Alex Meruelo has begun exorcising the unclean spirit of Sam Nazarian from SLS Las Vegas. In a giant gesture of faith, Meruelo 
will invest $100 million in a property makeover, starting with those oh-so-excessively-trendy hotel rooms. Next week Meruelo will get around to the much-criticized casino floor and to Nazarian’s pride and joy, the pool complex. Speaking of purgations, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has finally gotten around to dropping the de riguer practice of referring to the myopic Nazarian as a “visionary” every time his name was mentioned. Thank you. Now could we please put the “Sahara” name back on the casino, Mr. Meruelo?
* Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Culinary Union. An ominous study by the Institute for Spatial Economic Analysis has determined that two-thirds of casino jobs will be automated by 2035. Since the casino-resort business is an intensely personal one, 
a world of robots is rather unsettling to contemplate. However, three Las Vegas resorts — Vdara, Mandarin Oriental and Renaissance — are already starting to go robotic. Vdara’s star performers, Jett and Fetch, are designed to resemble dogs, presumably to give them a nice, warmhearted feeling when they deliver the food you ordered from room service.
MGM Resorts International Senior Vice President for Hospitality Cliff Atkinson puts a benevolent spin on the changes. “I see [automation] as we eliminate front desks altogether and that you’re able to check in over your phone. But the people that were at those front desk are still there. They’re there to customize your journey, there to greet you at the car and they’re there to escort you to your room to make sure you have everything you need. You can’t replace that and that engagement.” We hope not.
Nope, the impact will hit the back of the house first. ISEA’s Johannes Moenius says, “Women will most likely be hit first,” followed by minorities. The Culinary’s Geoconda Arguello Kline disclosed that union workers will receive retraining opportunities if their jobs are mechanized. The new Culinary contract also mandates six months’ severance pay and benefits for those workers made redundant. Arguello Kline told National Public Radio, “Right now, it feels like we’re protected for the next five years. But in this five years we have to prepare for the next five years, what’s going to happen.” Nothing good, I fear.
