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The Fontainebleau Vegas hotel had a disastrous start. Is it a $3.7 billion ghost town?
SF Gate ^ | 3/1/2024 | By Katie Dowd

Posted on 03/01/2024 12:45:30 PM PST by NohSpinZone

It took almost 20 torturous years to build the Fontainebleau Las Vegas and, when it finally opened, four executives left in the first month. In a town built on luck, those aren’t good odds.

There are few Vegas projects as snakebitten as the Fontainebleau. What was supposed to be a towering spinoff of the Miami icon has turned into a nightmare for just about every owner who’s taken it on. Not even its grand opening on Dec. 13 could stop the barrage of bad press, from execs bailing to a viral $21 plate of six sad nacho chips.

With this in mind, I booked a one-night stay at the Fontainebleau in late January. When the hotel opened, the rack rate started at around $300 a night; mine was $192 before taxes and fees, suggesting demand was indeed softening. Upon check-in, I was upgraded to a room near the top floor, yet another sign that the Fontainebleau wasn’t exactly bustling.

*SNIP*

For over a decade, the Fontainebleau sat watching over the Strip. The bottom began to rust, and firefighters used its empty floors to run drills. It switched hands again in 2017, but construction never restarted — and then a global pandemic hit. Seeing an opportunity, Jeffrey Soffer reentered the scene, this time funded by Koch Real Estate Investments, and bought back the Fontainebleau. After a 12-year pause, construction started up again.

Although the building was about 70% done, its early-aughts aesthetic was now dramatically outdated. Everything had to go. Finished rooms were gutted, and $3.7 billion went into completing the project — second only to Resorts World in Las Vegas Strip history. After 19 years of stop-and-start construction, the Fontainebleau opened in December.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: fontainbleau; hotel; koch; lasvegas; strip
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I haven't been to Vegas in ages but I do recall that part of the Strip isn't very desirable (past the Wynn), so this hotel has a lot going against it.

BTW (from another article), this is the $21 nachos you get at their sports bar. Nuts.


1 posted on 03/01/2024 12:45:30 PM PST by NohSpinZone
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To: NohSpinZone

The YouTube video blogger “Dingo Bob” got thrown out of the place for videoing a meal.


2 posted on 03/01/2024 12:48:20 PM PST by Fai Mao (Starve the Beast and steal its food.)
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To: NohSpinZone

Its pretty close to the best taco place I have ever been to, so its got that going for it....

http://tacoselgordobc.com


3 posted on 03/01/2024 12:51:57 PM PST by PGR88
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To: NohSpinZone

I thought Las Vegas was destroyed by that big monster from Godzilla.


4 posted on 03/01/2024 12:55:09 PM PST by ducttape45 (Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.")
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To: NohSpinZone

This and Nikki Haley were both Koch disasters.


5 posted on 03/01/2024 12:58:00 PM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: NohSpinZone

My experience with Las Vegas is that you don’t wander off the street by a block and you take the bus to Old Las Vegas.


6 posted on 03/01/2024 1:11:57 PM PST by Jonty30 (I may not know as much about American history and law as I like, but I know more than most liberals.)
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To: cgbg

“This and Nikki Haley were both Koch disasters.”

Koch rescued the hotel!


7 posted on 03/01/2024 1:16:54 PM PST by TexasGator
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To: TexasGator

Koch rescued Nikki as well.

Lol.


8 posted on 03/01/2024 1:18:59 PM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: NohSpinZone

I suppose this is why they have been advertising it heavily on television.


9 posted on 03/01/2024 1:19:43 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.)
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To: NohSpinZone

The wife and I have been to Vegas every year, at least once, since 1986. We’ve seen a LOT of hotel/casinos come and go. I never thought anyone could spend more money building a place than the City Center group. I expected THAT to be the boondoggle that collapsed. It hasn’t, yet.

But, City Center is in a great location, surrounded by terrific casinos. Fountainblue? It’s in the middle of no-where.

We were just there last September. I didn’t even notice that it was back under construction. I just heard about it on the Kelley and Mark TV show this week. They are trying hard to make it look good.

Resort World was the previous record holder. I doubt it will survive. It’s a beautiful place. But, it’s SO HUGE, and dead... no people. No excitement. I would never pay money to stay there.

I can’t imagine how this new place will survive. I watched that ugly-ass building for YEARS now. I guess, I’m glad it’s finally something? We’ll probably go look at it on our next visit... in September... IF it’s still open. We’ll see.

There ONLY chance, IMO, is for someone to take over Circus Circus, tear it down, and build a phenomenal place there.


10 posted on 03/01/2024 1:23:45 PM PST by SomeCallMeTim (C)
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To: cgbg

Koch is focusing on winning back the senate. Wish him well.


11 posted on 03/01/2024 1:25:13 PM PST by TexasGator
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To: Jonty30
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong in early 2020 largely silenced the protests.

NEVER Take the bus to/from Old Vegas... Get and Uber, or pay a can... Trust me, it's WORTH the money.

12 posted on 03/01/2024 1:25:15 PM PST by SomeCallMeTim (C)
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To: Jonty30
LOL Cut/past fail...

Replying to

My experience with Las Vegas is that you don’t wander off the street by a block and you take the bus to Old Las Vegas.

13 posted on 03/01/2024 1:26:48 PM PST by SomeCallMeTim (C)
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To: SomeCallMeTim

Never take any bus in Vegas. Armed or not


14 posted on 03/01/2024 1:29:10 PM PST by nevadapatriot
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To: TexasGator

Some of Koch’s candidates fall into the pukeworthy category.


15 posted on 03/01/2024 1:29:50 PM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: SomeCallMeTim

You’re probably right. I walked from the strip to Old Las Vegas. It was like ghetto city when I did that.


16 posted on 03/01/2024 1:32:30 PM PST by Jonty30 (I may not know as much about American history and law as I like, but I know more than most liberals.)
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To: Jonty30
My experience with Las Vegas is that you don’t wander off the street by a block and you take the bus to Old Las Vegas.

The bus is only safe if you are a hood rat. Otherwise, take an Uber. Also, don’t take a cab as you will likely get clipped. [I lived in Vegas for over a decade and a half]

17 posted on 03/01/2024 1:32:59 PM PST by thegagline (Sic semper tyrannis! Goldwater in 2024)
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To: thegagline

Yes, I would probably agree now that I’ve been to Las Vegas.

I have a funny story about a cabbie customer getting clipped.

We used to have an airport that was almost downtown. One customer booked a room at the hotel and he was told that the hotel was next to the airport. So, they got off the plane and called the cab. They told the cab to take them to the hotel and the cab drove them all around the city, charging something like $60, when it should have been about $5 due to the initial charge.

The cabbie dropped them off and they stormed into the hotel and complained that they paid $60 bucks for a cab ride when they were told that it was very close.

The clerk took them outside and pointed at the airport, which was only about a block or two away from the gate.


18 posted on 03/01/2024 1:49:25 PM PST by Jonty30 (I may not know as much about American history and law as I like, but I know more than most liberals.)
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To: NohSpinZone

Free hotel rooms for illegals, er, “newcomers”. Yay!


19 posted on 03/01/2024 1:50:38 PM PST by Jyotishi (Seeking the truth, a fact at a time.)
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To: SomeCallMeTim
Yep, this map says it all. Anything south of Desert Inn Road is a wasteland by Vegas standards. I guess this hotel group thought they could invigorate that part of the Strip with their building. I think they guessed wrong.


20 posted on 03/01/2024 1:56:32 PM PST by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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