Longtime DI host Bonfiglio dies

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 9:04 a.m.

If one of his guests at the old Desert Inn needed something, Mike Bonfiglio would bend over backward to meet that person's request or, often, demand.

During four decades as casino host, he tended to the needs of tens of thousands of high-rollers, celebrities and just regular customers who wanted dinner or show comps, a partner for a round of golf or a marker at the gaming tables.

"A casino host who takes care of high-stakes players should be serving in our State Department," former longtime Desert Inn President Burton Cohen said, acknowledging the kid-glove care some demanding customers require. "In Mike Bonfiglio's case, he could have been secretary of state."

Michael Robert Bonfiglio, who often boasted that he tended to the needs of Desert Inn customers "from the womb to the tomb," died Thursday in Las Vegas. He was 84.

Services will be 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph Husband of Mary Catholic Church, 7260 W. Sahara Ave. Sunrise Cremation & Burial Society handled the arrangements.

Bonfiglio worked at the Desert Inn from 1961 until his retirement in 1996. Steve Wynn has since bought the property and is in the process of building the Wynn Las Vegas megaresort on the site.

"What made Mike so successful for so long was that he was warm, gracious and could not say no to his guests," said Cohen.

"I told him, 'Mike, it's OK to once in a while say no to a customer,' but he did not feel that way."

Of high rollers, Bonfiglio said in a 1982 interview: "You are at their beck and call. They can be so demanding, and everyone wants recognition. But I enjoy it. I thrive on it. And I'm good at it."

In addition to extending casino credit lines and arranging for comps and reservations to shows and restaurants, Bonfiglio said he paid special attention to what he called "the little needs" such as sending free champagne to rooms.

Another of Bonfiglio's duties, Cohen said, was dining with guests, including gamblers, U.S. astronauts and wealthy Arabian oil men.

Born Jan. 24, 1920, in Steubenville, Ohio, Bonfiglio began his gaming career in 1941 as a card dealer in the illegal gambling houses of northern Kentucky, which was not uncommon for early Southern Nevada casino workers.

In 1947, Bonfiglio came to Las Vegas to work as a dealer at the Golden Nugget. In 1961 he was hired as a floorman at the Desert Inn and quickly climbed the ranks to shift boss and casino manager, before being promoted to vice president of customer relations.

Bonfiglio rarely used that fancy title, preferring instead to be called simply a "casino host."

Bonfiglio is survived by a sister, Frances Salancy.