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Whatever the secret, they have been packing M in
Buffet, self-serve drink stations, payback rates all part of the success
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | 2 a.m.
M Resort Opens
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del.icio.usAfter a 10-minute fireworks display over the resort's pool, the Las Vegas Valley's newest resort casino opened its doors to a crowd of cheering and curious locals.
Sun Archives
- M Resort enrolls 100,000th rewards club member (3-26-2009)
- With betting on the fly, M Resort is the new Stardust (3-21-2009)
- In its first month, M Resort has hit the 'over' (3-12-2009)
- VIPs get first glimpse at latest in locals market (3-2-2009)
- One boss means lower costs, Marnell says (3-2-2009)
- Valley's newest resort casino open for business (3-1-2009)
- M Resort banking on reasonable prices in tough economy (2-28-09)
- M Resort shaking up south valley (2-27-09)
- M Resort dares to be different (2-25-2009)
Beyond the Sun
Map of M Resort
M Resort
12300 S. Las Vegas Boulevard, Henderson
To enter M Resort is to step back in time, to 2006, before the recession slashed discretionary spending.
Lines for the buffet and coffee shop snake around banks of slot machines, where most seats are taken. Well-dressed locals pack bars and lounges, some waiting for a seat in busy restaurants.
While some suburban casinos struggle to attract more business, the M’s restaurants are serving more than 8,000 covers per night. Weeknights look much like weekends, with long lines for the players club and the buffet.
Within a week of opening, it hired another 250 people to handle business that was better than projected based on the openings of other locals casinos in the past year.
Among those surprised by the resort’s fast start is Chief Executive Anthony Marnell III, 35, who helped open the Rio, then his father’s, in 1989.
“This is the busiest I’ve ever seen a food and beverage department,” Marnell said about his self-named resort.
The M has benefited from being the new kid on the block, as many locals want to see what all the fuss is about. This is also a time for gamblers, convinced that new casinos loosen their slots to attract crowds, to press their luck.
Still, the M’s early success has surprised skeptics, given the sorry state of the economy. Las Vegas casino executives from all over town have roamed the casino floor, trying to sniff out the secret formula.
As it turns out, the formula isn’t a big secret.
M offers a free buffet with all rewards club memberships. Free food is a surefire marketing strategy for casinos and especially for the M, where the buffet is a top attraction featuring a demonstration kitchen that hosts live cooking shows. Since opening, the M has added 100 seats to the buffet.
There’s more free stuff in the form of self-serve stations throughout the casino that dispense nonalcoholic drinks — eliminating the need to wait for, and tip, a cocktail server.
True to management’s early claims, there are no $15 martinis or $50 steaks. And customers have given the food high marks. There’s a bar where fancy beers on tap cost no more than $3.
Unlike marketing pitches for “loose slots,” claims of edible, reasonably priced food are easily judged by patrons.
The lobby features sleek furniture in creams and chocolate browns, a grand piano and an expansive view of the Las Vegas Valley through multistory windows, making the resort feel more like a Hollywood Hills mansion than a casino.
The casino offers a good selection of video poker games with payback percentages on the high end for locals properties.
The rewards club offers gamblers one point for every dollar played on most machines and returns $1 in cash for every 333 points, or $333 played. Gamblers can spend that cash on gasoline or prescription drugs along with more typical casino fare. Although the giveback is at the high end of suburban casinos, some locals casinos make up for lower overall givebacks with “point multipliers” on certain days, usually when business is slower.
“They’re doing everything right to drive traffic,” said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter for gamblers. “Word has gotten out about how good their buffet is, and they have good video poker (machines).”
Casino empires have been built on little more.
There’s also the buzz, which builds on itself. “People like things that have momentum,” Marnell said.
All of this may not entirely explain the crowds at M, which is signing up more than 5,000 people a day to join the resort’s iMagine Rewards program — a big number in a good economy and more than other suburban casinos have experienced in recent years.
The “X factor” touted by Marnell is harder to test but is evident in the number of smiling employees giving out directions, thanking customers for patronizing the property and apologizing for wait times. In pitching his resort to a skeptical public, Marnell cleverly appealed to locals’ pent-up outrage over pricey food and bad service in Las Vegas, saying he would raise the bar on service while keeping prices low.
Locals are a fickle bunch who base their decisions on their experiences, not a CEO’s claims. Enough bad experiences at a casino and gamblers will go elsewhere.
Marnell says he is “working out some kinks” in the customer service department that cropped up because the resort was not staffed to handle the flood of business.
Marnell wasn’t surprised to draw a large number of people living within a 10-mile radius — the casino looks to be in the middle of a desolate patch of desert when more than a hundred thousand homes sit to the north, east and west, including the affluent Southern Highlands, Seven Hills and Anthem communities. These neighborhoods haven’t been as hard hit by foreclosures as some others in the Las Vegas Valley, Marnell says.
He also expected to take some business from competitors that are farther afield. Some of his customers live closest to Station Casinos’ Green Valley Ranch, Sunset Station and Red Rock, as well as other casinos.
What has surprised Marnell is the number of tourists stopping at the M on their way out of town, saying they will be back next time.
“Customers will tell you exactly what they like and don’t like,” Marnell said. “It became very clear to me that this is more than trial business — it’s repeatable.”
Time will tell how long the buzz will last and how profitable using loss leaders such as free buffets and cheap beer to draw crowds will be for the property long-term. The M Resort is privately owned and doesn’t publish financial information.
With less than a month in business, Marnell says he’s not about to sit back and relax.
“Going into work every day is like being a cat hanging onto a tree by one claw,” he said. “All my fingers are crossed and if you took off my shoes you’d see all my toes crossed.”
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Well I have to tell you that there is a choice in Las Vegas to spend where you see a good value. I find that I am getting more play from the M Resort than any other locals casino. Wins and losses are not as important as getting a chance to feel as though I am not being ripped off ! If this resort continues on the path that it has set... They will be wildly successful. I drive past 3 locals casinos and the whole strip just to go to the M ! I hope that the slogan will be " slow and easy will win the race " As long as this company does not tighten down after the newness wears off, this will be the place that I will go and spend my LOCAL gambling money It is a shame that I pass 2 stations casinos to get here. I hope the others ** GET IT **...
I have to admit that the 1 1/2 hour long line for the buffet at the M Resort was very daunting. The food was great, but I don't have the patience to go back.
So I'm waiting to see if the South Point cuts their restaurant prices, which I feel are way too high.
I'm also waiting to see if the quality and creativity of food at Green Valley Station's buffet improves.
I am very curious to see the M Resort myself. Of course, I will not wait 90 minutes in the buffet line, no matter how good the food will be like. The M Resort management should understand that waiting 90 minutes just to get to eat means 90 minutes less time you could spend for sitting and playing. A 2nd buffet line might be something to think about. But that's just an idea, I haven't been there yet, will check out that place in May.
From what I have seen in the past, most new casinos have a huge variety of full pay machines in their selection, but will remove them as time goes on, machine by machine. Station did it, Bellagio did it, and also the Palms used to have better videopoker in the recent years. They all believe that the players don't notice that. But we do !
Let's hope that the M Resort is different and that they keep up with all these 100 per cent machines, as that's what I am looking for :)
And by the way: It's not nice to advertise rooms for 59.99 usd , plus tax. Just to find out in the reservation system that a surcharge of 25 dollars (hotel fee) will be added on top of it, per day, plus tax of course, just to find out that 59.99 usd per day means actually almost 100 dollars per day!!!! This is the illusionary part of offering "low rates", my friends.
From Switzerland
let's see how it's doing 4 or 5 months from now once the newness has worn off.
i do like the fact they are taking money from station casinos, though. competition is GOOD!
Well the first time I went - 2 weeks after the grand opening - the slots were loose - I went last week-end and it seems they've already begun to tighten them up. I waited in line to get a player card - got a coupon for a free Breakfast Buffet that's only good during the week so it does absolutely no good for a working person who works the day shift Monday thru Friday. I guess the coupon could be used towards the price of a lunch or dinner buffet but lunch ends too early so it would have to be dinner - so basically it's just a discounted meal not a free meal at all. The lines for the buffet are horrendous and I'm sorry but I don't care HOW good it is and I don't care if it IS free (or discounted) my time has a value too and I'm not spending 2 hrs. waiting in a line for ANY kind of a meal. We tried the Red Cup Cafe and found the menu to be extremely limited and the burger I ordered was pretty dry even though I ordered it to be cooked 'medium'. The next day we went to the Orleans and Fuddruckers (which we LOVED in Phoenix) and had a MUCH better burger for a dollar less than the Red Cup Cafe and the burger was GREAT! I also got a lot of playing time on VP at the Orleans compared to the "M". The "M" also had quite a few screaming kids running through-out the place - just not my cup of tea I guess - call me an old fuddy-duddy if you must but when I go to a casino I expect to be able to enjoy adult entertainment without the screaming kids - for that I go to Disneyland. What ever happened to the days when a child couldn't even be in a casino without an adult whether they were 2, 12, or 20. Now, with the bowling alleys and movie theaters that open right into the casino you see kids all the time wandering around without any adult over 21. Granted, they don't stop and hang at the machines but there was a time when just being in the casino without an adult at your side would get you promptly escorted out the door. We need to go back to the Vegas of olden days - end of rant.
self serve beverage is huge. The no waiting and no tipping lets customers save the cost of the waitress and bartender as well.
the unions are going to hate it when this catches on everywhere.
These savings are the same reason the fast food joints did it years ago.
I'm planning on driving up from Los Angeles for the Final Four and will be watching the games at "M" (though staying elsewhere. They're fully booked this weekend). As someone who gluts himself with alot of soda (good thing I'm a marathon runner), I find the idea of these self-serve stations a great lure. I was looking forward to testing the buffet but I won't wait more than an hour, and considering that I'll be there Saturday, I imagine the wait could be longer.
I'll probably just go the excellent (and underrated) TI buffet on the strip. Besides, I'm also curious to see if the feel of TI has changed since Mr. Ruffin fully took control.
So, in general, this weekend, I'll be in Vegas to sate my curiosity. It appears that Vegas will be bustling with action this weekend considering the dearth of available rooms everywhere, so the reports of Vegas tourism in a tenuous state are a little inflated, though not trivial.
The $25 resort fee is a scam. I resent the tricky pricing games.
I have enjoyed each of my many visits to the M casino and playing the slots and actually getting some nice $ returns is great for a change. I love GVR, but trying to hit on a machine there has become an exercise in futility. They lost my business several months ago.
I play all over Vegas, but the M just feels right for me and I like the staff I have met. They are experienced, and actually seem happy to be at M too.
My suggestions for M include less children in the casino; more of the looser slot machines; more rewards for serious players like myself.
And, for all of the casinos:
it's too bad there can't be a dress code or at least a once in a blue moon dress-up night... get so tired of seeing people looking so dirty and being so smelly at the locals' casinos. Maybe the casinos should start giving out free soaps and the little bottles of shampoo kits!???
So, Anthony III was 15 when he helped his father open the Rio? ....right... can't execs just tell it like it is? Where was the editor on that one?
Hey thw2102 -
Thanks for repeating the point someone made already two comments before you. Why don't you go get an original thought, Captain Redundant.
First of all - Congratulations to the Marnells.
Secondly this is very encouraging, it turns out that the casino industry is not dead. You just need to be innovative and customer oriented. Who knew?
The place is nice and I wish them well. There really isn't anything special about the M that measures up to the media hype. They played it too tight to the budget wire to accomodate the crowds. I had my first meal there well after the grandopening. Nothing special at all to match the hype about great pricing and good quality. The hot dog I had at the deli the day before was better than the overpriced plate I had in the cafe.
The deserts in Baby Cakes are very nice!!! worth the price.
The self serve beverage area is a great idea! I've heard that the food in the steakhouse was good. I refuse to wait in the buffet line!!!
Aside from making a point to eat somewhere else before I go the M...... I'll continue to play there when the mood strikes. I do like most of the decor and I feel energized when I enter the building. Maybe they considered using Feng Shui.
Moving people around from place to place in the casino with more speed will be their savior.
The long lines at the Rewards center and the buffet will be the downfall. No one should be so arrogant to dream that they are so good that people will wait in lines like cattle forever to get what they can get somewhere else. Freebees are nice but what should it tell you if someone is waiting in line for 2 hours to get a comp ticket for a free meal!!
I love Vegas and I hope all of the casinos come back to life. Their financial wizards that are dictating the budgets are helping to put them in a graveyard. Wake up hotshots!!!!! It's obvious that the real masters of the universe are gone. If they were still alive......our economy would certainly be in better shape.
Try something new!!!
You mean original like living in Vegas and calling yourself a "high-roller"?
Odd how the Aliante doesn't get the same type of reviews.
LOL
I wanna go to the "M" and see the owners HOT wife!!
I do like the fact they are taking money from station casinos, though. competition is GOOD!
RIGHT ON BROTHER!
The resort is beautiful, and yes, it is great to see people excited about spending money in these troubled times. I am fortunate enough to have money to spend on dining out, and have tried the M restaurants. The downside is the service--one night I sat for 15 minutes in the bar of the steakhouse before finally flagging a waitress for service. At the same time, several suited managers stood by with self-congratulatory smiles, presumably because the restaurant was so busy. Perhaps they would have been better served by helping the obviously overburdened servers. Had they done that, I would be more inclined to return. As is, I'll wait until service in the restaurants becomes a higher priority. I am not alone in this judgement--several other friends have had similar experiences, so obviously this is not a one-time occurence. Anthony, please fix this! (and BTW, someone should rethink the TINY portion of crab legs served as an appetizer in the steakhouse. Four four inch halves do not justify the price, especially since everything else seemed like such a good value.)
I live over 10 miles from the M, and I have been there about 7 times already.
I love the place!
The sportsbook area takes great care of the patrons watching and betting on games with comp beverages.
The 32 degree bar is a great value. The wine cellar is great, and there is no need to wait for service at veloce up top just plug in your card, grab a glass, and you are good to go!
I look forward to concerts at the huge pool area.
One last thing, the women are very beautiful!
The reason I love this place is because it is not claustrophobic. A casino with windows. Imagine that. I live a mile from the Santa Fe and will pass every casino in Las Vegas to get to the M.
I,too, drove out of the way and it was worth it. Authentic desert resort feeling in a relatively tranquil setting. Nice ingress and egress and space and light inside. Lots of tasteful beige (crap tables and crap dealer uniforms) to catch the light, and, true - care was taken over which girls were hired. I'll be back.