Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

So who's excited about Cosmo's restaurant lineup? I know I am! I'm especially excited about David Myers brining Comme Ca to Vegas. If you're in any way familiar with LA's dining scene, you should know how talented David Myers is.

Two things come to mind after reading this article.
One, and most importantly; the Sun posters have overtaken the R-J posters for the title of most idotic and inane comments on pretty much any subject. Amazing.
Two: I love Hooters!!!
Wife and I stayed there and thought it was a good value, the most intimate hotel close to the Strip. We ate at Dan Marino's and thought it was a great meal at a good price. We saw Purple Reign and thought it was the best venue we had seen them in the 4 different places we had experienced their show in Las Vegas. We went to DAM bar and saw the most diverse crowd imaginable, gay, people of color, middle-age and young having a good time. Along with the sexiest girl dancing on top of the bar I could imagine.
All I can ask is that before you dismiss it and say something snarky-please check it out.
In the best way possible; it is like Fremont Street on the Strip.

I'm surprised to see only one small article about the opening of Encore Macau.
http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article/wynn-macau-opens-encore-hotel-193036
We are a few weeks away and there is almost zero info on the web about this new hotel.

Jeff-

"One, and most importantly; the Sun posters have overtaken the R-J posters for the title of most idotic and inane comments on pretty much any subject. Amazing."

I don't know. Those R-J comments can be too much... Well, all the time! But then again, it's not like The Sun's "regular commenters" set any standards for great intellectual discourse. That's one reason why I don't do much commenting there any more.

"I love Hooters!!!"

"In the best way possible; it is like Fremont Street on the Strip."

Really??!! Maybe I will give it another chance. I'm obviously not one for the "hooters", but I do occasionally like me some cheapo, cheesy guilty pleasures (Hey, I can't bankrupt myself by hanging around Wynncore all the time!), so perhaps I'll see what that DAM bar is all about.

It should be noted that the announcement of The Cosmo's restaurant line-up hasn't been met with the 'Oh my God, these new restaurants are going to saturate the market and cause every other fine dining eatery in town to close' stock response.

Cosmo's dining lineup is solid. I'm definitely looking forward to eating there. If only they would announce who is going to run the hotel and casino. The notion that 3 banking executives with no gaming/hotel experience are going to get licensed, open and run a higher-end mid-strip property is insane. They haven't even finalized the room design yet.

John-

"It should be noted that the announcement of The Cosmo's restaurant line-up hasn't been met with the 'Oh my God, these new restaurants are going to saturate the market and cause every other fine dining eatery in town to close' stock response."

It probably was by the regular R-J & Sun commenters, but it's not like anyone cares about their typical "Why don't they have an Applebee's?", "Where's the $8.99 buffet?" and "Why can't the mob come back and run this town?" lines. :-p

But seriously, it's nice to see some new concepts and new players in this town. It's pretty refreshing to see a restaurant lineup offering new ethnic options (in this case, Greek seafood), new "celebrity chefs" (in this case, Scott Conant and David Myers), and no more typical Light, Pure, Tao, or N9NE "nightclub-restaurants".

I was wondering what everyone thinks of the possibility of Boston/MA throwing its hat into the fire of casino gambling. A bill is being floated to allow two resort style casinos and then allow the four (now defunct) dog racing tracks to have slot machines. Part of the wording of the bill is

"DeLeo's bill would require $260 million in upfront licensing fees to be paid to the state and would require casino developers to invest $500 million each and the track owners to invest $75 million each."

Basically saying that someone can't roll in and just build a dump. Wondering really what you folks think of this possibility of Vegas operators throwing there hats into the ring, I think Wynn has his hands full in Philly, MGM isn't having the success it wanted with its Foxwoods partnership. Leaving Harrahs and Sands, neither of which are very stable for that sort of investment, but both have ties to Boston area with there leadership.

should be interesting to see what happens.

Posted by mike_ch

Since this is the Open Topic, I'm going to move my conversation with atdleft about Green Valley, Summerlin, et al over here rather than continue derailing the Station bankruptcy thread.

atd: Well, I'm going to risk the chance of getting political, although I think it's more philosophical than political in nature. I don't deny that these developments do what they are supposed to do, but I don't think what they are supposed to do really has society's best interests at heart. You said earlier that future developments have "a healthy mix of income levels, skill sets, and cultures" and these types of developments seem institutionalized to prevent that kind of mix in the first place.

These community bodies are usually concerned with little other than keeping property values through the roof, which to me is interpreted as benefiting two profiles: people who use property as investments instead of an actual place to live (by which I don't mean landlords who provide an actual service, but the "flippers" who were popular during the bubble years), and elitists who don't want to be around a mix of income levels and cultures. Neither of which are my ideal neighbours.

This brings me back to a statement I made years ago about pricing at Wynn Las Vegas and perceived exclusivity. I said that pricing something beyond a certain point simply makes a barrier to entry, and so I see these huge devleopments that are obsessed with land values as partially responsible for making it more difficult for first time home buyers as well as creating low-income ghetto areas that most people want to avoid, because by marking down so much space for haves much of what is left is de facto for have-nots.

My mother works for herself as a landlord, and so I understand the desire of property values, her disgust with disrespectful tenants who damage the property or violate the contract, and all other manner of things from the perspective of a property owner. But at the same time I understand the need for stuff like Section 8 housing that these communities would want no part of, as well as concepts such as how private planning can result in good/bad sides of the tracks (or, as is the case today, the freeway.)

I don't want to turn into a TV political pundit complaining about the loss of "The America That I Grew Up In" (which nine times out of ten wasn't nearly as ideal as it's painted out to be), but not that long ago I grew up in an suburb, and it's still there, but it was one without HOAs or fortress-like subdivisions. I had friends friends from richer families, friends from poorer families, etc. And I think part of the reason that happened is because these (intentionally or unintentionally) segregationist subdivisions didn't exist

So again, they probably weren't supposed to have these negative effects. The developers build the tracts with these bodies simply so that residents moving in don't paint their houses ugly colours while they're trying to sell the rest of the development. Developers have the votes of all unsold or unbuilt addresses in the quasi-government and thus more or less control things until it's built out and they leave and it takes on a life of it's own. However, municipal governments never seem to be quite aware of the negative effects they have on society in general.

TC-

It will probably most likely be Harrah's and LV Sands that jump into the MA game. Both companies' respective CEOs are from Boston, so they have more experience with MA than the typical casino operators. And of these two, I'd say Harrah's is more likely to be first since they seem more interested in domestic expansion than "We're an Asian company doing business in America" Sands (which already has its hands full with Macau and Singapore, and if they build anything new in America soon it's most likely to be Florida first).

Mike C-

OK, if you want to move the discussion here...

"You said earlier that future developments have "a healthy mix of income levels, skill sets, and cultures" and these types of developments seem institutionalized to prevent that kind of mix in the first place."

To a certain extent, that's true... And it's certainly a downside to master-planned communities. More often than not, they "master plan the diversity out of town". However in more recent years, I think Green Valley has improved in this area just due to West Coast and East Coast folks looking here for plentiful jobs and cheaper housing during the 2000s boom years. Ever since I moved in last year, I've seen more Latino, African-American, and Asian-American families in the area. Ironically enough, it was the lack of "desirable options" due to exorbitant housing prices in metro areas like LA, SF, Chicago, and NYC that led to them coming here and being able to afford "the good life" in our suburbs.

"These community bodies are usually concerned with little other than keeping property values through the roof, which to me is interpreted as benefiting two profiles: people who use property as investments instead of an actual place to live (by which I don't mean landlords who provide an actual service, but the "flippers" who were popular during the bubble years), and elitists who don't want to be around a mix of income levels and cultures."

Not exactly. I'm not a "flipper", and while some might call me "elitist" I'm not afraid of diversity. Rather for me and many others here, we see our homes as long-term investments and we don't want to see our investment ruined by stupid things like teen gangs, awkward looking houses, and trashy looking common areas.

I know the more "libertarian" types like the concept of "freedom", but in reality that "freedom" may end up being an unattractive neighborhood. That's what happened in my dad's neighborhood in Orange County. Although it recovered when people were looking for any OC address during the real estate boom, it still had problems because a number of the neighbors were taking advantage of their "freedom" to put farm animals in the yards, add second and even third (!!!) levels, paint their houses some of the wackiest colors you could imagine (everything from bright green to dark red, and everything in-between). And because there's no HOA to regulate this and keep up the common areas, the city is constantly burdened with things like graffiti clean-up, cleaning up the creek (which is often used as a big garbage dump), and cracking down on owners with illegal farm animals. (Try sleeping in on weekends when the roosters start their "wake-up call".)

"Developers have the votes of all unsold or unbuilt addresses in the quasi-government and thus more or less control things until it's built out and they leave and it takes on a life of it's own. However, municipal governments never seem to be quite aware of the negative effects they have on society in general."

But on the flip side, there are plenty of positive effects. A sense of community is fostered. Neighborhoods are kept clean and desirable. And yes, property values are higher... Which means more needed revenue for local government. Again, contrast the messy situation in Silverado Ranch with the more stable existence of Green Valley. Contrast how Henderson has been able to extract a number of concessions from master plan developers, like parks and schools, with Clark County's more laissez-faire approach to development in the recent past. There's a reason why home values are higher in 89074 than 89123.

And yes, there are obviously some negative side effects to master-planned communities. There emerge "price barriers" that result in a more homogenized community. But OTOH, there are also positive effects that result in an overall more desirable community that features more of what homeowners want out of a neighborhood. IMHO it's not fair to simply declare HOAs and master plans as "Satan", especially since much of Las Vegas (again, see Silverado Ranch & Rhodes Ranch) is learning the hard way what happens without a master plan.

Only Mohegan Sun is definitively "in the pool" for a Massachusetts casino (Palmer, Mass., being its preferred site). If the Speaker of the House gets his way, the "casino" bill will be a bailout for the racetracks, with a casino or two out in the western part of the state. It's difficult to imagine Sands or Harrah's making a $500 million commitment out in, say, Lenox.

If Harrah's runs true to form, it will buy a racino (as in PA & OH) and be done with it. As for Sands, it would be a miracle if it could manage to spend *only* $500 million on a casino, even if it were in Enosburg Falls, Vermont.

Jeff, nice review of Hooters, I know I was hoping when they first opened that they went for their vibe and if they had then rather then trying to ride the 06'07' gravy train, maybe they would have built a loyal base and been able to sustain their sales through the rough spots.

I'm going to try and visit here at the end of the month, although it will be a task as the two I'm travelling with went there about a month after opening and had the exact opposite view of the place that you did. Bad crowd, overpriced for the level of delivery, and staff didn't stand out in that low rent quality way they needed to.

More on Las Vegas restaurants:
http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=381380

Detroit-

Certainly, it brings up good questions about the future of Las Vegas dining. From now on, "celebrity chefs" will really need to step it up and deliver. Just slapping a famous name at the front door doesn't work any more.

However, I have to object to the article's over-generalization of "the recession" being the root of all the recent restaurant closures. Daniel Boulud actually wanted to renew his Wynn contract, but Steve Wynn didn't want him any more for some reason (I still can't understand)... And rumors are still running that he'll soon be back in Vegas across the street at Venelazzo (since Sheldon Adelson snatched him for Sands Marina in Singapore). And speaking of Venelazzo, the biggest reason IMHO why Charlie Trotter's place didn't work out was b/c of the lousy location, hidden behind a bunch of obnoxiously loud penny slots. (Why the hell would Palazzo dump Charlie Trotter in such a dumpy location??!!)

And David Burke? For some reason, it never clicked at Venetian's "restaurant row"... Not even during the boom years. I guess the conventioneers thought it was too avant-garde? Maybe Wynncore or MGM Mirage will tap him for a future Vegas project?

Posted by mike_ch

Dave M: Why are Sands such overspenders? They spent only $1.5 (or was it $1.7?) billion on Palazzo, and it felt like it took them a gosh-darn YEAR just to dig an enormous pit and panel it up for the self-park garage.

I remember how a certain well-informed, very connected poster who insisted that his posts were highly accurate once claimed that Sands would compete with Wynn "at any cost," and any cost turned out to be about half the price of the Cosmopolitan.

Mike-
Let me do my Mack Brown impression here "Let me answer that for David".
Sands appears to be spending more on recent projects than seems prudent, in some instances. I think in Bethlehem PA they spent around $500 million ,without a hotel, for a low percentage ROI. I recall they have spent, or are spending, close to $6 billion in Singapore and $10 to $15 billion in Macau. Both of which are seen, in some circles, as being pretty dramatic overspending for the needs of the market and the ROI's thereof.

Jeff is on the money, if you'll pardon the pun. The listed cost for Sands Bethlehem is $724 million -- a far higher cost than the market can support -- and it's mostly unfinished right now. Marina Bay Sands is grotesquely over budget, even allowing for inflation. Except for Sands Macao, LVS has never brought in a property at a cost that ensures a high ROI. There seems to be an inherent culture of profligacy there (for reasons unknown to me), although COO Michael Leven is supposedly being paid $2 million/year (i.e., more than Gary Loveman makes) to bring spending under control.

As for the Massachusetts casino debate, here's the Speaker's racino proposal, which appears to have the upper hand on Gov. Patrick's resort-oriented concept. Patrick proposes, DeLeo disposes. http://tinyurl.com/yd4e82t

A correction of myself: Harrah's did not buy "a racino" in Ohio but a horse track it THOUGHT was going to become a racino. Then the courts shredded Gov. Strickland's racino plan, leaving Harrah's on the outside, looking in at Penn Nat'l and Gary Jacobs.

Whenever I'm in Vegas, I usually stop in at Hooters as I usually do okay at Video Poker. A few bucks there can last you a lot longer than most places!

Posted by mike_ch

Oh, I know Sands is overspending. I just wonder why they're doing it now and yet kept such a strict budget for The Palazzo. I mean, it's a nice enough place as it is, but another $400m would have done wonders there.

So Phil Ruffin is talking to The Sun again about TI. And again, I'm not totally getting it. He talked plenty in the article about "value", but all one needs to go is read Mike C's "Strip Walk" reports to see the "value" of the offerings there. I know I'm now sounding like a broken record, but I can't see how a "downscaling of amenities & upscaling of prices" will work on The Strip with continuing price wars.

And btw, "Mystere" was renewed for another 5 year contract. At least this is a smart move on Ruffin's part... IMHO it's the best feature of TI right now.

mike_ch-
$400m to spend in what? More styrofoam, fake flowers and unimaginative decor all around. What Sands needs is a design team with good taste and willing to really built something original in Las Vegas. Bellagio still has the beauty of southern France and northern Italy, and the most beautiful mosaics and decor in Las Vegas. I hope MGM sells it to someone who really understands the concept behind Bellagio.

Posted by mike_ch

atd: On my last visit to the Strip, TI still had typical strip VP tables (nothing like the best machines at the locals places, but same as the majority of them) though the cards were locked to move at hyperspeed and it succeeded in causing us to gamble all our money away faster there and move on.

On the other hand, Mirage may be a better value in the food and services side than TI, but boy HOWDY is their casino tired! I saw ONE new bank of four slot machines and the VP machines, even the newer one by the Love theatre, have been cranked down to LESS than typical Strip payout.

The nicest thing I can say about Mirage is that the advantage to having a slot floor that hasn't been touched in three years is that I see some decent odds slot machines that have been removed at most casinos.

Posted by mike_ch

The Planet Hollywood website has been Lovemanned, and they added the Boulevard Suites and Apex Suites that I didn't see on the old design.

Also, Wynn's Tower Suites now has a small section on Fairway Apartments.

Posted by mike_ch

Finishing my roundup, the Aria Sky Suites site has added a picture of a Sky Villa to their Sky Suites page:
http://arialasvegas.com/hotel/sky-villas.aspx

Uh, holy cow.

Leo-

"I hope MGM sells it to someone who really understands the concept behind Bellagio."

Don't count on it. Especially now that business at Bellagio is picking up, I doubt MGM Mirage will want to sell it. If they're forced to sell anything else, it will probably be something outside Nevada (due to Illinois & Mississippi investigating the Macau business).

"$400m to spend in what? More styrofoam, fake flowers and unimaginative decor all around. What Sands needs is a design team with good taste and willing to really built something original in Las Vegas."

Again, don't count on it. Venelazzo has a nice "veneer of luxurious beauty", but beneath that paper-thin veneer is cheap, lame@ss crap... And I think Sheldon Adelson likes it that way. LVS likes to brag about all its "luxury", but they won't actually spend money to make the hotel luxurious like Steve Wynn would.

This is why I'm so surprised over them overspending in Bethlehem. What I'd like to know is what the hell they're overspending on... I mean, the place doesn't even have a hotel yet!

Mike_ch, I checked rates for 3 nts starting April 20.
Planet Hollywood's Boulvevard Suites are $1,100 per night. Bellagio Suite is $299 and Bellagio Penthouse Suite is $$399 nt. Who will pay that much at PHo?
Apex Suites don't show up on reservation page.

Tao leads a list of the 100 top grossing restaurants in the country. Wonder how much is alcohol and how much food? I suppose I could figure it by multiplying number of meals served by average check cost.
Vegas leads the country in this list.
Does Tao really serve 1,600 meals a DAY?
http://tinyurl.com/yef2t55

Detroit-

"Does Tao really serve 1,600 meals a DAY?"

Yes, believe it or not. The food IMHO is underwhelming, but no one really cares about the food... It's all about hobnobbing with Kim Kardashian, Jon Gosselin, and whichever other celebrities that got caught in Hollywood sex scandals that are now cashing in by doing "appearances" at Tao and Lavo. As much as we may not like these nightclubs on the blogs, they still make major money... As this recent study proves.

Mike C-

"On the other hand, Mirage may be a better value in the food and services side than TI, but boy HOWDY is their casino tired!"

True, but I just have a different set of priorities when I'm on The Strip. I don't gamble much, so it's mostly about the food for me.

And btw, thanks for the Aria link. Those sky villas look quite suite! :-D

And btw, Happy Easter! I've been spending all morning cooking for a family party I'm about to head over to, so we'll chat more later. Hope y'all are enjoying the day off. :-)

Just returned from Encore Tower Suites. We had a view over the strip and the construction of the Beach Club. It's amazing watching so many construction workers down there. They look like ants building a hill.

I can tell you that one of the pools already has it's concrete poured. It looks like it will for the most part be only a foot or two deep to put loungers in the water similar to Encore's other pools.

There are a total of seven palm trees in place and you can see where they are planning to add more all around the pool. If you're standing in the casino looking towards the strip, then concrete was poured on the right hand side of the pool club. However, the far left (side closer to Wynn) is just dirt say for what has been dug for what looks like a hot tub.

Over the course of four days, they build another pool which is less that one foot from the other and had it's pluming finished.

Construction also caused the alarm in the Encore building to go off for what felt like 20 minutes. Although the announcement said they were looking into the incident and that it was a minor cause, most people decided to leave as the flashing white lights everywhere and the loud whistles and the constant repetitive announcements disrupted their play.

So looking on from above, I'm confidant that if they continue to work around the clock, they could have it done in two months, but it will be nip and tuck. Especially with the interior work still having to be done.

It will be fun when Cosmo opens in December - I've been following this project for a long, long time.

Yes, the new restaurants will be great for the foodies, but the casino is the biggest curiosity for the gamblers.
The Cosmo is stuck right between the two hotels with the best gaming conditions in Las Vegas (Aria and Bellagio). And serious gamblers, whether they are high-rollers or not, will notice the differences walking between casinos.

Also, Cosmo says on their web site they will be having 'gaming cabanas - a first for Las Vegas'. I'm not sure what these will be or if they are really different, but I'm curious.

Posted by mike_ch

Detroit: I don't know what the deal is with PH's pricing. The Boulevard suites are all listed around $800-$900, and the Apex Suites at $1600-ish. The Apex is only something like 1900 square feet, and I think Bellagio, Wynn, and Aria have much larger accommodations for $1500. Venetian's Piazza and Prima Suites (the latter of which I actually find attractive, mostly thanks to the unique windows and furnishings) are in the $400-$500 range respectively.

I mean, if I'm going to spend $1,700 on a room that size, I'd just throw $300 more on it and either get a Mirage Lanai Villa or a Mandarin Oriental Dynasty Suite. Both would blow the roof off the PH suite for charm or (in MO's case) service.

I think this is another case of Harrah's trying to discourage revenue reservations on these rooms so they can give them to the Seven Stars crowd. Robert Earl was probably doing the same thing but Harrah's is willing to take more than a fair share of your money for these rooms if you have more cash than brains or refuse to shop around.

Mike_ch, your link to oyster.com's Prima Suites made me wonder how long we'll have to wait for photos of Aria. Oyster's photos are the best, but still nothing on Aria.

I'm still in shock. Circus Circus has gone from MGM Mirage's biggest moneymaker to its biggest money LOSER. Now, I'm starting to wonder if they really do want to keep it. The whole North Strip is such a hot mess right now with F-bleau and Echelon mothballed indefinitely...

You're right about the North Strip being a mess. There is no there there. As the LV Sun pointed out, Excalibur is in a good location for tourist foot traffic, but Circus is all by its lonesome for the most part. If MGM doesn't have to sell properties, it may just hang on to Circus because it isn't that expensive to operate. Remember, MGM has the North CityCenter property at Sahara which they were going to develop with Kerzner. IF things rebound in Vegas for low to moderate spending tourists, and IF Fontainebleau opens and IF Riviera and Sahara ever amount to anything and IF BYD ever completes Echelon and IF Elad's property gets built and IF.......
Lots of IF's which may take a decade to sort out.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/apr/05/empty-lots-hurt-nearby-casinos/

Posted by mike_ch

Interesting.

I have to wonder what Stratosphere's numbers look like, because it's on the other side of that graveyard AND sits alone like an island a few blocks away from it. That would spell for some absolutely horrendous numbers, but when I walked through their casino on a Friday night about eight months ago, they looked to be pumping a lot of business and I remarked that they must be rolling in it because of the room rates.

But then, that was before all the luxury players lowered their room rates and sent this tier into the $30 market.

Finally, remember that CC and Riviera are both bargain hotels for people going to conventions at the LV Hilton or LVCC. That business was especially beaten up in 2009, which meant one more source of business disappeared.

Mike_ch, here's some stats on Stratosphere:
http://tinyurl.com/y8oq7rq

Doug, how do you define "the best gaming conditions in Las Vegas"? Or is that someone else's assessment that you are simply referencing? This is not a challenge or disagreement with you; I have been to Bellagio many times but not yet to Aria. Am genuinely interested in what is considered the 'big deal' about the Aria casino. Thanks. bonk!

Posted by Jason Robar

I think detroit brought up tthe presentation which said MGM was looking to improve their Player's Club. Well, they have made a slight improvement - I accidenally tried to reserve a room online at Monte Carlo on the same day I was already booked at Mandalay Bay, only to be told that I already had an overlapping reservation.

Now if only they would make all of their offers able to be booked online...

Bonk,
I've been a Las Vegas regular visitor since the 1970's and if I don't know anything else in the world, I do know a good casino - but here's what I mean...

Start by considering conditions of lower limit blackjack games - high limit areas are almost always the same comditions. Also, does the casino offer single zero(or european) roulette at a lower limit ($25 - $50)?

And subtle things like is there a 'big 6/8' on the craps tables - this is a sign the casino thinks their customers are idiots/beginners or suckers.

Does the casino offer surrender and re-splitting of aces on ALL their blackjack shoe games? (Wynn and Encore don't, by the way) Do they have ANY dreaded 6/5 blackjack games (Wynn does).

Does their poker room NOT have a jackpot drop. Do the VP machines have good pay tables, etc.

There are many, many other things, but that's a start.

Aria, from my research, has all the best conditions I mentioned and Bellagio is almost exactly the same.

Detroit-

"Remember, MGM has the North CityCenter property at Sahara which they were going to develop with Kerzner. IF things rebound in Vegas for low to moderate spending tourists, and IF Fontainebleau opens and IF Riviera and Sahara ever amount to anything and IF BYD ever completes Echelon and IF Elad's property gets built and IF.......
Lots of IF's which may take a decade to sort out."

Yes, those are a number of "if's". Now we are starting to see a rebound in tourist numbers, but The North Strip isn't really seeing it. With most of the big attractions further south along The Strip, it's those casinos that are seeing improving numbers. And with upscale resorts like Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand continuing to offer deep discounts on their rooms, why would most tourists bother with Circus Circus and the other North Strip hotels further away from the action?

Jason R-

"Well, they have made a slight improvement - I accidenally tried to reserve a room online at Monte Carlo on the same day I was already booked at Mandalay Bay, only to be told that I already had an overlapping reservation."

I recently experienced the same thing. And while I also wish I could book more of these great offers online, I really can't complain too much... I scored a good deal on a suite at THEHotel next month and booked it all online! :-D

Thank you, Doug. I wasn't sure if by "conditions" you meant luxury appointments/decor/design of the casino or the percentages/odds for gamers actually look to play there. Your info was exactly what I was hoping to hear from you. Thanks again. bonk!

Is Vegas back in the game? Strip gaming revenues up 33% in February. MGM shares are up 11% this morning.
http://www.lvrj.com/business/nevada-gaming-revenues-jump-13_9-percent-in-february-90214067.html

Foo doggies outside of Sky Suites are my favorites.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hartleykelly/4458209765/sizes/l/in/set-72157623535466423/

Looks like Veer is being delayed a bit. No duh?

http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2010/04/12/news/iq_35241001.txt

Posted by mike_ch

For those who don't hang on every word of Twitter, the guessing game today is which MGM-Aria-Bellagio Megacorp United hotel is getting the just announced Cirque show featuring the music of Michael Jackson.

Well, also there's a lot of moaning and groaning from me because I'm generally not a fan of these "Creative Partnership" shows.

Anyway, Freiss and McKee both think it'll be Monte Carlo, but I don't know where they'll have enough room? The WSJ article actually talks about Cirque wanting to set up some kind of Jackson-themed attraction thing like the Star Trek experience and I just don't think Monte Carlo has enough room, especially after CityCenter zapped it's footprint.

My guesses are either NYNY or Excalibur. The former still has half of it's original footprint for the Coney Island arcade; and the Excalibur seems like a longshot, but the Festival level or whatever it's called has a showroom (Tournament of Kings), a big level outside of it (the midway) and a motion sim hardware already there.

FreePlay, revenue and taxes.
I had never considered whether FreePlay was included in revenue or not. Interesting that Colorado prohibits FreePlay, and only seven include it in a casino's revenue.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100422/BIZ/4220349/1001/Free-play-may-lift-casinos--revenues

Posted by mike_ch

Harrah's taking bids on Rio?
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-23/harrah-s-said-to-seek-offers-for-rio-las-vegas-casino-resort.html

The Rio is an interesting property with significant land for future development. I wouldn't be suprised if Harrah's is only offered $350M for it and they decide not to sell. This could be a trial balloon to see how much they can get. I am suprised Colony Capital is still nosing around in Vegas given how badly they have been burned. It would be a good acquisition for Boyd, Marnelli, Pinnacle, Ameristar, or Penn.

parched-

"It would be a good acquisition for Boyd, Marnelli, Pinnacle, Ameristar, or Penn."

Or Starwood. Now that PHo is a Harrah's joint, Starwood has no affiliates in Nevada... For now. But if they can pick up Riviera (which they're already trying to pick up in bankruptcy court) and Rio, they'll be back in action.

Oh, and Conde Nast Traveler just featured Aria and Mandarin Oriental in its "Hot List 2010".

http://www.vegastripping.com/board/topic.php?topic=896

Mr. Chuck and I have been discussing the actual relevance of this. Any thoughts?

Conde Nast has almost 30 "brands" and many of them fit CityCenter's demographics for both advertising and stories. Talk about a symbiotic relationship. I'm not knocking it, but I'd come here and to Chuckmonster's VT to get a more balanced opinion.

Harrah's properties aren't my first choice, but I've always been impressed with Total Rewards. Now, they've enhanced it even more.
What happpened to MGM's much touted announcement that the Players Club was being revamped? This LV Sun story says MGM has hired two consultants. Consultants? MGM should have all the expertise it needs on staff.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/apr/27/no-gambling-required-harrahs/