Harrah’s moves ahead with possible Planet Hollywood acquisition

Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 | 2:01 p.m.

Headlines from the Vegas gaming industry

Harrah’s Entertainment has filed an application with state gaming regulators to acquire Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said today.

A spokesperson for the Gaming Control Board said the application was filed on Wednesday. The application will be assigned for investigation and will be heard before the Gaming Control Board, followed by the Gaming Commission after the investigation is complete some time next year, a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson from Planet Hollywood could not immediately be reached for comment.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s chief executive officer confirmed to employees that the company is interested in acquiring the Planet Hollywood resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

In an internal e-mail, CEO Gary Loveman told employees of the company's interest, Harrah's spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson said.

"The Planet Hollywood resort sits adjacent to the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, currently the southernmost of six contiguous Harrah's-owned properties on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip," Loveman's e-mail said.

"The Planet Hollywood resort is currently in default to its lenders. As a result of our purchase of their debt, we are working on a plan that also would allow Harrah's to own and manage the property. This is an attractive proposition because of Planet Hollywood's proximity to our other resorts on the Strip, its high-quality product offering and its strong brand name.''

"This move is the latest example of our strategy to make purchases or acquisitions capitalizing on opportunities created by current economic conditions. I look forward to sharing more details with you about this project in the future,'' the e-mail said.

Harrah's, according to the Wall Street Journal, had already purchased some $140 million of the debt of Planet Hollywood through mid-September.

The 2,518-room Planet Hollywood on Nov. 16 reported a $17.5 million quarterly loss and disclosed that lenders had taken control of its finances after it defaulted on debt obligations that total $870 million.

The hotel-casino is across the street from CityCenter and, like other properties on the Strip, has suffered from the decline in travel to Las Vegas.

Planet Hollywood is owned and operated by Planet Hollywood International Inc., which is controlled by founder and Chief Executive Robert Earl. Earl, along with joint venture partners Bay Harbour Management LC and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide purchased the Aladdin Resort in June 2003 and revamped it to become Planet Hollywood.

The resort is scheduled to open its Westgate Towers in December. The non-gaming, 52-story residential tower will include 1,200 suites and 28 penthouses.

Discussion: 14 comments so far…

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By environprotector

Nov. 30, 2009

2:27 p.m.

Suggest removal

STATE GAMING REGULATORS JUST SAY NO!! TO EXPANDED MONOPOLY OF HARRAH'S
By tvegas

Nov. 30, 2009

3:50 p.m.

Suggest removal

Harrah's can't run what they already own.
By lightfoot

Nov. 30, 2009

3:59 p.m.

Suggest removal

I visit PH (along with Venetian and Wynn) because it is not a part of the Harrahs/MGM monopolies. When it becomes a part of Harrahs I will no longer step foot in there and I doubt that my friends will. I used to really like the place when it was the Aladdin. For those who don't know, Harrahs is changing the odds on games like Blackjack from 3:2 to 6:5. Just one less reason to stay or play in Vegas.
By stratboy

Nov. 30, 2009

4:56 p.m.

Suggest removal

Come on Richard Brown let's go to foutainbleu. You don't want to
be working for Harrahs again and Ichan is buying Foutainblue with
work starting back up after citycenter opens. When do I start RB?
By VegasObserver

Nov. 30, 2009

11:25 p.m.

Suggest removal

Blackjack at PH is already 6:5 and they rake $5 in the poker room, so no big loss there. PH sucks now. It will suck even worse when Harrah's takes over. I just hope they don't take over Casino Royale next and pull the plug on 100x craps. But I'm sure that will happen within a year.
By environprotector

Dec. 1, 2009

6:42 a.m.

Suggest removal

Can't someone stop these corporate terrorists from destroying Las Vegas?
By hadenuf2

Dec. 1, 2009

8:34 a.m.

Suggest removal

I feel bad for the employees.......Say good bye to a lot of your benefits!Harrahs is the cheapest Company you will ever work for.They will destroy that property and turn it into a dump like they have with all the other properties they have purchased.
By gregorio

Dec. 1, 2009

3:39 p.m.

Suggest removal

Harrahs is cornering the market on s--t houses.
By Geot

Dec. 2, 2009

5:05 a.m.

Suggest removal

We come to Vegas at least 6 times a year.
We were and are guilty of comp fever..!
Harrah's before they sold out made it easy.
We never paid for a room. Usually entered in 2-3 tournaments. ( Slot, Three card poker, BlackJack. etc)
Lot's of giveaways.
After the sale, almost nothing.

We were entered in 2 tournaments. 3 days at the Palazzo, and 3 days at Harrah's
The tournamen't overlapped. The rooms at the Palazzo were magnificent. Harraha's has deteriorated to a downtown hotel. We overlooked the pool at both properities. What a difference.
You just have to see the pool from a room at Harrah's to realize the dismal look of this property.
We get invites every month now to the V, or Palazzo.
The only decent hotels left in Harraha's group, are Caesars, and Paris.
We dont go to Harraha's properities anymore, and both were formally Diamond members. When they stopped the comps, and tournaments there was no reason to visit their properties.
We now go to Mandalay Bay, The Hotel,The Venitian, and the Pallazzo. Comps aren't as great, but the rooms and service are spectacular.
We loved Harrah's before the sale. Now it is just another corporate slug, which has ruined a great company.
By Rocco

Dec. 2, 2009

1:36 p.m.

Suggest removal

Harrahs the worst...they dont care about patrons......
By KarinaP

Dec. 2, 2009

1:48 p.m.

Suggest removal

Is there anywhere now where you can actually find blackjack at 3:2 instead of 6:5? Honestly, someone tell me? I was there last weekend, and played a bit at Paris (where we stayed) and at Bally's and Luxor for lack of something better to do. But I know damn well that the payouts were low.

I agree though....once PH becomes a Harrah's property it's going to go downhill a bit. Even the Paris was looking a bit beat up, with dirty carpets, smashed base boards and stains in the rooms. The only real positive I can give is the staff that I encountered, who most of the time were really lovely. Otherwise it's just not that special a place since the Hilton chain sold it.

My hubs and I stayed at the Luxor last year and got an upgrade to a room in the West Tower, and really? I enjoyed that stay much more than my stay at the Paris.
By teambeam

Dec. 2, 2009

1:56 p.m.

Suggest removal

It goes back to one simple thing......competition. Period. Without it, there is no need to improve a product.
By lightfoot

Dec. 2, 2009

5:34 p.m.

Suggest removal

I played at Venetian/Palazzo just a few weeks ago and they still pay 3:2 on blackjack. And they are still fast with the drinks. There is absolutely nothing special about any of the Harrahs properties. Actually, if they were all Harrahs I'd never play in Vegas again.
By BorisR

Dec. 7, 2009

4:56 a.m.

Suggest removal

I was walking through PH the other day and noticed the noise from everywhere. Then I went to the poker room to find out that they rake 10 per cent , up to 5 dollars. Especially the low limit games are unbeatable under these conditions. Especially because they also take off promotional rake for high hands, plus the mandatory dealer toke.
The thing is that they are offering low limit games but the rake is not low. They want to make business, which is obvious, but you can't kill the players if you want to keep them as your customers. 4 dollar rake is the absolute maximum, if it's got to be 5 dollars, then you can only take it increments, based on 5 per cent structures.
If there's b-j with a 6:5 for b-j instead of 3:2, then this is a heavy hit although a b-j occurs only once every 21.5 hands or so. Still, it's something that' making it harder for the player.
Let's not forget that even with 3:2 on b-j the game is not that good for the players, and therefore, it's still a good game for the house. The problem is see is that the dealers depend on the tips as the house only pays minimum wage. hustling for tips is not tolerated in Vegas, but still, dealers depend on tips. You feel if if the dealer is not happy if he never gets a tip. But how can you tip if you never win? If they only pay 6:5 then winning is much harder. Maybe in the high limit sections where the millionaires play being a dealer is a good thing. If they get a 25 dollar tip once in a while, this can add up to a nice amount by the end of the shift. All the other dealers in the main pit are probably struggling these days.

I walked out of the PH and decided never ever to go there. Even MGM Grand is off because I will only play where I feel good. The MGM Grand Poker room is too noisy, it drives me crazy. And so is the PH Poker room. Fortunately there are so many other poker rooms and managers that understand what players want. The Venetian Poker room is beautiful but I think they should reduce the air deo percentage by a notch. If you play too long under this "drug" you may get high or get a headache. At least that's what happened to me.
From Switzerland