Kerkorian's current bid to take over the super-luxury brands of MGM - the Bellagio and City Center - makes me wonder what he really has in mind. Kerkorian is currently the majority stake investor of MGM Mirage, which owns many of the properties in Las Vegas. However, there are only a few ultra-lux properties in Vegas itself that aren't theme park merry-go-rounds. You have Mandalay Bay, the Wynn, the Bellagio, and Venetian. Many people argue which is better, the Bellagio or the Venetian (some would say the Wynn, but most say Bellagio). I personally like both, but that's just me. But I find Kerkorian's bid to take just the Bellagio and City Center interesting.
From a pure brand perspective, there is more money to be made from ultra-luxury than the standard run of the mill Vegas luxury. It sounds to me as if he wants to take the brands and add even more panache to them to attract even higher levels of money interest. Dubai has introduced the world to ultra-luxury with hotels that have a general room rack rate of $5K per night (at that price, can I even say room rack?). However, Las Vegas introduced the concept of ultra-luxury and financial extremes long ago and it should be in it's crowning glory as having some of the finest casinos in the world. Sure, that is a subjective statement, and maybe glamor is a better word to use. Las Vegas and the golden age of Hollywood defined what glamor is in North America. Paris has glamor (as does London and other European cities), but Las Vegas has something extra. Or it could. There was a phase of Vegas development where the adult theme parks reigned. Now Vegas seems to be going back to its roots of high profile, general glamor.
But how do you stay glam in a world of $5K hotels in Dubai?
It sounds to me like Kerkorian may be looking to bring it back and make Vegas the glam capital again.
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