Las Vegas is popular for its high-stakes gambling. However, some visitors may start to feel swindled before they ever hit the casino floor.
Aria Resort & Casino is under fire after a guest reported being charged nearly $30 for a single bottle of water from their room’s minibar.
The Ridiculously Expensive Sips
The controversy gained traction after a post on the travel blog A View From the Wing shared photos and a guest complaint about the hefty charge.
According to the unnamed guest, who was staying at the luxurious Aria property where nightly rates start at roughly $280, a hotel employee only casually mentioned the actual price of $26 after the guest had opened and consumed the vital liquid.
The guest was bamboozled when they saw the $259 total on their bill, which meant that the respective bottle of water accounted for more than 10% of their overall room charge.
To make matters worse, the same brand of water reportedly costs just $7.45 at a Starbucks located inside the same hotel complex.
While inflated minibar prices are hardly a new phenomenon in the hospitality industry, many felt this crossed the line.
Facebook user Lasvegasbloggerandi previously shared a photo of Aria’s minibar menu in April, pointing out that a bottle of Coca-Cola Deluxe was listed at $13.75 – while expensive, still far cheaper than the nearly $25 to $26 price tag for Fiji Water.
“Do you think it’s fair to pay for the convenience, or is this price gouging?” the traveler asked in their caption.
“Water in the Desert Is Crucial to Survival”
As expected, social media users were equally frustrated at learning the news. “Was just there. I was floored,” one user commented.
Another wrote, “Vegas is dying so they have to charge a buttload to survive,” hinting at declining tourist numbers in recent years. A third pointed out, “They depend on the drunk visitors who don’t care about their prices at 2 a.m. when they get back to their room.”
Travel writer Gary Leff weighed in with a scathing take, referencing economist Adam Smith’s famous paradox: “Aria in Las Vegas proves there really was no paradox after all,” he joked. “Water in the desert is crucial to survival and incredibly expensive for guests staying there!”
He added, “Sin City has clearly given up on any idea of hospitality,” lamenting that a $36.28 nightly resort fee apparently doesn’t cover a basic need like bottled water.
Last month, the US House of Representatives approved a bill asking hotels, short-term rentals, and travel booking platforms to transparently display their full prices with all fees included up front in their ads.
Last year, hotels on the Las Vegas Strip recorded a massive 86.4% occupancy rate, from a total of 85,000 rooms available.