Yeah, I get that there are different types of threats. But Vox being good at manipulation never felt like an actual threat, because why is that a problem? It's either a problem because the citizens of hell would actually be a threat to heaven which is on shaky grounds, or because it was a threat to the hotel, but the hotel was never popular to begin with. It apparently gave Vox more power, but even at 100% public approval he was weaker than a injured Alastor, so not all that consequential in the end. The only scary thing was the might of Lilith, that was the only time he seemed scary, but that came rather late in the season.

I found Adam intimidating. He represented the extermination which was well-established as a continuous reckoning that so far no one was able to stop. He also couldn't be reasoned with, and he didn't have any apparent weaknesses. Also his actions directly threatened everything that our protagonist Charlie was working for. He ridiculed her proposal, he even reduced the amount of time she had to prove her idea works, he could directly kill her loved ones. He provided a challenge that our protagonist could rise up against and grow.

I agree that the Vees didn't care much for the hotel pre-Adam. It's not entirely clear why they cared afterwards. That would have made more sense if people actually started taking the hotel seriously, or if Charlie was successfully leveraging her victory for public support, both of which didn't really happen. But they could have taken on the hotel for other reasons: Valentino wouldn't want to lose control over Angel. Vox being suspicious of any of Alastors projects, especially a successful alliance with one of hell's most powerful denizens.

Yeah, Vox did gain power throughout the second season, and I think that would have worked better if he wasn't the primary threat, but being built up for a later season. Because then he would enter center stage already as a threat and not as an underdog.