Inside one of Rios newly renovated suites, Dreamscape founder Eric Birnbaum speaks about the newly renovate suites and future restaurants. Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Brian Ramos
Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023 | 2 a.m.
New York-based Dreamscape has launched its long-anticipated makeover of the Rio, beginning with the modernization of suites in the resort’s Ipanema Tower.
The Sun recently sat down with Eric Birnbaum, founder and CEO of Dreamscape — which purchased the Rio in 2019 and is slated to officially take over operations from Caesars Entertainment this fall — to learn more about the company’s plans for the prominent Las Vegas property.
What challenges or advantages has Dreamscape encountered since acquiring the Rio four years ago?
Well, I mean, COVID was a good one. COVID happened three months after we actually bought the asset. Thankfully, we structured our deal in such a way that we bought it and then entered into a lease with the seller, Caesars. So we had protection from them, in that they were paying us rent all throughout COVID, which was obviously a blessing and quite nice. Where we were to where we’ve come is pretty remarkable. So we’re very excited to get out there and show the world what Rio will ultimately become.
Can you give us a glimpse of your vision for the Rio and the renovations that you’re planning?
First and foremost, we’re trying to forget that one of the things that attracted us to this asset is that its bricks, as we call it — or the room sizes, the general structure of the building and just the real estate — is unbelievable real estate. I think over time it, unfortunately, was somewhat neglected. So I think spending 100% of our day and 100% of our time focused on how are we going to improve it is really where our focus is. We’re going to be repositioning much of the food and beverage, we’re going to be repositioning … the pool deck. The first phase is going to be repositioning the 1,500 suites in the Ipanema Tower … but one thing that we want to stress and let people know is that this asset is currently operating and existing and actually doing quite well. So we’re not shutting it down. And because we’re not shutting it down, we can’t snap our fingers and all of a sudden bring you a new Rio tomorrow. It is going to be a process, and a gradual process. And the first phase of that process, from beginning to end, it’s going to take approximately 18 months. Over time, you’re going to ultimately see a new and improved asset.
The Rio is something of a Las Vegas staple. How is Dreamscape seeking to preserve its history?
The Rio was built initially and owned by Tony Marnell. So we hired Marnell architects to come in and be our architect of record. So having them in the room and beside us — who better to be sitting there and pulling from the past to help invigorate our future? So that was very important to us. But, we had to ask ourselves, what is Rio 2.0? What is Rio for the future? And I think, and ideally and hopefully, what the customer will see is a product that took the best of what was in its history and also gives it a new taste of ours for the future.
Dreamscape recently announced Rio’s new leadership team, which includes many veterans of the Las Vegas market, and of the hospitality and leisure industry overall. What will that transition of power look like?
It’s happening as we speak. Taking over one of these assets is not for the faint of heart. So we have, I would argue, one of the best leadership teams and executive teams, alike, in the entire city. We have a great team and they are working very well with Caesars currently in that transition. In addition to that, we are partners with Hyatt, so there’s really a triumvirate going on right now. Managing that and orchestrating that is certainly a lot harder than it sounds, but that is what’s going on right now behind the scenes.
What are you expecting to bring people to Rio going forward, with everything that Dreamscape is doing here?
The way we think about it is that it’s actually the best of all worlds. We think it’s got a lot to offer for many different customers. When the Rio back in the day was at its peak, it actually appealed to … the transient customer and also the local customer. So our hope is that, if we do it right, that we’ll be doing the same thing. We think we’ll have a product that will certainly appeal to the local customer, given its proximity and its location. But in addition to that, we believe that given our room product, given our convention facility and given all the new food and beverage offerings that we’re going to be bringing to bear … and our relationships, obviously, like with Hyatt, we’re going to be able to attract the transient customer as well. And so we really think that we’re going to be able to, hopefully, check many of the boxes.
Amenities like the Rio’s Carnival World Buffet are a big part of Las Vegas history. Is there anything like that which will remain a priority for Dreamscape?
People do ask that all the time — what is going to happen with the buffet? I think, unfortunately, one of the byproducts of COVID is really just an industrywide and a public change in psychology toward buffets. So, unfortunately, I think we had to transition away from that. And we’re going to be doing a rather extensive and — we think — great food hall. We’ll hopefully become known for our great food hall as we were once known for our buffet. But there’s so many other great aspects of the Rio that it once was known for, whether it was (the) VooDoo lounge upstairs, Penn and Teller — all those sorts of things are going to be reinvigorated, reimagined and hopefully shined the light on.
Do you have anything to add?
We will be having unequivocally the most lucrative rewards program in the market. We’re going to be announcing Rio rewards. For those gamers out there, I think that that will be an important thing to note.
