Historical Review Las Vegas (Part 11)

Reinhold Schmitt

ISA-GUIDE Chefredakteur (V.i.S.d.P.)

(rs) The Casinos at the Las Vegas Boulevard were gaining through the years in dimension and elegance to this degree that no one could ever have thought of as possible. One of the next ploys of the founder of the „Mirage“ Steve Wynn was the project „Monte Carlo“, which was opened on 21th June, 1996. Another 350 Million Dollar Hotel-casino, which would impress the tourists, an imitation of the famous Palais du Casino de Monte Carlo, certainly in a much wider framework. This hotel with its statues, the chandeliers and the fountain in front of the house seems to the Visitor of Las Vegas as one is on a culture-journey to Europe.

The „Monte Carlo“-Hotel belongs with its 32 floors to the 10 largest hotels of the world. It has 3.014 rooms, that are more rooms than one can count in total in the „real“ Monte Carlo. It is interesting to mention that this Hotel-Casino has been a Joint Venture between the Mirage-Resorts and the Gold-Strike-Resorts, a society that runs some different smaller Casinos in Las Vegas. Still before the „Monte Carlo“ Casino has been completed, a merger between „Circus Circus“ and Gold-Strike-Resorts took place, the both most influential Casino-societies of Las Vegas. This Casino has been completed within a record time of just only 14 months. The Condition was that „Circus Circus“ with its own construction work company, the „Circus Circus Development“, would take over the management.
The Mirage-Resorts was bringing about at that time the financial means as well as larger country-side lot. The deal was that both societies would have been having a share of 50 % on the profits. Today the Casino is combined by a Monorail with the latterly opened Super-Casino „Bellagio“. The tourists will be transported from one Casino to the other within minutes by the air-conditioned suspension railway, the whole of course free of costs. Today it is rather only a middle-seized Casino however there are hence in the large playing saloon more than 2.200 Slot-machines and approximately 95 gambling tables. There is a Race- and Sports-book, where betting on national sports events could be placed and just next to it there are the Poker Room. This Casino has 5 metropolitan classed restaurants, among them it the traditional All-You-can-Eat-Buffet and besides there are brewed in the home-owned brewery some 10.000 barrels of beer.
Who is driving with the Monorail from the „Bellagio“ to the „Monte Carlo“, quickly recognises on the right side, before reaching the „Monte Carlo“-Hotels, a Pool-landscape that might be probably unique in its class and size. Even a Tennis court is available to the hotel guests. The Swimming pool was constructed with an own waves installation that alters every few minutes the type of waves. There are 5 different wave types that are generated for the hotel guests.

It will be remarkable to the Reader that every new hotel had always to launch again new attractions, to inspire the visitors. The merciless competing battle that rules at the Las Vegas Boulevard forced the proprietors for always more innovative marketing-methods. The Las Vegas Visitor of nowadays does not come any longer only exclusively because of gambling. In stead of he likes to get entertainment and have fun. Besides he looses some hundreds of Dollar yet. He should not be loosing too much and so he should even have still fun. Namely Las Vegas guaranties this that one could return back next year and still be then gambling and spending some hundreds of Dollars.

So the city lives on 20 Million visitors a year, who are all finding fun on the city like their way. The high expenses of these new Super-Casinos were forcing the companies to be risking always more overheads, before they are able of taking on the operative businesses. There are either expensive credits or the partnerships with other Casinos that would show up the trend. Today is Las Vegas on the way to be controlled by partnership-organisations.

To the visitor probably the most interesting and admirable exterior at all is the „New York New York“ Hotel and Casino. The entire building consists of 12 different skyscrapers, of course also with the Empire State Building, a 47-floors high copy, in where the hotel-rooms are situated. Directly in front of the Casino stands a 50-meters high imitation of the Statue of Liberty, as we all already know her from New York City. Of Course also the Brooklyn Bridge may not be missing. A 100-meters long copy of it stands in front of the Casino and can be used from the passing flow of tourist-masses.

Who regards the Casino“s interior will not recognise any big differences to all other Super Casinos at the Strip. Also here there are more than 2.000 Slot-machines and about 75 gambling-tables, on which one gets Black Jack and other games of chance offered. The Casino has been fully and totally built in the New York-theme, which due to the tragic attempts of September 11.th has been, like it or not, judged to be successful. Who comes as a visitor to the Casino, the masses of people will be remarkable, who were been staying there in sides.

There are fully occupied gambling tables and row-wise clinking and squeaking Slot-machines which are serving for turnovers of astronomical amounts. The hotel-rooms are decorated in uncountable different Decors, which are to be reminding on the great variety of cultures in New York. The Casino has a „Financial District“ (Wallstreets‘ Stock Exchange), where the major till of the Casino is situated and where one could exchange their chips into cash money. „Central Park“ is the area, in where the gambling tables are arranged and where people are meeting up to gamble or to linger; „Park Avenue“ as uncountable shops. „Penn Station“ and „Grand Central Station“ offers a good survey over the entire Casino Events on the Casino Level below. There are the most different restaurants spread in the Casino, where one can find Italian, Chinese, Continental Cuisine and many more. In order that the visitor could partly find ones way around, there are names of the streets and paths drawn on the floor including the pedestrian crossings so the tourist won’t get lost.

While at the Las Vegas Strip it became more crowded, the loss of tourists was remarkable at other places. The Casinos of Downtown Las Vegas had to book an enormous decrease of turnover. No one was interested in going in this a little older and not so super-modern Casinos, not only because of the Downtown had been often the meeting-point for creatures of the underworld and crime.. In order to interfere a bit the Downtown Casinos had to find ways out of the situation they were in. The head-word was Freemont Experience. And You will find out more about it in the next part.

Walk through Las Vegas