> I don't remember it being pricy

You clearly haven’t been there in the last few years. $16 for a beer is the norm at clubs and bars if you’re not gambling.

No, it was a long time ago (late 90s?). The hotel was cheap (Excalibur!), and other than seeing the Blue Man Group, everything else was very cheap. All you can eat breakfast was $10 and I ate so much I didn't eat again for 24 hours.

Oh yeah those days are long gone. At least on the strip.

Back then you could find $5 blackjack tables, and $3.99 buffets. Now a typical buffet on the strip will be $80 a person or something like that. The cheap blackjack tables are $25 a hand.

I last went to Vegas in 2014, and in the hotel pool bar it was $16 for a small bottle of Budweiser. I had a rather dry trip at those prices.

The trick is to go to the CVS and Walgreens on the strip and load up with relatively cheap beer and avoid the exhortation from the casinos.

Are you suggesting chugging cheap beers as fast as you can in the drugstore parking lot?

16yo me might have gone for that. Then again, I’ve never been to Vegas. Maybe it seems like a better idea in situ.

The strip is pricey, and has very little variety. The art district a couple of miles away and there are restaurants and bars with normal prices and great selection.

Ssshhh. I just discovered the Arts District on my visit last month. Let's not let it turn into what the rest of The Strip and old downtown have become.

BTW, The Sphere is amazing and U2 still puts on a good show. I did not partake in any $20 beers though.

Vegas has gotten way more expensive over the past 20 years. Now comparable to Silicon Valley prices

The strip itself is roughly Palo Alto prices at small town truck stop quality. Small town truck stops are consistent and that’s a great thing, but McDonalds restaurants are always consistent too. You can find a very expensive smoky old fashioned (or whatever the fashionable cocktail is) pretty well everywhere and you won’t always be able to tell where you are.

Off strip is a lot more attractive both in terms of price and quality. But it’s harder to access unless you have trusted friends who live in Vegas. Locals seem to avoid the strip and seem to try to keep the strip away from their trusted spots!