Red Rock Resort Opens Tomorrow
April 17, 2006 | 7:41
am
The big story in Las Vegas this week is the opening of Red Rock Resort tomorrow. The nearly billion dollar property is the grandest and most expansive effort yet by the Stations Casino chain. Starting as a family owned tiny place called Bingo Palace, in very little time, Stations Casinos has become a New York Stock Exchange company with 16 casinos to operate.
Until recently, Station casinos were primarily known as places for locals to hang out. That changed with the opening of Green Valley Ranch (full disclosure: the parent company of the media group I work for is a non-managing partner in GVR; that fact does not get me any discounts there) in 2001. Located at some remove from the tourist corridor, Green Valley Ranch still offered the luxury and quality associated with a Strip resort including a hot nightclub, a spa, lots of celebrity sightings and, of course, a reality show ("American Casino"). GVR managed to keep its appeal to locals while still presenting a high end resort experience for out-of-towners who wanted privacy and luxury off the Strip. (One of the first celebrities to take advantage of Green Valley Ranch was Michael Jackson who hid out there in the wild days surrounding the initial filing of criminal charges against him before flying back to LA.)
In many ways, this was an entirely new market, as Green Valley Ranch really is out in the suburbs, territory that before 2001 was assumed to be of interest only to locals. Green Valley Ranch has clearly proven that tourists are now ready to accept a Las Vegas experience that takes place in settings other than the immediate vicinity of the Strip.
Located to emphasize some spectacular views of nature rather than neon, Red Rock Resort will also be hoping to expand the geographic meaning of a Vegas vacation for tourists while still being a convenient place for locals to enjoy.
Unlike the Strip resorts which are overwhelmingly union properties (the major exception being the Venetian) Stations has gone from a small company to a huge one without the employees unionizing. And, the result has been a certain tension between the powerful company and the equally powerful Locals. For guests this matters most in the area of customer service. I would say that the Las Vegas Strip offers customer service that is as good or better than anywhere else in the nation. And, certainly, a large part of the credit for that great customer service goes to the union employees who leave work and go home to become Station customers.
(In my personal politics, I arrived in Las Vegas as a lifetime loather of unions whose worst suspicions were realized when I had brief, negative dealings with a union in graduate school--- while trying to land a part time job filing. Las Vegas has taught me that the other side of the coin is that here unions deliver a fantastically trained and motivated work force who are able to earn a decent living for jobs that are minimum wage elsewhere. The truth is that academics should be here figuring out how unions and resorts in Las Vegas manage such a balance; they seem to have a thriving relationship that is very unique; it clearly leaves the casino companies flexible enough to succeed and innovate while the union employees feel proud, protected and well compensated. Is there anyplace else this is true? Of course, there has yet to be a serious strike during the time I've lived here. )
On Friday evening this was all on my mind as photographer Sarah Gerke and I headed to Sunset Station (the casino as close to my home as GVR is to my office) to enjoy their recently remodeled buffet: The Feast. The first stop was the gift shop to buy a newspaper. Two women were working there. One was doing paperwork behind a counter and the other was engaged in a wandering conversation about costume jewelry with a third casino employee who seemed off duty. After a long wait, the woman doing the paperwork finally deigned to take my $5 before---dang--- getting caught up in the obviously fascinating jewelry conversation, too. Distracted, she set my money by the register and I awaited my change wondering how much of my time $4 was worth.
After escaping the gift shop, the cashier at The Feast charged us for three people instead of two. That mistake meant repaying and working through a void transaction with her. By the time we reached our seats I was fully prepared for my Diet Pepsi request to arrive in the form of iced tea and Sarah's skim milk to come out as whole. But I will say this, the food has been significantly upgraded. In fact, though still substantially cheaper than the buffet at Green Valley Ranch, the Feast at Sunset Station is now just as good.
Interestingly the unions are not the only factor going on here. Green Valley Ranch, for example, always has Strip quality customer service. Both are run by Stations. Of course, the prices at Green Valley Ranch reflect the higher quality experience. Based on its cost to build and marketing, Red Rock Resort is certainly shooting for customer service at the highest levels. It will be interesting to see if, as Stations continues to grow, they will be able to keep finding workers to provide it without looking to the unions.
Photo from Business Wire
Interesting points - but note that Station Casinos was the first (and only) casino to appear on Fortune magazine's list of the best companies to work for in America. They have unbelievable perks for their employees, far better than what the unions provide through their contracts, including 24-hour day care where employees can drop off their kids during their shift. That you had a bad service experience is surprising, given that the best companies to work for usually deliver great service, as well.
Posted by: Carlos | April 18, 2006 at 09:48 PM
At least you weren't mildly insulted then sexually harrassed @ the gift shop @ Sunset Station hahaha... I go to cash my checks @ Sunset and I receiced a 'free t-shirt' as my prize for caching my check. All t-shirts must be picked up from the gift shop. I went in there and asked for a medium sized shirt. The old lady said "You sure you don't want extra large?"... Almost insinuating I was fat when, in reality, I'm short and pretty fit. I said "No, I want medium". She said "Well, we only have large and extra large."... I replied, "Well then give me the closest thing to medium, which would be large.".... She said "Yeah, 'czuase you want your shirts to be tight huh?". I replied naturally with "Yeah". She then said "'Cause you want it to fit tightly over your sexy body". I just gave her a amused yet annoyed laugh, grabbed the shirt and left.
P.S. That buffet at Sunset sucks. It is the closest buffet to where I live. I waited months and months for them to remodel it, thinking that when it did open it would be BETTER than GVR... But, in realit, it was worse than before! It was slightly smaller. What a jip!
Posted by: Makell | April 22, 2006 at 12:51 PM
Your union comments are interesting. Just go to Tripadvisor.com and read the reviews about the indifferent, rude union employees. Talk about union salting. Come to think of it, I don't believe I have ever seen a picture of a "happy" union worker in a newspaper. Very intersting.
Posted by: John | May 01, 2006 at 07:50 PM