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Originally posted by: franco802
I truely think that the Riviera is next on the chopping block. I have never been there, but have heard its a dump. I'm not saying its a dump, but the neighborhood where it sits is not that great either.
I would have agreed with you 3 or 4 years ago. The old girl was sliding downhill due to a number of reasons. While rooms were being remodeled, their marketing department was absolutely trying to murder a significant portion of their business base by ignoring the economic realities of the recession by jacking up the costs to convention customers that had been loyal to them as a destination hotel/casino for hosting their annual Las Vegas based conventions. I'm a member of a club that used to enjoy having its annual convention at the Riv. It wasn't exactly cheap - the club would spend around $30k just for use of their convention facilities and catering over three days - but the Riv wanted even more after the recession hit. Our club moved our convention to another casino/hotel that really wanted our business, and I'm sure we were just one of many.
New ownership and management have made dramatic changes to just about every aspect of how the place is operated on a daily basis. The hotel is not a dump by any stretch. The attitudes of the casino employees are 180 degrees improved from what it was when management was chasing away customers. Try finding $5 craps tables with 10X odds every day at any of the strip mega-resorts. Try finding $5 3:2 blackjack (including single deck) every day at any of the strip mega-resorts. Try finding a single-zero roulette table with $1 chips and $5 minimum inside and outside bets every day at any Las Vegas casino, much less a strip casino. You don't need to be a high roller to get room comps and free play.
Being in the shadow of the of the uncompleted F'Blue and across the street from the Echelon Place skeleton is not a good enough reason to off-hand bad mouth the property.
