Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleTropicana ‘changing everything’ in favor of new South Beach vibe
As part of $165 million facelift, casino losing parts of its history
A view of the gaming pit on the casino floor at the Tropicana. The property is going through its first major renovation in nearly 25 years.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
Tropicana Gets a Makeover
Viewing video requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player
del.icio.usThe Tropicana Resort and Casino is getting its first major renovation in 25 years, and 500 of the 1,700 new rooms are already open. Come along on a tour of the new 3,000-square-foot suites, redesigned restaurants, and four-acre tropical pool area - where Nikki Beach will have its Beach Club, nightclub and restaurant next year.
Alex Yemenidjian
Sun Coverage
Sun archives
- Nikki Beach arrives in Vegas: A first peek (5-12-2010)
- Tropicana reports loss, cites Las Vegas ‘room inventory imbalance’ (5-9-2010)
- Tropicana Las Vegas names vice president of sales (3-24-2010)
- Debt-free, Tropicana sees light after bankruptcy (1-25-2010)
- Second Planet Hollywood executive joins Tropicana (12-10-2009)
- Former Fontainebleau executive joins Tropicana (11-5-2009)
- Tropicana opens restaurants tied to $125M renovation (9-16-2009)
If the halls of the Tropicana could tell their stories, they’d have a rich history to share as one of the few Las Vegas hotels still standing more than 50 years after its opening.
They’d tell tales of Tropicana's mobster owners and performers such as Sammy Davis Jr. But history doesn’t sell rooms in a city that more often implodes its landmarks to make room for something bigger and better.
The Tropicana’s new management team is scrubbing much of the property’s history — such as the Tiffany-style, stained glass ceiling above the casino floor — to make room for a trendy South Beach theme as part of a $165 million facelift. The stained glass has been a fixture at the vintage Strip property since the late 1970s, but like the Folies Bergere showgirls and headliners such as Wayne Newton, it isn’t hip enough to hang with new Vegas. Time to bring in Tropicana version 2.0.
The hotel, which hasn’t been redone since 1985, will get a head-to-toe makeover, with everything from the rooms, pool, casino floor and restaurants getting some sort of update.
The property emerged from bankruptcy in July 2009 as a stand-alone company under the leadership of former MGM Mirage executive Alex Yemenidjian. Renovations were announced soon after, and a new executive team was brought in to help revive the property, including former Planet Hollywood President Tom McCartney as the resort’s new president.
When Tropicana’s new management team took over last summer, they knew they wanted to keep the tropical décor but wanted more focus, Arik Knowles, vice president of hotel operations, said.
“With the Tropicana in the past, there were a lot of different elements of tropical introduced into the property over the years.” Knowles said. “It was bit of a mishmash.”
Though the first phase of the renovation won’t be done until the end of the year, hints of the changes are evident as soon you walk in the front entrance. Bright white marble tiles line the floor and run alongside the stained glass ceiling in the new casino pit.
The changes are most obvious in the recently revamped Paradise Tower rooms and suites.
The rooms have been updated to match the South Beach-feel the property is going for with rattan and bamboo furniture, plantation shutters and an orange-and-tan color palate. They also feature new mattresses and name-brand 42-inch plasma TVs, which the property is advertising on its new signage.
The rooms aren’t ultra-luxurious, but they aren’t trying to compete with Las Vegas’ luxury properties. Tropicana is branding its new rooms as “best in class” — a step above a property such as the Excalibur and more on par with Luxor or Treasure Island, Knowles said.
“Ultimately our goal is to become a (AAA) Four Diamond hotel,” Knowles said.
Tropicana’s themed suites, such as its Moroccan and Japanese suites, have also been remodeled to reflect the rest of the Paradise Tower’s updated rooms. But some of old Vegas remains: the Jacuzzis in the living rooms of many of the suites are staying put.
The Paradise Tower was chosen to lead the room renovations because of its proximity to the casino floor, Knowles said. The Island Tower will follow in fall 2010.
Most of the Garden Rooms, which date back to Tropicana’s 1957 opening, will be demolished, but the remaining rooms will also open in the fall.
The restaurants have also received a facelift. Tropicana remodeled and rebranded its coffee and sandwich shop, updated its Legends Steakhouse and added an Italian restaurant called Bacio.
The property just finished resurfacing and refurnishing its four-acre pool deck and recently announced the coming of Nikki Beach, which operates pool parties in places such as Miami and St. Tropez.
Tropicana brought in comedian Paul Rodriguez for stint through June, and Knowles said more entertainment options will be announced later this year.
Knowles said the second round of renovations will include a sports book with an entrance from Las Vegas Boulevard, a nightclub, spa, more restaurants and the completion of upgrades on the casino floor.
Management’s next task is getting the word out about the new Tropicana, a brand has been plagued with service and room cleanliness issues during recent years. That’s why Tropicana has launched a new ad campaign to get across exactly what executives want customers to know — “Tropicana: We’re changing everything.”
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- UNLV can move forward without the burden of losing streak to San Diego State
- A wife’s wisdom shows birth control issue needn’t be divisive
- Motorcycle accident claims life of man in northeast valley
- Surprise links, negotiated deals addressed by commissioners
- Hope and change and … what’s missing?
- We don’t need a CEO in charge
- New York mayor has the right idea
- Paying our own way
- Country has ‘given’ citizens a lot
- Jerry Tarkanian: Mike Moser impresses yet again on a day to remember former Rebel greats
Blogs
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (4 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Yep, double down on Yemenidjian to be successful.
Go Trop, however I am sure the gambling will be just as bad as everywhere else. 6/5 BJ and super tight slots. If they want to really drum up some business the casino table odds and slots are the place to start..
The Tropi-caca went downhill right after Franco Deliz left. It's a classic and I hope it hangs on.
They updated the steakhouse? Does this mean I won't get instant mashed potatoes with the Prime Rib anymore?
Wow, those rooms and suites look great!
Another ego driven property that will be unable to make payments to investors within a years time. Yemenidjian has never worked in a casino in his life and has no clue what the casino gamblers desire. Another property that will be misguided into bankruptcy.
If I may make an observation.
Since you are going Southbeach, bring back the tropical bird act. Those bird tricks were amazing. But before that, get rid of that nasty smell that was in the walkway to the hotel tower. Yikes!
I think this is great news for the Tropicana.
Management's goal to make the hotel "best in class" is a great concept. It calls to mind the old-fashioned American work ethic to contunually give better value to its clients. To paraphrase an old Star Trek Borg line, "success is inevitable".
Good for the Trop! I am so glad there going to turn this building around. best pool deck in town.
its too bad there taking out that ceiling though.
it is a tiffanny ceiling - worth a million dollars when it was originally installed.
sucks to see that part go.
What a surprise envirn thinks they should get rid of 6/5 bj before making the placing appealing to people...that makes a lot of sense!!! Yeah that is a better idea lol
Dear Trop,
Your new rooms look really nice. As does the white tile and the redone pool.
But please do not get rid of the Tiffany ceiling. Your new carpet is ugly. Get rid of that instead.
Oh, and don't ruin your pool with Nicki Beech douchebags.
Just leave the mirrors on the ceiling in the rooms. And leave the balconies alone nice
to step out and look around.
It comes as NO surprise that navedd doesn't understand the subject being discussed here!
navadd says,
"before making the placing appealing to people...that makes a lot of sense!!!".... Does it make as much sense as your command of the English language? Ridiculous?
The tropi-caca....I love it. The place has a Frankenstein type of feel to it with so many renovations, changes, theme inhancements, different wings, etc.... It's difficult to bronze a turd.
Charger do you really go through blogs to find spelling errors and gramatic misstakes. Get a life and say something with substance. Oh yeah, you don't have anything relevant to say. Then, just don't talk!!!
Nikki Beach at the Trop? They tried it at Resorts AC and was a flop! Same type of property/audience if you ask me. Everything else looks fresh and clean though. I hope they do well.
How ironic is it that charger misspelled "enhancements" in a post about grammatical errors?
thank you sandy...i didn't proof read the post! seriously though this is a blog not a legal document people should bring up arguements not spelling errrrrrors lol
Well I have to say that I ended up going to what was ( in my mind ) that old dump.. the trop. I walked in, and not only was I surprised... I was Amazed ! I am here to say this place has to be one of the best of the best ! I really hope that that this is the NEW beginging of what will be a LONG list of what is know as the wave of the strip ! giving a face lift to tho old properties is NOW where it is .. I really dont think we need MULTI MILLION DOLLAR new peojects .. Make over the old !
THIS IS MUST SEE,... It will win your heart over and make you proud to say " his art of the OLDer Las Vegas ....... You got it right TROP !
Navedd, it's difficult to engage in a debate with someone typing incomprehensible English--if you don't know what's being said in the first place, it's not easy to form a response to it.
Congratulations to the folks at the Tropicana for having the vision and guts to move forward.
I personally miss the old fountain that stood at the corner of Trop and LV Blvd, but that's just nostalgia, and the future is always tomorrow. The only thing I question is the decision to demolish the original 2-story wing; this type of room wing has become very trendy in recent years (see: Valley Ho). Rather than demolish them, some could actually be successfully renovated into hip poolside suites.
In any case, change is good.
Cool. I like hanging out at the Tropicana when I am at that part of the strip. Beers come fast and I like some of the slots there.
Great news for the numerous unemployed construction workers in Vegas!
Looks like a positive step in the right direction. The target demographic isn't Wynn and Bellagio - so the improvements appear appropriate. The place used to smell SO bad of cigarettes. I hope they have cleaned that up. It's sad to see a old place move the nostalgia out, but it was that or close shop, right?
May I ask the above (contact) author why she did not ask the question, "why does the Tropical not have a buffet"?
If I were in charge for a day, which will never happen, including at my home, I would build a poolside buffet ala Mandalay Bay's Bayside Buffet, which IMO is fab.
The (contact) person wrote a very good piece and may want to laterally transfer to sales and I hope will be compensated accordingly.
I ate at the previous Tropicana buffet, I don't know if that's a chance I would take again.
Also,
I am an excellent Monday morning quarterback to be sure.
After I read the papers and watch TV and conclude that the Las Vegas Fontainbleau Hotel (as in Miami Beach) stuttered and failed, why will "Miami's South Beach vibe" be lightning in a bottle at the Trop?
Maybe if they didn't wait 25 years to re-do the place,they wouldn't be in such a mess.
navedd,
I wouldn't know how to make an "arguement" with you. Do you really just go through blogs to find something environ has written just to respond with something a halfwit would find feckless?
I left "inhancements" there for you as bait. Reading your subsequent postings however, I'm sure you wouldn't have caught that without astroglides help. "misstakes", "rediculous" ???
The second sentence in my original post is more of an argument or original thought than anything you have posted for an entire month.
The Trop is a turd no matter how you retile it!!
How's dat
Charger,
Commenting on spelling is pathetic. You might want to work on enhancing yourself as a person. At least envirn makes an argument, that is more than I can say for you. Your second run-on sentence isn't an arugment. It's a display of your lack of vision. The tropicana has so many things going for it. There is plenty of ways to refurbish the establishment to make it appealing to tourists again. You haven't posted one comment worth reading since you started. Please stop filling up these blogs with your pointless rhetoric.
You guys are crazy! Like school children bickering over nonesense. Keep going - it's great entertainment.
This is a great improvment to the Tropicana. This is a good time for all hotels to remodel.
Best of luck Tropicana
You are one of the last icons of Las Vegas.
Mr Alex Yemenidjian when you look at your face in the mirror don't forget to have a thought for the thousand laid off long time workers and executive from the Tropicana; after promising in 2009 to the Gaming Board that you will not engage in any "massive laid off".You lie to get your license.
Restaurants with outdoor seating overlooking the Strip would be a nice addition since they have an extensive frontage on their property. We'll see how this one goes. The classy Tiffany ceiling on this hotel adds a nice touch but too bad they are going to take it down.
Hello, Riviera...have you met my made over sister Tropicana?
i wont miss that smell.
I hate to say it, but right across the street is a 8.5 billion dollar casino. I bet Tropicana does more business than Aria in 6 months. Something people can afford. The big casino's can't keep room rates cheap for ever or go bust.
I've noticed that most people aren't really gambling anymore. They come here for the cheap rooms and do a lot of window shopping, but aren't spending any money. I've worked on the strip 8 years and I can tell you first hand the only thing that will save these big gaming Corp. is if they make it in Macau to pay their over head here in Vegas.
The tourist segmentation has been completely screwed up in this city. Over expansion doesn't account for all the problems. It's too many high end properties competing for the same guests. You have Bellagio, Aria, Pallazo, Venetian, Wynn, Encore, Caesars, and Mandalay going after the same high end visitor. This brings all their room rates down, which makes it more affordable for the people who would have visited TI, Mirage, NYNY, Luxor, MGM Grand, Rio, Monte Carlo etc..to step up to the higher property.
However this isn't the guest the top end hotels envisioned...so they gamble less, eat less expensive food...and everyone suffers. This carries right down to the lowest end of the hotels...Riviera, CC, Trop, Excalibur, Sahara, etc....Those guests moved up to the middle tier. Every quarterly statment comments about the over supply of rooms. So hopefully somebody completes the blue behemoth down by CC.
The glut of high end hotels screwed up the supply and demand balance big time. Until a few places close down to balance things out nobody will do well, except the tourists.
I have four nights comped at the Pallazo in June....originally was comped at Paris.....hmmmm..which place should I pick...
Wow charger your logic is amazing. Are you sure that vegas isn't suffering more from the depression facing the entire world? Maybe that has something to do with tourism being down. Vegas was just fine in 2008. The only addition since then is CC.
Justsayin has it right--a poolside buffet at the Trop would be great.
I want the TROP to be successful, but people who have spent time in South Beach will be disappointed I'm afraid. It's a positive step though.
Justsayin... buffets are the least profitable dining outlet in a Casino... at best they can hope to breakeven... The artificially low price, means that the food costs are often 50% the revenue. Add in the unionized labor and the expense typically exceeds the revenue. Casinos often operate them as a loss leader to bring in customers but are finding that the value conscious buffet customer is typically not a big enough gamer to offset the loss.
I was just there earlier this month. we stayed there years ago and decided to go back just to the casino and see what has changed. it looks better but it is seriously SO BRIGHT in there it was almost uncomfortable..they need to dim the lights in there....
Maybe some day soon the people in this town will consider creating it's own vibe. Enough with the fake garbage all over. I want South Beach I go to South Beach. Part of this helps to make Las Vegas a laughing stock, start a Vegas Vibe all your own.
Gambling makes money, windowshopping does not. You can set up the most fancy resort in the world with all shopping and dining amenities and the best variety of slotmachines and hundreds of gaming tables. What good is it if nobody comes to gamble?
Aria casino must be facing tough times. The few tourists being trapped in there probably can't make up for the debt load the MGM corporation is dragging around.
From Switzerland