{"id":7430,"date":"2011-09-06T16:12:06","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T00:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=7430"},"modified":"2020-09-08T07:13:48","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T15:13:48","slug":"plaza-riviera-cheap-new-wine-in-old-bottles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/plaza-riviera-cheap-new-wine-in-old-bottles\/","title":{"rendered":"Plaza & Riviera: Cheap new wine in old bottles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/strong> was guaranteed to generate coverage. Plaza PR peeps did a masterful job of dribbling out bits and pieces of advance info<\/a>, resulting in a steady stream of eager stories<\/a> (including five Review-Journal<\/em> pieces in the last seven days alone). The Sept. 1 opening having come and gone, what’s the local verdict?<\/p>\n

After some prevarication, Tamares Group<\/strong> brass decided to proceed with a soft opening. Bad idea. It was the squishiest since the Venetian<\/strong> fiasco of 1999, if not a “Splat!” on so grand a scale. Hunter Hillegas<\/strong> chronicled the failings of execution in a withering series of Tweets<\/a>. Among other problems (many<\/em> other problems), it’s clear from Hillegas’ report<\/a> that $35 million wasn’t enough to adequately remake the Plaza. Deep-pocketed Tamares opted for half-measures<\/a>, a calculation that threatens to backfire. The ex-Fontainebleau<\/strong> furniture looks spiffy<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

He also found<\/strong> the hotel-casino suffering from an identity crisis that one wouldn’t expect with industry veteran Anthony Santo<\/strong> at the rudder. Ditto the inexperienced staff, 62% of whom are newbies<\/a>. With unemployment rampant in Las Vegas<\/strong>, 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<\/strong> “believes in it” … because Alex Yemenidjian<\/strong> kicked his ass out of the Trop. The Plaza’s not exactly an upward move for Mr. Cools either.<\/p>\n

\"\"“The Plaza can compete<\/strong> on price and the fact they now have significantly less urine in their carpet but that’s not going to be enough<\/em>,” Hillegas concludes. However, the overall tenor of his report leaves me bracing for the worst (i.e., Chapter 11). Visitor Ted Newkirk<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"On the other hand<\/strong>, the frequently severe Chuck Monster<\/strong> (whose wrath has memorably been visited upon The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas<\/strong>) was more good humored<\/a>. His best line: “Toiletries are the Malibu Barbie<\/strong> version of the Leatherwood Collection<\/strong><\/em>.” 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<\/strong>. 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<\/a>. It declined so dramatically under Tamares’ manager-of-the-month stewardship that even mild improvements will look like quantum leaps.<\/p>\n

\"\"If $35 million wasn’t sufficient<\/strong> at the Plaza, where does that leave the $20 million that Barry Sternlicht<\/strong> is loaning — loaning<\/em>, 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<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"Queen Victoria’s British Pub<\/strong>, a carryover from the previous regime<\/a>, is incredibly blah: a poor man’s Crown & Anchor<\/strong><\/a>, 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<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"Now I confess<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,65,66,28,18,51,4,59,55,12,47,9,19,21,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7430"}],"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=7430"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27924,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7430\/revisions\/27924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}