Trade Shows, Implosions and Luxury Suites
Here at Global Gaming Business, we like to think we’re your source for updates on all the happenings in the casino industry. There were lots of happenings last month, the most obvious being the Global Gaming Expo.
It was my 24th G2E, going back to the inaugural event in 2001, when it competed with the World Gaming Congress (G2E won), which I had attended since the late 1980s, before which I attended the International Gaming Business Exposition. Every year, I’ve put in tens of thousands of steps across those exhibit floors, of which I’m certain, even though my trade show experience goes back to way before there were cellphones that recorded steps, or even cellphones, or indoor plumbing.
One other thing of which I’m certain: The history of gaming trade shows correlates closely with the progression of my physical body’s journey toward inevitable decrepitude. I can now actually hear my hip, ankle and knee joints grinding together as I walk, like cogs in a rusty old machine, performing a symphony of creaks and groans.
The machine still works fine, by the way. Just needs occasional lubrication (i.e., bourbon). And Advil.
In the middle of G2E week, they imploded the Tropicana, including the last structures actually built during Las Vegas’ mob era. (The Flamingo foolishly destroyed its original structures, including Bugsy Siegel’s suite and getaway tunnel, years ago.) I was invited to a viewing party. It started around midnight, and led up to the 2:30 a.m. implosion.
There was a time I may actually have gone to that party. I would have enjoyed a few drinks, watched the blowup, slept for a couple of hours, and charged forward with the next day of the trade show. Heck, I may even have just stayed up through the next day.
Reference what I wrote four paragraphs ago.
The only thing I’m awake for at 2:30 in the morning these days is a bathroom trip.
While all these trade show and implosion shenanigans were going on last month, the Rio brought back its exclusive Palazzo Villas. These are high-end dwellings they offered back when people actually stayed at the Rio.
I’m kidding. Lots of people stay at the Rio, and Dreamscape Companies, which bought the then-bedraggled property in 2019, has completely renovated it, including new luxury suites, and ultimately, those Palazzo Villas. They all have more square footage than my house, in what’s billed as “palatial living spaces.” There are patios, balconies, private entrances, and all kinds of stuff you just don’t find at the Motel 6. Or even the Best Western.
I’m willing to review these, should Dreamscape need me. I’ll start with the three-bedroom version, which offers 9,050 square feet of space, including, according to the hotel, “king-size beds that sleep six guests, a media room, formal dining area with seating for 10 to 14, a fireplace, a steam room in the shower, a hair styling/salon room, a massage room, and six plasma TVs.”
(I’m guessing that’s six people spread among the three king-size beds, instead of six people per king-size bed. I’ll ask when I’m there.)
After a couple of weeks in that villa (hey, I need to drink in the experience), I’ll move up to the six-bedroom Palazzo Villa, with 13,950 square feet across two stories accommodating up to 12 guests with a combination of king and queen-size beds. “Accessible by stairs and elevator,” reads the description, “this villa includes a media room, formal dining area, two primary bedrooms downstairs, two upstairs, two guest bedrooms upstairs, a massage room, and a salon room.”
Why, you ask, am I not starting my research with the one-bedroom villa? Simple. No styling/salon room or massage room. Who’s going to cut my hair while I’m there? And what if I want a massage? What am I supposed to do, order in?
Pricing is hard to come by. It’s not like they list the Palazzo Villas on the website. You have to answer a questionnaire if you want one, and according to the website, they’ll get back to you. From what I’ve read, the Villas start at around $5,000 a night, and the highest-end one is more like $9,000 a night, or more. But don’t take my word for it. Ask them. Tell them I sent you.
It’s not clear if you pay more for butler service. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a deal-breaker. What, I’m supposed to answer my own Palazzo Villa door, like some loser? And who’s going to bring me shrimp cocktail at 3 in the morning?
Sometimes, I like to nosh on something after my bathroom break.
