Do you own a Trump International condo? Guess what? In another instance of the impotence of the Trump brand name, he’s sublicensing part of Trump Int’l to a genuinely powerful hotelier. Vegas Today and Tomorrow blogger Mark Adams has ferreted out the news that Donald Trump has quietly offloaded 300 units of his supposedly super-smash-hit golden phallus to Hilton Grand Vacations. “Leave it to the The Donald to put his wallet before his guests and condo owners,” Adams writes. Indeed, ’twas ever thus.
While the Hilton moniker doesn’t convey the same nouveau-riche pretensions of “Trump,” it’s one people are hella more inclined to trust. It also means 300 additional units on the Las Vegas Strip in which you can access my USA Today guidebooks to the Strip and Downtown. These are only available through an online portal at Hilton-branded properties. Ergo, Trump may be losing additional stature but I’m picking up more “eyeballs.” It’s a win-win!
Thus converting what was envisioned as prestigious owner-occupied condos into a commercially operated condo-hotel with high usage of the facilities but low revenue to the owners of all but the most plum units.
How much do you want to bet that these first 300 units are a trial balloon for an eventual Hilton Grand Vacations takeover of the whole Trump LV enchilada?