Home » VT News » Sayonara Bill's Gamblin' Hall and RootnTootn Saloon Asterisk!
Sayonara Bill's Gamblin' Hall and RootnTootn Saloon Asterisk!
» filed under Las Vegas tagged: bill's drais renovations pencil comments: 19
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The final of what seems like Imelda Marcos' shoe collection dropped today when Caesars Entertainment announced that Bill's Gamblin' Hall and RootnTootn Saloon Asterisk will be closing in February 2013.
Raise your hand if you're surprised.
The new joint - named "Boutique Lifestyle Hotel & Club" - will feature a rooftop pool and nightclub, 198 hotel rooms, new restaurants, entertainment and casino renovated to the tune of $185,000,000 smackerooneys... a whopping amount of money.
What seems to be missing from the announcement is a choir of trumpets telling us how industry leading, mind blowing, stylish, innovative and spirit saving Barbary Coast 3.0 will be - strangely refreshing in this era where diamond encrusted adjectives are tossed about for everything.
Perhaps the cash alone does the talking. $185m for 198 rooms = $934,000 per room. Wynn Las Vegas was built for $2.7b for 2,716 rooms = $994,000 per room. Cosmopolitan $3.9b for 2,995 rooms = $1,302,170 per room.
Seems par for the course, at least if you're building a brand new hotel from scratch.
But, they're NOT.
This is a RENOVATION and not a new build. It is pretty damn clear that Caesars Entertainment isn't cleaning and rebranding like Hooters / San Remo rebrand or even the thorough thrashing of the Tropicana ($165,000,000 for 1658 rooms = $100,000 per room) or even the proposed super renovation of the Sahara into the SLS which promises to get you laid , wrap your balls in denim and cure your diseases in addition to selling you overpriced Fred Siegel underpants ($415m for 1,720 rooms = $241,279 per room.)
Yeah... a ton will be spent to put in a rooftop pool.... but.
So the new Bill's will be spiffy. Expensive even. Gentrified and filled with bottle service seeking. With outdoor nightclub noise now surrounding the Flamingo / Quad on three sides... four if you count the roof of New Shea's. But is it possible to get the clientele to shell out for this boutiquerie when true(ish) luxury is steps away? Or is the Bill's reinvestment merely a way to fill the vast gap in Total Rewards, below Caesars and above Planet Hollywood/Paris? Either way its all going on the credit card which nobody expects them to ever pay off.
Now we know why they never got around to Total Rewarding the joint.
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Comments & Discussion:
I know they have some fairly large suites on the top level, but how are "the bones" of the standard rooms? Are they big enough to meet today's "mid-lux" needs...or are they going to end up stuffing so much trendy furniture into them that they look like storage lockers?
I am guessing the "tower" will be taken down to the girders like with O'Sheas. That will allow them to hopefully ditch the awkward layouts of the standard rooms. I think the rooms are small, with an odd configuration.
The limited photos on their website do look small by current standards...with bathrooms on the outside wall (aparently with stained glass windows...hope they save those...classy!). Can you do a to-the-bones demo and reconstruction in the year-ish time frame they're talking about?
That sucks. My first trip, first thing Vegas-esque I ever did was throw my bags at Bally's to a bellman, and walk over to Bills...
For a beer and prime-rib at the Victorian room. At 10AM. For $12.
It's not the greatest casino, nor the best cafe; even for the money. But some killer memories in that place. Great craps runs. Terrible Blackjack (Could have been up everywhere else at $25/hand, if I sit at Bill's for $3/hand, I lose.) But memories.
And more drunk nights at the Victorian than I can count.
First O'Shea's, now this. Damn you CET. The ghettos of my Vegas youth are disappearing quickly.
When I got to the part where you said the name was "Boutique Lifestyle Hotel & Club" I had to double check up top for the Misnomer byline. Sadly it was not there.
What really sucks is, All the south facing rooms at Flamingo with great views of the Bellagio fountains will now have a view of the side of the hotel.
I can't wait to play Ciroc pong with diddy while bathing in the Cristal Fountains before dining at Gordon Ramsay's Slider Joint, before dropping $5k on a bottle of smirnoff
That name makes whoever chose "The Quad" look like a damn creative genius.
He's being sarcastic about the name; it hasn't been named yet...
Though, know the brand naming prowess at CET, they'll call it the BLH & Casino. Or Barbary Corner.
The should name it "The Bank." That's who will end up owning it someday anyway.
@Minton...!!! !!! !!!
Maybe they would be betetr off renovation for...say...60 mil and using the rest of that for debt service, or one of their new projects..*cough*BMore. Just a crazy thought.
Maybe it's a Douche Trap. You know, to lure the clubsters out of other CET hotels for the benefit of normal guests, and to keep them quarantined in one spot until they're sucked dry.
I thought it was going to be called Drais?
Drai's isnt a bad name and the renovation will totally change the kind of crowd who wanders into the place. Years back some friends stayed at the then Barbary Coast and when they told me that you had to go to the back of the place to check in I just sort of stared at them hoping they were kidding. With the change where will Fat Elvis end up?
They should just name it Osheas, put up the old sign and some new ones. And it would be popular as hell. They wouldn't even have to spend that much on renovation.
I was there yesterday- the now vintage Bill's poo is still in residence, but getting more and more dried up and shrinking every day- much like Carrottop's career. I took a few pics but not sure where to post them.
@levans Big Elvis has been over at the piano bar/lounge over at Harrah's for over 6 months now.
Pretty interesting that instead of the usual "Hotel & Casino" or "Resort & Spa" they use "Hotel & Club".
Whether that's a sign of the times or a symbol of over-saturation remains to be seen.
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