Gaming briefs for March 15, 2004

Monday, March 15, 2004 | 11:24 a.m.

Company introduces Internet room offer

Caesars Entertainment Inc. has introduced a marketing offer for rooms booked through its corporate hotel websites that will match the lowest rate found anywhere on the Internet.

The "Best Rate Guarantee" will match the online price of any room at the company's 18 U.S. hotel-casinos and discount the rate by an additional 25 percent if a customer finds a lower Internet rate, the company said.

"This program is designed to reward our loyal online customers and assure them that they will always find the lowest room rates for our properties on our website," said Steve Rosen, the company's senior vice president of marketing.

Customers who book rooms directly through Caesars websites may cancel their reservations up to 48 hours prior to their visit and receive a full refund, the company said.

Union criticizes tribal plan

The president of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union is criticizing a ballot initiative proposed by the Agua Caliente tribe in Palm Springs, Calif., to allow tribes to receive rights to an unlimited number of slot machines and casinos in exchange for paying a percentage of slot machine profit to the state.

In a statement Friday, union President John Wilhelm said the initiative "would not be in the best interests of other tribal gaming enterprises or tribal casino workers."

"Tribal gaming enterprises not as well situated in Agua Caliente's gaming market would suffer through an inability to compete. The lack of worker protections would compromise casino workers' ability to collectively bargain for decent wages and benefits to support their families."

The hotel and restaurant union, which is called the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, has been working to organize casino workers in California, including the tribe's Palm Springs casino.

Purchase option extended

A trio of Southern Nevada casino owners considering a purchase of the Castaways hotel-casino has been granted a 15-day extension on their option to buy the closed, bankrupt property.

Randy Miller said this morning that he and partners Rich Iannone and Rich Gonzales were granted the extension beyond today's original option expiration because it's now "likely" the trio will purchase the Las Vegas property.

The three, who own and operate the Bighorn casino in North Las Vegas and the Longhorn casino on Boulder Highway, are now finishing their due diligence, investigating the condition of the property and getting a handle on the cost of bringing the property up to speed, Miller said.

"It will require $8 million to $10 million in new games," Miller said of the 49-year-old property that closed in January. "We won't open without state of the art equipment. We want to reopen the business as quickly as possible."

Rio in pact with Detroit operator

The Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas this morning announced a marketing alliance with the Greektown casino, to allow the Detroit operator to send its casino players to the Las Vegas resort.

"The alliance will enable Greektown Casino to provide its players an opportunity to enjoy new gaming experiences at one of Las Vegas' premier casino hotel resorts, as well as benefit Rio players who live in the Detroit area," Rio-parent Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. and Greektown noted in a joint statement.

MGM MIRAGE and Mandalay Resort Group of Las Vegas operate Detroit's other two casinos.