I’m “live-blogging” my spontaneous road trip to Las Vegas.
Augustine and I arrived in Las Vegas…and opened our car door in the parking lot of the Excalibur Hotel to the lovely smell of…weed.
The Excalibur Weed House – Is The Ubiquitous Smell Of Pot Always This Bad In Las Vegas?
I’ve got nothing against those who smoke weed. Many of my friends do and I don’t condemn those who ingest this substance. But it is certainly not for me. And I cannot think of a smell I detest more than weed. That skunk-like smell just kills me.
Those friends who do smoke pot do not smoke it in front of Augustine, so this was his first exposure to the smell. He was horrified too (and was not just taking my cue). We saw a few guys sitting in front of the hotel smoking joints and I explained to him it was like a cigarette, but different substance.
Let me be the cranky old man and complain about the smoking habits of others. I find it simply nasty that you cannot escape the smell of cigarette or pot smoke outside in Las Vegas. I find the filtration systems inside casinos typically work well so the smoke there does not bother me nearly as much.
But outside? How nasty that the air just smells like a skunk?! I am not a frequent traveler to Las Vegas: is it always this bad?
* * *
Even though I called the hotel at 10:00 pm to let them know we were on our way, we were marked as a “no show” which 1.) the clerk claimed she could not undo and 2.) makes me think this whole trip may be in vain if I do not get my night credit.
For now, we are going to sleep. At least our room just smells like Lysol and not pot.
You get what you pay for…
It’s not just the lower end places, it’s the same in the hallways at Cosmo, Caesars Palace and other “high end” hotels. Even though it’s technically illegal to smoke in hotel rooms, no one cares or enforces it.
Add in $25 burgers, $10 domestic beers and fees on everything and Vegas isn’t a value anymore. And certainly no place for a child in 2023. And this is coming from someone who has visited 100 plus times in the past 20 years.
Hopefully you get what you came for and get the hell out quickly.
You cannot pay me enough to go to Las Vegas. Been there before, checked the box and no need to return. As for weed smokers and other substances users, Darwin law will take care of that.
I haven’t been to Vegas in more than 10 years. My trick years ago was to stay at the Starwood property that was on a side street off the strip (very close, can’t remember exactly which one)– because company policy didn’t allow smoking anywhere in the property, including the casino.
I used to smoke myself. I’m not terribly averse to it, but it was really nice to be able to come back to a smoke-free home base.
Starwood is gone, and so is the Vegas of old. I often feel like I am missing something by not going to Vegas in the last 15 years, but then I read travel reviews . . . I think ewwww and so I travel almost anywhere else. There is a reason that the motel nights are so cheap, and it is ironic that you feel this is worth it to get hotel status . . . Maybe someday Hyatt will get a clue and sell top-tier status with a credit card, like Hilton does. So. Much. Simpler.
I looked it up– I used to stay at the Westin on Flamingo, it’s still there, but I don’t know if the Westin still has its no smoking policy.
So far we have, collapsing in a parking lot, inhaling sugar to stay awake, and checking Augustine into weed central. Good grief, does this adventure end with an intervention and 12 step meeting? ; )
Gotta get that Status
Addictive
Yes, the smell at Excalibur is always that bad.
I checked into NYNY once at 3;30 a.m. (back when MGM Golds paid resort fees), and they had to do some footwork to check me in. It resulted in resort fee dropped the first of my 2 nights, but I got Hyatt credit for both nights in the end
Just make sure to check your Hyatt info is correctly attached at (in-person) check-out!
I went to Las Vegas a few times because I had to for business. I would never go there on my own…ever.
Yep, Las Vegas is every bit that bad. I used to go three or four times a year. But I won’t step foot there now, with the overwhelming smell of weed, not to mention the panhandling on the strip. I’ve moved my loyalty to cruise ships.
Don’t you live in L.A.? One contributing factor to my moving away after a lifetime was the stench of pot pervading the whole city. You can’t get away from it and I lived at the beach where it was just overwhelming every moment of the day and night. Even driving down the road, you can smell it coming from other cars.
I hate it too, but I don’t smell in my neck of the woods.
A friend of mine visiting from Singapore a few years ago described the scent of weed as “the smell of America.” She was mostly in Texas and Virginia, so legality didn’t even matter. My point: it isn’t unique to LA or Vegas.
This is so perfect. More of the virtue signaling; “well, I don’t condemn my friends who use it”. Apparently, this just applies to strangers for you. Some friend you are. Something like this that obviously affects you enough to write this post and yet you won’t tell your friends what is actually going on. Have to wonder about someone who will lie to keep friends.
Oh I get it, you said they don’t do it in front your son, how kind. But surely they are affecting some other random dude with a son somewhere else.
When will we be done with tolerating disgusting behavior whether it be from friends or strangers? The fact that you wrote this entire post and don’t have a scintilla of introspection about what it means to you as a person, father, friend and citizen is mind boggling. Your writing makes you seem introspective and aware, but clearly your desire to virtue signal is too strong.
A good argument for edibles.
Yup.
all the more reason to re-ban pot. most weed smokers are hypocrites. I enjoy a cigar and recall my weed smoking friends who excoriated me for the “filthy habit”. So how come it is now OK to smoke weed everywhere, but not a cigar?
Just wonderin’.
As someone who used to imbibe, the smell isn’t my favorite either. However I do know better than expecting MGM quality out of Excalibur. The $19 teaser room rate is hard to pass up sometimes. 😉
Just to confirm = and thanks for sharing this easy way to rack up elite nights – were you able to check out online? I am looking to maybe try the same approach and do an in-person check in but check out online after 5-6 nights or so as no desire to time to actually stay that long in Vegas…
Online checkout is available, I just did it this morning (Excalibur).
If your that apauled, and disgruntled about the smell then take yourself back home. It’s Sin City my guy no one cares. The fact that pot smoke gets you that pissy is comedic. Crazy though how you ain’t even mention a single thing about the smell of fermenting fecal matter fusing to the back of our homeless population that are layed out smoldering on the concrete, and asphalt. Not a breathe wasted either about them hookers who literally be spending they day trying to roll y’all tourists. You must have never smelt burning fentanyl before either Im guessing. If you gonna come here to advocate something then get out you’re feelings, and pick one of the a real issues the reside here. Like human trafficking, or child prostitution. Otherwise keep it to yourself big dog.
I’d rather smell feces than pot.
Such an ignorant and ridiculous comment. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but some things are best left unsaid. Reading that article will kill more brain cells than any kind of pot use. Journalism at it’s absolute worst.
I find the smell of your habit disgusting. I’m entitled to that POV…
And yet you live in Cali.
Like I said, it’s not a huge problem in my neighborhood of LA.
Stayed at (NEVER AGAIN) Paris..( a DUMP) last year and you could not get away from the skunk–“stink weed” polluted air anywhere…. Horrid but so is it in Colorado and California polluted air everywhere….I do not care if these peeps smoke their lungs into cancer..but in the privacy of their own homes or garage not polluting all air surrounding them..
Have you ever smelled a skunk spray? Or are you talking about the smell of a skunk that’s just minding its own business? I don’t like the smell of weed, but it’s nothing like the odor of a skunk that as sprayed.
I prefer edibles anyway,
I live in lasvegas and you can’t smoke weed any where just at your home and you don’t smell it every where only near the grow places. So those people that won’t come here just stay home you won’t be missed.
I smelled it everywhere, so…?
I am a Vegas native of 40 + years born and raised. You know what the problem is all the tourist know it legal and they try to smoke as much as they can before they leave. It’s the first question asked, “Where’s the nearest dispensary.”