The Stratosphere seems to get more and more ghetto as the years go on. \nI'm guessing the reason it has trouble keeping up with the times is because it's surrounded by the grit and sleaze of the Naked City, and it's just so far away from everything. \nThe mall is laughable. There's a pretzel place in there which I grabbed a pretzel from in my Journey to Nowhere, and the pretzel kind of saved my life, but the whole Journey to Nowhere is a completely different story. The mall of the Stratosphere is a strange mashup of Beijing and Paris, it fails on both counts, and all of the stores sell overpriced, tourist trap junk. \nYou know what else is laughable? The showroom. If you walk past it when a show is going on, you can hear EVERYTHING. There's also a translucent window behind the the theater bar, so if you sit there and look closely, you can see whatever show is playing for free. Both of their shows (American Superstars and Bite) look like crap so it's probably better to try and see it for free anyway rather than waste your money. \n\nSuggestions: Close down the buffet since it seems to have lost all hope and buy up the surroundings so the neighborhood will be more aesthetically appealing. I'm shocked the Stratosphere hasn't been closed, the only thing it really has going for it are the rides, restaurant and observation deck on top of the tower.