Will Binions or the Las Vegas Club ever reopen there hotel rooms?

Is that what you think? The strip has what the new generation of money wants so as it's been for as long as I've been going, you'll have the people that like the strip and the people that like DT, both for different reasons and I'm thinking there must not be much "good" space to build. Tearing down or gutting a Bibbions is just so costly but less then building anew I would think.

Now, let's not do DT vs strip because it's just boring nor is the thread title.

 

Did one more look and found the article. He wrote -

"There is even speculation that one of the ages-old casinos in the Fremont Street Experience - the four-block stretch covered by an electric canopy of digital imagery - will convert one of its towers into separate residential units."


From Spirit Magazine - December 2013 issue. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pace/spirit_201312/#/82

I gave it less weight because I thought it was from the spring of 2013 issue. Now that I see it's in the December issue - hmm, maybe there is something to it.

 

And why would someone do that?

 

^^ Not sure what you mean shokhead. And why would someone do what?

 

Why would someone convert one of its towers into separate residential units."

I thought it was a basic question.

 

Okay, I get the basic question then. The answer is for the Zappos people and others who want to live downtown. Did you read the article?

 

No, that's why I asked. Seems odd but if that's what they want.

 

One thing that should be pointed out is that the Plaza Group is the ONLY properties that are freehold, all the others are on a lease. Jackie was a very smart man.

 

I dont know what that means , but I cant imagine running a casino month after month, year after year, that is the least visited place downtown. That means it is being rejected, not neglected, cause in the old days they got their share of business just like everywhere else.

Now the guy in marketing that has to say, "well, we're going to copy them" should he be rewarded? Damn right he should, he should get a medal, because guys have sat there for years, afraid of the truth, when all that the managers really needed WAS the truth.

 

given Lady Luck reopened years after being shuttered completely, i suspect when the time is right sombody will find the ways and means to revitalize Binions and Vegas Club's hotel rooms.

i'd love to see pics of the inside of a Binions room. did they leave the furnishings in there all this time? how dusty is it? the water has to have been turned off. do bugs live in the rooms, undisturbed?

what kind of creepy sounds would you hear in one of the tower rooms were you to take up residency in one tonight?

 

Great post ClownHo. The visuals I got while reading that gave me the creeps. It makes ya wonder though...

I didn't know that Don. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

I am pretty sure furniture and all are still in the rooms. Last year when I used the pool, I went down to the changing room, which is just a regular room opened up so you can use the shower. It still had the furniture in it, and a couple of the other rooms on that floor had the doors open with furniture still in them.

 

Asked a waiter at Binion's steakhouse this question over the weekend and he said that TLC Enterprises (Four Queens owner) will never re-open the hotel.

I know that's not an official statement but was pretty bummed to hear it.

The asbestos situation is just something they don't want to deal with, according to him.

 

This. Terry Caudill (The T and C in TLC) is lucky to keep up with the land lease payments, let alone sink any more money into Binion's. I'd fix up the rooms and casino at the Four Queens first, assuming any money is available, due to the fact it will require far less to accomplish. This is Terry's livelihood, so i don't expect him giving up the properties unless he goes under. Binion's casino floor looks nice but it's hard to gamble there with the poor BJ and VP offerings (I guess craps/roulette is still playable).

Tamares purchased their properties strictly as a real estate play, and have already flipped two of the four properties (Gold Spike and The Western). I expect Tamares to sell the other two (Plaza/LVC) once the downtown market picks up and they can flip it to a decent operator who is interested in managing casinos. The GG/The D owners created interest and an uptick in demand at their two properties, and The Plaza/LVC has the same potential with the right management (and a total gut remodel of the entire LVC from casino to all rooms to a restoration of decent dining options).

Also, there is still limited room demand downtown. Downtown occupancy rates trail the Strip by 7-10%, downtown hotels only fill up consistently on weekends and they have limited pricing power (rack rate $30-$40 most weekdays, $70-$100 most weekends), and this is with rooms of two major hotels currently mothballed. The non Boyd hotels did a great job with the room remodels (EC Suites, GG, The D, The Plaza) and hotel towers (Rush @ GN and the new GG tower). I hope Boyd does some work on their rooms as well (East Tower @ The Cal and do whatever is possible at the Fremont with their tiny bathrooms).

 

If you're a Binion's fan, you'll be in Nirvana when you go through the "Photos" section of their facebook page. Oh, the memories.

https://www.facebook.com/binionslv/photos_stream

 

I can understand the rationale behind closing down the motel, but why did they close the downstairs coffee shop? Anyone have any idea? And will they ever bring it back?

 

Cause they didn't make any money on it, last time I was in vegas(staying downtown), I never made a bet there, no reason to, I wanted to, but the machines and tables were inferior to most of the others downtown.

It's called poor mgmt, they know they made a mistake , but cant admit it was their fault(which it is), so they continue doing the same things in the same way, hoping it improves(which it never does). Hence the money losing coffee shop, who's purpose was giving players a place to eat, so they could go back and play some more, is now closed, and those players go somewhere else and dont come back.

 

With the hotel not open, no need for the coffee shop. I would imagine people staying at a place would provide a certain percentage of coffee shop patrons.

 

Is that the little burger place right off the casino floor? I hope not, we enjoy the burgers there....

 

Good one Merlin, very true. Last summer I hit a couple of floor buttons on the way up to the steakhouse. Two things immediately hit you when the doors opened on each floor, 1) Insane heat 2) That nasty musty abandoned building smell. Even a cheapo fix would take several months.