Resorts World Las Vegas Archives

Resorts World, Alon, Lucky Dragon Done Before They Open?

Current Resorts World Las Vegas Rendering

Are Resorts World, Alon and Lucky Dragon dead before even opening? Unfortunately it looks like that might be the case.

All 3 properties were banking on Asian high rollers to be their big customers. There aren’t as many Asian high rollers as there used to be. In fact, Calvin Ayre questions if there are any Chinese high rollers around.

Regardless of the fact that gaming revenue accounts for less than half the revenue for Vegas Strip casino-resorts today concerns about high rollers are making it difficult for Resorts World and Alon. Lucky Dragon has a different set of financial concerns. Here’s more info:

Alon having difficulty raising funds.
Lucky Dragon is being financed most by American money, but that money may be running out.
Genting keeps delaying Resorts World and is looking for help.

This looks bad, but it doesn’t mean these properties won’t have any customers and won’t get built. Here’s a look at the non-Asian high roller customers for the 3 resorts.

Alon is being positioned similarly to Wynn. It’s an international luxury resort with a heavy focus on nightlife. Expect plenty of non-Asian high rollers (see initial plan here).
Resorts World is being positioned as a family resort. High rollers might be their biggest customer financially, but the majority of guests would be “regular people.”
Lucky Dragon is a 100% Chinese focused property. Everything evolves around Chinese culture. The scope of this project is smaller so they might not need as many VIP gamblers. Yes, that’s a reach. (See details on Lucky Dragon at Vegas.buzz)

The future of the north end of the Vegas Strip doesn’t look as bright today as it did just a few months ago. Hopefully these projects are able to move forward but it looks less likely as the Asian gaming market continues its downturn.

Resorts World Las Vegas Promo Video & Renderings

Yesterday ground broke on Resorts World Las Vegas. The new multiple hotel and casino complex will open in 2018. We were treated to a slew of new renderings of the property yesterday while the mainstream media was at the groundbreaking ceremony.

You can find even more renderings in the media gallery at the Resorts World Las Vegas website which also just launched. The gallery also includes this snazzy video of the renderings.

The renderings have changed at least once since Resorts World Las Vegas was first announced. Expect more changes as construction gets moving. Sometimes plans are easier to create on a 3D rendering than real life. Regardless of the changes I can’t wait to see what this looks like in 3 years.

Follow Resorts World Las Vegas info directly from the source. In addition to the website they’ve just launched the following social media accounts:

Note: Genting says a Panda exhibit is still a part of the plan.

New Resorts World Las Vegas Renderings

Genting is breaking ground on Resorts World Las Vegas as I type this. The ceremony offered more renderings of what Resorts World Las Vegas will look like. I’m not at the groundbreaking so I’ll be pulling new renderings I find from social media during the ceremony.

I’m simply embedding pictures A) To be quick and B) To make sure I give proper credit. Learn more about Details On What Resorts World Will Offer.

The first batch of renderings come from Johnny Kats of the Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Weekly on instagram via twitter.

Rendering action #ResortsWorldLV

A photo posted by John Katsilometes (@johnnykats1) on May 5, 2015 at 2:06pm PDT

More rendering action #ResortsWorldLV A photo posted by John Katsilometes (@johnnykats1) on May 5, 2015 at 2:06pm PDT

More renderings action #ResortsWorldLV

A photo posted by John Katsilometes (@johnnykats1) on May 5, 2015 at 2:09pm PDT

Continue reading “New Resorts World Las Vegas Renderings”

Vegas Rumors: Monte Carlo Name Change, Riviera Bye-Bye

Rumors about Vegas are fun. Especially when they come from good sources and make sense. Here’s a look at a couple of rumors floating around that seem too good not to be true.

Monte Carlo

Rumor: Earlier this week Vital Vegas dropped a rumor that the Monte Carlo would be changing its name.
Thoughts: This totally makes sense. They’ve de-themed most of the hotel to the point of where it’s so bland the name doesn’t make sense. A new name announcement after construction is complete around the property and shortly before they open the new arena would work nicely. Maybe they’ll renovate the rooms in time for the new arena too.

Riviera

Rumor: Riviera has been sold and new owners will close and demolish in favor of something unrelated to gaming.
Thoughts: This rumor about the Riviera sounds legit despite rumors about renovations. Despite these mainstream media outlets reporting about $20-$100 million dollar in renovations to the property in recent years the parent company is still having financial problems post bankruptcy. With Resorts World Las Vegas being delayed and SLS Las Vegas having its own problems revitalization of the north end of the Vegas Strip doesn’t look so hot right now.

Both of these are still rumors right now. Both bits of news make too much sense not to happen. We’ll see if they’re true shortly.

Update: 6/16 – Rumors are both finally confirmed. Monte Carlo will become MGM Park and Riviera will be imploded 6/14 and 8/14.

Resorts World Las Vegas In Limbo

Genting announced their plans for Resorts World Las Vegas way back in March of 2013. In May of 2014 they announced what Resorts World Las Vegas would consist of and I started to become giddy.

The new property was scheduled to break ground last year and open in 2016 or 2017. Fast forward to January of 2015 and insert <sad trombone>.

Christian Goode, the top executive for the planned $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas development, has departed the project, the company said Wednesday.

That’s not a good sign but construction was supposed to be underway so maybe this is just a bump in the road. Well, not quite.

In an email, Genting Vice President of Corporate Communications Michael Levoff said the company hopes to break ground on the development between April and June.

Resorts World Las Vegas is now behind schedule by at least one year. Their projected 2-3 year construction means that Resorts World Las Vegas won’t open until 2017 or 2018 at the earliest.

Genting was having a lot of success with their overseas casinos but that run ended last year as the Asian gambling market began to soften. I’ll have to relax on my excitement for Resorts World Las Vegas. We can discuss when construction actually begins.

You can see renderings and plans for Resorts World Las Vegas in this post.

This Resorts World Las Vegas Rendering Video Looks Sweet

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Resorts World Las Vegas. Renderings of the new hotel coming to the Vegas Strip have been out for a while. We already know what Resorts World Las Vegas is planning but this EB5 rendering video gives a little more insight as to what the property should look like when it’s finished.

If you’re impatient just skip to the 1 minute mark so you can get to the property highlights. Here are some quick hit notes:

The Asian theme will be specifically Chinese.
The roof deck bar looks awesome.
There will be two shopping areas. The Great Wall Passage Way (shopping) looks cooler than most mall areas in a casino.
4,200 seat theater will focus Chinese type events like Dance and Martial Arts.
Gardens look like Wynn with more water features.
What’s up with that balloon elevator thing on the north side of the hotel?
The porte cochere looks as if it will be closer to I-15 than the Vegas Strip.

PS: You can see more Resorts World Las Vegas rendering photos at the bottom of this post.

James Packer To Bring A New Level Of Luxury To Las Vegas

In Ocean’s 13 Willie Bank wanted to have the most fabulous casino that Las Vegas has ever seen. He wanted a higher form of luxury than any other hotel offered. From early interviews it seems as though James Packer and Crown Holdings might have the same idea for the hotel and casino to be built on land where the New Frontier once stood across the street from Wynn.

No specific plans have been announced for the hotel (not even a name) but everything in this interview with Australian Financial Review can easily lead you to believe this new casino and hotel will be top of the line luxury.

Andrew Pascal says a Crown Resorts-backed development in the gambling city will draw new Asian punters and deliver a luxury experience that will not be matched by incumbent players – including his old employer.

Pascal’s former employer was Wynn so he knows a thing or two about luxury in Las Vegas. The focus on Asian customers is a direct shot at Wynn’s customer base.

Wynn typically has the second highest room rates in Las Vegas and Wynn is also among most profiable casinos on the Vegas Strip. It will be interesting to see if Crown can build a property that suits their high end international customers.

“Crown’s executive vice-president, strategy and design, Todd Nisbet, said there was “room for improvement” in the delivery of luxury casino resorts in Vegas..”

Wait, more shots fired at Wynn and the other luxury properties in Las Vegas. Crown and Wynn have two of the three Five-Star hotels in Macau and Crown plans on bringing that Asian luxury to America.

“We think we get luxury, we think we get service and we intend to capitalise on that and bring that sense of hospitality to Vegas, with an Asian sensibility,” he (Todd Nisbet) said.

Resorts World Las Vegas is being planned as a family oriented property. SLS Las Vegas will be “affordable luxury” (read as cheap but nice). It will be nice to have another luxury hotel and casino in Las Vegas. I’m looking forward to seeing detailed plans on what Crown, Packer and Pascal have in store for this hotel.

Ocean’s 13 is a great movie. It’s on TV often but if you want it on DVD you can grab it for under $7 at Amazon.

Photo: Monorails.org

Speculation Games Featuring Cosmopolitan, The D, Golden Gate, LVH, Palms, Resorts World And Riviera

Speculating on the future of Vegas is fun. Instead of full-blown posts about specific subjects I think it’s more fun to be short and concise. Here’s my take on two potential moves that would shake things up on the Vegas Strip.

Topic: Now that Cosmopolitan has been sold which Vegas casino will be the next to go? LVH, Riviera and Caesars Entertainment have been rumored to have casinos on the market for a while. Caesars may have multiple properties on the market that they need to sell so they can reduce debt and avoid filing for bankruptcy.

Speculation: My guess is that Caesars will be the first to move. Their current fire sale and shell game seems like a brighter fire than the other two possibilities.

If there’s a dark horse in this race it could be Derek Stevens moving quickly to add the Riviera to his portfolio of The D and Golden Gate. On a personal note, I’d love this. The D and Golden Gate are two of my favorite places to roll dice.

Update: On a detail specific note, you may remember that Stevens owns a small percentage of Riviera. (H/T Chris Robbins on Facebook for the reminder that some people may not know this)

Topic: What is Dan Lee’s next step now that he’s resigned as CEO of Palms after less than a year on the job?

Speculation: I’m going to speculate that Dan Lee’s next job will be something big. If he has a non-compete clause with Palms or just needs time away from work he might look for a major role with Genting as they open Resorts World Las Vegas.

If that’s too far ahead perhaps a move to another independently operated casino in Vegas might make sense.The Cosmopolitan might make sense as they’ll likely add new leadership when Blackstone takes over operations.

If you’re not familiar with Dan Lee, Vegas Tripping had a really detailed post when he was named CEO of Palms last year.

Photo: Riviera – Vegas Chatter, Palms – Vegas.com.

Details On What Resorts World Las Vegas Will Offer

Resorts World Las Vegas received approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board to move ahead with development on the casino and hotels that will open in 2016 or 2017. They will need to apply for a full gaming license before opening. Here are some details about Resorts World Las Vegas from the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Phase 1 – Definite

3,000 hotel rooms in the main hotel.
The casino will have 3,500 slot machines and table games.
Genting will operate the sportsbook themselves.
30 food and beverage outlets.
4,000 seat theater for rotating shows.
50,000-square-foot, 58-foot-tall aquarium.
Roof-top sky park and observation deck atop the 674-foot-tall tower.
Shopping area along the Strip will resemble a Chinese village.

Phase 2 – Tentative

additional hotels
1 million square-foot convention center
water park
more restaurants

Resorts World Las Vegas sounds like the kind of property that would have opened in the 70’s or 80’s. There’s something refreshing about these plans. While hotels like Delano Las Vegas, The Cromwell and SLS Las Vegas are trying to offer more intimate experiences it seems as though Resorts World Las Vegas will be a playground for everyone.

Here are some renderings of Resorts World Las Vegas if you haven’t seen them yet.

Resorts World Las Vegas To Be First Themed Resort In Vegas Since The Venetian

When the news broke that Resorts World Las Vegas would be build across the street from Wynn and on the lot that was once destined to be home of Echelon, I was simply stunned that a new casino would be built in Las Vegas more than anything else. I didn’t look to see what the casino would offer.

After looking at the Resorts World renderings and the excellent breakdown of those renderings on Vegas Tripping I realized that Resorts World Las Vegas was going to be an Asian themed casino. Even girlygirl commented about the Asian theme. It’s pretty obvious when you actually look at the renderings (Note to self, look).

Since that initial moment there have been rumors of a Panda “Habitat” being part of the casino. That would fit nicely into an Asian themed casino. Seriously, who doesn’t like Panda’s?

The video below has an interview with Paul Steelman who designed Resorts World Las Vegas (skip ahead to 20:27 left in the video). I learned a few more things about Resorts World from the video.

– There will be a covered pool open all year around. The first of its kind on the strip.
– This is the first themed casino to be built on the Vegas strip since Bellagio which opened in 1998. UPDATE: The Venetian is themed and opened in 1999. Thanks for being incorrect Mr. Steelman and Mr. Ralston.
– Genting (Owner of Resorts World) owns the largest aquarium in the world.

Dr. Dave Shwarz is interviewed after Mr. Steelman in case you crave more discussion about business in Las Vegas.