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Rio Hotel & Casino Las Vegas REVIEW - MASTER THREAD (Destination+other brands)

Rio Hotel & Casino Las Vegas REVIEW - MASTER THREAD (Destination+other brands)

Old Mar 18, 2021, 5:50 pm
  #31  
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Originally Posted by HoustonConsultant
Each time I'm in Vegas I think, "Hey, the Rio looks interesting. I should wander over there and look around.", and yet, I've never wandered over there.

I'm not sure globalist benefits would motivate me to stay away from the strip.

I don't even hop around from casino to casino very much, but I have some sort of psychological block with crossing 15.
Unless you can find a way to cross I-15 that also takes you ~15 years back in time, I wouldn't bother now, it's kind of a dump. Or was, the last time I set foot in there...

Originally Posted by eponymous_coward
The Rio is a dump right now. I mean, it’s great to get a $19 room + tax and all, but the rooms I end up in for that $19, those rooms I get in the Masquerade Tower as a Caesars Diamond clearly haven’t been getting refurbished since the 1990’s- scratched furnishings, old plumbing, the look is really dated. The casino and pool are similar. I’m willing to put up with lot for a $19 room, so OK, but realize that’s what you’re getting, something that is very tired.

So if you want to go over and look at someplace that needed to be refurbished around 2005-2010, sure, go over. Otherwise I’d skip it until they fix the joint up.
... exactly. I stayed there a bunch in the early/mid 2000s and the base rooms were ok; the Masquerade Tower suites were really nice. I think maybe it went downhill when the Apollo bean counters took over? I needed to do a quick overnight stay once or twice in the 2009-2011 era and it was pretty sad, seemed like half the Ipanema Tower elevators were broken at any given time, etc.
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Old Mar 18, 2021, 5:59 pm
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by TravelFu
Stayed at the Rio several years ago for a work convention. They have some seriously large rooms even in the lower price points like what my work booked everyone into. I've stayed at some other hotels on the strip since then and I can't honestly say I've been any more comfortable with the exception of the time I got upgraded to a huge suite at the Paris with a bathroom bigger than my first apartment. I'll probably go and stay at the Hyatt Rio or whatever they decide the name is for those benefits as long as they still have the free shuttle to the strip.
Unfortunately, the free shuttle service ended sometime ~2017. I suppose some type of shuttle could be reinstated with change to Hyatt.
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Old Mar 18, 2021, 7:04 pm
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
I know the owners of the Rio will feel that they have to try something, but if the failed experiment of the W / SLS shows anything, it's that chain brands are irrelevant unless you have a prime location on the Strip or are close to the convention centre...
Smaller conventions that are based in a single hotel are big business. If the folks running this new venture pay to hire top notch salespeople and back that up with a great operations staff, they might do well.

Here's an example of how the Rio could be marketed to companies and professional organizations looking for space:

Originally Posted by TravelFu
Stayed at the Rio several years ago for a work convention. They have some seriously large rooms even in the lower price points like what my work booked everyone into. I've stayed at some other hotels on the strip since then and I can't honestly say I've been any more comfortable with the exception of the time I got upgraded to a huge suite at the Paris with a bathroom bigger than my first apartment. I'll probably go and stay at the Hyatt Rio or whatever they decide the name is for those benefits as long as they still have the free shuttle to the strip.
Also, don't underestimate the value of Hyatt's National Sales Team. I don't know if those people are pushing clients towards MGM properties, but I would imagine they are not. Having a Hyatt-branded meeting space in one of the most well-known cities on the planet could be very profitable.

If the Hyatt National Sales Team is aggressive in promoting this new venture, they might be able to book several large groups annually. Many professional organizations will rotate their national meetings through high-profile locations. Being able to add Las Vegas into the mix while still dealing with Hyatt might be appealing.

Or, this venture could be a disaster like the Sahara. The devil's in the details.
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Old Mar 18, 2021, 8:58 pm
  #34  
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
Sounds like the Excalibur, but with free breakfast and suite upgrades. I'm in!

I know the owners of the Rio will feel that they have to try something, but if the failed experiment of the W / SLS shows anything, it's that chain brands are irrelevant unless you have a prime location on the Strip or are close to the convention centre...
The Palms (just down the street) is still closed, and Stations has other off-Strip properties open (and the Palms just got a pretty nice refurb in 2019), which just says a lot about the environment in Vegas when you're willing to let your pretty new four star property stay closed after you dropped a billion to buy and refurbish it.

Originally Posted by writerguyfl
If the Hyatt National Sales Team is aggressive in promoting this new venture, they might be able to book several large groups annually. Many professional organizations will rotate their national meetings through high-profile locations. Being able to add Las Vegas into the mix while still dealing with Hyatt might be appealing.

Or, this venture could be a disaster like the Sahara. The devil's in the details.
Caesars used the Rio as a dumping ground for World Series of Poker participants for years, and just never kept the place up (it was getting long in the tooth when they got it). I would think they're going to have to do root and branch kind of stuff like they did at Virgin Las Vegas when they took over from Hard Rock (and Hard Rock didn't let things go to seed the way Caesars did).

I'd hope the new ownership has a clue, and the partnership with Hyatt is... something? But the examples of SLS/Sahara + Palms don't exactly inspire confidence that you can just have a nice property with some good restaurants and decor and boom, you make a ton of cash. And there's going to be Virgin Las Vegas + Resorts World on the Hilton side soon...

Last edited by eponymous_coward; Mar 18, 2021 at 9:09 pm
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Old Mar 18, 2021, 9:47 pm
  #35  
 
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I hope the MGM x Hyatt relationship continues.
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Old Mar 18, 2021, 10:53 pm
  #36  
 
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Not a fan of this property unless a lot of renovations are done and they are able to bring in some interesting restaurants. I did like KJ for their dim sums though, probably the only good thing about this property right now. Well the other upside is being slightly closer to Chinatown too. It wouldn't be my #1 choice as I typically stay at Aria or Vdara but I would definitely consider it depending on how things go.
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Old Mar 18, 2021, 11:01 pm
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by writerguyfl
Smaller conventions that are based in a single hotel are big business. If the folks running this new venture pay to hire top notch salespeople and back that up with a great operations staff, they might do well.
I thought the same thing too. If a lot of money is invested into the property and they make the property attractive as well, they can try to bring in a lot of convention business as the property has an events center. However, you have the new Caesars Forum Center behind Linq and Harrahs and the new Resorts World property opening this summer.
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Old Mar 19, 2021, 2:38 am
  #38  
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Originally Posted by Jimgotkp
I thought the same thing too. If a lot of money is invested into the property and they make the property attractive as well, they can try to bring in a lot of convention business as the property has an events center. However, you have the new Caesars Forum Center behind Linq and Harrahs and the new Resorts World property opening this summer.
Originally Posted by writerguyfl
Smaller conventions that are based in a single hotel are big business. If the folks running this new venture pay to hire top notch salespeople and back that up with a great operations staff, they might do well.
Pre-COVID sure...

Conventions with a bunch of random people in close proximity? Vaccines or not, that's going to take many years to get back to normal, if it ever does... And there will be a lot of desperate hotels / event centres with space to fill...
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Old Mar 19, 2021, 1:13 pm
  #39  
 
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For 10 minutes once upon a time, the Palms became hot off strip. It was a miracle of sorts. It ended.

Rio was a dump when it opened. It's a dump now.

With a LOT of money and years of renovations it can be not a dump, still in a terrible location.
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Old Mar 19, 2021, 1:41 pm
  #40  
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Originally Posted by rogo
For 10 minutes once upon a time, the Palms became hot off strip. It was a miracle of sorts. It ended.

Rio was a dump when it opened. It's a dump now.

With a LOT of money and years of renovations it can be not a dump, still in a terrible location.
Strip adjacent?

David
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Old Mar 20, 2021, 7:20 am
  #41  
 
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People are itching to get back. The conventions that no one wanted to go, now everyone is fighting to go.

I would not stay off the strip unless I had a convention to go too, and even then I might still stay at Bellagio like Ive been doing for 10 years and I loved getting Hyatt stay credits. Hopefully mlife partnership stays but I doubt it. Ill just move my stays to the Cosmo.
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Old Mar 20, 2021, 8:24 am
  #42  
 
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Originally Posted by Jimgotkp
I thought the same thing too. If a lot of money is invested into the property and they make the property attractive as well, they can try to bring in a lot of convention business as the property has an events center. However, you have the new Caesars Forum Center behind Linq and Harrahs and the new Resorts World property opening this summer.
There's real value for meeting planners to work with the National Sales Offices of large hotel groups (Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, etc). Any planner that coordinates a reasonably large annual convention will have a dedicated contact. Unless the convention changes drastically year-to-year, all the planner needs to do is approve the Request-for-Proposal (RFP) and the Sales contact will do all the work.

Additionally, the quotes the planner receives might be slightly better because hotels within a given hotel group will share information. (I've seen this from working in hotel sales.) For example, it would be normal for a sales manager at one Hyatt hotel to call the last Hyatt hotel where a group stayed to get some details. Hotels won't (or at least shouldn't) share actual pricing, they will provide generalizations about whether the group caused problems or how accurate their numbers turned out to be.

If the hotel completing the RFP knows that the group picked up 90% of the requested room block instead of the normal 60% for that type of meeting, the quote will be more accurate. More accuracy might mean slightly better rates and/or cancelation terms.

-----

Of course, nothing stops a meeting planner from engaging this process with one of the Las Vegas casino groups. But starting from scratch with a new company is a pretty big task. (The information needed to get an accurate quote is very detailed. And, it always involves a credit check.)

If a meeting planner can add Las Vegas to the fix of convention cities by just making a single phone call to they Hyatt National Sales Manager, they will do that instead of spending hours compiling information for Caesars or MGM.

Originally Posted by craigthemif
Pre-COVID sure...

Conventions with a bunch of random people in close proximity? Vaccines or not, that's going to take many years to get back to normal, if it ever does... And there will be a lot of desperate hotels / event centres with space to fill...
I'm not into the doom and gloom prognostications that the world has changed forever. Conventions will return, as will cruises.
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Old Mar 21, 2021, 7:15 am
  #43  
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Originally Posted by dakid23
I hope the MGM x Hyatt relationship continues.
Is there a world where mlife runs the gaming loyalty program at this new property? I'm not sure there is such an arrangement anywhere else.
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Old Mar 21, 2021, 1:34 pm
  #44  
 
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Originally Posted by Beckles
Is there a world where mlife runs the gaming loyalty program at this new property? I'm not sure there is such an arrangement anywhere else.
I'm not sure I understand the question? Anyone could be contracted to manage the property (just as how for the last ~2 years since its sale by Caesars, it was leased back to Caesars).

Whether MGM would be interested is of course a different story.
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Old Mar 22, 2021, 4:01 am
  #45  
 
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From Vegas Review-Journal newspaper -

<<A Hyatt spokesperson said Thursday that the Hyatt Regency hotel is expected to open in 2023.>>

So only 2(+) years away. 😕
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