Perhaps there was a crystal ball—after all, anything seems possible in Las Vegas—but it was here in the late ’90s that resort casino operators began diversifying into non-gaming lures for their guests.
Food and beverage was the natural starting point, as Wolfgang Puck, with his own foresight and dare, sparked a celebrity wave in Vegas that went global and remains undiminished to this day. The experiment continues to prove positively prescient, as forces including runaway new casino licensure, changing customer habits and economic upheaval have steadily eroded the traditional casino base and made dependency on gambling revenue alone an increasingly losing bet.
Graduating from amenities to revenue and profit generators, the non-gaming product set now encompasses nightclubs, spas, retail, concerts, sporting events, golf and more.
Irresistible, too, has been the subsequent influence of the Millennial delegate, hungry for unique experiences, and as the driving force behind the new tech economy, with a well-funded taste for luxury. Now taking its message global, the Meetings Mean Business coalition is also creating impact, as it helps motivate the resurgence of business and group travel.
While other destinations were slower to transition than Las Vegas, all are now savvy to the non-gaming reality—including upping their game in the department of exclusive, VIP venues and programs. Meetings Focus took a coast-to-coast spin around the nation’s leading resort-casinos, and found that all bets are on for exceptionally memorable experiences.
Viva La Difference!
At the forefront of product innovation since launching as a small Reno, Nev., bingo parlor in October 1937, Caesars Entertainment is a major supporter of the Meetings Mean Business coalition. Based in Paradise, Nev., the company even rebranded to Caesars Means Business to show its commitment, which includes delivering singular lifestyle and entertainment products for groups.
Delegates with “time to let loose and be a little wild” have the ultimate pleasure palace at OMNIA nightclub at Caesars Palace. Opened in February 2015, the three-level, 75,000-square-foot venue took over the former Pure space to set a new standard in immersive and experiential Vegas nightlife.
Designed by the acclaimed Rockwell Group, OMNIA’s supersonic energy includes one of the city’s largest dance floors, complete with a gigantic LED chandelier that kinetically moves, pulsates and transforms with the beat. With a decadent decor of mirrors, brass, velvet, vinyl and leather, the club also offers private tables, a rooftop terrace overlooking the Strip with illuminated glass floor tiles that pulse to the music, and themed parties like IMAGINE, which transports revelers into theatrical, interactive fantasy.
Also at Caesars Palace, groups can have exclusive parties at its luxurious outdoor pool and accompanying terrace.
The party goes panoramic at Drai’s Beach Club and Nightclub, the rooftop oasis capping the 11th floor of the stylish Caesars-run Cromwell hotel. Created by nightlife impresario Victor Drai, the 65,000-square-foot venue redefines the corporate night out with VIP events at its exclusive after-hours club and multi-sensory entertainment that includes world-class DJs and “Drai’s Live” performances such as dance troupes, mermaids, aerialists and other acts.
Accommodating from 100 to 4,000 people for private events, Drai’s unique architecture and design, featuring palm trees, pools and intimate cabanas, allows groups of any size to fully experience the space while maintaining a feeling of exclusivity.
“Drai’s offers exactly what any hosting customer is looking for when entertaining existing and future customers,” says Rivka Noble, vice president of catering, entertainment and corporate sales for Drai’s Enterprises. “From unrivaled wide-open views of the Strip to branding opportunities on our massive, fully customizable LED screens, we offer an unparalleled experience.”
Other Caesars’ venues equipped for VIP takeover include the iconic pool at the Flamingo; individual pods on the High Roller observation wheel; Chateau Nightclub and its rooftop at Paris Las Vegas, along with the resort’s Eiffel Tower; the Michelin-starred Guy Savoy restaurant; and Vortex, the 20,000-square-foot outdoor space overlooking the Strip and LINQ promenade at the new LINQ hotel.
Caesars, which added non-gamers to its loyalty program in 2008 and was among the first resort-casinos to track non-gaming spend, is also distinguished by its customer service. When Caesars organized all 38 of its U.S. properties under one brand in 2011, it relocated its sales people to key locations such as New York, Chicago and Philadelphia to be to customers.
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“The ability of our sales team to represent all of our properties in the cities where our clients live sets Caesars Entertainment apart,” says Reina Herschdorfer, Caesars Entertainment’s director of marketing for national sales and conventions. “We pride ourselves in partnering with our clients and working with them from start to finish.”
Uniquely positioned in its own right is the other titan in town, MGM Resorts International.
“By its very origin and nature, MGM Resorts International is an entertainment company,” says Michael Dominguez, the company’s senior vice president and chief sales officer, and co-chair of the Meetings Mean Business Coalition.
“It’s in our DNA to entertain,” continues Dominguez, who also appears in this month’s South destination section speaking about his home town of San Antonio. “From the moment a guest enters one of our properties, everything we do is focused on creating energetic and entertaining interactions and engagements for them.”
Always investing in the future, such as the ground-breaking new 20,000-seat Las Vegas Arena, MGM offers unique environments such as the Seascape Ballroom. Located within the 1.3-million-gallon Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, this meeting space accommodates up to 125 guests for cocktail receptions, boasts mesmerizing views of the aquarium’s 30 sharks and other creatures through four large, floor-to-ceiling picture windows. Private tours are also available, showcasing exotic residents such as golden crocodiles and two rare male juvenile Komodo dragons.
Not to be outdone on the club scene, Hakkasan Las Vegas at MGM Grand is an 80,000-square-foot fantasy emporium combining two stories of Michelin-starred dining with three stories of dance floors, bars and private spaces. The world’s top DJs spin here, or groups can take charge in the four VIP Sky Booths on the mezzanine level, which overlook the action and feature their own customizable screens, coolers, sound control and mixology supplies.
The cool crowd can organize literally chilled-out private events at Minus5 Ice Bar. With locations at Mandalay Bay and MGM’s Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, everything from the walls and glasses is made of ice at this chain concept. Warmer options include live concerts at the Beach at Mandalay Bay, and interactive culinary programs at Bellagio’s Tuscany Kitchen.
In Las Vegas, over-the-top can also mean underwater. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the top-rated Le Rêve –The Dream show at Wynn Las Vegas is truly a spectacle to behold, with acrobatic performers performing jaw-dropping high dives, fire dances and other feats in a unique aquatic theater-in-the-round. Dazzling to watch from a seat, the experience reaches another dimension entirely with The Diver’s Dream Package, in which up to two guests (diving certification required) can experience the spectacle underwater with the show’s diving team in the 1.1 million gallon tank.
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Wynn also offers sensational nightlife experiences for groups at venues with names that need little explanation, including XS, Tryst, Surrender and Encore.
Back on Board
Last year, Atlantic City had an exceptional experience of the wrong kind, as five of its 12 casinos closed their doors. Yet, while slower to diversify than Las Vegas, America’s Playground had enough non-gaming investments in place to hold the fort. Along with fine dining, luxury spas, upscale retail and a dynamic nightlife scene, examples include The Quarter, the Havana-inspired entertainment, nightlife, dining, retail and spa complex at Tropicana Casino and Resort Atlantic City. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this December, the venture remains the city’s largest non-gaming expansion ever.
The seaside resort has also been making steady strides in the group market. With momentum building in areas such as major outdoor festivals and concerts, sporting events, conventions and corporate meetings, Atlantic City’s recovery got a major boost with last month’s long-anticipated opening of the $125 million Harrah’s Atlantic City Waterfront Conference Center.
Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Marina District, the venue has exceptional qualifications. Billed as the largest hotel conference complex from Baltimore to Boston, the Center offers 2,500 hotel rooms and 100,000 square feet of meeting space. High tech and versatile, it also comes with two 50,000 square-foot ballrooms with 200 different configurations, allowing for 60-plus rooms for meetings of all sizes.
As Michael Massari, senior vice president of Caesars Entertainment national meetings and events, stated earlier this year, the new venue “validates Atlantic City as a serious contender as a meetings destination for meeting planners across the country.”
The new conference center has already scored big, landing MPI’s 2016 World Education Congress and its anticipated 2,000 delegates, who will find Atlantic City well vested with exceptional surprises of the VIP kind.
Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City (www.caesars.com/harrahs-ac) itself offers exclusives such as lavish VIP parties at its Pool After Dark nightclub and private classes with top chefs at its Viking Cooking School. Off-property options, meanwhile, include personal helicopter tours along the Atlantic shoreline and private fishing excursions.
Ahead of its time in bringing Vegas-style excitement to Atlantic City, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa quickly illuminated new possibilities for the city when it opened in 2003. Along with its non-gaming sibling The Water Club (2008), the Borgata continues to fulfill that vision with dynamic lifestyle and entertainment options.
“With something for everyone under one roof, Borgata’s highly skilled team of professionals work closely with groups to create unique, specialized experiences at exclusive spaces across the property,” says Mark Vanderwielen, vice president of hospitality. “Options include 28 West, a restaurant dedicated solely to private events and allowing for a completely customizable restaurant takeover,” he says. “There is also the Water Club’s indoor pool, which can be transformed into a dance floor with a covering of clear lexan plastic, creating the impression of dancing on water.”
Boasting magnificent views of the marina district and Boardwalk, the pool space includes the Immersion Spa, which be can rented out for intimate cocktail parties and events. Borgata also has four signature stops on Atlantic City’s booming, Millennial-fueled club scene, including MIXX and mur.mur.
Doing the Fox Trot
Native American resort-casinos have also stayed strong with changing times. Along with its Connecticut counterpart Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods Resort Casino is among the segment’s largest and most successful operators, both on the gambling side and in developing all-encompassing entertainment and lifestyle appeal.
“Foxwoods Resort Casino has the distinct advantage in its ability and passion to offer incomparable guest service and world-class amenities to groups of all sizes,” says Jason Guyot, vice president of resort operations & development. “Foxwoods offers unmatched desire and resources to deliver one-of-a-kind, personalized experiences that cannot be duplicated,” Guyot continues. “Regardless of size and scope, Foxwoods can provide a unique effect to create positive lasting impressions on each and every member of any group, professional or social.”
Whether creating an intimate dinner for 16 in a 50,000-square-foot ballroom or using a profile sheet of guest favorites to make their room feel like home, Foxwoods also puts a high premium on going the extra mile. Offering everything from a Tanger Outlets to the summertime Foxwoods Liquid Sundays, the only outdoor Vegas-style pool party in the Northeast, the resort also sets the stage for memorable meetings with a variety of private spaces and unique environments.
Owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the 308,000-square-foot, multilevel Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center offers its expansive steel-and-glass Gathering Space for a wide range of events, with the cedar forest outside providing a scenic backdrop.
One of 34 restaurants at Foxwoods, Burke Prime Steakhouse offers private Sky Box dining for 12 guests, as well as private function space for up to 60, including tableside sommelier service with over 600 labels on offer. Larger groups, meanwhile, can take over High Rollers, a private function room accommodating up to 800 guests and featuring a full-service bar, billiard table and bowling lanes. Specialized programs include private mixology classes, live cooking demonstrations, sushi-making and DJs with tailored playlists.
Winning Hands
Switching coasts to Southern California, the Four-Diamond Pechanga Resort & Casino is another Native American-owned property with exceptionally well developed custom programming for groups. Located in scenic Temecula, it’s the largest resort-casino in the state, with 517 guest rooms and gaming galore.
“Everything we do at Pechanga Resort & Casino is about giving our guests an unparalleled experience,” says Grant Channing, vice president of hotel operations. “We seek out what’s beyond the expectations of our guests, to offer them truly unique experiences. We’ve worked hard to establish Four Diamond service standards on-site, and advantageous partnerships with key entertainment entities around Southern California. This allows Pechanga to continually raise the bar for our guests with electrifying encounters they can only get here.”
One goal, adds Channing, is that “guests go home, tell their co-workers, friends, family, and perhaps more importantly, social media, about the amazing time they had visiting Pechanga.” Clearly, the word is getting out—this summer, USA Today readers voted Pechanga the number-one resort casino in America.
Among the experiences praised by meeting attendees are Pechanga’s private poker tournaments and bingo games. Held in the award-winning, smoke-free Pechanga Poker Room, participants receive dedicated dealers, complimentary refreshes, and for poker novices, brief tutorials and refreshers. For bingo, groups are set up in an exclusive room inside Pechanga Bingo’s 700-seat facility, with the venue’s entire top floor available for rental based on availability. A full bar, appetizers and snacks, plus high stakes bingo for low buy-ins, make for exhilarating competition.
Elegant evening cocktail and dinner events are another Pechanga hallmark, with the resort staff taking pride in designing, catering and executing parties for 10 to 1,500 people based on themes such as the Roaring Twenties, 1950s sock hops, and masquerade balls.
Golfing groups can receive individual or team instruction from a top-rated PGA professional, and arrange company tournaments at Pechanga’s 18-hole, championship course. The luxury menu, meanwhile, includes specialized spa services and fine dining, with acclaimed San Diego chef Martín Venegas helming a star culinary team from around the globe. Groups of up to 25 can book the private dining room inside the Four Diamond, award-winning Great Oak Steakhouse, with customized menus from Venegas.
Taking advantage of its close proximity to Temecula wine country, Pechanga also arranges tasting excursions at any of the region’s 40-plus wineries. Groups can pair tastings with horseback or jeep tours, as well as tour the dozens of area craft breweries. Leveraging its long-standing partnerships with teams including the L.A. Lakers and Anaheim Angels and venues like the Forum, Pechanga can also set up seating blocks, pre-game visits and other customized excursions to sporting events and concerts.
Just outside downtown Scottsdale, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has created a unique set of entertainment and cultural offerings at the AAA Four Diamond, 496-room Talking Stick Resort.
Taking its name from the traditional O’odham (Pima) calendar stick, on which carvers recorded significant events and milestones throughout the year for the tribe, the destination’s diverse assets include more than 113,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space, with complimentary high-speed wireless access resort-wide (and no resort fees); a nearly 300,000-square-foot casino; Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the spring training home for Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies; two championship golf courses; and the new Butterfly Wonderland, a butterfly conservatory and indoor rainforest featuring one of the largest butterfly atriums in the country.
As Director of Sales Michael Maggart explains, groups are also drawn by the resort’s VIP-ready dining and lifestyle venues.
“Our clients love the fact that they can be here for multiple days, and have a different, unique experience every night,” Maggart says. “These include Orange Sky, our signature restaurant, and Degree 270 lounge, which transforms into an upscale nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights.”
One of six property restaurants, Orange Sky, is well named. Offering magnificent views of Camelback Mountain and the surrounding Sonoran Desert from its panoramic 15th-floor perch, outdoor deck included, the restaurant offers private dining for 10 to 50 guests, plus a Community Table for 24 to 70 guests. Acclaimed for its beef, seafood and award-winning wine list, the restaurant has floor-to-ceiling windows offering spectacular 360-degree views of the Valley’s signature orange sunsets.
Just below on the 14th-floor, Degree 270 offers equally magical views and its own private hospitality space, along with a spacious dance floor, live bands and Top 40 hits from local DJs, and VIP bottle service.
“For groups seeking a more subtle option, listening to live music while enjoying a cigar and martini in our casino-level Shadows Lounge is an excellent choice,” Maggart says.
Serving Southwestern-inspired cuisine, the resort’s new Blue Coyote Cantina restaurant also showcases more than 40 tequilas, which guests can use to create their own margaritas.
