Mohegan Sun shines

Congratulations to Mohegan Sun on being named ‘Best Hotel’ by readers of USA Today. I’ve never stayed there but would reckon this is quite a coup and shows yet again that tribal casinos don’t yield the palm to private-sector ones where amenities are concerned. In an even more improbable development, The D was named ‘best Las Vegas casino,’ putting Big Gaming to shame. More ‘expectable’ was the choice of Foxwoods Resort Casino as best non-Las Vegas casino. Best casino restaurant also went to the Mohegans: Capriccio in Resorts Atlantic City. (Some of you must have eaten there; how good is it?) Best loyalty program was no surprise at all: Total Rewards. We have to hand it to Gary Loveman, who built a better mousetrap with that one.

Following The D in the Vegas category were M Resort (#2) and — this is a surprise — Mandalay Bay in third place, especially considering that business there is still in a 10/1-induced slough. The Plaza was #4, followed by Venelazzo, the Golden Nugget and Caesars Palace. Red Rock Resort and Aria rounded out the list. We’re a bit surprised that only one Caesars Entertainment property made the roster and downright astonished that Wynncore didn’t make the list, although its deliberately snooty market positioning may be working against it.

Predictably perhaps, Mohegan Sun was the second-best non-Vegas casin0, followed by Grand Sierra (can Meruelo Group leverage some of that good will at SLS Las Vegas?), Pechanga Resort & Casino, L’Auberge du Lac, Harrah’s Resort Southern California, rural Cactus Petes in Jackpot, Nevada (!), Coushatta Casino Resort in Louisiana, and Peppermill Resort Hotel in Reno. “Best Hotel” confirmed the subplot that Big Gaming is not cutting the mustard with the vox populi and that tribal casinos are kicking butt. Also, boutique properties tend to trump airplane-hangar casinos. The #2-10 hotels were: del Lago Resort & Casino, Pechanga Resort & Casino, Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel & Casino, Peppermill Resort Hotel, Turning Stone Resort Casino, M Resort, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, and Venelazzo, the only Vegas property to crack the top 10 — good if you’re Sheldon Adelson, not so good if you’re the competition. You can read the top-restaurant category here. Kudos to Boyd Gaming, the only company with two eateries in the top 1o.

* Speaking of Las Vegas’ poor showing, although the reasons should be thunderingly obvious, Caesars and MGM Resorts International are polling their customer base to try and figure out why people are staying away from Vegas in droves this year. As columnist Scott Roeben says of an essay question asking what it would require to restore strained relations with Sin City, “The problem is when you’re at that point, it’s too late. You weren’t vibing, cues were missed and it’s nearly impossible to recapture that spark … These surveys are remarkable in that 1) the companies seem to be aware visitor perceptions are changing, 2) it’s taken them so long to become aware of that fact.”

To the litany of picayune (and not so puny) fees that casinos charge now, Roeben adds making customers earn drink comps and swapping out name-brand liquor for the cheap stuff. If you made $2 billion last year, as MGM did, you have no business nickel-and-diming your clients. The most egregious add-on goes to aptly named Dick’s Last Resort (as in, they act like dicks to their customers; my wife and I walked out and never went back) which charges 75 cents for a glass of water. If the frequent Vegas customer I spoke with last week who now plays closer to home is typical, Sin City has definitely got a problem on its hands. It can recapture some of what it lost by branching into newer territories but that doesn’t solve the problem at Gambling Central.