31 March 2023
What happens in Vegas... gets written about here... (almost)
Second day back after a whirlwind tour of Las Vegas organised by Myles Doran in partnership with Propel (thanks to Jill Harrington) I’ve tried to summarise it below by breaking out the important bits that I took away. The caveat here is that the volume of visitors is simply huge (39m in 2022) which is matched by the budgets and operations. Many of these sites do upwards of $20m a year in revenue.
- In the US, Hospitality is a career. At all levels the team seemed to be passionate, knowledgeable and proud about their jobs (we met some incredible people at all levels). The unions are involved which adds a level of operational complexity especially when they have a mix of non-union and union. Some operators spread the tips across the whole of their operation (rather than just front of house) which means a kitchen hand might earn $34 per hour.
- Overall salaries are higher and tipping is a big part of the mix. See point one. I spoke to a handful of frontline team members who all expressed a passion for their role and shared the depth of knowledge of the sector and a career working around the world in different businesses.
- The production and presentation play a massive part in the overall proposition in the entertainment venues. Budgets are not skimped here, every aspect of delivery is thought through and implemented. This ensures that the prices can remain high (in the first nightclub the door charge was $100 and each round of 4 drinks $100+).
- Margins are high and space is at a premium, if concepts don’t produce the required yield they are replaced with new ones.
- Like most food trucks, the food courts have a menu of 4-6 items which they do very well. This was the only place we saw kiosks where you could enter your mobile number to then collect the food when ready. None though will deliver the food to your table.
- The property operators scour the globe for great concepts to either emulate or licence into their venues. It was good to see Seoul Bird and Eggslut (which had a massive queue) within the food courts.
- Loyalty and data are at the centre of each resort business. People love their points and will remain loyal and revisit to get the rewards. New entrants have massive budgets to try and win customers from competitive Resorts. Cue the entertainment angle for drawing new visitors (some of whom are not visiting to gamble).
- We are way (way) ahead in the payment space for contactless. Most places we visited printed out receipts for signature (potentially to do with tipping).
- You queue a lot.
- Most late night venues work on a minimum spend for a booking, especially if it's a group and the 'buyout' where corporates take over an entire space is high margin and therefore has a big team and focus to win opportunities.
- Las Vegas is getting less about the gambling and more about the experience.
My highlights
We did a lot... more than most people would do in a week... and this isn't all of it...
First night (we got off the plane at 10pm)
ZOUK Nightclub - Incredible light and sound set-up, introduction to minimum spend booths/areas. Minimum spend $3,000 for 6 people. My first round of drinks... 2 single spirits & mixers, 2 beers = $107 😬
Security have pen torches that they use for great effect to guide people around and accompany floor teams.
Omnia Nightclub - A real treat, Martin Garrix on the decks ($350k for the set). We were led very efficiently through the club (and some service areas) of 4,000 people to a VIP private balcony to watch the show by a team of 3 security. Honestly it was quite a thing. Armed with pencil torches again, they effectively controlled and blocked and created corridors for us through people.
Incredible production, lasers, sound, light and intensity. I was disappointed (but not surprised) that the crowd on the dancefloor was not dancing, simply just filming... kids eh?
The balcony that Myles had secured would usually be a minimum spend of $10k and possibly higher on a night like we attended.
Day One
Oliver Lovat gave us an hour on the history of Las Vegas from inception to date outlining the key milestones. It was an interesting lecture and outlined the creation of Las Vegas and importance of the resorts.
Famous Foods Street Eats - A very passionate delivery by Faud Roshan, Director of Restaurants at Resorts World Las Vegas around the individual concepts and a glimpse into the volumes involved.
Faud told the story of each of the brands in his food court. Many have been licensed from street food truck operators or small groups with great reputations.
Chris White, CEO of Brooklyn Bowl gave a guided tour of his massive complex that brings live music and bowling together and the challenges around getting people up to the first floor. This place has had some major artists over the years and is vast with bowling over two floors.
Tao Day Club - Day Clubs are as big as Night Clubs here and Tao at 5k capacity drives incredible revenue (when the sun shines). The pools aren't deep and there are jacuzzis around the sides. Waiting staff deliver drinks and cabanas and sunbeds can be rented out by the hour or day. There's a DJ playing music from the moment they open to when they close. These places bounce.
Superfrico is an entertainment restaurant and one of the trip highlights (for me). Professional entertainers juggle, strip, flip, cycle, slither and perform at 10 min intervals through dinner. A little risqué but not smutty, I thought it was quality and could imagine it working in the UK, potentially in family dining (without the strippers).
A Mermaid was wheeled out on the trolley and started some banter with the person doing the wheeling about being eaten. It was a couple of mins long and really witty but you had to engage with it to enjoy it. Some of the group found it all a bit weird and tacky.
Barbershop - Speakeasy with entrance through a working Barbershop into a big live music venue. A cover band playing on stage, big production again and a great atmosphere.
This place was really rocking. An older crowd and therefore less phones out!
Drai's Beachclub & Nightclub - Hosted by Tim Martino. Big stage show. Not my bag but the club was jumping and the production was excellent.
Day Two 😅
Proper Eats Food Hall - Executive Director Joseph Marcus guides us through his operation including taking us back of house to see the prep areas. A very detailed tour of his impressive operation and hyper detailed. Referred to by his team as Chef Joe he explained the operation as a 'repeatable reliable machine'.
I chatted to one of his team while we enjoyed the Pizzaoki who had worked with Chef Joe before and had nothing but praise for him explaining that she turned up at work and knew exactly what was expected every day.
AREA15 - WOW. Michael Casper takes us through this 9 figure entertainment complex. Tried my first VR Experience with Simon Potts, Sam Brown, Katy Moses CBII & Olga Pawelek which frankly blew my mind. This place is an interactive art installation mixed in with Entertainment and Bars with adaptable rooms for gigs and an outside massive tent for private events.
They own another 80 acres of land stretched out from the complex that's yet to be developed.
Kitty Kitty - Resorts World - A small speakeasy in the food court with cocktails provided by Pernod Ricard (thanks) and a chat with Chris Rossetti and other industry insiders.
Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace for dinner with an all-you-can-eat buffet at $75 a head. Crab legs, lobster, steak, sushi, Chinese, basically anything you want and as much as you want. There was so much choice and so much waste, our attentive waiters would clear your plate whether you'd finished or not if you even paused eating.
Delilah - Another mind blowing experience in the Wynn Resort. This place is beautiful. Incredible décor and production, cabaret dining, decadence, it was truly like stepping back into the 30s.
Notoriously hard to get a table at peak times, if I ever get back to Vegas I'll be coming here for dinner rather than just drinks!
Day Three 🙁
Peppermill Restaurant (opened in 1972) - An all American breakfast. Open at 7am, full by 7.15am. A cocktail waiter resplendent in her cocktail dress, tiara and velvet gloves upsells Mimosas and Bloody Marys. The dishes are large, we ordered too much...
BrewDog - Visited the new bar for a guided tour by the GM. An impressive 30k sq ft that will be brewing within the month. Impressive rooftop terrace and built for corporate events and adapting itself for the sports market which is frankly ginormous in the US.
Circa Hotels Stadium Swim and Sportsbook - Vegas native EJ Stagner gave us a tour of this ridiculous roof top swimming and bar concept with the biggest (and I mean the biggest) outdoor screen.
This hotel was completed and opened in 2020 just behind Fremont Street, the design is sensitive to the surroundings with more of a 70s vibe. The Mega Bar (below) really is Mega. Sit, drink, play and watch.
To finish off we headed to Fremont Street to see the original Las Vegas before the Strip took over. This is rawer and apparently a bit crazy at night, so one for next time.
In conclusion
Yes I would go back if I was passing through. However, I found a lot of it overwhelming, there's nowhere to escape the noise (I'm showing my age) (apart from your room), if you're out then you are in sensory overload everywhere you go. This is consumption on a massive scale. Watching people load plates at the Caesars Palace buffet and the plates of leftovers being discarded. The waste and the lack of any sustainability or environmental consciousness really makes you reflect. I’m sure that it's there somewhere but when I asked about reusable packaging, I was met with a shrug…
We are way ahead on the tech. Way way ahead. It seems to be down to the payment side of things and tipping. But in a lot of venues you hand over your credit card, they take it away to the PDQ, ring it up and then return with a signature receipt with a space for the tip. You write in the tip, add it all up and then sign it before returning it. It’s slow and laborious and seemingly added to the queues.
The resorts are sparkling, so clean and tidy, they are in use 24/7 365 and have an army of workers keeping them going, every one is a massive machine. But if you step outside, the infrastructure is tired, it's not a place for pedestrians, I think I saw 3 cyclists. There’s a big crystal meth issue and homeless villages are a stone's throw from these billion $ mega resorts. I guess it's much the same in London and other cities, poverty and addiction exists next door to wealth.
They are building more attractions, more resorts, more stadiums; we got taxis pretty much everywhere (as well as doing 25k steps each day). To counter this (but not solve), Elon Musk is building an underground network of tunnels (read here) that will connect up the city, the resorts though will need to build their own sub stations…
A big thanks to the hospitality operators in the city that made us very welcome and thanks to Myles Doran for organising the trip.