Gruesome Las Vegas
June 15, 2024 12:14 PM Subscribe
If I were to travel to Las Vegas, what would be its most gruesome aspects today? What is the most disgusting casino? What is the ickiest dinner buffet? What is the most depressing public space? What is the worst hotel? What is your secret awful spot in Las Vegas? This masochist mind wants to know. Tell me your nastiest Las Vegas stories!
Response by poster: HearHere, a big motivation for my question.
posted by Scarf Joint at 2:18 PM on June 15
posted by Scarf Joint at 2:18 PM on June 15
I guess "worst" can be in the eye of the beholder but to me, Vegas was its best when it was kitschy and not-so-corporate. A couple of visits pre-2002ish showed me a fun, kitschy, interesting place, if a bit on the touristy side. Went back in 2022 at it was just awful. SUPER touristy, super uninteresting, TOTALLY corporate. It's all depressing now, in my opinion. It was always a paean to capitalism, sure, but it's completely off the charts now.
What really stood out for me is that pre-2002ish, there were like NO kids. Anywhere. Vegas was an adult destination. In 2022, there were kids EVERYWHERE. How/when did Vegas become a family destination??
posted by cooker girl at 2:40 PM on June 15 [9 favorites]
What really stood out for me is that pre-2002ish, there were like NO kids. Anywhere. Vegas was an adult destination. In 2022, there were kids EVERYWHERE. How/when did Vegas become a family destination??
posted by cooker girl at 2:40 PM on June 15 [9 favorites]
I think Circus Circus is generally considered one of, if not the worst casino on the strip. its reputation mainly centers around being rather dirty, depressing, and out-dated. I've heard that the Rio and the Luxor are headed in the same direction but Circus Circus has like a 20-yr head start. The Mirage just recently announced that they were shutting down in mid July in order to get renovated into a Hard Rock rather than staying open through the renovations. I hear that the remnants of the Mirage that remain operational in these last few weeks are pretty bleak.
posted by mhum at 2:42 PM on June 15 [8 favorites]
posted by mhum at 2:42 PM on June 15 [8 favorites]
I think I may be harshing the vibe you are looking for, but there is a substantial population of homeless people in Las Vegas who shelter in pretty gruesome conditions in the storm sewer system.
posted by seasparrow at 2:49 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
posted by seasparrow at 2:49 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
Luxor was pretty bad. If you want chow mein made of spaghetti noodles, eat at the Luxor buffet.
posted by extramundane at 2:50 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by extramundane at 2:50 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
This sounds better answered by a VICE article. I would help out by looking back on my photos from my last trip but they were destroyed when my phone experienced a liquid intrusion that I still don't understand how it happened, and I was sober.
posted by credulous at 3:01 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 3:01 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
I must say that the Stage Door is pretty gruesome because it's a tourist trap pretending to be a dive bar, which is somehow more gruesome than a crappy dive bar.
posted by credulous at 3:02 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
posted by credulous at 3:02 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
Peppermint rhino. Went to a bachelor party there. Super depressing.
posted by Mid at 3:33 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
posted by Mid at 3:33 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
I was in old downtown Vegas and decided to walk to the Neon museum, about 15 minutes away. Passed through some very seedy areas- although the museum itself is cute. So I'd say to look at the outskirts of the old downtown.
posted by emd3737 at 4:06 PM on June 15
posted by emd3737 at 4:06 PM on June 15
I went to the Golden Spike on the old strip back in 2007, and I still haven't forgotten the experience. Some friends invited me last minute, and en route, they said our rooms were $35 a night. I knew I was in for it.
When we got there, someone was hooting and whistling at us from a window as we walked from the parking lot to the lobby. Upon arrival I saw a man in overalls and no shirt angrily slapping a slot machine.
When we walked to our room, the walls were covered in water stains. When we arrived at our room, the air conditioner had been pulled out of the wall and there was a giant hole to the outside. It smelled like someone had died. I didn't even feel comfortable sitting on a chair. They gave us a new room that didn't smell like the end of the world and had an entire wall, but I was toast. I called around and found us rooms at The Excalibur.
Before this experience I would have probably told you that the Excalibur was amongst the worst that Vegas has to offer, its like a 70s version of medieval times, but after that experience it felt like an actual castle and we had a great time.
posted by pazazygeek at 4:11 PM on June 15 [11 favorites]
When we got there, someone was hooting and whistling at us from a window as we walked from the parking lot to the lobby. Upon arrival I saw a man in overalls and no shirt angrily slapping a slot machine.
When we walked to our room, the walls were covered in water stains. When we arrived at our room, the air conditioner had been pulled out of the wall and there was a giant hole to the outside. It smelled like someone had died. I didn't even feel comfortable sitting on a chair. They gave us a new room that didn't smell like the end of the world and had an entire wall, but I was toast. I called around and found us rooms at The Excalibur.
Before this experience I would have probably told you that the Excalibur was amongst the worst that Vegas has to offer, its like a 70s version of medieval times, but after that experience it felt like an actual castle and we had a great time.
posted by pazazygeek at 4:11 PM on June 15 [11 favorites]
For me one of the most gruesome aspects of contemporary Vegas is one shared by other public (but commercial) spaces in the US, and that's the omnipresent music. It's awful, and you can't get away from it, because it's playing outside of the casino, too. And also at the next one.
posted by Rash at 4:33 PM on June 15 [4 favorites]
posted by Rash at 4:33 PM on June 15 [4 favorites]
Machine guns are legal in Nevada. Extremely off strip, you can go to shooting ranges to fire such guns. This is an extremely depressing activity to engage in, if to do it with any sense of self/societal reflection.
Oh god they book corporate events.
posted by furnace.heart at 5:49 PM on June 15 [4 favorites]
Oh god they book corporate events.
posted by furnace.heart at 5:49 PM on June 15 [4 favorites]
Take the bus to Henderson
posted by parmanparman at 6:27 AM on June 16 [2 favorites]
posted by parmanparman at 6:27 AM on June 16 [2 favorites]
Take a walk on the service roads behind the casinos. You’ll see all the garbage and loading docks and sad employee parking lots and rent-a-cops and get a real sense of how much stuff goes into that glitzy facade.
Go for a long walk on one of the big east-west arterials and take the bus back! Flamingo, Spring Mountain, Sahara are all good for walking. You won’t see casino-dwellers taking the bus (save for the fancy Strip bus), just people going to work and welcoming the AC for a few minutes out of their day.
If you do go for a walk, some very-not-gruesome places to eat are Polaris St Cafe in a more industrial part of town and Ronald’s Donuts (great vegan options, just ask!) along the endless strip mall of Spring Mountain.
Circus Circus was already grim when I stayed there in 2010 or so, I can only imagine it now!
posted by Brassica oleracea at 6:27 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]
Go for a long walk on one of the big east-west arterials and take the bus back! Flamingo, Spring Mountain, Sahara are all good for walking. You won’t see casino-dwellers taking the bus (save for the fancy Strip bus), just people going to work and welcoming the AC for a few minutes out of their day.
If you do go for a walk, some very-not-gruesome places to eat are Polaris St Cafe in a more industrial part of town and Ronald’s Donuts (great vegan options, just ask!) along the endless strip mall of Spring Mountain.
Circus Circus was already grim when I stayed there in 2010 or so, I can only imagine it now!
posted by Brassica oleracea at 6:27 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]
Hah, I stayed in Circus Circus for a night when my flight arrived at 11pm. My partner and I were doing a desert hiking trip so we had little interest in Vegas proper, but can confirm it's a dump, but the night cost a mere $30 in 2022, so I have no regrets. Figuring out how to get to our room from reception was a whole experience - it's a bit of a labyrinth, no doubt made more complicated by our exhaustion. The room had a musty odor and the decor appeared preserved from the 70s (which seemed to be a theme of much of Vegas - driving around felt a bit like time travel to the 70s/80s), but the bathroom was thankfully clean.
From my brief views of driving through Vegas, it didn't seem hard to find seedy parts - we drove down the strip the night we arrived out of curiosity, and much of it seemed pretty grim.
posted by coffeecat at 8:27 AM on June 16
From my brief views of driving through Vegas, it didn't seem hard to find seedy parts - we drove down the strip the night we arrived out of curiosity, and much of it seemed pretty grim.
posted by coffeecat at 8:27 AM on June 16
How/when did Vegas become a family destination??
Vegas made a huge, huge marketing push to get families to vacation there in the early 1990s. Many casinos put in huge video arcades and developed huge TV commercial campaigns around their arcade and child-friendly shows. My partner's family drove there from Southern California most weekends for a few years of his childhood. I assure you kids have been part of the business model for Vegas for decades.
All of which is to say, I bet some of those arcades are in pretty grim shape now.
posted by potrzebie at 9:59 AM on June 16
Vegas made a huge, huge marketing push to get families to vacation there in the early 1990s. Many casinos put in huge video arcades and developed huge TV commercial campaigns around their arcade and child-friendly shows. My partner's family drove there from Southern California most weekends for a few years of his childhood. I assure you kids have been part of the business model for Vegas for decades.
All of which is to say, I bet some of those arcades are in pretty grim shape now.
posted by potrzebie at 9:59 AM on June 16
Machine guns are legal in Nevada. Extremely off strip, you can go to shooting ranges to fire such guns. This is an extremely depressing activity to engage in, if to do it with any sense of self/societal reflection.Pretty sure fully automatic weapons are legal in most states. I shot an 1890’s-era black powder Gatling gun once. It was a blast, and the depressing part is how much it cost (I recall $35 for 20 rounds ten years ago). I’m sure it would be much more expensive in Vegas.
The worst place I ever stayed on the strip was the Flamingo. It was run down, not cheap, and laid out poorly (full reveal: it was for work for a conference, and I’ve never gambled a nickel in the state). But I think I’d say “the strip” in general. I found places off the strip that reminded me of an American city, but the strip was like a giant money-vacuum, like Disneyland only with more desperation.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:25 PM on June 16
Ah, I found it. The Triple 7 Restaurant and Microbrewery at the Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel. Not because it sucks, because it's so normcore and Victorian-Western-themed with sports on TVs, and the name of the place is 13 words long. And the website uses Souvenir-Light. And they have $2.50 microbrews and $5 sushi and are open until 3 AM. Like I said, it doesn't suck, but you'll want it to suck, and you'll hate yourself for enjoying it. And then you'll get The Fear.
posted by credulous at 10:41 PM on June 16 [4 favorites]
posted by credulous at 10:41 PM on June 16 [4 favorites]
I went for the Psycho Vegas metal fest back in 2019 or so, and by far the saddest individual scene I witnessed was at a Denny's at 3am or so. Every place in Vegas was a smoking venue, and this place felt like it hadn't seen renovations in at least thirty years of tar residue and balding carpet. Every place in Vegas also had a mandatory three or more slot machines, down to the convenience stores and gas stations. The three Denny's slots were all solidly occupied by withered patrons that appeared grafted to the dilapidated stools, miserably pulling the bandit arms like they were just waiting for the payout of a single bullet to rattle out of the machine. It was astoundingly grim. The food was still edible, however.
posted by FatherDagon at 12:04 AM on June 17 [5 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 12:04 AM on June 17 [5 favorites]
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posted by HearHere at 2:07 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]