[jfkIII]

Was that a picture of the omelet after you threw it back up?

[Trash Can]

Originally Posted by nemspy

Ate at the buffet - the place looked like a trendy re-imagining of a hospital cafeteria from the 70s - the food quality was appalling for such a new, expensive property - The omelette station produced what must be the most disgusting omelette ever served in Vegas. Check out the picture - how appetizing does that look? - http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/...03b6892e_b.jpg

We ate at "The Buffet" on Christmas day. I couldn't agree more with your cafeteria comment - that's exactly what I told my wife when we got inside. I'll eat at Hometown Buffet before I go back there again.

[jfkIII]

The last thing this project needs is negative publicity, which it seems to be generating. What's next for City Center??? Sounds like they need to refocus.

[dashboardangel]

When my husband and I came back to Vegas last year for another vacation, we were so disappointed to see the Stardust torn down. And for what, to support a big gaping hole with an incomplete building? He and I both agreed that part of the appeal of Vegas was the cheesy themed hotels, we love walking through the stores in the Venetian or combing through Cesear's Palace. There's just a lot of interesting things to look at! And the Stardust had such a rich and interesting history! I still don't know why it's gone.

I was even kind of annoyed when they replaced the Aladdin with PH - though we finally went there last week and found it hilarious that the renovations pretty much stopped once you got out of the lobby and that a bit of the Aladdin's theme could still be seen in the shopping area.

I heard somewhere before Michael Jackson's death that he was going to be heading up a Thiller-themed casino/hotel. That in my mind would be a whole lot more interesting than CC! Give me zombies and cheesy themed casinos over "modern" architecture any day.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

I can tell you what I think he means. Back in the day, Vegas was built on value. We were known for cheap hotel rooms, food, and entertainment. Then something changed. Just like the housing bubble, Vegas got greedy and raised all the prices to ridiculous proportions. To JFK, if I am incorrect, feel free to correct me if this is not what you meant.

I personally think Las Vegas can learn from what Walt Disney World has done. Up until the late 90's-early 00's Most of Disney's on property resorts were running about $250 a night for a standard room

Disney began noticing that the people they wanted in their parks were not the ones they specificaly target, average middle class families, who were staying off property on International Drive or on 192 in Kissimmee.

So they opened several mid-range rsorts to attract more guests to stay on property. After the Pop-Century, All-Star Resorts, among several otherswere opened it did exactly what they wanted. Bring average middle and upper middle class familes to stay on property thus resulting in higher profits and park attendeance. People stay in these resorts for about $80 a night (though its more like $55 or $60 now with the economy

Some of the strip casinos are charging similar rates. I have a good friend of mine who will be staying at the MGM Grand for $55 a night! I've also seen ads for Mandalay Bay for $69-$89 a night. These casinos will most likely return to their normal rates when good economic times return which will hurt them again when the next recession rolls around

Perhaps MGM Mirage, Harrah's can learn from the "Disney Way" and look back at old Las Vegas (I like your post jfkIII that thesecret to Vegas' future is the past) and build some more mid priced resorts or change the ones they have now to suit that and provie real value to tourists

[nemspy]

Originally Posted by jfkIII

Was that a picture of the omelet after you threw it back up?

Sadly that's the thing in its original state - and it wasn't an aberration either - my wife got one only slightly better and the person in the line in front of us did too. All of them seemed to have about half an egg in them.

[olecapt]

YOu can never go back. The old model uses gaming to subsidize food, lodging and entertainment. But at this point those items need to carry their own weight as they are over half the revenue stream.

The pricing will adjust to what the market will bear.

Nobody is going to build on the strip at any price range for the next few years.

[nemspy]

Originally Posted by dashboardangel

When my husband and I came back to Vegas last year for another vacation, we were so disappointed to see the Stardust torn down. And for what, to support a big gaping hole with an incomplete building?

That would be the permanently "on hold" Echelon Place - Boyd Gaming's version of Citycenter more or less, except far less advanced in construction when the economy went down the gurgler. Personally I wish they would just flatten the thing and turn it into a big park or something.

I agree with your comments about some of the cheesy themeing. I know a lot of people didn't like the "Disneyfication" of Vegas, but I much prefered The Luxor (for example) when it was both Egyptian themed inside and out. What you have now is a bizarre building that doesn't know what it is - a giant glass pyramid complete with sphinx on the outside, with all black and chrome inside.

I agree too about Planet Hollywood - while it's still OKish in the Casino, I think what they have done to Desert Passage is an absolute travesty. It was one of the cooler places in town to have a stroll, now it's like any medium/high end mall in California in some parts and a weird hybrid of desert passage and modern trendy in others (from when the money for the facelift ran out).

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Nobody is going to build on the strip at any price range for the next few years.

On the news, they were saying more like ten.

[mojavedxer]

Originally Posted by DavieJ89

I personally think Las Vegas can learn from what Walt Disney World has done. Up until the late 90's-early 00's Most of Disney's on property resorts were running about $250 a night for a standard room

Disney began noticing that the people they wanted in their parks were not the ones they specificaly target, average middle class families, who were staying off property on International Drive or on 192 in Kissimmee.

So they opened several mid-range rsorts to attract more guests to stay on property. After the Pop-Century, All-Star Resorts, among several otherswere opened it did exactly what they wanted. Bring average middle and upper middle class familes to stay on property thus resulting in higher profits and park attendeance. People stay in these resorts for about $80 a night (though its more like $55 or $60 now with the economy

Some of the strip casinos are charging similar rates. I have a good friend of mine who will be staying at the MGM Grand for $55 a night! I've also seen ads for Mandalay Bay for $69-$89 a night. These casinos will most likely return to their normal rates when good economic times return which will hurt them again when the next recession rolls around

Perhaps MGM Mirage, Harrah's can learn from the "Disney Way" and look back at old Las Vegas (I like your post jfkIII that thesecret to Vegas' future is the past) and build some more mid priced resorts or change the ones they have now to suit that and provie real value to tourists

Gaming corps have been cross marketing for many years now. Long before Disney World did there expansion.