The Death of the Vegas Laurel/Diamond Lounges

There have been rumors about it for years. Caesars offers way more perks for tier status than other casinos, and for years we've been hearing about the demise of lounges, or free parking, VIP check-in, the death of the buffet,or the Diamond celebration dinner...

Caesars has been opening their lounges in other markets, so that seems like a strange step if they are just going to close again. They are also opening Bacchanal this month as well.

So far none of that has happened. Vital Vegas is wrong more often then not. Remember 5 years ago when Luxor was going to be demolished?

Vegas casinos are still struggling to re-open, unlike local casinos, as they rely more on business travel and international travel as their most profitable segments, and they haven't even started to recover yet. Local casinos are usually mostly focused on local markets. Casinos is Vegas are also struggling to re-hire, and negotiate with the unions. They've also seen a demographic shift, where most of the demand is coming from neighboring states, and they are coming more frequently, which means that less money is being spent on each visit. They are still taking heavy losses each quarter.

I wouldn't be shocked if all the major casinos scale back some of their perks, and try to focus on recovering right now, but Vital Vegas is just trying to get some clicks and stir up the pot... The Facebook groups are already filled with conspiracy theories and rumors about Eldorado, MGM, and Cosmo..

 

I don't see ElDo reducing too much of the perks.
There are people who play up to Seven Stars just for the nursing home buffet in the lounges. Why take away the sole reason people don't wander to another casino? That said, I can definitely see a renovation or expansion of the card levels. Create perks that are new or innovative, then build barriers to getting the perk. Imagine if the Caesars app offers Starbucks ordering, delivered direct to your machine, using your RCs. But only for Seven Stars. Etc.

 

I'm amazed at the love for these things. It's nice to sit down and get a free drink instead of having to play I guess, but the actual food was like one step above a Ponderosa buffet lol

 

I love a good conspiracy theory especially about Vegas. Can you point me to some of these Facebook groups so that I can read up.

 

I don't know about you but I've enjoyed watching baseball games where the Rio used to be!

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I was too busy watching baseball at the stadium that replaced the Rio...

Unfortunately, I believe this one. MGM has never had any sort of real tier-based lounges, and it's just how it is out here. A move like this is straight out of the ERI playbook.

 

I went to my first diamond lounge at Paris 2/3 years ago. Got some wings and some type of fried vegetable, drinks were good, food bad and never been back

 

Were they potatoes?

 

I want to say maybe fried cauliflower? Something probably on the clearance rack

 

Just as an aside, the fried crispy cauliflower at Catch is one of the best hidden gems in Vegas. I hate cauliflower and yet absolutely loved it. Props to @VegasMonkey for teaching me about that dish.

 

It’s about bringing a few friends, maybe they aren’t diamond, and having the bartender make anything you want and the way you want it, bs with people and enjoy. Maybe watch a game. We know we can get free drinks when at the table but it’s not the same atmosphere. You don’t go for the food, although Caesars does have a few good meals there and some good soup a few days a week.


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Holy crap, I'm not sure how I missed this, but I distinctly recall going to a Ponderosa during summer camp one year, while we took a trip to King's Dominion. What I remember the most is my friend calling it "Ponderosa Shitshack". He was not wrong.

 

M always seems to like restaurants that end up failing, so I've actually ate at a decent amount of these. The best Ponderosa buffets can outdo Vegas LLs. Haha But most of them are overpriced crap and are closed. The one in Wisconsin Dells was a pretty good one. But looks like Covid gave it a KO.

The only one I ate at that's still open is Kissimmee, FL. Arguably the best one I ever ate at, but that was in 2010.

What's scary is the number of them in Puerto Rico (19) now almost matches the number in the Continental US (25).

 

This thread is making me miss Sizzler.

 

We have decided to switch to MLife even if CET re-open Laurel Lounge, it is just not worth it to lose thousands of dollars to get to Diamond Plus. MLife is giving us free room at their nicer properties and more free play and food credits than CET without losing as much money as at CET. I would rather pay the resort fee than losing thousands of dollars, maybe we will get the resort fee comp someday if we give it more play.