Originally posted by: David Miller
I used to like, stay and enjoy Silverton. They have gone the way of so many other casinos in Vegas and are having the same results. Since they closed their once upon a time nice buffet - which was greately downgraded the past few years - I have no reason to visit or stay there. They have become what I would call an "overflow" casino property - when the rest of Vegas has high room demand, visitors stay there not because they desire to, but because they have rooms available. You would think that they (and other casinos) would pay attention to how South Point is managed and would follow suit.
Silverton has been a ghost town because their hotel has been closed for what, like a year? It's supposed to open again in a couple months. In the meantime, they've upped their offers to locals with free play and free food. I hadn't been in for 6-8 months, and all the sudden they started to sending my wife and I $30 food comps and $30 free play per month. I know it's not much to you tourists who play a lot, but for us, we usually just sit and play VP at the bar when we visit.
Also, it's worth noting that they've made absolutely NO changes to their buffet area. As they are a privately owned casino, I'm thinking they might bring their buffet back when their hotels reopen. The individual owners don't have to answer to stockholders, and know what brings people in.
I stop by South Point every few weeks for lunch (hot dogs are great!) and see a huge line at the buffet every time, as well as lines of 15-16 people for hot dogs. And their tables are packed even mid-week.
I've been a casino exec for 20 years, and have immense respect for (most) individual casino operators...at least for ones who grew up in the industry. Those who came to Vegas and bought into it with scadloads of money, not so much.