Q:
I was just wondering if you can tell us how the renovations of Bill’s Gaming Hall is coming along? When is the projected date for it to reopen and what will its new name be? I’m sure you have told us before but I can’t remember what it was.
A:
This is a timely one, for all the wrong reasons (at least from Caesars Entertainment’s point of view). Here’s why.
In an August 6 official press release of the typical dry and corporate variety, CET announced a game of "pass the executive," with word that Eileen Moore, of whom we’d never heard but who is apparently currently president of CET’s Mid-North Regional Division, would be moving to Las Vegas to oversee three casinos here, including the Flamingo, The Quad and … Gansevoort, which is the name that was eluding you for what was formerly Bill’s. Moore is taking over from the current overseer of these Las Vegas properties, who’s moving to their Atlantic City operations. Blah blah blah.
All was then quiet on the Gansevoort front until August 20, which was not a good day, website-speaking, for CET. First up, we at LVA (specifically Tanya in research) discovered quite by chance that someone had apparently inadvertently allowed the Web domain for Harrah’s Las Vegas to expire, which took the hotel’s site down for awhile (while offering the address up for auction for a starting bid of $69). Then, later that day, a Vegas blog and some readers thereof stumbled upon the fact that Gansevoort had "done a Downtown Grand" (see QoD 7/29/2013) and pushed the website live — including the ultra-secret (up to that fateful point) page that revealed Emmy Award-winning celebrity chef, author, and TV personality Giada De Laurentiis would be be opening her very first restaurant ever at the under-construction boutique Las Vegas hotel. Oops! With a capital OOPS!
We can only imagine the behind-the-scenes fallout when that accidental leak went viral. There were doubtless plans to milk this coup in grand style over days, if not weeks, with tantalizing teases leading up to THE BIG REVEAL about who the new celebrity restaurateur would be. Instead, the next morning our "in" box contained a rushed-out-overnight official announcement that added little to what we, and the rest of the world, already knew, aside from the fact that the restaurant will include a "signature antipasto station" that will be "a first for Italian eateries on the Strip." We kind of figure CET was looking for a bigger "wow!" factor than that, although we love antipasto, so that’s definitely good news as far as LVA is concerned.
Aside from that, there was nothing more revealing in the release than the fact that the property — which seems as if it will almost be run as a "collective’ family affair, with CET operating the casino, the esteemed Gansevoort boutique hotel brand (two in New York City, plus one in Turks & Caicos) running the hotel show, nightlife impresario Victor Drai overseeing the rooftop pool and after-hours club, and Ms De Lorentiis providing the food — will be opening on-schedule in "early 2014." We drove past recently and can vouch for the fact that there’s lots of scaffolding and general signs of construction activity afoot (witness Giada in her hard hat, as proof).
With that team at the helm, it should be a pretty awesome addition to the Strip. They just could use a new Webmaster, maybe?
from http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com
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