priceline, which allows customers to reserve stays without paying the fees. Thinking they snagged two nights at the Luxor for $25 per night, for example, these customers will show up to the front desk ambushed by a $90 resort fee covering both nights.

While the days of “no resort fees” are behind us, the poll voters are in for some relief by April. By then, as announced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last month, all hotels and casino resorts must include all add-on charges, exclusive of taxes, in the rates they initially advertise online.

The LVA‘s poll logged more than 5,000 votes for 73 choices provided by the Las Vegas Advisor, which it compiled using reader suggestions and comments.

Making surprise showings were “Steve Wynn” (42 votes), “the mob” (35), and “hookers on every Strip and downtown corner” (24).

“I was also shocked to see four casinos — Barbary Coast, Mirage, Riviera, and Imperial Palace (Imperial Palace?!!) — come before Lady Luck,” Curtis noted.