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Friday, Dec. 18, 2009 | 4:53 p.m.
The first 20 timeshare owners of Planet Hollywood’s PH Towers by Westgate checked in Friday morning, marking the first of several residential tower openings over the next few months.
As the first phase of the project, the non-gaming, 52-story residential and hotel tower will include more than 1,200 suites to be used as vacation homes and traditional hotel rooms. The top five stories of the tower consist of 40 luxury penthouse units ranging in size from 4,000 to 12,000 square feet. Those will be used as residential units.
Westgate Resorts Chief Operating Officer Mark Waltrip said the tower is open this week for the 200 timeshare owners who purchased for the last two weeks of 2009. An estimated 500 units will be open by Christmas with the rest of the tower open by Jan. 1, Waltrip said.
About 80 percent of the tower will be used as hotel rooms and will welcome guests Dec. 28 and officially celebrate the tower’s grand opening in early January. Waltrip said rates will range from the low $100s to $600s. Guests will have direct access to Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino and Miracle Mile Shops.
Upon completion, the two towers will house more than 2,700 units. A date for completion hasn't been announced.
The opening of the PH Towers will be followed by closings on residences at CityCenter’s Veer Towers next month, then Mandarin Oriental in February and Vdara in March. But Waltrip said Westgate isn’t concerned about the competition.
“Our business model is completely different from theirs,” Waltrip said.
Waltrip said they have already done $300 million in timeshare sales and are expecting to do an additional $100 million in 2010.
The condo-hotel project is a partnership between Planet Hollywood and Orlando-based resort company Westgate Resorts. Westgate is the owner of the property while Planet Hollywood is the marketing and operating partner.
Pending the sale of Planet Hollywood to Harrah’s Entertainment, Harrah’s would become the new marketing and operating partner. The name would still remain the PH Towers at Westgate, Waltrip said.
“Harrah’s is without a doubt the best operator and marketing machine in the Las Vegas market,” Waltrip said. “Having Planet Hollywood as a partner has been great but I think Harrah’s would take it to a whole other level.”
Catering to the young and modern crowd, Planet Hollywood is a one-stop shop for entertainment with its massive shopping mall, slew of restaurants, spacious casino and clubs.
The ambiance of the casino is retro-chic meets high-tech with black granite floors throughout and colorful LED lights throughout the space. The theme carries into the 100,000 square-foot casino with 250 flat screens topping off slot machines. The casino is also home to 87 tables, a sports book and a poker room.
There's also the Miracle Mile Shops, one Vegas' largest malls, with 140 stores including BCBG Max Azaria, bebe, Urban Outfitters and The Discovery Channel Store.
Following an afternoon of shopping, guests can satisfy their appetites at one of the gourmet restaurants in Planet Hollywood, like the non-traditional approach to steakhouses at Strip House or check out the exotic Far East motif at KOI restaurant and lounge. And if guests are still looking for more, they can spend the after hours at Privé, Triq or Krave nightclubs.
Perhaps one of the resorts biggest attractions came in March with the addition of "Peepshow." The naughty twist on the story of Little Bo Peep is modern-day spin on the run-of-the-mill Vegas topless review. The "Peepshow" stage has seen visiting celebs like Scary Spice Mel B, "Dancing with the Stars" Kelly Monaco and Playboy's Holly Madison.
IT WILL BE LIKE SPAIN NEXT
"Harrah's is without a doubt the best operator and marketing machine in the Las Vegas market"
Oh, man, I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe.
Funniest thing I've read here in ages.
...too much lipstick on a too big pig !!!
Why pay tens of thousands up front on a time share good for one week a year, then hundreds more for an "annual fee", maintenance charges, property tax, etc., when you can stay in a four star hotel for that same week for less than the "annual fees, etc"?
Fools and their money are soon parted...
Harah's owns the junkiest hotels in town, so the PH should fit right in their portfolio.
different lipsticks in different colors for the same mega pig....
1200 units and "the first 20 move in"
Am I the only one that sees a problem?
Upon completion, the two towers will house more than 2,700 units. A date for completion hasn't been announced..........
This just in: A completion date has now been set. It is July 4th 2060. Mark that date down on your calendar...
Their goes the towel service.
Their is so many rooms in Vegas we could house every homeless person or family that Harrah's and Planet Hollywood alone have laid off.
The sad thing is that Harrah's has laid off hundreds across but they are now trying to buy another property what a shame company.They could have taken those funds and fixed up their lesser desired properties and held on to a few hundred jobs and marked themselves as a devoted to the worker and employee type company.
Wynn Resorts announced back in the first quarter they were cutting prices on rooms and adjusting a few other financial ventures to prevent having lay offs on their properties,not sure it worked but at least they tried.Wynn Resorts at least showed they cared about their employees and showed heart towards Las Vegas and its residents.
On the other hand Harrahs has laid off hundreds if not thousands here in Las Vegas,they created an attitude amongst their remaining employees and have what I call buy it run it down mentality
I moved to Las Vegas in Jan.2009 and visited the strip making the rounds to most of the strip casinos all the Harahs Properties were for the most part dumps,with the exception of Ceasar,s Palace which has been relatively maintained.
I am from the southern region of this country and Harrahs bought the Grand Casino in Robinsonville Ms. were there is several casinos and before Harrahs bought the property it was nice clean and had a real good atmosphere I visited there in Dec. 2008 and was amazed at how the property had gone down the toilet.Being the largest property in that area with golf courses a hotel attached to the casino and two other Large hotels a few hundred yards away from the casino with shuttles transport people to and from a place called Kids Quest where you send childern while you gambled and several resturants on property you would think they would have been proud of their purchase and maintained it properly keeping it clean they ran it into the ground and I will never go back when I visit family in close by Memphis.The Grand had at least 4 large table pits with all your table games and when I was last their a year ago There was 3 Black Jack Tables open and
craps and a few other tables open and 3 other table pits closed and the slots were vertually empty I come here and Harrahs properties are out dated run down and their employees look as though if they could find another job they would Heck If they had another opprotunity to get another job they would quit.Harrahs needs to be run out of the gamming buisness or at least told no more until you fix what you have
Hey now, these timeshares are a great investment...(for the foreigners from abroad) when the ol mighty buck will be worth less than a russian ruble within time.
Once Americans can no longer exploit a timeshare for a tax shelter, the town will be the next "Cabo San Lucas" and will be referred to as Cabo Las Vegas.
Maybe they will rename this place 'Planet Chinatown".
Timeshares have ALWAYS been a terrible investment. The idea of selling the same unit to 26 people (two weeks at a time) is GREAT...for the developer.
Multiple the 26 times whatever they want for the two weeks, and ask the timeshare operator why he thinks the unit is worth that much money. I did, and the guy just sort of scratched his head and looked at me in silence. Finally he just said, "You're very good at math."
I never got this one due to its sheer size! Another tower will not happen any time soon.
If you've been to a timeshare you would know its a waste of your time and money! Timeshares are crap you pay soo much and only get to use it twice a year! For the price you pay its cheaper to buy a house! We were in Las vegas and my boyfriend got me to go to a timeshare because in return we got three days and two nights at excalibur. So we went the size they were trying to sell is the size of a hotel room!
For we degenerate sports gamblers, there goes one more independent bookmaker from the scene... It was nice to have MGM, Harrah's and Planet Hollywood's sports books all fairly close together.
Great comments on Harrah's though, from a frequent east coast visitor's perspective, spot on. Flamingo, Harrah's, Bally's, Bills, O'Shea's are all sub par. Caesar's is still nice, but even at Paris they have taken the "themed resort" to an all new low by also importing the Parisian's well known propensity for being unhospitable! Once had some idiot bar tender refuse to give my wife some water on the way through the casino since she noted it was for my 11 year old daughter as she walked through. I told her to move on and I would ask for the water since she wasn't supposed to stop with a minor child (she didn't know better). The bartender then refused to give me the water and when I asked for his name threatened to get security to throw me out! I got his name, went to security myself and asked for the food and beverage manager. He was very helpful and happy to take a written complaint on the jerk in the Central Bar. Funny, never saw him there again...
I will take the devils advocate stance on this topic.
Bakersfield: for your info, annual fees at this property for a 2 bedroom unit are $800/year. You will NEVER find a 2 bedroom suite on the strip for $115/night. NEVER.... But, I will agree with you about the price you pay from the developer. They are outrageously overpriced.
However, if you can buy a week aftermarket, like I did, you pay about 200% less than you would from the developer and in the long run, you can save money.
Timeshare isn't for everyone. And especially not if you are thinking that you can resell later for a profit. But, if you have a family with kids and enjoy going on nice vacations and not be squished into a standard room, I believe that timeshare is a good investment. Not to try and sell down the road, but to use for family vacations and stay in a nice suite for a fraction of the money.
Here's an example: I have a timeshare that I bought for 3K at the Jockey Club in Vegas. It is a 1 bedroom suite. I pay $550 in maintenace fees per year. If you were going to stay for a week and pay per night, it would cost you about $750. So, in that example I'm saving $200.
Now, I'm going with my family of 4 to So Cal in March. I exchanged my week at JC to stay at the Pacific Palisades Resort right next to Legoland. It would cost me $1330 for the room if I were to pay per night. But, all I paid was $550 maintenance, plus $150 exchange fee. So, in that example, I'm saving $630.
So, In my opinion, there is a place for timeshare if you are smart about it.