It’s an index of the desperation of local media to have something — anything — new to cover on the casino front that the slightest murmur from the Plaza was guaranteed to generate coverage. Plaza PR peeps did a masterful job of dribbling out bits and pieces of advance info, resulting in a steady stream of eager stories (including five Review-Journal pieces in the last seven days alone). The Sept. 1 opening having come and gone, what’s the local verdict?
After some prevarication, Tamares Group brass decided to proceed with a soft opening. Bad idea. It was the squishiest since the Venetian fiasco of 1999, if not a “Splat!” on so grand a scale. Hunter Hillegas chronicled the failings of execution in a withering series of Tweets. Among other problems (many other problems), it’s clear from Hillegas’ report that $35 million wasn’t enough to adequately remake the Plaza. Deep-pocketed Tamares opted for half-measures, a calculation that threatens to backfire. The ex-Fontainebleau furniture looks spiffy, even if it’s rather oddly juxtaposed with the old-school layout of the hotel rooms — a built-in handicap for which it would unfair to criticize Tamares.
He also found the hotel-casino suffering from an identity crisis that one wouldn’t expect with industry veteran Anthony Santo at the rudder. Ditto the inexperienced staff, 62% of whom are newbies. With unemployment rampant in Las Vegas, it’s inconceivable that Santo couldn’t find higher-caliber personnel. What Hunter encountered was what industry pros call “a break-in joint.” Yeah, Anthony Cools “believes in it” … because Alex Yemenidjian kicked his ass out of the Trop. The Plaza’s not exactly an upward move for Mr. Cools either.
“The Plaza can compete on price and the fact they now have significantly less urine in their carpet but that’s not going to be enough,” Hillegas concludes. However, the overall tenor of his report leaves me bracing for the worst (i.e., Chapter 11). Visitor Ted Newkirk describes opening night as “business as usual.” Uh-oh. Tamares didn’t even spring for an opening-night media event. I had business elsewhere that evening but there are many other columnists, TV shows and bloggers who could — and would — have made hay from just a teensy bit of privileged access.
On the other hand, the frequently severe Chuck Monster (whose wrath has memorably been visited upon The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas) was more good humored. His best line: “Toiletries are the Malibu Barbie version of the Leatherwood Collection.” Both he and Hillegas love the new look and layout on the casino floor, which Mr. Monster finds less antiseptic than that of the Tropicana. Another common thread is that, once you get past the casino floor, more and more sins of omission are discovered. An accumulation of small gripes like these can snowball into a real image problem. Fortunately for Tamares, the Plaza has low expectations working for it. It declined so dramatically under Tamares’ manager-of-the-month stewardship that even mild improvements will look like quantum leaps.
If $35 million wasn’t sufficient at the Plaza, where does that leave the $20 million that Barry Sternlicht is loaning — loaning, mind you — the Riviera? Changes are already afoot. Small retailers have been swept out and the casino floor is experiencing the kind of work-in-progress makeover familiar from the Trop. One gets the sense that General Manager Bobby Ray Harris and his crew haven’t figured out yet how to make certain spaces work. Their biggest obstacle, however, is that the Riv looks so old and so moribund that $20 million seems desperately inadequate to put things even half right. When there’s a long line at check-in, it feels all too much like a bus station with slots.
Queen Victoria’s British Pub, a carryover from the previous regime, is incredibly blah: a poor man’s Crown & Anchor, but pricier, with a typo-ridden menu, poky service and strangely chosen mood music. It’s as British as as a bottle of Old Spice aftershave. My wife and I played in the new bingo room on its opening night. It’s just off the back entrance, close to the parking garage, in what’s clearly meant to be a convenience for locals. The area is a smudgy, converted slot floor, complete with catwalks and eye-in-the-sky camera domes. The staff is surprisingly inexperienced, too. You wouldn’t think these are jobs the Riv would have a hard time filling with skilled personnel, considering the market.
Now I confess that the idea of a “high hold percentage” in bingo had never occurred to me but the cards used at the Riv are randomized in such a way that there was rarely more than one winner per game, sometimes two — never three. On the plus side, this means the lucky winner(s) take home real money, not just a few dozen bucks here and there. Also, the games themselves last longer, which amps up the suspense quite a bit. For a brand-new offering, the bingo room drew surprisingly well on its first night. Codgers with limited entertainment budgets, like myself, should find it an appealing option — and non-smokers get the best seats. Consider it a step in the right direction.
On the roof of the Riviera (above the casino floor) and about 60 feet high on the Strip the Riviera has an outdoor space that is empty most of the time. I have seen some chairs, tables and a DJ booth set up there before (probably for a convention party) they are having at the Riviera. Why not try and put something like a fun bar/restaurant/nightclub there? It might be a little cold November through February out there (some outdoor heaters would help) but some entrepreneur could try and have a bar/restaurant/nightclub on the roof of the Riviera.
(This analogy is currently happening to me. I hope it makes sense.)
This article made me realize that these recent casino make-overs are just like what I am going through with my (current) healthcare-insurance provider.
It seems to me the casinos have followed the insurance company’s lead in that they will only pay for a bandaid when the patient is in need of surgery. I know that sounds drastic. But paint and carpet will NOT change the outlook for a downtrodden casino-hotel. It still looks like all they did was — paint and carpet.
I think the fact that this is only the second comment regarding these properties says something. If you were writing about Boyd rebuilding the Stardust or, heck even the Lady Luck I think people would be writing comments all day. Not sure the love is there to begin with for these properties, or if it once was, the bad times were so long that people have given up on these properties. The people running the Plaza really felt that a hotel that was mostly empty for years would suddenly come to life with this remodel. The prices they were initially hoping to charge for rooms has already come down to earth a bit.
I don’t think anyone had any illusions that either of these places were getting anything like the makeover at the Trop. The Plaza still has no pool, right? Still it’s incredably good next that any money was put anywhere downtown except the leading property, the Golden Nugget. Also, is it a first that anybody finished any project on time? At least there won’t be any implosions at the Plaza anytime soon, something that Jim Murran can’t say about City Center.
Also, I was comped at the Riviera last year. It’s not the prettiest belle at the ball but the rooms are as nice as any other mid-market place in better locations on the strip and it’s right next to the Peppermill. It’s not a bad choice for a guy who just wands a bed on the strip and its great for small conventions. The Riv is underrated and at least management is still trying.
I agree with Howard that the Riviera has a few things to recommend it. Their comp policies are favorable to players, the video poker odds are better than most places on the strip, most of the staff is friendly, and the rooms I’ve stayed in are as good as any mid-market hotel on the Strip. I’m eager to see what the remodel is bringing when I visit next week…
I haven’t seen the Plaza renovations, although I have no doubt that what Hunter reports is true that they aren’t as complete as they should be.
I have to disagree with the sentiment though that it won’t work, it’s not on the strip, it’s downtown, there’s only one place that comes close to having the materials equivalent of what they’ve bought, even if it was half assed, it’s still a major upgrade and sets it apart significantly from the other downtown properties, whereas the Trop merely brought itself back to respectability.
I know the El Cortez has remodeled and gotten some great word of mouth, but it’s still the El Cortez and from reading numerous reports, still has the same break in issues it always did. It’s a fate suffered by most of the DT casinos, the Plaza as a break in style joint shouldn’t be a surprise, and the only way it’s going to change from that is if some of the changes elevate it’s customer base, but even then, we are still talking about the ‘cream’ of the downtown visitors, which is mid tier on the strip.
If there’s one thing the GN has shown us is that it’s ok to elevate DT, but no matter what’s done it’s not going to compete with a strip property. I think that’s the point Hunter missed in some of his criticism and the part Chuckmonster understood.
Don’t sell the Nugget short: People who stay there praise it unstintingly, it’s nicer (and cleaner) than quite a few Strip casinos I could name and it’s crowded every time I visit. I think we can all agree that Tilman Fertitta’s regime has inspired his Downtown competitors to try and keep pace as best they can, instead of simply treading water.
If there’s disappointment with the Plaza, that may be partly the consequence of Tamares having worked so hard to raise expectations, perhaps excessively. And as for the Riv, lumbering her with $20MM in new debt (as opposed to making an equity infusion) looks an awful lot like a repetition of the primary mistake that dragged down the Westerman regime. More debt servicing is the last thing the Riviera needs at the moment.