Hi Vegas fans,
The Simpifying Las Vegas Flickr group now has over 7,000 pictures and more than 525 members. For a city that boasts "what happens here stays here," that's a lot of photo evidence!
Viva,
Mike
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Um.... Does Anyone Remember Gambling?
Hi Vegas fans,
The latest news in Las Vegas points to an interesting trend on the Strip - more shopping and entertainment. Compass Investments broke ground this week on the new Skyvue Wheel, a giant Ferris wheel similar to the London Eye, which will be flanked by shopping and restaurants.
There is also a new shopping center that will be - gasp - next to Planet Hollywood, home to the Miracle Mile shops. Think about what's close to Plant Hollywood - you've got CityCenter with the upscale Crystal shops, and not far from that you've got the Forum Shops. Take a short walk south from Planet Ho, and you arrive at Showcase Mall, complete with M&M's World and the World of Coca-Cola, among other unique retail opportunities.
Too much? I think so. Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of variety of entertainment and dining options help attract visitors to Sin City. But this reminds me of another particularly odd time in Las Vegas' history. In the 1990's many casinos built entertainment options to present the city as a family-friendly destination. Remember the amusement park at MGM Grand? The pirate show at TI? It wasn't a bad idea - after all, why not try to increase visitation by enticing parents to bring the kids?
But it didn't really fly. Mom and dad want to escape, and they don't want Disneyland for kids, they want Disneyland for adults. So the MGM tore down the amusement park. The pirate show was revamped into The Sirens of TI, complete with scantily-clad ladies and shirtless pirates. Now the casinos have "party pits" where very sexy ladies dance while you drop your hard-earned money at 6-5 blackjack.
Downtown, you'll find a similar trend. There are often several concerts going on at the same time on Fremont Street. And you can get your photo taken with showgirls and bunnies. Um, not that I would know.
But the point is this. Entertainment is great in Las Vegas, but you can get top-notch shows and restaurants in many cities. What separates Las Vegas from them is the casinos. I wish they would focus more on them. Really focus on them. I think the art of planning the casino floor has been lost.
So I'm sending out an open call to casino moguls and the execs who run the floors. Rethink your gaming plan. Please. Here are some ideas, for starters:
- Dedicate your space to lots of good table games and plenty-o'slots and video poker machines. Make that the focus of what you do again.
- Send out good gaming promos to your players to draw them in, and not just the usual invitations to slot tourneys. Think about coupons for other games, poker gatherings, and other creative investments in the people who love to spend a few dollars in the casino.
- Make sure your casino floor is comfortable so that guests will want to stay there a while. Freshen the carpets and felts on the tables, and keep those drinks coming. Too many cocktail waitresses take their time between rounds. Even when I pre-tip them.
- Forget the unbuilt condos behind your properties. Let them rust. Remember that when push came to shove, they didn't work, but people still walk into your casinos.
Viva,
Mike
Monday, May 23, 2011
"Bridesmaids" Didn't Leave Me with a Hangover
Hi Vegas fans,
Before you think this blog post is a movie review, I want you to just hang with me here for a minute. Ok - so I went to see Bridesmaids with my wife. She picked this one. I picked the last movie - Everything Must Go starring Will Ferrell.
Rotten Tomatoes gave Bridesmaids an 89% fresh rating, and it has been billed as "the next Hangover." It had its moments, and a few raunchy scenes, but for me it really didn't live up to the expectations. And it's not because it wasn't set in Vegas or because my wife picked it. We tend to like the same movies, and I really trust her judgement.
But we tend to disagree on one aspect of movies: ratings. She follows Rotten Tomatoes pretty closely, and that's why she picked this movie. I do not follow the tomatometer. Here's why. They gave Secretariat only a 64% fresh rating. Worse, they gave Sense and Sensibility with Hugh Grant a 98% fresh rating. I liked Secretariat and thought it was a heart-warming but not over-the-top movie and gave me more than what I expected from a Disney flick - much better than a 64% rating. On the other hand, I'd rather stick my head in a vat of boiling grease and bob for day-old onion rings rather than see Sense and Sensibility. I have two very simple but strict rules about movies:
1. A movie shall not have Hugh Grant in it.
2. A move shall not be adopted by anything written by Jane Austin.
Those are my requirements. I don't need a fresh or rotten meter to tell me how great or how lousy a movie is. I just need to see a few coming attractions and read what the movie is about in order to determine whether or not I want to see it. Most of the time, I'm not disappointed. I'm sure you have your requirements, too, and I bet they have nothing to do with critics.
Ask yourself this question: how many times have you been to a movie that the critics loved but you hated? How about the opposite: how many times have you been to a movie that the critics didn't treat kindly but you liked?
But I digress. What does all of this have to do with Vegas? After all, I promised this was not going to be about movies. Well, here you go: don't trust ratings. You'll read lots of critics who review Vegas shows, restaurants, and so on. They all have opinions. Some of them will like stuff you hate, and others will hate stuff you like. You need to know what your Hugh Grants and Secretariats are. Then make up your mind.
Think about it this way - if the critics aren't always right, and you blow $35 or more on a movie (you're taking a date and buying popcorn), you're gonna be mildly tiffed that you spent hard-earned dollars on someone else's opinions. How are you gonna feel if you do the same thing on a much more expensive vacation to Las Vegas?
That's why my travel guide offers you something different. It has categories of information and provides you with a lot of context for what you need to decide about how you can have an awesome time in Vegas. And I've got a lot of work to do to update it for 2012. But that's for another blog post...
Viva,
Mike
Before you think this blog post is a movie review, I want you to just hang with me here for a minute. Ok - so I went to see Bridesmaids with my wife. She picked this one. I picked the last movie - Everything Must Go starring Will Ferrell.
Rotten Tomatoes gave Bridesmaids an 89% fresh rating, and it has been billed as "the next Hangover." It had its moments, and a few raunchy scenes, but for me it really didn't live up to the expectations. And it's not because it wasn't set in Vegas or because my wife picked it. We tend to like the same movies, and I really trust her judgement.
But we tend to disagree on one aspect of movies: ratings. She follows Rotten Tomatoes pretty closely, and that's why she picked this movie. I do not follow the tomatometer. Here's why. They gave Secretariat only a 64% fresh rating. Worse, they gave Sense and Sensibility with Hugh Grant a 98% fresh rating. I liked Secretariat and thought it was a heart-warming but not over-the-top movie and gave me more than what I expected from a Disney flick - much better than a 64% rating. On the other hand, I'd rather stick my head in a vat of boiling grease and bob for day-old onion rings rather than see Sense and Sensibility. I have two very simple but strict rules about movies:
1. A movie shall not have Hugh Grant in it.
2. A move shall not be adopted by anything written by Jane Austin.
Those are my requirements. I don't need a fresh or rotten meter to tell me how great or how lousy a movie is. I just need to see a few coming attractions and read what the movie is about in order to determine whether or not I want to see it. Most of the time, I'm not disappointed. I'm sure you have your requirements, too, and I bet they have nothing to do with critics.
Ask yourself this question: how many times have you been to a movie that the critics loved but you hated? How about the opposite: how many times have you been to a movie that the critics didn't treat kindly but you liked?
But I digress. What does all of this have to do with Vegas? After all, I promised this was not going to be about movies. Well, here you go: don't trust ratings. You'll read lots of critics who review Vegas shows, restaurants, and so on. They all have opinions. Some of them will like stuff you hate, and others will hate stuff you like. You need to know what your Hugh Grants and Secretariats are. Then make up your mind.
Think about it this way - if the critics aren't always right, and you blow $35 or more on a movie (you're taking a date and buying popcorn), you're gonna be mildly tiffed that you spent hard-earned dollars on someone else's opinions. How are you gonna feel if you do the same thing on a much more expensive vacation to Las Vegas?
That's why my travel guide offers you something different. It has categories of information and provides you with a lot of context for what you need to decide about how you can have an awesome time in Vegas. And I've got a lot of work to do to update it for 2012. But that's for another blog post...
Viva,
Mike
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Vegas Numbers
Hi Vegas fans,
Today I have a bunch of numbers to talk about, beginning with a report from the Las Vegas Advisor:
- 5.6 percent: the increase in total Las Vegas visitors in March 2011 compared to March 2010
- 19.2 percent: room rate increase
- 4 months: that's how long revenues on the Strip were on the decline, until March
- 3 years: March saw the highest take from blackjack since 2008
That last one doesn't surprise me. I helped increase the blackjack intake in April for Strip properties. But despite my outcome, I'm happy that things are starting to look up again for Las Vegas. It's about time! I hope the good news continues.
Here are some other numbers, brought to you by the good folks at Simplifying Las Vegas (that's me):
- 516/6885: The number of members and pictures, respectively, associated with the Simplifying Las Vegas Flickr group.
- 152: Simplifying Las Vegas Facebook friends
- 33: Number of luggage tags I've given away since 2008
Thanks for all your support, Vegas fans! Please continue to visit this blog and my site and let me know if you have comments or questions. And, of course, continue to... Go to Vegas. It's that Simple.
Viva,
Mike
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