Steve Marcus people Scroll on the streets of MonteLago village during the grand re-opening of Casino MonteLago at Lake Las Vegas on Thursday, May 26, 2011.It was a Las Vegas scene, circa 2007: too many, too few gambling machines and too few parking places for people on a crowded for what may be the only large Casino to 2011.
After 14 months of darkness, Casino MonteLago — social hub of Lake Las Vegas golf resort community — again 9 p.m. Thursday for a burst of fireworks.
Small casino closed in March 2010, a victim of the battered economy in a challenging Henderson location some 20 miles from the Strip. Although the local economy is still in error messages, are expecting a new management team to do better by promoting lean, with less gambling machines and employees.
But Thursday night, there were smiles all around – and the type of gambling measure casinos dream about. Shortly after the doors opened, customers stood two deep, expecting a 275 slot machines or seven electronic table games to open up.
Among them is the Henderson resident Nancy Almanzan, which found a place in an electronic blackjack game.
-It is nice to come here and relax and not on the Strip, says Almanzan, 45. "We used to come out here two or three times a week when the casino was open but not so much because it closed. I like the ambience village atmosphere. "
Roy Alexander drove all the way from downtown Las Vegas to open.
"We used to come here for live music on weekends. I would definitely come down here again now that the Casino is open, "said Alexander, 65.
As customers of the casino when it was under the previous administration, he and his wife, an offer to stay on attached Ravella hotel.
"We could have rented a room at the weekend, we had earlier received the message. We will probably be back, "he said.
While playing roulette, Lin was big on opening Meriage, says she and her husband had been waiting for it since the property ended last year.
Meriage, a retiree and full-time resident of Lake Las Vegas, said that there was still enough sights to keep the resort community, including seven restaurants were open during the last year. Still, the casino was a much needed attraction, she said.
"We are proud of," said Meriage, 67.
The Casino will hopefully stay open for fans of the Tuscan-themed in a faux Italian village of cobblestone walking paths, quaint restaurants and boutique shops and next to a 320-acre man-made lake.
Critics considered small surrounding population sentenced 40 000-square-foot casino from the beginning.
CEO Jon Berkley disagrees, saying the Casino's main problem was its heavy debt burden wiped away — now in the ownership to the lenders.
A significant though small problems of previous administrations, he said, was a marketing problem with the earlier Ritz-Carlton hotel next door.
Beautifully appointed hotel, which has done little on the market, the attached casino guests, was simply too expensive for the local population, "he said.
"When a room at the Ritz cost $ 300, no one could afford a staycation here," he said.
That changes now renamed hotel, Ravella, reopened in February under new management. This luxury hotel – who left the room and the space untouched but have brightened the lobby and other public places with more colorful and less formal furnishings – sells four-star accommodation in two-and three-star prices.
The property offers an advertising at $ 49 per night by 12 June, and has recently reduced the regular prices for Nevada residents to $ 59 from kr by Labor Day. Rates peak at around $ 130, price undercutting rates charged by other luxury hotels in the city. Staycations are a key marketing strategy for the hotel, which can be a significant part of the business from locals looking for a quick getaway, "said Marty Bertone, Ravellas Director of sales and marketing and a Ritz-Carlton coach in Phoenix.
"Our local people who have done very well," he said.
The Casino is also dependent on the local population rather than the out-of-towners.
Rather than simply drawing from Lake Las Vegas or Henderson, the Casino hopes to attract people from across the Las Vegas Valley to stop at Lake Las Vegas, Berkley said.
"We did not invent a staycation, but I think we have perfected it," he said. "From your House in Summerlin, 30 minutes away, you can be transported to another location altogether ... a village that looks like something you would find on the Amalfi Coast."
For its part sold 71 year old Laura Velgos on Lake Las Vegas. She and friend Frank Black, 73, nosed around some shops in the village in anticipation of tonight's Casino crowd to disperse.
"It feels like Europe. It is who is on vacation, "says Velgos, a 43-year Las Vegas resident who visited the Lake Las Vegas regularly until the casino closed.
"You can not find a machine which, so it's crowded. We waited 30 minutes, and then came out here, "said Black, who lives in Boulder City. -But we love this place.
They won so much money from the casino that they probably helped it turn, joke black.
Yes, they do not win, but they enjoyed themselves, and that is why they are back, enjoying a night walk in string lights in faux European village.
-We are here to win back all the money we lost, "he says with a laugh.
Jonathan Gomez thinking not long drive from his home in Northwest Las Vegas to his job as a line cook at Harry's restaurant in the Casino.
-It is worth it for the opportunity, "said Gomez, recent culinary-school graduate. "It's a great feeling to be an employee. And this is a good place.
Gomez said the Casino would flourish given sufficient publicity.
"Many people don't know about. I've told people, what a nice place to get a girlfriend. "
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