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Tags: Riviera / Vegas Business / Barry Sternlicht / Bankruptcy / → All Tags

Change of Plans: The Riviera To Get Stylized?

In an update to yesterday's bankruptcy filing for The Riviera, it looks like Starwood Capital is now a big player in the Riviera takeover. Some finacial-ese from The Las Vegas Sun says:

Riviera Holdings Corp., owner of both properties, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Monday in Las Vegas and said at that time its reorganization plan was supported by holders of more than two-thirds of its $247.7 million in debt under its June 2007 Senior Credit Facility.

Those debt holders include Starwood Capital, Gerald Gordon, an attorney with the Las Vegas law firm Gordon Silver representing Riviera Holdings, said Tuesday.

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Tags: Riviera / Vegas Business / Bankruptcy / Mo' Money Mo' Problems / → All Tags

The Riviera Files for Bankruptcy But Not Much Will Change

Just as we find a good reason to visit Riviera--The Queen Vic Pub--the damn place goes bankrupt!

You can read all the nitty gritty on the Ch. 11 bankruptcy issue here. But the good news is that The Riviera will continue to operate normally under the bankruptcy protection and you won't see any difference in operations because the LVRJ reports the casino doesn't plan any further layoffs. However, don't expect to see any miraculous turnaround in the room or casino conditions either.

If you're looking to shack up at The Riviera, you're in luck, room rates this weekend are just $69 for Friday night and $99 for Saturday night. (But uhoh, the hotel is sold-out on August 29 and 30.)

Tags: Shopping / Miracle Mile / Planet Hollywood / Vegas Business / Lucky Magazine / → All Tags

The One Problem With The Miracle Mile Shops

We quite like The Miracle Mile Shops. They have every major shop you need from clothing to shoes to chocolate and sporting goods, an eclectic line-up of shows at The V Theater, the world-famous Stripper Bar and you can even get your teeth whitened. Plus, we're big fans in general of Planet Hollywood, B-movie themed rooms and all.

But what we absolutely hate about Miracle Mile Shops are the cart salespeople. These are the folk who roll out random carts of merchandise such as hair products, belt buckles, cell phone cases, hand cream and those bewildering fashion wraps that can either be a skirt a top or a dress .

It would be one thing if they sat at their carts and helped interested buyers decide which item to purchase. But instead they stand in the aisles of the mall calling out to passerbys to try whatever item they are hawking. It's like the 2010 version of Timeshare salesmen!

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Tags: Recession / Vegas Business / LVCVA / → All Tags

Everyone Visiting Vegas is Still Too Cheap, By Vegas Standards That Is

Yet another report is out today telling us that visitors are spending less when they come into town. The Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority has released the figures of tourist spending habits for 2009, which we always like to look at to see if we're overpaying or not.

Here are the biggest revelations as re-capped in the LVRJ:

· Visitors did not spend money with the same frequency last year as they had before the local and national economies tanked under the pressure of a recession.
· Visitors to Las Vegas spent significantly less on gambling during 2009 than in previous years, according to the Las Vegas Visitor Profile.
· A person's average gaming budget per trip was $481.57, down roughly 9 percent from $531.98 per trip a year ago and off some 26 percent from the figure's peak in 2006.

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Tags: Fontainebleau / Hotels / Carl Icahn / Vegas Business / Fontaine-Bust / Hotel Construction / → All Tags

The Fontainebleau Will Live On, Thanks to Carl Icahn

Finally some good news for The Fontainebleau, the half-finished resort next to Encore that has been struggling to find new financing. It turns out billionaire investor Carl Icahn is the winning bidder for the property, which developer Jeffrey Soffer drove into bankruptcy last year.

Yet, don't expect the hotel to open any time soon. The WSJ reports:

Mr. Icahn said in an interview that he hasn't determined whether or not he will slowly gear up to restart construction on the Fontainebleau, or keep it mothballed for some time. People familiar with the project say even that would be costly. They estimate that heating, cooling, security and taxes would run about $1.5 million to $2 million a month on the property Mr. Icahn said he doesn't believe he will be able to raise much financing for construction. His firm could finance the construction itself if it wanted to, he said.

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Tags: CineVegas / Recession / Vegas Business / Movies / Closings / → All Tags

CineVegas Puts 2010 Festival On Hold

While this year's CineVegas film festival was a fairly big success--actor Willem Dafoe made his first trip to Vegas ever by attending the international film fest--it looks like it just wasn't enough to keep it going. CineVegas announced earlier today that it would not be holding a 2010 festival. Festival president Robin Greenspun of Greenspun Media Group (which owns the LV Sun and LV Weekly), issued a statement saying:

“Given the current economic climate and the pressures it has created, we made the difficult decision to put CineVegas on hiatus for the coming year. CineVegas has become such a well-respected film festival, and rather than allow the economy to affect its level of quality we have opted to put the event on hold.”

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Tags: Zappos / Tours / Tony Hsieh / Vegas Celebs / Vegas Business / → All Tags

What It's Like On the Zappos Headquarters Tour

A friend of VegasChatter did something we've been dying to do for a while--he took the Zappos.com Tour, a free behind-the-scenes look at the culture and the business of the Zappos headquarters in Henderson. Here's all that he saw. Enjoy!

The Zappos Royalty Tour
Ok, that’s not really what they call it. They actually refer to it as "an experience of the Zappos environment." I thought my name was more fitting. Where else but Zappos would you get to meet a cagillionaire, a life coach, have your photo taken wearing a crown as you sit on a royal throne, and learn how to take a company from zero to 1 billion dollars in sales in 10 years … all in 90 minutes? Needless to say, this is not your typical stodgy corporate tour.

It was actually a lot of fun, kind of like a pub crawl without the alcohol.

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