The Happy Side of Crap

Month after month, the gaming and hotel stats have been crappy. Which is why, of course, I prefer to look for that one itsy bitsy piece of happiness every month to make it all OK.

This month's best stat? Hotel occupancy in Mesquite, Nev., for 2009 so far is UP 3.8 percent! Woo hoo! Celebrati... oh, wait. They closed a hotel in Mesquite because of the downturn, didn't they? The number of hotel rooms is DOWN 27.4 percent. So they lost a quarter of their rooms but they only increased their occupancy rate by that? Oops. I'm a hopemonger. Sorry.

I guess we'll have to be contented with this stat: The number of people who boarded and deplaned at the airport in Laughlin-Bullhead City is up 0.3 percent. Uh, yay.

Hey. Take the ray of sunshine where you can get it. And here's one for consumers: The average room rate is now $92.46 so far in 2009. Enjoy it while it lasts!