Now, this post is from a person who has precisely ONE Vegas trip under his belt, albeit a ten day one, so feel free to challenge anything I put here.

It looks like the Regent may be on it's last legs, the DI went under not long ago, the Sands,Mint,Hacienda etc. went a LONG time ago, but still resorts like the Aladdin and the Suncoast open up with great expectations.

From my limited experience, it seems that you can't tell how 'successful' a property is by simply checking out how busy or otherwise it appears to be. The Venetian had a lot of foot traffic, but very few people playing in the casino or eating in the restaurants. The Bellagio, (which I have to admit was my favourite place to play) looked deserted most of the time. On the other hand Treasure Island was packed anytime I went, as was the Mirage.The Flamingo, Harrahs and Ballys all seem to benefit from their great location and probably 'leak' customers into each other, otherwise they seem to be pretty undistinguished.The Paris was somewhere in the middle, with more table game players than slot players, and the 'Bistros' doing a fair trade. The poor old Strat on the other hand was just as deserted as the Bellagio, apart from the queues for the Tower elevators.

Presumably the Bellagio and Venetian are successful ventures, but you wouldn't know it from a casual visit.

Longevity is presumably a sign of success, but it is hard to believe, for instance, that the Frontier,Circus Circus and Caesars were all built around the same time.

The Alladin seems to have got mixed reviews and it remains to be seen how the Suncoast fares, so what in your opinion separates the succesfull ventures from the failures?


[This message has been edited by Vease (edited 06 October 2000).]

Vease,
I think alot has to do with the amount of debt the casino is carrying. For instance, Paris is a paid in full deal, if they only have 1/2 the volume of customers, they'll still survive. However, a place like the Venetian & Aladdin have heavy debt, they have to be busy or the intrest will eat them alive.
As far as the diffent casino's go. They each have their own niche. Sometimes it's just how they market themselves, other times it's the employee's themselves that make a differnce. I can say that the Flamingo keeps getting me back because of the friends I've made that work there. It's a comfort level thing, I guess.
People are looking for differnt things when they come to LV. Some for the Glamor & Glitz, others like the low limit tables, others look for the best video poker pay-outs, or best poker room, or even daycare, or food outlets. It's the casino/hotels with out a direction that seem to fail most. IMHO

These like your are just my thoughts. I'm not a casino owner...LOL. I like you are just watching for the barstools! <S>


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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com