{"id":21446,"date":"2018-04-04T08:22:16","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T16:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=21446"},"modified":"2018-04-04T08:22:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T16:22:16","slug":"happy-birthday-ellis-island-sls-in-sahara-out-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/happy-birthday-ellis-island-sls-in-sahara-out-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy birthday, Ellis Island; SLS in, Sahara out for now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congratulations are in order to Ellis Island Hotel Casino & Brewery<\/strong> (not in that order of priority) on 50 years in business. What started as two menu items has grown into a beloved locals hangout whose karaoke nights are the stuff of legend. Ellis Island is also renowned for its barbecue — just try to get a table — and is notable for being the only casino I’ve ever been in to have a cement floor. No doubt the cleanup crew appreciates that touch. Its microbrewery is a mainstay (best root beer I’ve ever tasted, bar none) as are its generous pours. Mind you, Ellis Island is not choosing this anniversary to rest upon its laurels. It’s building an outdoor dining\/entertainment facility, The Front Yard<\/strong>, a $10 million project that will open later this year. And its video-poker-powered \u00a0Village Pub<\/strong>s add their 13th location on the April 16, with three more restaurants\u00a0scheduled to open later in 2018. All the while, Ellis Island retains its family-owned scale and charm. In this era of corporate behemoths, it’s good to see the little guy winning for a change.<\/p>\n

* A downturn in business at Parx Casino<\/strong> \u201cwould be, I would say, almost catastrophic for us,\u201d remarks Bensalem<\/strong> Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo<\/strong>, who \"\"would have to cut police and other essential services in such a scenario. Of the significant gaming expansion<\/a> coming down the pike in Pennsylvania<\/strong>, Hizzoner says, \u201cTo me, it\u2019s kind of killing the golden goose that lays the eggs. I don\u2019t know how far they can take gambling. The more they put in, to me, the more it\u2019s going to deplete us here.\u201d Although the Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>‘s feature has a certain tone of purse-lipped disapproval, in keeping with the paper’s anti-casino policy, it does highlight some of the dangers lurking for cities that take gaming revenue for granted when making their budgets.<\/p>\n

* Is it too early to rebrand Ocean Resort<\/strong>? Owner Bruce Deifik<\/strong> has inked a strategically valuable affiliation<\/a> with Hyatt<\/strong>. Now if only he can get the Hyatt name onto the marquee …<\/p>\n

* At the risk of throwing good money after bad, incoming SLS Las Vegas<\/strong> owner Alex Meruelo<\/strong> is planning nearly $100 million<\/a> in capital improvements, including a redo of the slot inventory and a brightening of the casino floor. Ironically, one of Sam Nazarian<\/strong>‘s points of pride, the
\n\"\"redesign of the pool area, will be re-redesigned.\u00a0\u201cThe capital investment is something that will make a dramatic impact. Things are already turning around, and I am very optimistic,\u201d Meruelo told the Nevada Gaming Commission<\/strong>. Also, before jettisoning the SLS brand, he will study its name recognition for an additional year. On the basis of the (poor) business so far, we’d say it’s — what’s the technical term? — shitty. It’s also a disappointment to everyone who hoped that the advent of Meruelo would mean an end to SLS and a reversion to the Sahara<\/strong> moniker. One vestige of Smilin’ Sammy Naz\u00a0that will definitely be leaving is sculpture “Sam by Starck,” better known as “The Happy Blob.” No word as yet on whose front yard it will end up decorating.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the former owners of SLS are in hot water<\/a> with 60 Chinese investors who lost their shirts (and their permanent green cards) when the resort turned turtle. They’re suing in Los Angeles<\/strong> for $225 million in damages plus court costs. It’s like one final kick in the pants of Stockbridge Capital Group<\/strong> on the way out the door.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0When Poarch Band of Creek Indians<\/strong>\u00a0inherits Sands Bethlehem<\/strong>, they will find they have gained a 26-table\u00a0poker room at the loss of an Earl of Sandwich<\/strong> eatery. Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> knows how to pamper<\/a> his poker players, providing massages and tableside dining, in addition to 19\u00a0\"\"LCD television sets (large-screen, of course) stationed around the room. Now that Sands is no longer restricted to 250 table games (its bread and butter), it will use the old poker room space, which was awkwardly situated in the middle of the casino floor, to add 14 new tables,\u00a029 table-game stadiums and a plethora of new slots. “Beyond the quality of life upgrades, poker players will finally be isolated from the hollers of table game players and the dings of slot machines,” reports Penn Bets<\/em>. The Poarch Band will find that Adelson is turning over the keys to a very souped-up car.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations are in order to Ellis Island Hotel Casino & Brewery (not in that order of priority) on 50 years in business. What started as two menu items has grown into a beloved locals hangout whose karaoke nights are the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[235,65,23,18,14,238,172,95,157,162,12,195,31,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21448,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21446\/revisions\/21448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}