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Stratosphere marketing director Todd Ford stands in a renovated room at the Stratosphere Wednesday, January 12, 2011. The new rooms are part of a $20 million renovation at the Stratosphere.
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011 | 2:05 a.m.
Stratosphere renovation
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KSNV coverage of $20 million renovation of the Stratosphere, Jan. 13, 2011.
Stratosphere
Sun archives
- Stratosphere debuts world record-setting thrill ride (4-20-2010)
- Stratosphere’s new SkyJump: Fall 855 feet for $100 (1-8-2010)
- New thrill ride planned atop Stratosphere (12-17-2009)
- Stratosphere owner narrows loss as revenue falls (11-13-2009)
- It’s a new day at the Stratosphere (10-25-2008)
- The back story on a pair of leveraged buyouts (1-10-2008)
Straddling the Strip and downtown, the Stratosphere has long toed the line between an Old Vegas resort and a modern mid-level hotel. Its Top of the World restaurant with its pricey steaks speaks of a luxury resort, but its rides atop its tower say family fun on a budget.
Now, the Stratosphere is spending about $20 million on renovations and reimaging to better position itself among its posh neighbors to the south. The resort has updated its rooms and casino floor and has a new marketing campaign to match.
The Stratosphere also announced Wednesday that Paul Hobson of the property’s sister hotel, the Aquarius in Laughlin, will step into the role of general manager at the property.
With a small budget of $20 million, Hobson said, the first priority in the renovations was the hotel rooms. The Stratosphere has about 900 revamped rooms to offer guests, with more to come, he said.
“We wanted to definitely address a good portion of the hotel rooms, and then we wanted to put a new face on the entire casino and public areas,” Hobson said. “Then we wanted to relocate the entrance of the property to its proper spot. Those were the three main items we wanted to address.”
The Stratosphere’s renovation is most obvious in the remodeled rooms in its Premier Tower. The rooms, known as Stratosphere Select rooms, have been redone in a red, taupe and black color scheme for a more stylish look.
New linens and furnishings from local manufacturer Foliot Furniture have been brought in and jacuzzi tubs are standard in some of the Stratosphere Select rooms.
The Stratosphere Select rooms aren’t a big departure from the hotel’s remaining older rooms but are still an upgrade. The resort’s older rooms all have flat screen TVS but little color and almost no artwork on the whitewashed walls.
The rooms will be priced about $15 more than the standard rooms on weekdays and $20 on weekends.
The Stratosphere is getting the word out about its new rooms with new marketing campaign and slogan — “New up, down and all around.”
Las Vegas residents may have seen the property’s new billboards, and Hobson said the Stratosphere’s new commercial aired during the BCS Championship game in the Southern California market on Monday.
The Stratosphere renovations are first evident from Las Vegas Boulevard. The front entrance of the property that once only accommodated walk-in traffic has been turned into a valet area. New landscaping has been added and new signs are coming soon.
Just inside, the resort has a revamped welcome area with marble flooring and a seating area with modern white couches for guests to wait for cabs or airport shuttles. A new VIP gaming lounge is just a few step further where the Stratosphere high-limit players can check into the resort in private.
The casino floor has been covered with new carpeting and there have been some slot machine upgrades. Keeping with the trend of popular Strip casinos, the Stratosphere has added a “party pit” of table games with scantily clad dealers.
Some of the Stratosphere’s food and beverage venues have also received a facelift, and a few new options have been added.
What was known as the Courtyard Buffet at the Stratosphere has been rebranded as Plate. Murals of brightly colored hot air balloons have been replaced with artsy food photos, and the buffet has been given a new green, brown and beige color palate.
Most of the stations remain the same in the buffet, but the hotel plans to add some live-action cooking stations and a grill for cooked-to-order steaks and chops with an upgraded buffet ticket.
Some indoor patio seating has been added at Roxy’s Diner where diners can watch 1950s movies such as “Beach Blanket Bingo” and Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock.” The menu has also been revamped with breakfast items to make Roxy’s Diner a 24-hour restaurant.
On the 108th floor of the Stratosphere tower, a lounge and sports bar called Air Bar has been added. The hotel boasts it’s the highest bar in Las Vegas.
Other subtle changes dot the resort. The hotel’s ticketing counter has been moved to the casino level, the showroom entrance has been redone and the resort is slowly replacing its brass fixtures with brushed nickel.
“I think it’s just going to be a continuous process for us. There are certain other areas that we’d certainly like to get into, eventually,” Hobson said. “We’ll sort take it as it comes.”
It is virtually impossible to be anywhere in Las Vegas and miss the Stratosphere. It towers 1,149 feet above Las Vegas and is the tallest observation tower in the United States. The casino itself is 55,784 square feet and contains 950 slot machines, 120 game tables and 2,427 hotel rooms.
Of the hotel's 2,427 rooms, 909 were recently remodeled into Stratosphere Select rooms.
The Stratosphere is mostly known for its rides at the top of the tower. The Big Shot, located at the 113th floor, torpedoes riders up 160 feet using compressed air. X-Scream is a teeter-totter perched at the top of the observation deck — if that wasn't scary enough, the coaster arm flings the riders out 27 feet over the edge of the tower. Guests looking for something more sedate can just hang around the 107th floor and simply look at the scenery.
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good job. bring back a nice poker room and work on your food quality, so the people will appreciate it.
From Switerland
The articls states: "Posh neighbors to the South".
Must mean Circus-Circus?
The Stratosphere's biggest problem was low capacity of it's elevator system. During higher volume times like check-out, the cars are full, yet stop at each floor where people are waiting to get on.
Car after car stops, completely full with no way to get on. My brother finally had to take the stairs down to check out. I hope they added more cars, otherwise the new paint and decor won't do them much good.
Roxy's is a fabulous place to eat, and it is great to hear of these updated looks and services at the iconic Stratosphere. Not only do the rides take your breath away, but the 360 degree view of Las Vegas and surrounding areas, keep you in a state of awe or "ahhhhh."
Nice work on the construction estimating, keeping the costs reasonable so the prices stay reasonable! Big fan of that too!
It is a waste of money to update some rooms, and not all of the rooms. The average person does not want to pay for an update, and will be unhappy when checking in to what appears to be a sleazy room.
If you are going to do it, do it right.
They have to clean up the neighborhood around it first, it looks kind of dicey if your a tourist.
North Strip needs to be revitalized. More action behind Caesar's on Flamingo than by Stratosphere/Sahara/Circus Circus. Hopefully rooms will all get renovated, but it seems a ploy for extra revenue in the long run for those wanting the upgrades. Even Caesar's has run down rooms for a lot of dough.
I don't get some of the changes these hotels are making by putting go-go dancers up on the tables while you dance...the Hilton does it and its a total turn off. Baron must be rolling over in his grave...And others do it..what does it bring? nothing..just cheapens the place I thing...so I dont gamble at the Hilton or other places that think thats a "great thing" for their customers.
Glad so hear they are spending the 20 million to do what they can at this time.
When times are tough and you only have so much to spend you do what you can. There are folks out there that will be happy to spend a bit more for the new rooms then in time they can redo all of them.
Nice to see someone knows to stay within a budget and not get into more debt then they can handle right now. Good business manager.
Any upgrades are good right now.
This is good news for the Strat and sounds simliar to what the Plaza Hotel are doing further north. Any construction work happening in Las Vegas now is a good thing in my book!
The upgrades look terrific. The outside always looked better than CityCenter.
Boris is a European perspective Vegas expert, comp him a room for a week and get his feedback, Strat.
Personally, I need a TV as big as the one I have at home. Also, how about a bidet?
about time. the strat has been a pit for far too long.
"Personally, I need a TV as big as the one I have at home. Also, how about a bidet?"
mr.red--Wow, almost an intelligent comment but you went back to your moronic form with the last paragraph. Keep trying, buddy....
mred, thanks for your compliments. I am flattered. Actually I stayed once at the Strat but wasn't so excited about it. They gave me a room with a view of some garage part of whatever, in fact, I had no view at all. Plus, it was everything from inexpensive. It was after the good old days when it was called the Vegas Club and the only good promotion they had going that was the 5% cashback , up to 100 dollars, first half hour of play. this promo really pulled my attention :) The buffet and the poker room where nothing special. So I went to play elsewhere. The hookers inside of the casino were sexy, but a little bit over-charged. I can't pay 300 dollars for 25 minutes of quick "entertainment" in my room....if ya know what I mean :(
From Switzerland
Sorry, I correct myself... I stayed there after Bob Stupak cold it and it was no longer called Vegas World.....not Vegas Club, of course. I got lost in the shuffle for once, apologize my mistake.
Greetings from Switzerland
Is that fellow really short or do they have 12' ceilings?
Its a tough location but I think they can do well if the market the property correctly. I'm definitely going to check out the changes to the casino and will recommend those new rooms to friends looking for a nice affordable place to stay. Its very convenient since i live about a mile away.
They need to connect the monorail system to downtown and the airport.
Otherwise, it's one HELL of a Location - lots of potential. How about putting some aquariums on the first floor?
BE NOVEL!! Lets have some displays about how the Stratosphere is preparing for Climate Change, regardless of who's fault it is, because it is coming.
Climate Change envisioned and prepared for at Stratosphere!!
You'll be the Scripps Institute of Nevada!
Hey Dude, you've got a winner!!!! Let's move.
$20,000,000 is a buncha money to a mobile home park for renovations.
But for a casino the size of Strat?
...Hardly worth mentioning, least of all news-worthy.
A bidet! LOL! No, mred...thats not a place for a free drink.
where did the good funbooks go? the 2-for-1 dinner and free breakfast coupon, and the 25 dollar match play and the 125 coin bonus for 4-of-a-kind?
Once they bring back these great values, the people will return....
From Switzerland
Although I viewed this column on yesterday, I didn't have a chance to make a comment. It is possible that my comment will not be read (old news) but I can't pass up the opportunity to offer my "nickels worth" in regards to one of my favorite topics; the renovation/remodeling/refurbishing of the North Strip.
I wholeheartedly agree with 'JVegas1' and 'Motowner4Vegas'... it is a good thing, a VERY GOOD thing that Stratosphere is renovating. I'm sure this will help draw vacationers to this location. And it will draw customers to the area as more North Strip hotel/casinos remodel, regardless of how small the beginning cost. I wish that other North Strip hotels had thought about this prior to implosion (that's all water under the bridge now). But it is not too late to save the existing 'old' North Strip properties.
On my last visit to Vegas (Nov. of last year), I was pleasantly surprised with the changes at The Tropicana. No, the Trop is not located on the North Strip, but it is a very good example of renovation. I liked the Trop enough to visit it three times during my six day vacation, including a dinner at the second floor Italian restaurant (I can't recall the name).
THREE CHEERS for the Stratosphere. Here's hoping others will follow suit. I can't wait for my next Vegas vacation!
I stayed there in November, whilst I enjoyed it, the distance to the rest of the strip is an issue. The Sportsbook was filled with unsavoury people, who seemed to get into arguments with each other in the NFL game, too. Also, got subject to some timeshare hard sell.
The top of the tower is simply beautiful though. I love visiting Vegas from UK!
It's sad that they can't come up with a Plan B for the Echelon site. Obviously the construction has been proceeded too much to cut it off and build something different. For Strip enthusiasts walking by this "war zone" all the way down to Sahara and Stratosphere it's not really fun anymore. It used to be fun. This construction site on halt cut the Strip basically in 2 pieces and that's a big disadvantage for these 2 properties. Even Circus-Circus is suffering because of the dust and the poor location. The Stratosphere Tower is still a great place visiting if they offer great room rates and there's always something going on.
From Switzerland