When to open the doors to the public is one of the most fiercely debated topics in the world of mega-resorts. Do you throw open the doors once you get a permit and the tables and slots in place? The money from that would be a huge help for expanding the rest of the resort. But you risk a reputation for being shoddy that can last years.
The Venetian is seen as a luxury property now, but when it opened the place was seen as a disaster of halls that went nowhere, shops that weren't open and things that needed more work. As the New Yorker put it in their recent profile of owner Sheldon Adelson on the Venetian's less than auspicious debut: "When the Las Vegas Venetian opened, Adelson's rival's enjoyed the spectacle. Many shops and restaurant spaces were still under construction, and building inspectors hadn't approved all of the hotel rooms. Adelson and his contractors were in court, there were hundreds of millions of dollars of liens on the hotel, and picketers were demonstrating on the Las Vegas Strip." Nonetheless, Adelson's rivals did not laugh long as all of the Venetian's problems are history. These days the Venetian has long been one of the hottest resorts on the Strip with good shows ("Phantom," Wayne Brady and Blue Man Group), celebrity chefs like David Burke and a hot nightclub of the first order in Tao.
So, it is with that backdrop we discuss the blue tape at Palazzo. I have kept out of the Palazzo construction tape imbroglio. Still, it has been sort of funny to follow. The Palazzo opened at the end of last year with nothing like the mess of the Venetian. Still, there were similarities. There were last-minute permits needed, store spaces not yet ready to be occupied and blue tape left from construction.
As time passed, the blue tape found a following and was photographed
by bloggers who cover Vegas with increasing amazement that no one working at Palazzo seemed to notice that the tape was there. Finally, Steve Friess broke on his
blog yesterday--with photos--that the best known bit of blue tape has at long last been removed. In a sense, this finally makes the construction of Palazzo complete.
Meanwhile, meticulous, perfectionist Steve Wynn's Encore right next door to Palazzo has yet to open, though its
website is up. A bunch of butterflies come at you during the web intro that finishes with the words "Curious? Good."
And you should be curious. Steve Wynn is known for his casino openings. He opened the original Wynn with nearly every show, club and restaurant online or days from being ready. But there is a lot of secrecy before his openings. Now on the site you can get into the reservation system for Encore and see a sample room. But the first date available to rent a room at Encore is Feb. 6, 2009, with the cheapest room going for $479.
That seemed high to me, so I called to the neighboring Venetian's Palazzo to see how much a room would cost for that night at Adelson's new high-end property. Interestingly, the already open Palazzo can not put dates that far out into its reservation system yet. They hope to solve that by August. The Palazzo therefore was unable to rent me a room for that night, and, of course, for the same reason, could not even quote me a rate for Feb. 6, 2009. So much for planning ahead. But at least Palazzo has that construction tape finally gone.
My guess is that Wynn will open Encore without any embarrassing mistakes or lacking any finishing touches. The owner has taken pride in his ability to open properties already shined to flawless perfection. Encore will not likely be an exception.
The rivalry of Wynn and Adelson goes from substance to style; and when it comes to opening a resort Wynn is the opposite of Adelson. So much so that if construction tape were found littering Encore after the grand opening this would provoke more than a giggle. Those who follow resorts would be shocked to see a property opened by Steve Wynn with any sort of mess at the outset. People would go so far as to wonder if Steve Wynn was losing his touch. Whereas Sheldon Adelson opened the Venetian as a work in progress and the Palazzo, in many ways, follows in that example to no surprise. That is how reputations work. Adelson gets more slack up front.
This is not to pick one method over the other. The Venetian and Wynn are two of the most successful resorts in town. But while Wynn, the resort, opened with every space occupied, that also meant expensive changes to shows ("Avenue Q"), and nightclubs (Tryst) very soon after the grand opening and all along the way. And, despite how things opened, The Venetian has over the years filled up its showrooms, nightclubs and restaurants to the point where the mess of 1999 has finally been forgotten.
Again, both resorts have had success and failures in terms of shows, restaurants and nightclubs. And both have found their success in the long run in part because both resorts have never been afraid to change. After all, the overall successes of Venetian and Wynn are why Palazzo and Encore were built.
So, despite their differences, both Adelson and Wynn have proven special by being able to hold their own against the much bigger companies like MGM-Mirage (with 10 resorts on the Strip) and Harrah's (one of the largest gaming companies in the world) as independent operators. But in every other way they are very different companies and that shows especially when it comes to the big decision of when to open the doors on a new resort. (photo by Sarah Gerke)
