When it debuted, back in 1971, the Union Plaza (as it was originally called) was the largest hotel and casino in the world, with over 500 rooms, and the pool was located in the spot now occupied by Oscar's Beef, Booze and Broads bar and steakhouse. This is somewhat ironic, given the former mayor's 2005 comment that "If I had my druthers, I would like to have somebody in place to discuss imploding the Plaza," but then again by that time the property had definitely seen better days and was suffering from the same long-term malaise that was affecting downtown Las Vegas in general.
In the summer of that year, Tamares Group took over ownership of the Plaza, but no major renovations commenced until the end of 2010, when the hotel portion of the property closed for almost a year for a major remodel of much of the accommodation, the casino, and the dining offerings. However, an upgrade to the pool (which had long since been relocated to the casino rooftop, between the two hotel towers), was started but abandoned shortly thereafter.
Fast forward to 2015, when CEO Jonathan Jossel was awarded a gaming license, and a second wave of upgrades and innovation commenced at the Plaza. In the interim, Tamares had been more concerned with developing some of the company's other downtown real estate along the Fremont East corridor, but with full control over all aspects of the hotel-casino business, attention has now focused back to the Plaza, where subsequent additions included the Beer Garden, Hash-House A Go Go, a new party pit looking out onto Main Street, and a small history exhibit recently installed on the second floor -- the latest demonstration of a new appreciation of the vintage-Vegas vibe and the scope for capitalizing on the Plaza's historic caché.
There's renewed attention being paid to both the gaming and entertainment offerings (the latter of which in particular had been distinctly hit-and-miss for a while). In a return to some "Old Vegas" values, they've brought back free lounge acts nightly in the casino, while popular musical group The Scintas are now installed in the showroom. The CEO has expressed some skepticism about the industry's current infatuation with attracting millennials, and the Plaza is mainly catering to a more conventional visitor demographic, typified by the recent Back to the Future festivities. This Sept. 8-11 the property will again host the annual "Big Blues Bender" music festival.
Still, all had been quiet on the pool front until earlier this year, when on January 4 work commenced on a multi million-dollar upgrade to the 60,000-square-foot deck. New amenities will include the addition of cabanas and daybeds, plus poolside gaming, live entertainment, and full food and beverage service, and while recent interviews with Jossel have not elicited any firm opening date, work is expected to be completed in time for the summer.
We should add that another positive new development is the property's active participation in social media, which is all part of Jossel's focus on listening to customers and long-time staff and engaging in constructive dialogue about what people want, so we suggest following the official Twitter or regularly checking the Plaza's Facebook page for updates on both the pool and other happenings, including perhaps some more new dining options, which are being hinted at.
Again, nothing concrete has been confirmed, but in an interview with Gaming Today back in January of this year, Jossel mentioned that Tamares is contemplating how best to utilize approximately 10 acres of additional property that sit adjacent to the hotel-casino, and in the "Vegas Fanboy" podcast we link to above, the CEO hinted that another big announcement is fairly imminent, so who knows what else new is in store for the Plaza? From LVA's point of view, the property has been very proactive and imaginative in some of the new offers and promotions they've been running, including becoming a major contributor of deals in our 2016 Member Rewards Book, so we're excited to see what comes next.
