David Mckee's Stiffs & Georges - Cloverfield monster

'Gang' at Encore

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:49:00 -0700

Yesterday saw an unusual -- but altogether pleasant -- change in the Vegas Gang routine, as we taped "on location" from a seventh-floor room in Encore, overlooking Echelon and the increasingly ominous Fontainebleau (so disproportionately massive it looms over its neighbors like Godzilla or Gammera over mere mortals). Both David G. Schwartz and Jeff Simpson joined us by speakerphone, giving the conversation a certain Charlie's Angels vibe.

It's Fontainebleau ... coming to stomp us all! Run for your lives!

Spoilers ahead ...

I'm clearly very much in the minority on the likelihood of a Mirage or Bellagio sale. Cash cows they may well be, but there seems to be a strong consensus that their tires are being kicked and serious talks are underway, as well as that The Mirage has become a stodgy property.

Also that MGM Mirage is a Vegas-Vegas-Vegas-obsessed company and would be willing to sacrifice the Gulf Coast and Detroit markets -- the latter of which it utterly dominates -- to keep the CityCenter bucks a-flowin'. (And why would MGM bail on Detroit and not on the sickly Illinois market instead? Or Tunica? Or ... ? If Alex Yemenidjian would pay $435 million for an Illinois license, what might he put down on actual, operational asset?)

Such a strategy would fly in the face, if not of sense, at least of recent casino industry thinking, whereby you try to maintain strong footholds in the second-tier markets and not put all your chips on Vegas (unless you're Steve Wynn and even he tried it once). It would be like Harrah's Entertainment evacuating Atlantic City to raise money for its stalled Octavius Tower.

And you could knock me over with a feather if MGM sells its Macao demi-concession to partner Pansy Ho or back to her father Stanley, especially after all the hoops MGM had to jump through to get into Macao. Bailing on the world's #1 casino town would be an indicator of extreme desperation bordering on insanity.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get into the provenance of the urban legend that Phil Ruffin's Treasure Island purchase was just a big-ass/short-term loan to MGM, with "T.I." serving as collateral -- and at 55% interest, no less.

Deep Red: Encore

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:53:00 -0700

As much as casino-watchers have been vexed by the total media clampdown on all but the smallest scintillae of revelation about Steve Wynn's Encore, it was worth the wait. Or, to put it differently, Aria and Fontainebleau have just been given an exceptionally difficult act to follow.

I say that as someone who was disappointed with Wynn Las Vegas when it debuted in 2005. Despite the modernity promised by the exterior, what I found inside was a pastel-colored version of Bellagio -- smaller, muted, rearranged and more than a bit fussy.

Let it not be said that there is anything pastel about Encore, nor anything tentative. For starters, primary colors are back "in" with a vengeance, specifically red. Now, I like red but we're talking RED!!! For relief, the VIP area is dominated by green. But did I mention to utter profusion of RED??? If Dario Argento designed a casino, this would be it.

My tour group, which included fellow Vegas Gang-sters David G. Schwartz, Chuck Monster and Robert Earl's favorite writer, Hunter Hillegas, had the good fortune of being in the tour group led by Wynn Resorts design guru Roger Thomas. For the latter, Encore represents his Vegas swan song and it closes the circle in other way: As Thomas put it, when Wynn and he remade the downtown Golden Nugget, it was the death knell of that Vegas staple, "the red casino." Not another would be built after that. "We killed [the red casino], we get to bring it back," Thomas says by way of explaining the riot of scarlet luxuriating throughout Encore.

Above and beyond its coloristic impact, Encore is the most tactile casino on the Strip and probably in the U.S. You'll be wanting to "cop a feel" many times over, whether it's of the wood finishes, the wall coverings or the sculpted textures like the "wall of bodies" that ushers you into nightclub XS. (Once you get in -- if you get in -- the view across the dance floor and the "European" [read: topless] pool to the al fresco bar opposite is one of the bigger "wow" effects at Encore.)

They mix a mean sangria there, too. The color scheme is as gilded as the casino is reddish and Thomas confesses, "I'm certain Goldfinger had a little to do with it." Whatever the case, it's like Christian Audigier -- The Nightclub (right down to the fashion boutique) but for people with taste.

There will be other articles and blogs appraising the aesthetic and functionality of Encore, so I'll leave the assessment to experts and confine myself to various jottings made while trying to walk and scribble simultaneously.

Thomas, who's been with Wynn since 1981, describes himself as the "partial author" of The Mirage, the seminal property of contemporary Las Vegas, and "full author" of Treasure Island. He's not necessarily patting himself on the back, as he says that one of the lessons learned at the Island was not to fully theme a casino (a lesson that several non-Wynn casinos failed to heed) and not to have one designer do the entire hotel. His subsequent approach has been to assemble teams he knows and admires, who hit it off with Wynn himself, and who have the reputation of being on time and on budget.

Despite those last criterion, not every last light fixture or handrail was in place (some uninstalled fixtures, left carelessly in the middle of a hallway, nearly cost posterity the future writings of Dr. Schwartz). Nor did we get more than the teensiest peek at the Encore Theater, which has been redone -- again -- for Danny F. Gans. The proscenium has been moved back but that's the only specific we were given.

Flocked with butterflies. Other than the ocean of RED, the design element likeliest to be mentioned are the omnipresent butterflies. They're in the moldings, the tiling, the wall coverings ... in short, everywhere. Not only do they "represent an abudance of good luck," they provide Thomas with a metaphor for the transformative process he and Wynn enjoy: turning the unromantic elements of cement and steel into an escapist paradise. There are no Strip views at ground level because, Thomas says, "When you're cocooned at Wynn, everything is beautiful." (He did not, however, croon" ... in its own little way.")

The third design element, less obvious to the eye, is a running motif of garlands of laurels. These were inspired by the most famous tale of metamorphosis (no, not Franz Kafka's), the myth of Daphne, depicted in a statue in the Lobby Bar & Café. Yet another reinvention is Switch, the restaurant whose decor changes every 20 minutes. It sounds godawfully corny but, in actuality, it's wondrous to behold -- like a dining experience by way of Cirque du Soleil. The revelation of multiple 18-foot chandeliers is a particular coup de theatre. "Steve can't help himself," Thomas explains. "He's a lover of theatre."

Encore's Esplanade mall has less natural light, more space than its opposite number at Wynn LV, which was one of the areas where it was most obviously "Bellagio II." The decision to mix design styles is evident in the amalgam of sharp angles and wave forms in the conjoined Rolex/Wynn & Co. boutiques. It provides relief from the overall aesthetic -- as intended -- without making a violently contrasting statement.

(My favorite design element, in truth, was the chair in Wynn & Co.; pure Heaven to anyone with an aching back. I want one, dammit!)

If natural light is somewhat lacking in the mall, Encore's atrium more than compensates. This vaulted, latticed space is Wynn's biggest "You have arrived" statement to date. Its conservatory-writ-large style manages paradoxically to be both grandiose and subdued. It's crowned with a pair of huge sconces salvaged from a demolished hotel in Cap d'Antibes.

Path of Excess = Palace of Wisdom? In the mall and, in fact, throughout the property, Thomas' preference for layering details sometimes induces sensory overload. The stated intention was to create a property that would require several visits to fully appreciate and one can report: Mission Accomplished. For instance, if there's a spa in town more ornate and in-your-face indulgent than the mere lobby of the Encore spa, well, I've not seen it. Several in my group agreed that Wynn could charge people for audio tours of Encore, and rightly so. It feels less like you're being shown through a resort and more like being given a walk-through of a working palace.

A good thing, though, that Wynn's attempts to buy up and demolish the nearby Guardian Angel Cathedral were rebuffed, though. Not only could Wynn use some guardian angels in the current economy, Encore's beauty parlor overlooks the cathedral and, were it not there, you'd have an all-too-clear view of some genuinely craptastic buildings on Covention Center Drive. The Catholic diocese did Wynn a favor by turning him down.

Of the many iterations of "suite" at Encore, we were shown two: a Tower Suite that makes up in comfort what it lacks in size (it's generous to call it a "suite," though it may make you feel better about what you're paying to stay there) and a Salon Suite in which you could land a helicopter. Something very intense and Asian was going down in what appeared to be an even larger suite at the end of the hall -- a huddle with the CEO of Tagruato Corp. perhaps?

Even the elevators are differentiated in their decor. One had a red alligator-skin motif while another was clad in butterflies rampant on a field of purple. I mean, we're talking spare no expense here, folks. The fabric for the drapes in the VIP room was purchased three years ago and kept under wraps until now.

The Sinatra restaurant is dominated by gargantuan, larger-than-life-size portraits of the Chairman of the Board himself. Is it a restaurant or a shrine? I felt I ought to genuflect or at least make the Sign of the Cross. But the real conversation-starters here are two hefty obelisks which flank the bar, while overhead sails a bejeweled galleon. Thomas rescued these from the shipwreck that was a failed New York City restaurant.

Society will be, for want of a better term, Encore's bread-and-butter restaurant, as well as a must-visit for chocoholics. Thomas' goal here was, "A room that Oscar Wilde would like."

Now stop for a moment. Can you imagine Thomas saying that to William Weidner and getting anything more than a basilisk stare? Or having a conversation with Gary Loveman about the metaphorical significance of butterflies? The Harrah's Entertainment CEO would probably just want to know what the return on invested capital from butterflies was going to be.

Which goes to the heart of what makes a Wynn property different from anything else in the marketplace: His willingness to invest monetary and artistic capital in things which don't translate to the bottom line in a quantifiable way but which create a "must-see" factor. I have no idea what the ROI of the Bellagio fountain is but it's -- and not arguably, I'll contend -- the fulcrum of the Strip, the icon off of which everything else plays. Wynn is an anomaly: a casino industry CEO with the temperament of an artist ... but an artist who's chosen a very unusual art form by which to express himself.

To have come all this way and not have spoken of the Encore casino floor itself is not to imply that it's an afterthought (the way the Venetian's casino floor feels like a waystation between the super-grandiose lobby and the Grand Canal Shoppes, for when you simply must shoppe 'til you droppe). Actually, quite a bit of thought has clearly gone into the casino, the part of Encore in which Wynn's experience with Macao is most prevalent.

Even more than Wynn LV, it's dominated by semi-secluded areas. But unlike the serpentine traffic patterns of its sister property, Encore's casino is neat and orderly, laid out in a street-and-block system, with superior lines of sight. Bucking the "more is more" trend, Encore has only 850 slots, which we're told are on an infrastructure ready for server-based-gaming when (or if) it takes off.

The innate conservatism of Wynn's approach here is the sort of thing that stands him in good stead with the banks. (Server-based Aria could be a triumph of gaming technology but it's a helluva ski jump.) In the mass-market area, each '21' table is flanked by a pair of table lamps, providing an appealingly homey (or "very residential," in Thomas-ese) vibe to the table game pit.

Steve Wynn looks suspiciously like he's been Photoshopped into his own atrium at Encore, but at least it gives you a sense of scale.

It's difficult to rank Encore in the pantheon of recent Las Vegas megaresorts because Wynn's most serious competion in the last decade has been ... Steve Wynn. Even had Palazzo's rollout not been a near-total botch, it still has that expensive-shopping-mall-that's-doomed-to-fail look about it. Planet Hollywood, had it all reopened simultaneously, would have flung some serious "Wow!" at its audience, but Robert Earl's had to relaunch it incrementally and progress of late has been agonizingly slow. Other than the Criss Angel bomb Believe, it may be the Strip's most expensive work in progress.

So ... will Encore create excitement unto itself? I believe so. Does it represent not only a leap forward for Wynn but an even bigger one than expected? Yes and yes. But ...

Will it drive business? If I owned WYNN stock (which I don't), I would sleep very well tonight.

Looking for trouble

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:27:00 -0700

Seems that somebody, getting into the spirit of our increasingly Orwellian society, has been doing a few "sneak and peek" searches on the passport records Sens. Clinton and Obama. Those of you with long memories will recall that Bush I functionaries pulled this same dirty trick on a young whippersnapper by the name of Bill Clinton back in '92. Like father, like son, eh?

OK, so at least some of the miscreants have been fired. That still doesn't answer the question of why they did it or erase from their minds (and those of anybody with whom they were in cahoots) what was found out. Or, as the judge is always saying on Law & Order, "You can't un-ring the bell, Mr. McCoy."

I'm with Rep. Henry Waxman: I want to know who did this, why and what they were looking for. And if you think it's a non-issue, well, what if it were your passport file?

[Quickie update: Seems the passport file of Sen. John McCain was breached, too. Either there are State Dept. employees with way too much time on their hands on there's some sort of bipartisan dirty-trick activity at work. Either way, heads better be rolling. (And does this mean Condi's blown her shot at being McCain's veep?)]

Meanwhile ... They're not letting this guy into the U.S.? Why, he sounds like your average Vegas high roller. Too bad he doesn't have any "juice."

Speaking of looking for trouble ... Giant undersea spiders, jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles, starfish two feet wide -- does this sound like the jumping-off point for a SciFi Original Motion Picture to you? Actually, these are the fruits of recent Antarctic research.

You know where this is gonna lead: Somebody like Tagruato Corp. is gonna start poking around and, next thing you know, we're getting a visit from Mr. Grumpypants. Don't make him angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Starstruck; MEGACENTER attacks; Viral marketing

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:19:00 -0700

So there I was, at a rally for John Edwards (where I got interviewed by the Christian Science Monitor, as luck would have it). He's intro'd by James Denton (good news for the predominantly female crowd).

Meanwhile, I look around, and who's standing toward the back of the throng than that actor's actor, Jean Smart, as well as Kim Zimmer -- whose portrayal of Reva Shayne Lewis Cooper Spaulding Lewis Lewis (I'm not making that up) on The Guiding Light draws acclaim from our own Anthony Curtis. Both women couldn't have been more personable -- or tall! So there I was talking local media ownership with Reva Lewis and Aileen Wuornos. Surreal. Smart, in particular, has a very powerful presence, even when just listening. If you get a kick out of strong women, it was an inspiring experience, although meeting AmandaTapping still takes the cake.

"I am MEGACENTER; prepare to be destroyed!": If you scroll down to "Best Name Ever?" on David Schwartz's blog, you'll find a very funny and thoughtful item about the thunderously unimaginative name Las Vegas Sands dreamed up for its agglomerated Sands Expo/Palazzo/Venetian super-megaresort. What they came up with sounds like something out of Transformers or Toho Studios. "Eek! It's MEGACENTER! Run for your life!" Where's the Cloverfield monster (aka "Mr. Grumpypants") when you really need him?

Speaking of Cloverfield, a dreadful movie whose marketing campaign (here's its original spore) is the best I've ever seen, to what extent is the casino industry exploring viral marketing?

Given the high level of interest that surrounds every new casino or redevelopment of an existing one, not to mention the fever pitch that usually accompanies a grand opening (when properly done), wouldn't it benefit Company X's coffers to tease the consumer with hints and tidbits throughout the long runup to that moment when the doors swing open and the players stream into the newest pleasure palace?

In view of the popularity of sites like Two Way Hard Three and VegasTodayandTomorrow.com, it would seem that giving these folks a well-timed glimpse here and there would only help ramp up (and shape) expectations for new and remodeled properties. Instead, casino companies get all defensive and demand, for instance, that all CityCenter images be removed (as briefly happened to VegasTodayandTomorrow).

These people are your allies! Work with them! It's a win-win scenario if ever I saw one.

Case Bets: Caucuses, Cosmo, "Cloverfield" & Coasters, etc.

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:20:00 -0700

You wanna make Bill Clinton lose his cool? Ask him about caucuses in casinos. Not a good moment for the ex-Prez. He can't be happy about this, either.

Now that the Culinary Union is enjoying a moment in the sun, thanks to its Obama endorsement, it's getting a moment in a different kind of Sun. Seems it may be overplaying its hand. All of this tit-for-tat nastiness might (just barely) redound to the benefit of my guy, John Edwards. (And, yes, you get to taunt me if Edwards is crushed on Saturday.)

BUT ... if you enjoy online gambling (click about three screens down) you won't want to vote for Edwards, who's against it, full stop. Sen. Clinton holds the same position as the AGA, favoring a taxpayer-funded study. Sen. Obama, with typical pith, calls the 'Net a "Wild West of illegal activity, but not only supports the study but regulation, too.

So I'd call Obama the most liberal on this issue (he plays poker, after all), Edwards the most conservative. (I like Obama's health-care position the best, his education stance the least.)

No GOP breakdown? Or do they have to wait until Friday for their Sun spot? Not fair.

Best News of the Week: The truth is still out there. And not a moment too soon. But could they thrown in some chupacabras? (I'm surprised someone hasn't thrown El Chupacabra into the "secure our borders" debate.) The Significant Other just loved that chupacabra episode.

Local paper deems Congress worse than steroids. You can't make this stuff up.

Even Better News of the Week: Another impostor band has been booted from the Sahara. This brings Larry Marshak's much-criticized and controversial revue to a grinding halt, at least for the nonce.

Cosmo Update: As mentioned in "What's News," the Wall Street Journal has a lengthy take on the foreclosure threatening the Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino. It observes, ominously, that owner Ian Bruce Eichner "gained notice during an earlier real-estate downturn in the early 1990s when he lost several projects in New York City."

Even more worrisomely, the WSJ notes that Eichner is in default for $935 million and that Wall Street could be looking at a $100 billion write-off thanks to the collapse of subprime lending. The story also references local disillusionment with the condo-hotel business model. Not to mention that the project has been limping along already.

Another paper, meanwhile, paints a smiley face on the whole affair, deeming it merely "a setback." Deep in the story, however, there's some excellent historical background, the consensus of various experts being that the Cosmo will get finished ... eventually. It just might take as much as four years.

Quote of the day: "We're a beneficiary to the degree that America's on sale." -- MGM Mirage President James Murren, whose company is trying to sell 9.4% of itself to Dubai World.

Speaking of Dubai World. Is that the secretive company allegedly tied to the Cloverfield monster? Uh, no, that'd be Tagruato. Um, never mind. (Has the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority explored 'viral marketing,' by the way? Just a thought.)

As for the LVCVA, small wonder that Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons is apt to applaud Las Vegas Sands President William Weidner's calls to defund it, or at least raid its budget on occasion. Just look at who's the most 'george' donor to Gibbons' legal defense fund (other than the Gibbonses themselves, that is). George Maloof is in for 10 G's, too.

No Ho Roadshow: The proposed IPO of Stanley Ho's casino empire, SJM, is too rich for some investors' blood, reports the AFP and the South China Morning Post. Hence, a planned roadshow was scrapped and the $1 billion stock offering won't be seen until after Chinese New Year.

THIS isn't the Cloverfield monster, but the 3,000-lb. beastie just might be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "giant rat of Sumatra." (Search for "prehistoric rat" on Yahoo News for further details.) Talk about a rodent problem!

Sweet revenge: Former Tropicana Casino & Resort President Pam Popielarski is back at the Atlantic City Trop, whose fortunes she guided for a bakers' dozen years, this time as a consultant. She was one of many Trop employees who were ousted a year ago, when then-owner Columbia Sussex (recently kicked out of New Jersey) went on a cost-cutting jihad. Magnanimously, Popielarski is dropping a lawsuit against Columbia Sussex that alleged age- and sex discirmination.

Popielarski is part of a triumvirate of veteran casinos execs that will be advising former state Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein in his trusteeship of the embattled property (currently at the bottom of the A.C. market). Gary Simpson, a former senior veep of finance for previous Trop owner Aztar Corp. is also on board.

Somewhat worrisome is the appointment of controversial, well-traveled former Foxwoods boss Mickey Brown. Given Brown's stormy past and despite his considerable accomplishments, he may not be the face New Jersey wants to put on the Trop in lieu of layoff-fixated William Yung III. At least Brown's background as a regulator could be put to good use, as Columbia Sussex's persistent disregard or (to give it the benefit of the doubt) incomprehension of New Jersey laws was its undoing.