Vegas Visitor

Kerzner Koming To Vegas

July 8th, 2007

Ok, so i spelled it wrong, but Kerzner International, owner of the Atlantis Resort in the bahamas, is coming to the vegas strip. The venture, with MGM/Mirage, will be located on 40 acres of land at the corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Sahara on property owned by MGM/Mirage. The ownership will be 50/50 between the parties. It’s hoped that the Kerzner touch in the design and operation of the resort will make it more profitable than the typical venture on the strip.

Will this be the Next Wynn, Bellagio, etc? It’s hard to believe that anyone can get better than the Wynn if making easy to spend money, even sporting $10 blackjack at night and sandwiches for under $10, just off the casino floor. i’m not sure that Atlantis is any better run than the top Vegas hotels. It’s the “exotic” location and the waterpark that make it different from most. It’s yet to be seen if Kerzner can do a waterpark/beach better than mandalay, a hotel better than the wynn and a casino with as much choice as the Bellagio, but I look forward to finding out.

Posted in Vegas Strip, New Construction, International | Comments Off

The Old “New Frontier” to Go. New Las Vegas Plaza to Rise

May 21st, 2007

The Elad group, owners of New York’s famous Plaza Hotel, have bought the “New Frontier” Hotel and Casino. The Frontier hotel, which was new, as recently as 1955, will be demolished next year with the new project opening in 2011. The notion that a hotel which was updated over 50 years ago would still refer to itself as “The New Frontier”, is quite amusing. Virtually every other property on the strip is newer than Frontier. I think most of us are happy and sure it will not be missed.

Posted in Vegas Strip, New Construction | No Comments »

Stardust Demolished For New Resort

March 13th, 2007

In the dark of the night, the sound of explosions rang out and this time it wasn’t just the cannons on the pirate ship at Treasure Island. The Stardust hotel, born in the late 1950’s as the world’s largest resort hotel, died as explosives reduced the once proud tower into a cloud of dust and a pile of rubble. The Stardust hotel was imploded last night to make room for the new Echelon resort, with an expected completion date 2010.

The Stardust, owned by Boyd Gaming, was among a group of the original “super hotels” that arrived on the strip in late 1950’s and 60’s. I’ve always put the Stardust, Riviera, Sahara and the old Aladdin in that group and every year, it becomes a smaller group. If you are nostaligic for these old hotels, visit them soon! The good news is that the rooms are cheap.

Posted in Vegas Strip, New Construction | No Comments »

Las Vegas Sands

March 8th, 2007

To open, I own some stock in Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS is not an aggregate company, it is the corporate name of what most of think of the Venetian in Las Vegas. LVS is run by Sheldon Adelson, founder of COMDEX, the once massive computer trade show that he sold to SoftBank in 1995, investing the fortune in building the Venetian.

Today, the Venetian is one of the premier properties on the strip with 3000 rooms and completing the 3000 room Palazzo this fall, rivalling Harrahs’ Caesars Palace, MGM’s Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand properties as the largest hotels, period. The story of the reach of LVS goes way beyond the Las Vegas Strip, it continues to Bethlehem Pennsylvania where they have been awarded the license for one of the states newly legislated slot casinos, with plans to bid for the super casino license to be awarded in Manchester England.

In recent weeks, the stocks of LVS, WYNN, and MPEL have lost as much as 25% of their value as Asian stock markets lost value, fast in the last week of February and beginning of march. Despite this troubling losses, i’m convinced that those casino players with a stake in Macau are still early in the game. Sands has opened only 1 casino and small hotel of the 8 that are expected to be opened in Macau and Singapore, in the next 7 years. Anyone who doesn’t think that Asia, with India, China and the smaller, but growing ecomonies of the South Pacific, will dominate the economy of the 21st century haven’t been paying attention. With that economic grow, combined the lack of casinos and the huge populations, focusing on gambling seems a great way to play this ongoing economic shift.

Posted in Macau, Stock - Investing | No Comments »

Las Vegas Monorail in Trouble?

February 13th, 2007

It’s hard to read about the planned expansion of the Las Vegas Monorail to McCarren airport and think of it as a transit system in trouble, but it is. Ridership, which has never reached original projections, dropped in 2006 and continues to drop. Having used the monorail exclusively on my last visit to Las Vegas, I’m surprised. Despite it’s costs of $5 a ride or $15, it’s a bargain for getting around the strip. Having just paid $10 for 15 minute ride on the london tube one saturday night, Las Vegas is even a bargain compared to other mass transit systems.

If you’re looking for a bargain, book a room or a suite at the Sahara, the Imperial or the Flamingo and you’re right there to take advantage of the monorail from the Sahara all the way to the MGM Grand. The same cab ride is likely to cost $10, or even more if you get stuck in traffic on the strip. The monorail is fast, usually not crowded and usually a much shorter walk to the casino than from the sidewalk, so keep that in mind as you plan your time in vegas. Sure there are times when you need a cab, post shopping or heading to the mandalay where the monorail doesn’t go. So skip the cab line, check out mass transit.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Kerzner Koming To Vegas

The Old “New Frontier” to Go. New Las Vegas Plaza to Rise

Stardust Demolished For New Resort

Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Monorail in Trouble?

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