Low Room Rates in Las Vegas Responsible for Labor Day Violence: Analyst
Posted on: September 9, 2020, 03:05h.
Last updated on: September 10, 2020, 07:41h.
A spike in violence on the Las Vegas Strip over Labor Day weekend is a direct result of rock-bottom room rates. That’s according to Greg Mullen, vice president of CDC Consulting, who told the Las Vegas Review-Journal this week he believes the drop in prices during the coronavirus pandemic is attracting the wrong sort of person.
Occupancy rates have plummeted because of the pandemic, which means operators are offering low rates, or even free rooms, plus travel incentives to the mass market, rather than just high rollers.
Cheap retail rates for the hotel rooms (and) free rooms are going to the players that have never had free rooms in Las Vegas,” Mullen said. “They’re going deeper in their database to get players who aren’t as lucrative because it’s better just to get a body in there.”
The result? The destruction of rooms is at an all-time high at some high-end properties, according to Mullen, and meanwhile, videos with titles like “Fight in ENCORE HOTEL LAS VEGAS LABOR WEEKEND 2020” are getting 40,000-plus views on YouTube.
Wynn to Raise Rates
A Wynn Resorts spokesperson confirmed to LVRJ that a large brawl had taken place at Encore over the weekend, adding that the company planned to buck the trend by bumping up room rates and hiring more security.
Las Vegas Metro Police told a press conference on Tuesday that the downtown area command had arrested 28 people on Friday alone, and issued 27 citations.
People coming here to have fun and take part in the festivities … we welcome you,” said Capt. Patricia Spencer, head of the downtown area command. “For those of you coming here to prey on the tourists or residents of this community, it will not be tolerated.”
Mullen says that operators will need to find a skillful balance between prices that are high enough to keep out undesirables, and low enough to maintain a healthy rate of occupancy — at least until the virus is suppressed to a point where conventions and concerts can return to the Strip.
‘Scared to Go Outside’
But Mullen is concerned that the current climate could damage the reputation of Las Vegas for a long time to come.
“Several of our higher-end profile clients say their high-end guests are done coming until this is under control,” he said. “They’re scared to walk outside their rooms, and don’t feel safe on elevators or on the casino floors themselves. It’s a bad look. … You can really, severely, put a tarnish on Las Vegas.”
Las Vegas is in “uncharted waters,” he added.
Related News Articles
Maryland Casinos Tell Lawmakers to Back Sports Betting
NagaWorld Weekend Strike in Cambodia Does Little to Disrupt Operations
Most Popular
Why UFC Vows Never to Return to Vegas Sphere
VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: The ‘World’s Largest Golden Nugget’ is Real
Most Commented
Most Read
LOST VEGAS: First Documented ‘Trick Roll’ by a Prostitute
Last Comments ( 191 )
Let's just be honest. It's broke inner city people coming. All these comments are dancing around the fact that there is way more black people there and they don't know how to act. Lots of kids running around, blasting music, starting fights. It's a giant stereotype parade they are proving right and making everyone else look bad
This is not only happening in Las Vegas this is GLOBALLY. America is a welfare country anyway no jobs e practically everyone is government depency anyway. The USA been number 1 for ancient YEARS anyway all good things comes. To a end. America is almost there to a third world COUNTRY
We witnessed two domestic disputes aT Treasure Island. While we were in our room one morning we heard a lady screaming then a loud door slam and a guy yelling f you and your family B*%#h! Another evening a girl was yelling at her boyfriend and he stormed off yelling back to her dumb B%#ch!
These comments are disgusting. You people sre saying some of the most racist and prejudice crap I have ever heard. To say that the room rate and too many blacks in Las Vegas is the reason violence is high is trash! All this crap for one weekend! Its labor day people what the hell do you expect people to do in Vegas. There are no shows..no clubs open! Vegas has been trash for years and not this past weekend alone! There should never be comments that say too many blacks too many whites or too many hispanics!
Lol. Now low rent causes violence. Kinda like guns kill people.
In addition, we stayed at Treasure Island at around 9 am we heard an altercation between a couple she was screaming and then we heard a door slam and the guys said “f*%k you and your family bitch.” Another night around midnight upon returning from gambling a scrawny white dude was arguing with his girl and she was yelling at him as he stormed down the hallway. He yelled back at her blah blah blah dumb bitch. We have stayed at numerous places on the strip from Excalibur up to the Venetian and have never experienced these fights.
If you've ever been to New Orleans you'll get this. It was as if all the people from Desire were on Bourbon Street. Still you go to New Orleans expecting to see diarrhea waking around en mass not Vegas. We felt safer walking around the "bad" parts of town. The strip wasn't scary but I had my 360 get ready on point 100% of the time. People playing their own music loud at slots and acting a fool. Not typical Vegas style partying but excessive we've never been out in the real world and have no idea how to act partying in a diverse public. No couth and no respect. Legal as it may be a little discretion with the weed and decorum would have been nice you ignorant mess. I never thought I'd see a group of women at a slot twerking and dressed with their asses hanging out. No these were not performers. This was NOT one instance it was multiple at various locations and casinos. We started joking it was Hoe Planet. Hell, the actual hookers were dressed with more class than some of the people and horreee sheeet the parents with their damn kids. Get your ass with the kids down to Circus Circus or upscale a bit to Excalibur for the kids. Then again if you are dressed like a Hoe and your man reeks of weed in his wife beater and shirts hanging off his hips with his underwear on display you probably don't have a clue anyway. We were told by different people that the adverts were going to communities they'd never focused before. You could tell for sure. I imagine the Pandemic has kept a lot of the balance from occuring. I also figure that stimulus money is more than these people get normally and so close to tax season they already bought the giant TV and got the car loan they can't keep up with payment on so why not roll to Vegas for less than $600 for a family of what the hell ever you can shove in that room. We were leaving July 3rd and we saw the droves of miscreants and trash coming to the lobbies. It started looking like the entire entourage of every sploitation film ever made and crew from the 70's with modern dress. Hell, the 70s dress would be better than the obvious XXX slinky dress and wife beater store these creatures bought their clothes at. We ate at Ruth's Chris and yeah the prices were the high but damn I saw guys in pajamas and women with their snatches and tits exposed. Get a damn dress code. We could feel the stares as if we were the odd people in the places we went. You could tell a lot of them were not accustomed to seeing light skinned people in public and were thinking, "Damn they do look like that! It's not just on TV!". As far as political that was not the issue when we were there. We neither saw BLM nor opposing opinions on display anywhere. It was not the prices entirely IMO it was that the balance was off. We enjoyed Vegas and cannot wait to come back when you actually have shows and the regular going on. Other than the fascination of lights and slots it was a ghost town until the rabble poured in! These were not the civilized Americans we work with and respect. These were the very people we avoid parts of town so as not to deal with irritation and possible violence.
Comical all the right wing comments when right wings are mostly conservative people. I am Latina and was in Vegas 2 weeks ago. There was predominantly African Americans there. A lot of Asians and Hispanics like myself as well. The entire strip reeked of weed!!! As well as hotel rooms.
Finally got a break from work, so my husband and I went to Vegas. We wanted to relax and have good food while in a happy and different environment. Well, that did not happen. The crowds were terrible, very different. It was as if they were gathering for a riot. Someone here mentioned people on scooters. Yes, we experienced this. They were flying through the hotel lobby and casino. They were walking around the hotel in bathing suits that did not cover their ugliness. When you go to Vegas, it's to have fun. It's and adult playground. People should act more like responsible adults and not "animals". I cannot comprehend why they would think it's ok to act this way. It was very sad because Las Vegas was one of my favorite destinations. Now I will have to find a new one.
I've been coming to vegas 2x a year for 20 years and every trip has been special and I still look forward to it everytime until this trip .I've never seen such an overnight change and it makes me so sad to think this could happen so quickly and if something isn't done about it soon this city is going to turn into Baltimore. I'm not sure how it happened but a completely different class of people are on the strip in their bedroom slippers ,pants down below their butts ,riding scooters at top speed through the casinos and having total disrespect for others and lastly not wearing masks .It makes me so sad to think that this will be my last trip to Vegas unless things change .PLEASE BRING BACK OLD VEGAS .
Was out there late July and couldn't believe the "people" that were in the casinos on the strip. I was in fear of my life and I'm never scared but this element will keep me away until situation is rectified. Ballys was horrifying to say the least. One of the workers told me they spent the whole night breaking up fights and entering rooms with hundreds of people in them partying. Just awful.
These comments are soo racist on soo many levels... Who TF decides what is the "right crowd" or "right people" for anything... ...clearly you all are speaking from a closed mind and segregated place. If you don't like the "people" that you see...then don't come. But I guarantee that it's YOUR PEOPLE that cause the most damage...
Lol this article is gross. You are directly correlating lower income people with violence. Suggesting to increase rates just high enough to “keep out undesirables” is insinuating that people who can’t afford to travel shouldn’t because they’re savages. Just say you don’t like poor people & move on. Room rates have nothing to do with the change in dynamic. The people inciting violence are the same people who think it’s okay to travel during a pandemic.
@Dan You are onto something. I was there in early July when unemployment was especially high and the $600 fed enhancement was still being paid. Guaranteed this was a demographic that was visiting while they could. I wouldn't say it contributed to higher crime rates necessarily, but maybe some first-timer etiquette?
The Racist comments in this section just sums up AmeriKKKa.....It's not a Black, White, Brown issue.....The crisis in the United Snakes of AmeriKKKa is the Corporations exploiting the Poor & corrupt Politicians! ?♂?