The honor of MGM Mirage‘s Gold Strike Tunica has been restored by reader Sin City Cyn, who writes:
“Speaking of resort fees … I promised to report back on the pool fee situation at Tunica’s Gold Strike. I’m happy to report that I saw no sign of a ‘nominal fee’ for use of the pool. Although entrance to the pool, and adjacent spa area, was by room card only, limiting access to hotel guests. Why this information remains on their web site is anyone’s guess. It appears they’re paying as much attention to Web site content as they are to hotel room maintenance. (OK, in all fairness, the rooms were waaaay better than before MGM Mirage bought the place — they obviously put a ton of money into redecoration. But maintenance (broken lamps, burned out light bulbs, peeling wallpaper) could be better.) So — no pool fees — yet.”
Some of you have already read this in the “Comments” section, but I wanted to make sure it was somewhere that even non-subscribers could see. Also, it’s not too late to add your two cents (or maybe even a Station Casinos-sized $25/night) to our resort fees poll, which ends at midnight tonight.
Speaking of Gold Strike … you may want to vote for Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) but you wouldn’t have wanted to work for him when he was general manager of his daddy’s Jean, Nev., Gold Strike and Nevada Landing casinos, back in 1991-4. According to a much-read profile of the casino heir, one eyewitness described the younger Ensign’s managerial style thusly: “He was an ass to his employees, barking orders, acting like a peacock.” Washington’s gain wasn’t gaming’s loss.
Warp speed to nowhere. So low has the former Star Trek: The Experience fallen that bits and pieces were available at a garage sale yesterday. This is another dismal, downward step for ST:TE, which was booted from the Las Vegas Hilton by cheapskate Colony Capital (which has replaced it with … nothing and still had the logo in place, last time I checked), then found itself at the tender mercies of Neonopolis and its feckless manager, Rohit Joshi.
Remember, he’s the guy who drove out almost all his tenants because his squabble with a contractor caused the air-conditioning in Neonopolis to be shut off. (Telemundo stayed, but only because it had a discrete HVAC system of its own.) Yeah, that boob. If ST:TE ever — I mean ever — gets revived in Las Vegas, it’ll be a bigger miracle than Mr. Spock‘s resurrection.
I don’t doubt that Colony Capital had a big role in the demise of ST:TE. But don’t sell Cedar Fair short, who has regularly proven they are more adept at hatcheting something and selling off the pieces instead of improving something by investing in it. They’ve done it with a number of amusement parks and if I remember correctly were the ones asking for a rather large increase for the exhibit.
Speaking “of Neonopolis and its feckless manager, Rohit Joshi”, is there anything new on that front?
I remember reading an article about a year ago that quoted Mr. Joshi to the effect that he had several deals in the works to resurrect the location. I haven’t heard anything since – except that one of its last tenants, the movie theater, closed.
Is Mayor Goodman saying anything about what might be done, like forcing out the current manager, or is the situation hopeless?
Like the rusting hulks of half-completed “resorts” out on the Strip, the elements are probably slowly damaging the abandoned spaces of Neonopolis.
Like the similar situation with the Lady Luck, it’s a shame.
Las Vegas Hilton should have kept Star Trek: The Experience on their property. I stopped in there in 1998 (I think it opened in 1997) and me and my friend had a great time drinking at the bar for a couple of hours. All the memorabilia was pretty cool. This is from someone who has watched maybe 3 episodes of Star Trek in my life.
Per Mr. Joshi, the last time I was in Neonopolis, the only business I saw was a small bakery. And, yes, neglect is taking its toll on the place. As for the future of ST:TE, today’s Review-Journal has the following:
R”ohit Joshi, a representative of downtown’s Neonopolis, said Thursday that he holds the rights to the Star Trek: The Experience name until 2018. He added that he’s still in discussions with CBS, which owns overall rights to the “Star Trek” brand, on a future Experience. Joshi wouldn’t discuss a possible opening date. But observers say CBS has decided that any future iteration of the Experience will focus less on older TV versions and more on later movie incarnations of ‘Star Trek.'”
If Joshi’s got the rights sewn up through 2018, I’d say the over/under for a new ST:TE would be 2019, when somebody else — hopefully with two nickels to rub together — options them. Should we start passing the hat?
[…] the Mandalay Resort Group fortune of Mike Ensign, announced his retirement from politics today. The former general manager of the Gold Strike and Nevada Landing grind joints in Jean (1991-4) was looking at brutal poll […]