Downtown Grand's Future not looking good

Stayed and played at the Grand this Wed-Sat. Had the best time on Wednesday and Thursday - good video poker paytables, quiet spotless room (2030), outstanding bar and cocktail service, $5 blackjack with good rules, tasty food at the S&O restaurant, etc. And what stood out the most was the friendly, fun dealers that knew everyone in our group of 17 by name by Thursday afternoon. We wake up Friday morning and my host Al sees me and lets me know that he is leaving and relocating to Dallas. Then we look for some of the dealers that we knew were scheduled to work that morning and find out that they laid off 65% of their dealers because starting Saturday the tables will only be open from noon - 2am and 2pm-2am the rest of the week. Apparently, the new CEO is shifting away from tables (and good service, in my opinion). It was sad because our group loved the Grand. Here's hoping that they change their minds and realize that this is a mistake.

 

Well if that ain't a kick in the nuts! Just when I thought the Grand was getting it together and making progress.

Thanks for the report.

TomTWI

 

Yep that sucks. I've stayed at DTG the last two years, but this might mean I go back to the Nugget.

 

That stinks, I'll be staying at DTG in 11 days and I guess I won't be playing morning BJ or Craps there, especially since I wake up real early in Vegas due to the time zone difference.

Plenty of other places DT to get my early morning fix though.

Chris

 

Funny because the new CEO (Simms) in a recent interview said that they were going to try new ways of advertising the casino and get more people to come over from the FSE.

I'm not sure how scaling back table operations helps to accomplish this, at least from an "energy of the place" standpoint.

KimandTim, I read elsewhere that earlier this week there were only now only nine tables on the main floor. Can you confirm?

 

Wow.....disturbing to read this...especially since I play about 70 % blackjack. I am staying there this week for two nights...first stay there in the hotel. Loved the feel of the casino and the friendly dealers when we played there last August. We are anxious to check out the pool area, restaurants, machines, and tables. I saw what happened to the remodeled Gold Spike when they started limiting tables hours....not a good move.

 

Next step would be closing all tables making it a slots only joint.
After that. Closing down the casino.
It happened to so many places before.

 

That sucks if that's the direction it's headed. Just when they sent me a room comp. I will still probably take them up on it and I like to concentrate play at the property I'm staying at but with that scale back on table games and uncertain future I may have to go visit Derek Stevens at The D or perhaps Main Street Station.

 

If they'd loosen up their video poker inventory I'd go back. They need to be competitive with the Boyd places for me to even think about going back there.

 

It was so discouraging. We had such a great time the first few days - outstanding service, fun music, friendly vibe. I honestly don't think anyone (other than Al or Nathan, the hosts) had any idea it was going to happen. They are down to one craps table, no pai gow, and about eight blackjack tables (only 3 were open). I wish the new CEO would have given it a little more time to turn around. I feel like word would have spread and things would have picked up if they could have had just a little more patience.

 

Exactly. They can't be possibly be dumb enough (?) to think that a move like this will actually be a positive in the long run. I am thinking that they're trying to save some pennies and getting ready to try to sell the place.

 

I could see maybe closing them from say 4-10am, but 2pm, cmon thats ridiculous. My last trip I never played BJ there at all, I walked through two or 3 times and they would have a $15 table that's empty and a single $5 or $10 table that was packed, I figured why squeeze myself in when I can walk a block and play what I want..

 

The DTG needs to get a gigantic, gaudy, no possible way you can't see it from under the canopy sign to let everybody know the place is there.


TFK

 

Too bad: this is one of the places I wanted to check out on our Dec trip: not holding my breath for that to pan out....

 

Whenever ANY piece of a casino's gaming floor becomes less than a 24/7 operation, it's the beginning of the end. If players see a closed, dead casino (no matter what time of day it is), are they going to stick around? Of course not! They'll go across the street and stay there.

Why is it that casino owners & management run their establishments into the ground while remaining totally blind to the damage they're causing, and casual visitors (and Vegas Message Board members) could probably manage the joint better than they could?! I guess they're too busy admiring their casino management diplomas from DeVry College to figure out that you don't ever, EVER close any of your casino operation on a daily basis. Not even at 6AM.

 

Played craps @ dtg Friday night. Great crowd and great dealers. Place seemed pretty busy for a Friday 6pm in August.

 

Two words: 99 cent hot dog and beer. Okay, more than two words, two things. The two things that brought the Fremont Street crowd across that lonely block to the Lady Luck. If the owners of the Gold Spike could have the casino that they had ten years ago or the underage clubhouse they have today, which would they choose? Downtown is in the name, embrace what Downtown means.

 

Amen. This should have been a no brainier for them on day one.

Yep, this sends an ominous signal to anyone who goes there. It is probably an absolute morale killer for the employees.

Too bad, I really liked this place. The staff was great and it was very nice inside. They got off to an absolutely horrible start, from a PR perspective, and I don't think they ever recovered from that blunder.

Calling Derek Stevens??? He could turn it around.

 

I just got an email from a old host that moved over there saying they can give me what I had at The D. But, if the tables aren't going to be open, why bother? I'll just stay at The D, and walk over at night if I want to play.

 

I think this is why a few companies dominate the casino industry. Casinos are a strange business that can't be handles in a traditional manner. Traditional business models will tell you that each division of the company needs to generate a positive return on investment. DTG and the Plaza are trying to run on this theory. The casino's that "get it" understand that a loss in the hotel division is perfectly acceptable.

For the DTG to cripple marketing's ability to fill the hotel and then not understand that this decision led to gaming losses and lower restaurant revenue amazes me. Casinos run by accountants will always struggle. Someone mentioned Derek Stevens. I have no doubt that the DTG would flourish under his management.