I'm re-watching "Fear and Loating in Las Vegas", which made me think, "Darn it, I've only been to Vegas once, and I want to go again." So I checked out the web site for the Flamingo...and the cheapest rooms are $434 a night!
Las Vegas used to be a cheap destination, $20/night at Circus Circus. Not anymore, it seems. HST referred to Las Vegas as "the vortex" of the American Dream. Perhaps this is an apt metaphor.
Then again, in the book "The American Dream" turns out to be a nightclub that became a Psychiatrist's Club, and it burned down.