As mentioned in a previous post, I took a tour of the following hotel/casinos last Saturday nite and here are some comments that may be of possible interest to some of us......

I parked at the Mandalay Bay around 7:00 PM and started my tour with the intent of trying to determine if I would notice any decrease in "activity " as a result of this economic slump we are presently experiencing.

Mandalay Bay .... Surprisingly found only a small number of gamblers in this gigantic casino and very few in the restaurant area outside of a decent crowd in Red Square where martinis are served in abundant numbers.

Luxor .... More crowded than the MB but it appeared to be filled with families who had small children in strollers checking out the sites.

Excalibur.... Ditto. Same as the Luxor. But a pretty tacky place.

NYNY .... Pretty uncrowded and looking a bit dismal since someone decided to redo the casino floor with a big circular bar in the middle. It has now completely lost it's Central Park "atmosphere". I bet this casino undergoes a major modification within the next couple of years.

Monte Carlo .... Someone went and built an ugly two-story, Tortilla spot at the Monte Carlo's SW corner and it's an eyesore. In fact the whole front of the Monte Carlo is an eyesore with a huge and blocky office selling tours and tickets right there on the Strip side entrance. Once the City Center is completed I'm sure that the Monte Carlo will be pressured to so something to dress up this dump of a joint. It's so depressing, I didn't even go inside and I'm definitely not a casino snob.

Continuing south along the Strip I passed the presently under construction, CIty Center. An amazing project in its own right but that huge, odd shaped structure in the front presently appears that it will be a huge, fully constructed, eyesore once it is completed. I don't think too many of us will appreciate that part of that project once it is completed, but I sure ain't no architect so I could be wrong. I understand that Apple Computer will be the prime tenant of that space.

When walking past this very expensive undertaking, you enter a shabilly constructed "tunnel" somewhat similar to a cattle shute leading towards the gilloutine. It's a complete eyesore and hardly worthy of what's on the other side. Those MGM folks ought to be ashamed and I don't recommend anyone walking through that hasteily constructed, wooden tunnel on a hot summer afternoon unless you plan to initiate a lawsuit because of the resulting heat stroke.

Bellagio - Still beautiful until you look closely and see peeling paint and dirty scuff marks along the public walkways, which would be non-existent if Mr Wynn still owned the place. He is gonna buy it back, ain't he?) A good sized crowd inside but the majority were tourists snapping photos of the Guhooli (Spelling) and the present and very attractive garden display.

Crossed the street and entered Planet Hollywood and was plesantly surprised.
The place was full of well dressed young people at all the tables and the bars and a huge line of well dressed folks waiting in line to gain admission to Club Privee at $20 a pop or more. This was the sort of crowd we used to see before the present economic situation. Nice feeling to see this once again

Continued on to the MGM Grand .... Not very crowded at all. No lines for Club 54 (but it was still too early at 9:30 PM maybe).

Tropicana ... Very slow.

Main thought here.... Except for the Bellagio and the Planet Hollywood, it was very evident that business is slow at this end of the Strip. And I think that we will be seeing some major modification in the not too distant future once City Center opens up for business.

Directly across the street from Harley Davidson and up past those little souvinir shops and Hawaiian Market Place, and clear through to the north side of the MGM Grand - it all looks prime for development during the next building boom cycle.

Hard Rock is presently undergoing major remodeling just a bit south of the Hawaiian Market Place and that is probably just the beginning for that side of the Strip opposite the City Center,

City Center's success will be the deciding factor. I don't think this one will be a failure once they pass through their initiation of fire and lack of funds.

But no matter what they do on this end of the Strip, they'll never be able to match the beauty and comfort of the Wynn nor the Encore just a mile north on up the Strip.

Maybe you missed the eyesore known as the Jockey Club, which should have been imploded long before the Dunes. It's that old time share/condo between Bellagio and City Center.

I'm not sure which eye sore you saw a City Center. They have a piece of "art" that they are very proud of. It's a bunch of multi colored canoes that are supposed to look like a flower. I think it looks like a bunch of canoes that went off a water fall.

City Center will have a huge footprint when it opens. It's still scheduled for phase I opening in November. Phase II behind the Monte Carlo and NYNY is on hold. Anyway, I still think City Center will have a bigger footprint than elevation, meaning that it will have plenty of ground level attractions. I think as you go up into the buildings, it will become a ghost town.

Most of my contacts from the strip tell me that they are getting almost the same number of people coming in on weekends. The people just aren't spending the same amount of money. They judge parking, valet, room occupancy, gaming revenue, and number of meals served. Off strip is showing about the same with a huge drop off on week days. That might explain why their high end restaurants close two days a week, midweek. I go on the strip or downtown about 3 nights a week and the people are there. The only dropoffs I have noticed are in the dumps, such as the Trop. Ballys and Harrah's seem down too. Circus and Riviera seem busier.