Sheldon Adelson: He is driven. Interesting article in the NY Times.
"...the Venetian is now the Strip�s second most profitable casino hotel, behind only the Bellagio, said Robert A. LaFleur, an industry analyst with the Susquehanna Financial Group, and that is with only a third of its revenue coming from its gambling floor."
When 3rd Place on the Rich List Just Isn�t Enough
Comments
Wow, that article says he has a Boeing 767, a 747 and a 737.
I was listening to NPR today, and one of the programs I was listening to was brought to us by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates and his wife have donated billions of dollars to worthy causes. The second richest person, Warren Buffett, has said he will do the same with many of his billions. And what does the third person on the list do with his billions? Hope they increase so he can feed his colossal ego. Sheldon Adelson donates a lot of money too, but really, how juvenile is it to come out and say you want to be #1 on the richest people list?
I dig Vegas Tripping, but I thought that naming Venetian as the Worst in the Trippies is a bit of a stretch.
I'm not sure when it became popular to bash the Venetian but lately there have been more and more examples of it.
I stayed there last year and thought the room was quite nice. It has a great location in the heart of the strip, and great dining options. Just based on those three things it shouldn't be in the running for worst IMO.
If I had the option to stay at Bellagio, an Augustus Tower room at Caesar's or Wynn for the same dough I would take those options but every year when I price it out the Venetian comes in with a special for under $200 a night during when those other options are close to $300 a night so comparing them on an even field isn't fair IMO.
Is it the best? No. But I certainly wouldn't consider it anywhere near the worst either.
That being said, Chuck and crew over at VegasTripping are certainly entitled to their opinion and are much more Vegas knowledgeable than I am.
Businessweek says "mass luxury" is dead, in this article.
Just something to keep in mind. I still can't understand how all these companies are trying to build Bellagio/Wynn/CityCenter level stuff and thinking there's a market for a good 15,000 rooms or more at that kind of tier.
i heard customers are no longer getting drinks comped when playing machines in the bars at the wynn. can anybody verify that?
Will Steve Wynn fire Jennifer Dunne for her comment?
>>Yet the Palazzo's opening with bargain-price $199-per-night room rates has not been much help for nearby hotels, many of which are already grappling with a slower U.S. economy,
"They're killing all of us," said Wynn's Dunne, while noting January is generally not the most profitable month for Vegas resorts.
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN1830103820080118
This past December, Augustus was $160.00 (their 'hot rates') per night, weekdays, right before Christmas week. Wynn was at $159.00, as per their promotion, December weekdays.
At that very same time, Venetian was more expensive than both, and wanted $199.00 per night, weekdays, in December .
Also, I've not seen any actual $199.00 rates at Palazzo or Venetian, currently, under their special being advertised right now. The sketchy wording of the current Venetian/Palazzo promotion states: "as low as"...which means there might have been a few rooms being offered at that price at some point, but not anymore.
Venetian has been notorious for never offering the exact rates that they promote in their specials. Reminds me of car dealerships and all those dealer ads that are too-good-to-be-true !
The comped drinks at the bars stopped a month or two ago, yes.
Joey,
I agree with you that the Venetian gets a bum rap from some quarters. We stayed there several times in 2007 after a couple years more or less exclusively staying at Bellagio or Wynn, and I thought customer service had improved considerably. They also did a pretty good job on the room remodel last year, although now the Venezia tower is looking really tired. Also the highest floors of the main tower where the true suites are located hadn't been touched at least as of last December. I don't love the casino mostly because it's too smoky and too heavily perfumed, but it's relatively player friendly for the low stakes gambler, and they're comparatively generous with offers (at least in my experience).
Pisces,
We stayed at the Venetian from 9-17 December last year, and if you couldn't find a good room rate there it's because the place was full. We were there for a large medical conference that had several thousand attendees, and there was at least one other sizable trade show or meeting there that week. The wife had her hair done by her favorite hairdresser at Wynn, who complained that the place was dead. The only other major event that week was the rodeo, and I guess cowboys aren't a target demographic of Wynn since I didn't see many cowboy hats when I strolled through the casino.
Like he said at the press-conference: Everything they do is convention-based. And yes, from a business standpoint, I think they are financial geniuses. And, I imagine they are number 1 in terms of conventions, probably in the whole USA.
As a single traveler--- a tourist on vacation, the place doesn't doesn't my needs at all. Other than that, I'm sure it's a great property.
I got the $199 rates for Pallazzo and those were for weekend nights.
Funny, there is an article in the LA Times travel section that uses the same analogy that I used citing Wynn and an Augustus Tower room at Caesars and comparing the three spots.
You can read it here-
http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/?p=1234
I wonder if this guy reads your blog Hunter?
FYI, Wynn Las Vegas has re-tooled their Web site. It looks basically the same but it is based on new underlying technology and it is much, much faster.
A piece on Wynn's minibar that might amuse some:
"Fancy Minibar Charges You for Merely Moving Things In It."
Today is the last day for trading Harrah's stock.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/28/news/companies/harrahs_entertainment.ap/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
Oops. Hit the "post" button too many times.
My oh My, the awards for Wynn just keep pouring in....
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=132059&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1100762&highlight=
I just want to post an observation, having visited LV in January twice this year. There seems to be a heated competition between properties and even shows and nightclubs for the title of "the hottest place on the strip" With P.H.'s protracted opening followed by Palazzo's protracted opening and with Blush's opening being followed closely by the Bank's and whatever's next it seems to me that a saturation point of elegance and luxury and expense may be near. It may be no longer a matter of being the most beautiful and interesting or expensive and extravagant hotel/club/show/restaurant but simply a matter of being "the newest thing" Continuous openings and lauches followed by continuous shutterings and construction could leave LV in a perpetual state of boarded up areas and caution tape.