Las Vegas Strip resort casinos face bed bugs, potential strike

In some ways, Las Vegas has spent the past years getting ready for the next six months.

The city not only survived its covid shutdown, it arguably came out of it stronger than it was before the virus wreaked havoc on the entire nation. Covid made people appreciate their leisure time and sort of reminded Americans to go out and have fun more often.

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Las Vegas, and specifically the Las Vegas Strip, has also benefited from the Supreme Court allowing states to add sports betting. You would think not having to go to Vegas to legally place a bet on your favorite team would hurt the city, but it actually removed the previous stigma.

People now consider sports betting normal and not a shady activity. That has paved the way for Las Vegas to attract the Golden Knights, a National Hockey League (NHL) expansion team, and the National Football League's (NFL) Oakland Raiders, with the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team moving to the Strip as well. 

Sin City has become sports city with the two biggest events in Las Vegas history coming in the next six months. In November Formula 1 will host a race that will take place literally on the Las Vegas Strip while February brings the Super Bowl.

But, a new report suggests that what happens in Vegas may not stay in Vegas due to a health crisis that has impacted some of the biggest name brands on the Strip.

Las Vegas has a bed bug problem    

Public health records have shown that seven Las Vegas Strip resort casinos have found bed bugs on their property. Circus Circus, a north Strip resort casino, was mentioned multiple times in the report, which was first reported by 8 News Now. 

"Along with Circus Circus, 8 News Now learned through a public records request that health inspectors discovered bed bugs at these six other Strip properties over the last year and a half: Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, Palazzo, Tropicana, MGM Grand, and Sahara," the television station shared.

A report of bed bugs to the Southern Nevada Health District does not trigger a fine or any sort of punishment if the hotel takes steps to clean the property and isolate the problem.

Caesars Entertainment (CZR) - Get Free Report, which had two properties on the list -- Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood -- did not comment for 8 News Now's story, but MGM Resorts International shared a brief statement with the news channel.

"We have comprehensive procedures in place to address and resolve any issue that may arise,” the company shared.

Nevada law change impacts Las Vegas Strip rooms

In May, Nevada dropped a pandemic-era law that required that hotel rooms be cleaned every day. The Culinary Union, which represents the workers who clean Las Vegas Strip hotel rooms, was against the change. 

Xochitl Mendez, a room attendant and member of the union told the Nevada Independent that when rooms aren't cleaned every day, they're harder to clean, but that the time allotted to clean them does not increase. 

“Nobody is going to tell me what housekeeping is. I live it every day. That's why we know the importance of cleaning a room daily,” Mendez said. “If you clean a house every day, a little here and there, it stays beautiful. But if you clean it once a month — or even once a week -- there’s a difference.”

The new state law does not prohibit rooms from being cleaned daily and most Las Vegas Strip properties continue to offer that service. 

Currently, the union room attendants who work at most Las Vegas Strip properties are negotiating for a new contract. Offering daily room cleaning is part of those negotiations but wages have been the key issue in the year-long negotiations which could lead to a strike.