In the not so distant past, smoking was as much a part of Las Vegas casinos as neon lights, showgirls and 99-cent shrimp cocktails.
But times have changed.
While smoking is still permitted indoors at nearly all Las Vegas casinos on the Strip, Downtown and in the Valley, it is generally banned everywhere else. Nevada law prohibits smoking in public areas such as lobbies, elevators and restrooms, as well as in restaurants, theaters and conference rooms.
This partly explains why more and more hotels attached to Las Vegas casinos either no longer offer smoking rooms when booking online or only make them available upon request.
The two largest casino hotel operators on the Strip, MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, now hardly offer online bookings for smoking rooms in their hotels (the exception is the casino hotel Caesars Palace).
MGM eliminated almost all of its hotel smoking rooms nearly a decade ago. Caesars began doing the same in the post-COVID era.
Neither company responded to a request for comment on the changes.
The online reservation systems for Wynn/Encore, Venetian/Palazzo, Resorts World, Fontainebleau, Sahara, Circus Circus and The Strat do not offer smoking rooms. TI (Treasure Island) offers a “smoking optional” hotel room booking.
As with all things in Las Vegas, nothing is completely impossible if you know who to ask and how to ask. All of these casinos have smoking rooms on certain floors in their hotels.
The Park MGM Casino-Hotel is the only completely smoke-free gaming venue on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Smoking is declining
Fewer Americans smoke today than ever before, according to a recent Gallup News poll. The number of U.S. adults who admit to smoking in the past week is 11 percent, an 80-year low, according to the poll’s annual results.
When Gallup first conducted its poll in 1944, 41 percent of the population reported being smokers. In July 2004, Gallup reported that 25 percent of American adults smoked regularly.
In addition to the ever-decreasing number of smokers in their homes, there is another reason why Las Vegas casino hotels are no longer offering smoking rooms – the cost. In the past, casino hotel operators have openly admitted that cleaning and maintaining smoking rooms incurs higher costs than non-smoking rooms.
These costs range from additional odor-neutralizing products to the increased time required to ensure that ash and cigarette/cigar butts are completely removed before a room is released. Some casino managers have also noted increased costs for cleaning, repairing and replacing hotel room furniture and carpets that have been damaged or rendered unusable by smoke, tar or fire.
Despite changing public attitudes (and tolerance) toward indoor smoking, Las Vegas casino operators have rebuffed efforts to ban smoking in their gaming halls. The issue of banning smoking in Las Vegas casinos has not yet reached the same level of prominence as in Atlantic City and New Jersey (where casino employees are suing the state for workplace safety violations), but pressure is growing on publicly traded gaming companies to at least explore the possibility. These efforts have so far proven ineffective.
Contact David Danzis at [email protected]. Follow AC_Danzis on X.
