“Vegas used to be full of life and traffic. Now it is just an expensive ghost town”
Remember when going to Las Vegas was considered exciting
People always used to talk about the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas Strip. Neon lights and flashing signs lit up the area. People were always out moving to the next show, store, restaurant, or resort. Street performers, hustlers, beggars, drunks, fights, lewdness and other controlled lawlessness. Some of that still exists but to a lesser extent. You can still go on Freemont street and see all of that mentioned before, but only on certain holidays and events. This is not a bad thing as you want to be able to enjoy your experience while in Las Vegas. In the recent years Las Vegas has become increasingly expensive with little justification for the hike. Rooms are lackluster, parking is still expensive, shows are more expensive, less loyalty rewards for resorts, and the list goes on. People were more apt to deal with rowdiness as the prices were cheaper. They would chalk it up to the cost of giving more access. People will do things in excess on occasion or occasions. That is not the case today. With tourism tapering off to Las Vegas casinos, resorts, and attractions cannot sustain the high rents and taxes in these areas.
Why stay in a resort in Old Las Vegas
Resorts offer a place to stay that could offer a lot of amenities in a small area. Most resorts will have multiple pools, workout areas, casinos, restaurants, stores, and shows all in the resort property. If what you want or need cannot be found inside, you are located close enough that a short car ride or walk can get you to your destination. It can also be a place where you can find swimbars, day and night clubs. Why would you want to go outside of that?
Why not to stay in a resort in Old Las Vegas
First lets talk money, no not winnings in a casino. Money as that what you will be paying when you stay in Las Vegas. Resorts have increased their prices over the years while offering a less than decent experience. Gaming revenue is down due to lack of players. Players have received less and less perks for playing at some of the resort casinos. Gone are the days of getting free drinks while playing or losing enough to get a free room or night. Now everything has a cost and time associated with it. Those rail drinks are going to run you $7 easy plus tip easy. Food in the resort restaurant, look to pay more than if you found one of the strip. The experience is nothing special for most of the places. There are many restaurants outside of Vegas that offer better experiences and prices. Lets talk about what people seem to forget, noise levels. Family resorts will always be louder than more adult facing ones. That still does not mean the adult ones are quiet 100% of the time. Case in point we stayed at The Lexi.
The sun met us as soon as we got off the plane
We had a couple of things planned to do this trip to Las Vegas. First was to pick up some product from a local dispensary. We stopped at The Grove, Show Grow, and Curaleaf (for a battery)….oh and a head shop for a grinder, cones, and a torch lighter. The Grove and Show Grow had the best experience. More on our other dispensary experiences later. At The Grove we were helped by an awesome budtender. She told us about the specials going on and what could be mixed and matched. We had a short stay but I knew we would have down time in the room in the evening……soooo I was going to smoke out the place. Something told us not to pick up a lot of flower. We picked up some Rove vapes, got tossed a Medical discount (have your card with you even out of state) and a free pre-roll. Left a tip and back out to the sun we went.
The Lexi – the stay
After getting to Las Vegas and getting to pick a rental of our choice. We picked the Hyundai Kona Ice, which was a blessing because it had remote start. We make our way to The Lexi to check in excited to use our weed we picked up at The Grove. We notice that the fountain is going and the lobby is brighter. There were 2 employees talking at the front desk. We approached the desk and ask about our room. We were told payment was due and to complete these forms for what car we were driving. Ok cool. We were then informed that The Lexi was no longer “Cannabis Friendly” and that there was a $250 smoking fee. Well that knocks The Lexi off the list. We head up to the “Elevated King” room…..elevated ha! They only call it elevated due to you being on the 4th floor. You either face the highway or the industrial area close to the hotel. The hotel is positioned right off of I-15 running through Las Vegas. The room is budget hotel room. Hard metal framed bed with a sheet metal foot cover. Every time that metal was struck it let out a deep boom. After awhile we dubbed the booms “fireworks” as we were there on the 4th. At least this time the ac unit worked in the room. The rooms and hallways on the 4th floor still had a faint smell of old burnt weed. The Lexi had an air purifier in the hallway when we checked in and removed it later that night. Water was no longer free in the rooms. It was $5 for a bottle of water. The shower took forever to get hot and one morning, I could not wait any longer so I took a very frigid shower. When the pool party is in full swing you can hear the music in your room and in the hallway. One night the DJ was playing so loud that it set off his car alarm. The area he was playing in was maybe half the size of an NBA court. 16 speakers were counted poolside. If you plan to head to Las Vegas to stay somewhere cannabis friendly, you can skip The Lexi. Look for private rentals that are cannabis friendly. We have no pictures of the pool due to it being a “European style pool” aka topless.
Attractions
Being from the St. Louis area, we always tried to go to the riverfront to watch the fireworks. I remember sitting on the levee wall and feeling the thunder in my chest when the bombs exploded above. Even as an adult it is still fun to watch the sky light up with the Gateway Arch looming in the background. To see the fireworks in Las Vegas from the ground around buildings that were lit from high powered spotlights is well………..okish. It is cool to see the famous hotels in the background with fireworks exploding close to them.
The first night was tame as we stood out front of the hotel taking photos of the fireworks and smoking cones. There was a pool party in full swing by the time fireworks were going on. This was not a pool party for us to be attending. Lots of adult fun happening of the alt variety. To each their own doings. We called it a night after finishing two cones. One thing about discount weed you can always count on, it will taste like ass.
The next day we went in search of some food. Las Vegas used to be the home of the cheap buffets and massive portion sizes. Not anymore! Going out to eat as a pair easily can run you low $60’s to $80s without tip. Plan on eating on the strip somewhere? Pay at least $25 to park unless the place has it’s own lot. We got food from a little bakery that specialized in gluten free goods. We picked up a graham cracker type of brownie and a peanut butter chocolate brookie. I also bought a quiche that they warmed up for me. It was good, just packed with a lot of cheese.
One of our goals this trip was to see things not on the Las Vegas Strip. We bought tickets to “Black Girl Magic.” When we arrived to our hotel the front desk had some flyers out about pool parties and events. I grabbed the first one and noticed it was for Suga Free. We did not know it was going to be such a busy place on Saturday. The original plan was to drive the 1.3 miles to the place. Security at The Lexi had the parking lot blocked off and there were people parking down the side streets. So we booked an Uber. We get to the place and walk into what appears to be a lounge with very low lighting and loud music playing. The male review was just finishing up their performance. We watch as a stream of attendees leave and head out into the Las Vegas night. Our turn came to check in and get a wrist band to the show. We head back into this bigger performance area of what looks like a repurposed bar. They have a preshow trailer rolling over and over and over and over. We took up seats on the left side of the room and bought two Sprites and $20 worth of “Funny Money” which is used to tip the burlesque dancers. The women did a decent job but the show was poorly organized. Some of the song changes were abrupt and did not go with the flow of the performance. The show was running late and we left early to catch our preordered Uber. We head back to the room and see people still going into the hotel for the pool party. We call it a night looking forward to our next adventure because today was a little less than awesome.
The highlight of the next day was supposed to be a cannabis tour of a grow facility and consumption lounge. In the morning we headed to 7 Magic Mountains about 25 minutes south of downtown Las Vegas. We stopped at Alchemy coffee and got some pre trip refreshments. We arrived at 7 Magic Mountains about 1030 am just when the sun was getting ready to make the land and scorching ball of dust. Vanna and I got some great photos by a lone palm tree growing off in the distance. We did our best to take photos with the boulders and move on. We are glad we got there early because about noon is when everyone starts to show up. Tour buses pulled up to drop off people. We make our way back towards Las Vegas and decide to stop and see the Simpson’s House. This house is in the middle of a sub-division and is very non descript. We head back into the city to go meet at our cannabis tour spot. This spot was located at Cookies on the strip. We get there a little early and go inside Cookies to ask about the tour. We know they are not connected to the tour, but they may have information on who runs it or what vehicle pulls up. The doorman tells us they are not affiliated with the tour and have no clue what we are talking about. Back outside we go. We tried calling the company on the booking with no luck. We contact Get Your Guide who we booked the tours through to find out that the tour was canceled due to low ticket sales. Great we waited almost a hour in the Las Vegas sun and heat to find that out. We decided to check out some shows on the strip. At least they would not be canceled due to low attendance. We watched Jaberwockeez Timeless and Medieval Times. Both shows were great in their own rights. Both were family friendly and on time. You can always get a decent show on the strip for the right price.
Would we do Las Vegas again?
It would be a long shot to say we would be back to Las Vegas willingly. Las Vegas is suffering from the consequences of its own greed. Prices have been inflated with no increase in quality or customer service. The mystic that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas is over. Social media has made it to where you can see most of Vegas and some of the shows without ever lifting a foot. Is it better than the real thing…. not even close. Those that watch and hunt for videos of Vegas experiences are more than likely not going to pay the Las Vegas prices. We traveled to Las Vegas last September and it was still a busy place with lines for attractions and restaurants. Now not so much. you may still find a line to a new or popular venue, but the flair for the dramatic was lost this past 4th of July weekend. Cannabis enthusiast coming from out of town with no connections to a local market will be subject to dispensary products. You have to pay for top shelf no matter where you go but most local markets help make your dollar stretch. Las Vegas is not looking like the great cannabis haven it once was 2-3 years ago. There are plenty of dispensaries selling cannabis and head shops selling THC-A flower to meet your needs in Las Vegas but is it worth the price anymore. If you are not staying some where you can smoke comfortably, be prepared to be outside in the heat smoking. Vapes and dabs offer a better chance at avoiding a smoking fee but some hotels still charge and have very sensitive smoke detectors. Las Vegas is still a good spot to vacation if you love to drink and hit the casinos.
