Las Vegas has never been an all-inclusive destination. At least not truly.
The familiar model, where a set and often discounted price covers a room, meals, drinks and activities, seems fundamentally at odds with how the city traditionally does business. Lose, or spend, enough at the tables or slots, and most of those things would be on the house, arguably creating a comparable perception of value.
So the idea of a true all-inclusive experience in Las Vegas had never taken hold. Until recently, when, sometime in 2024, the team at Plaza hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas was brainstorming ways to boost summer visitation and decided to roll out an all-inclusive package.
The gamble paid off, Plaza CEO Jonthan Jossel said.
“Summer’s always a slower time in Las Vegas,” Jossel said. “Less conventions, less big events. Obviously, it’s hot. And so, the idea came about of the all-inclusive, and we jumped on it.”
The timing was unintentionally ideal, coinciding with rising chatter about prices and fees in Las Vegas.
“We wanted to try something that made people feel like there was something different happening in Las Vegas, and an opportunity for people to come here where they don’t feel like everything is an additional fee, an additional cost,” he said.
‘The moment we’re in’
UNLV history professor Michael Green said the absence of all-inclusive packages in Las Vegas over the decades was not an oversight. It was fundamental to the casino business model.
“Las Vegas developed as a place where the goal was to get you in the door and then make money on everything else,” Green said. The comp system evolved to reinforce that logic. “If you were gambling, you were taken care of. That was the incentive.”
But post-COVID Las Vegas is a different animal.
Comps and player perks are much harder to come by in 2026 than even, say, 10 years ago. Combine that with additional fees and charges, inflated prices on basic items, and the explosion of gaming just about everywhere in the United States, and Las Vegas no longer appears to be the value it once was.
In that environment, Green said, the Plaza’s move stands out not because the concept is revolutionary, but because operators are responding to public sentiment.
“If operators think they have to offer something like this to reassure customers about value,” he said, “that tells you something about the moment we’re in.”
Bringing perks of the sea to the desert
Jossel said the Plaza evaluated whether guests might abuse the package, but ultimately leaned on its agility as a privately run downtown property.
“There’s something very cool about being a small property where you’re not corporate; you don’t have a lot of layers of decision-makers,” he said. “We can sit in a meeting, we can try something, and if it works, great, and if it doesn’t work, you adjust.”
Surprisingly, he said, the biggest internal hurdle was not from the financial department, but operations.
“How do you execute?” Jossel said of the questions asked before the all-inclusive package made its debut in the summer of 2024. “How do you make sure that it’s seamless for the customer … whether they go to the bar and collect their drink, when they go to the pool? That was the much bigger focus.”
There were “growing pains,” Jossel acknowledged, but the hotel has since streamlined the process.
But he said one inspiration stood out: the cruise industry.
“People are leaning towards cruises, and one of the things that cruises offer is this all-inclusive idea,” he said. “So, for me, it was how do we re-create that environment on land?”
Who is the all-inclusive designed for?
Plaza did not design the all-inclusive with a specific demographic in mind.
“Every single weekend, there’s a different demographic here,” Jossel said, citing everything from bingo tournaments to EDC to the rodeo.
Locals, he added, “definitely” use the package, especially on fireworks Fridays at the pool.
As for gambling behavior, the property does not track all-inclusive guests separately. Still, Jossel said, “We have seen really strong gaming spend … so I’d like to think … people are saving money on the hotel and the (food and beverage), and they’re spending that in the casino.”
Checking all the right boxes
Plaza did not share specific data to support the idea that an all-inclusive package at a Las Vegas casino resort was successful. However, Jossel noted three metrics convinced the team they had tapped into something.
First, bookings surged.
“Year three, it almost quadrupled the amount of people that used it,” Jossel said, referring to upcoming summer bookings.
The second was that interest was evident online, with social media driving much of the conversation.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly in Las Vegas, was competitor adoption.
“The fact that everyone else has now started to copy it would be a great sign that it’s something that is working,” he said. “You’re seeing it now at almost every property in town.”
Copycats are everywhere
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Plaza may consider itself well-admired.
Plaza’s downtown neighbor, Circa hotel-casino, was first to follow with a bundled package of its own. In recent months, the Strip’s two largest and most influential operators, MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, have launched their own takes on prepaid, inclusive offerings.
During recent earnings calls, executives from both MGM and Caesars touted the success of their all-in deals.
Ayesha Molino, MGM’s chief operating officer, said response to their all-inclusive, which is only available at Excalibur and Luxor, has been positive.
“We have seen steady momentum since we first deployed it, and the customer response has been very good,” she said. “We are also seeing a significant portion of those customers as net new customers, which we believe is a positive trend line.”
While none replicate Plaza’s true all-inclusive structure, the activity underscores a broader shift: More Las Vegas casinos are experimenting with ways to package and price value rather than relying solely on gaming spend to reward it.
Las Vegas casinos: ‘Yeah, that makes sense’
While Jossel did not call anyone out by name, he said his industry peers were skeptical early on, just as they once were when the Plaza embraced influencers in 2018.
“Now that it’s been proven, a lot of them are saying, ‘Yeah, that makes a lot of sense,’ ” he said, and believes the idea has staying power. “For summer, I think it makes a lot of sense. … I believe it’s here to stay.”
Future upgrades likely depend on new amenities. With three restaurants opening soon at the property, he said, “I’d like to think those … would be included in the package.”
A VIP tier? “I haven’t thought of that, but that’s a good idea,” he said.
Counter to the ‘Vegas is too expensive’ narrative
Jossel said he views the all-inclusive as a corrective to the perception — often overstated, in his view — that prices in Las Vegas have spiraled out of control.
“Part of the narrative of Las Vegas in the last two years, particularly due to social media, has become a little too negative,” he said. “It’s way overexaggerated in terms of price gouging and things becoming out of control.”
He believes the all-inclusive model offers a simple antidote: transparency and value upfront.
“It gives people a great option to get a value offering in Las Vegas,” Jossel said. “It was a great addition to the community, because it gives people value. It’s fun, it’s easy.”
