BigAzMarty: If I Were CEO of Bally’s Las Vegas

BigAzMarty would be making some changes if he were CEO of Bally’s Las Vegas…

Hey, all! BigAZMarty here. I know I put the idea out there but there was only one bite so far so I am putting my hat in the ring hoping others follow suit on what they would do if they were CEO For a Day of a Las Vegas Hotel. By the way, the Luxor redo was a fun read.

The Las Vegas Property I picked to be CEO of is Bally’s Las Vegas and here are my ideas. This is an old map of the site:

1. Rename the place. No one really knows that Bally’s is from when Bally’s Entertainment owned the place, so just rename it to something fun (Horseshoe is not the name to use). Maybe make it something that Caesars doesn’t have like a new brand. Maybe something like Crystal Palace Casino and Resort.

2. Level the Grand Bazaar Shops. This is just not a good idea in the middle of summer in Las Vegas…bear with me. I’d build something new there and move the shops back where the casino is (logically attached to the walkway that goes to Paris of course).

3. Redo all the rooms and towers (ala The Cromwell), although the Jubilee tower rooms are recently remodeled, TripAdvisor is showing pictures of nicks and breaks more in line with Ikea furniture than the really old stuff in the Indigo Tower. In other words, put in really durable furniture and not cheap easily breakable stuff. Make everything just a little bigger (taller) as everyone in the US has gotten taller and heavier than in the 1970’s. I did like the new bathrooms for the Jubilee Suites but still think the tubs out of Planet Hollywood are better and a lot easier to manage. Seal up the windows by using a thick blue reflective glass (see here: http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/888.htm) instead of the sliders that are screwed shut. Make it thicker on the sides that face Drai’s and Paris’ nightclubs as those gaps in sliders just let sound and warm air in. Remember this hotel’s basic rooms are still about 430 (Jubilee) to 450 (Indigo) Sq Ft which is on the larger size in line with the more expensive resorts basic rooms. Basic rooms should have the tubs swapped out for the bigger shower stalls with rainfall + body jets (if it can fit two people give it two rainfall heads and at least two body jets and controls on each side). Look at Mandalay Bay for base room idea’s here as they are very close to the same footprint size wise. See the Bally’s existing room options here with square footage for each.

4. Move the arrival Valet and Bell Hops over to the Flamingo side where Jason Bourne jumped that car. Bus and Trams can move to the back of the property…as should self-park (give them a tram from the Paris Parking Structure). Close up that existing arrival area as we are going to build new there. Tear that out, and we have continuous space from Jubilee Tower to the corner of Flamingo and LV Blvd. Build out at least a three-story structure to house the following. Casino on the ground level up front on the strip, it should be bigger than the one there now in the old area. It must have high ceilings, excellent HVAC, and smoke processing. It should occupy where all the Grand Bazaar Shops are now back to where the entrances are currently. Full slot, VP, table games and a center VP bar area…maybe even a Party Pit up front. Make it winnable, fun and not so tight that everyone walks out broke. 2nd Level should be nice upscale restaurants, small theaters, and nightclubs that have outdoor patios that overlook that corner and especially the Bellagio Fountains. 3rd Floor (depending on the depth of the pools might even be on the 4th floor) should be all the Oontz pool complexes (call this 21 and older pool area)…Lexan panels so the pool guests can see out as well (it’s the view silly).

5. After the new casino is opened, close out the old casino and gut that area (you will have to leave the Jubilee Theater alone). Suggestion, raise the old casino floor up to be on the same level, those steps are in odd areas. Fill it with shops, buffet, and eateries, and continue the theme from Paris to make the area contiguous. Maybe put in the sportsbook up front between the new casino and the back shops/restaurants. Add back in a nice Diamond Lounge.

6. Make the back lower level area the “family friendly” area, the spa is O.K. back there, as is the food court. Strip out that floor covering and at least make an effort to make that floor nice again. At one time it was beautiful. The shops should be more in line with Miracle Mile shops or move the successful Grand Bazaar shops back there and lose that “testing” area and Bodies. Since the sports-book is moving up and out to the old casino area up near the new casino area that old sportsbook area can be used for a new theater or theater style convention area (making it three or more different theater areas). Maybe even a movie area a-la Boyd and Red Rock.

7. I am having a hard time here….I want to keep the back pool and tennis area, so make that the “everyone” pool area. However, do I keep the existing pool or use that open space to make another Wave Pool / River Run area? For now, I won’t replace it…because who has a 13-foot deep pool in Vegas anymore? It’s awesome. Because you removed the smoky issues, people in Jubilee / Indigo now have two pool choices: the adult 21-and-over up front (call it the Drai II Pool Complex) and the everyone pool out back (call it the Spa Pool Complex). The following are must-fixes for the back pool area: lose the grungy strappy chairs; go to the mesh chairs like at PH. Drain the pool and fix all those tiles (it is NOT a plaster pool), try to grind off that acrylic lace deck covering and find out what the original deck was and use that or fix it. It was built well as it’s made it 40 plus years. Replace or clean the deep end divider on a DAILY basis; there shouldn’t be anything dirty or broken i.e. chairs, floats or anything. I might even open that area up for nightly pool movie showings (a-la Cosmo). They rent the foam floats, and that would be fun. Re-do the outside bar and DJ to be an enclosed full-service pool restaurant. Add in a lot of non-tatted waitresses that are responsible for selected areas of the pool deck, so no one is missed. Perhaps add in some water slides to the deep end (they have a lot of unused space back there off the deep end) and that could hide some of the monorail noise.

8. Give the maintenance and housekeeping the time and the tools and materials to take care of the place for another 40 years. Housekeeping not having full vacuum cleaners is just silly.

9. Leave the conference areas alone; I think conference space is conference space…other than redoing carpet and chairs/tables, not much to do there but maybe put in wi-fi, projection equipment, audio gear and some sort of catering services for food and drink options.

10. Finally, I don’t really know what to do about the Haunting of the Indigo Tower. Since we’ve moved the casino, we shouldn’t see the elderly ghost on fire that double played two slot machines and disappears when approached anymore. However, the ghostly screaming sounds in the stairwells of Indigo Tower such as the little boy coughing while calling to his mom on the 17th floor, and, the acrid mystery smoke smell in the upper tower floors would still possibly be there. I’ve been in Indigo on Floor 10 and didn’t experience any of that. Jubilee Tower was not built when the MGM Grand fire occurred, so it does not suffer the Haunting. However, if the Indigo Tower floors were completely gutted and redone a-la Cromwell / Linq (i.e. down past the studs and pulling all HVAC ducting as well) that acrid smoke smell might be gone (I think it’s possible it is coming up from the casino floor as it has a similar smell). Make the Indigo Tower a non-smoking tower as well as MGM has done with a lot of their resorts now. Either that or rebuild the back of the property from scratch.

Let me know what you think or write one up for yourself! I don’t care if you even do a Bally’s one!

AUTHOR FOR A DAY: If you could pick a Vegas property to be CEO of, what property would it be and what would you do? Hit us up in the contact section.

[Photos: Bally’s Las Vegas, Craft+Brand]

BigAzMarty

A computer professional who has worked at several types of positions with several different businesses and still learning and changing.
Introduced properly to Las Vegas and Laughlin by the spouse and have been going ever since 1990.
A frequent visitor from not to far away where it’s almost always 10 degrees warmer than Vegas.