Accommodations
If you watch for deals, it's possible to get a hotel room in a decent casino, right on the strip, for about $30 a night. You have to dig a little to find these kinds of deals, but they're out there. The casinos don't mind charging the low rates, because most of the guests end up dumping enough money into the slot machines during their stay to make up for what they might lose on the room itself. Not every guest gambles, but enough to in order to make it worth their while.
This is, when you think about it, a novel concept. Hotel rooms are, effectively, a commodity. You get a bed, bathroom, and possibly a mini-bar for the evening, and while some are nicer than others, it's hard to differentiate between any two hotel chains in any way other than one's personal preference (which is subjective) and cost.
Las Vegas hotels have learned they can pull people in and charge them less for a room because the overall cost of running the hotel is subsidized by the gambling of the guests. If you leave Vegas and think about all the hotels in the lonely stretch of Route 66 running through the Midwest, I'm surprised more of them haven't tried to adopt this model in other ways.
Sure, for a lot of people, hotels are just the place you sleep on your way from Point A to Point B, but what about the families or people who are just dying to have a more interesting experience before they fall asleep in their rooms? Granted, Vegas works partly because it's a bastion of sin where people come to spend money on things that are illegal or otherwise unavailable elsewhere, but little offerings could be a big draw for your average hotel. Some of them could easily be turned into profit centers. Think golf; plastic ball pits for adults; laser tag.
My personal favorite was at the Hyatt in San Diego: offer a gas-powered marshmallow roasting pit and sell S'more kits at the front desk. That's an easy addition that almost any hotel could afford to their outdoor pool area.
This is, when you think about it, a novel concept. Hotel rooms are, effectively, a commodity. You get a bed, bathroom, and possibly a mini-bar for the evening, and while some are nicer than others, it's hard to differentiate between any two hotel chains in any way other than one's personal preference (which is subjective) and cost.
Las Vegas hotels have learned they can pull people in and charge them less for a room because the overall cost of running the hotel is subsidized by the gambling of the guests. If you leave Vegas and think about all the hotels in the lonely stretch of Route 66 running through the Midwest, I'm surprised more of them haven't tried to adopt this model in other ways.
Sure, for a lot of people, hotels are just the place you sleep on your way from Point A to Point B, but what about the families or people who are just dying to have a more interesting experience before they fall asleep in their rooms? Granted, Vegas works partly because it's a bastion of sin where people come to spend money on things that are illegal or otherwise unavailable elsewhere, but little offerings could be a big draw for your average hotel. Some of them could easily be turned into profit centers. Think golf; plastic ball pits for adults; laser tag.
My personal favorite was at the Hyatt in San Diego: offer a gas-powered marshmallow roasting pit and sell S'more kits at the front desk. That's an easy addition that almost any hotel could afford to their outdoor pool area.