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Plaza gets lift from failed Fontainebleau
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John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal
A remodeled room is shown inside the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas. All of the rooms contain items from the bankrupt Fontainebleau. » Buy this photo
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John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Steve Rosen, chief marketing officer of the Plaza, left, and Tony Santo, chief executive officer, talk about changes to the hotel while sitting in one of the remodeled rooms. » Buy this photo
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John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Renovated rooms at the Plaza have leftover furniture from the Fontainebleau, a high-rise planned for the Strip that went bankrupt. » Buy this photo
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
What would have happened to the Plaza had someone finished the bankrupt Fontainbleau?
After a pause while looking over the carpeting, furniture and wall paper originally intended for what was to be an opulent, $2.9-billion Strip resort, Tony Santo, the CEO of PlayLV Gaming, which manages the Plaza and holds the gaming license, replied, "That is too difficult to answer."
"We talked about that one time over drinks," added chief marketing officer Steve Rosen. "We finally just concluded that we are really lucky."
Santo was retained as a consultant to the Plaza in late 2008, as the deepening recession pushed operations into losses. He quickly concluded that the hotel's reputation at the time, as a place to be endured because it was a cheap sleep, merely paved the road to oblivion.
He had drawn up a more modest renovation plan than the one nearing completion, with the rooms due to reopen on Sept. 1. But the collapse of the Fontainebleau opened up the opportunity to buy enough leftover furniture and fixtures for all 1,037 Plaza rooms at pennies on the dollar.
As a result, the $35 million project launched last November included less than $2 million to outfit the rooms, Santo said.
In a typical guest room, only the bed, TV, linens and black-and-white photos from the Plaza in decades past came from other sources.
"We even got the Fontainebleau wall safes," he said, not to mention bathroom fixtures.
The suites are much the same story, down to the marble-lined bathrooms. The Plaza had to buy some glass-topped tables elsewhere, "and I'm a little unhappy that the Fontainebleau didn't have any," Santo joked.
The project eventually expanded to cover all public areas. The identities of three new eating places and a bar will be announced shortly. They likely won't include a buffet. The Firefly restaurant, housed in the UFO-shaped structure in front, will be replaced by as-yet unidentified steak and Italian restaurants.
"This budget 6 motel has all of a sudden become a beautiful resort," said Rosen. "I think it is really going to surprise people."
But so might the prices. Santo projects that nightly room rates will run from the mid-$40s to well over $100 at busy times, close to double that of the old Plaza.
Basic shelter for people seeking the least expensive in everything made the Plaza's reputation for years. Among 551 ratings posted with tripadvisor.com, the largest number fell into the "average" category and "terrible" outnumbered "excellent" by a three-to-one margin.
"I couldn't care less if I jumped on a basic, simple bed or a luxurious one made with fine fabric and surrounded with fancy furniture," wrote one guest last September, citing the low prices as the main attraction.
Santo's goal is to get the Plaza up to midrange for amenities and price.
"We think by getting a customer more interested in a quality product we will get people more likely to spend on food and beverage and gaming," Santo said. "We are also going after the business customer, small conventions and group meetings. We have had the meeting space, but we didn't have the room product to go with it."
In the lobby, the design mixes elements from the old Plaza and with patches of custom-designed carpet and a large, vintage photo of chorus girls. The circular entry remains, but the pavement will soon be replaced with a stamped concrete pattern.
"We wanted it to look traditional, cheerful and a little fun, but not overbearing and stuffy," he said.
But none of the old Plaza can be found in the sleek new guest rooms.
"Nobody wants to be reminded of the past there," Rosen said.
Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.
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Good luck to the folks who made this happen. It will be good for downtown Vegas and those who visit. My wife and I will be comming up there this fall and we intend to thorw a few coins in the slots at the Plasa. It will be interesting to see what new machines they choose...
Good for the UP! Was downtown a few weeks back and had a blast. Good comedy shows, affordable drinks and great bands to boot. For all of those who like to sit in front of the computer and complain, go downtown and spend a few bucks. If you can't have a good and affordable time then there is something wrong with you.
ONE MAN'S GHETTO IS ANOTHER MAN'S NEIGHBORHOOD. SOME PEOPLE GO DOWNTOWN TO SAVE MONEY AND MOST ROOMS ARE CHEAP AND NICE COMPARED TO OTHER PLACES IN THE WORLD AND THE STATES.
Now, can they get the stink out of the hallways and casino....
It's like putting lipstick on a pig...
Ghetto downtown, pure ghetto.
The Plaza is bragging about how "lucky" they are to be able to pay "pennies on the dollar" for fixtures and products that were acquired at a fire sale when Turnberry filed BK. Unfortunately, most of the fixtures the Plaza (and others) acquired were originally provided by suppliers who now are being ordered by the Fontainebleau BK Receiver to re-pay all money they were compensated when Turnberry/Fontainebleau ordered those products in the first place. (And in some cases, the suppliers were never compensated for delivering the products.) And the fact that the supplier never received payment for those products is viewed as: "too bad." And, the BK Receiver has lumped in the cost of re-modelling the Fontainebleau-Miami, too. So, why did the receiver hold a fire sale AND ask for ALL the money back that the Fontainebleau paid? There's the real story: How the current BK receiver purchase/liquidation system screws the supplier.
This will be interesting to see. I really hope the new Plaza will be successful.
But the bus terminal remains.....
firefly should bo back in there, it was a great place to eat, fantastic food and service, and fun...it fit the vibe of the fremont street experience,,,boring italian food and steak...nah...doesnt work....to upper end, looking at all that fun stuff...doesnt match....put firefly back, it was a winner.
Looks great. I read that the Casinos in Primm also got their stuff from the Fountableu which is such an eye sore. no wonder the north strip is fading. Wish they would implode the skelton building and landscape the area.