Current trends in the global gambling industry can be described in two words: “bigger and better”. For casino hotels, a hotel stock of 500 rooms or more is considered normal. Many of these businesses have suites that are much larger than standard hotel rooms and more luxurious than the most luxurious ones. There are mini-pools and Jacuzzis, several big-screen television sets, two or more bathrooms, several lounges and bedrooms, a dining room and bars. Naturally these rooms have the best views of the city. The rooms are either period or modernistically styled. These apartments are located in isolated parts of buildings and may have their own booking and accommodation service, their own bars and restaurants.
Hotel zones
The management of a standard hotel is quite different from that of a casino hotel. In a standard hotel, the porter’s job is to make reservations, sell hotel rooms and provide quality service. In a casino hotel, service is important, but hotel occupancy is not an end in itself; the aim is to retain rooms for the casino guests, who are the real customers of the hotel.
Not all guests are created equal in a casino hotel. The hotel staff’s main concern is to cater to the desires and needs of primarily wealthy casino visitors. Many of the rooms are kept free for them and unavailable to the general public. This is not because they can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 per night. A visitor can leave considerably more in the casino than the most expensive room costs. Therefore, such a guest wishing to stay in a hotel should never be refused accommodation.
Such rooms are kept free in case any of the hotel’s regular guests want to stay at the hotel at the last minute without having a reservation. For weekends, about 80% of hotel accommodation is reserved by casinos for their “dear” guests. Such rooms are either free of charge or at a very large discount.
Food and drink
Most casino hotels offer a significant amount of space specifically for the gaming industry. Conventions and symposia can also be organised at these hotels. Traditional hotel functions such as catering are also well-developed. A hotel with over 500 rooms usually has at least four restaurants. Some of them operate on a 24-hour basis. Restaurants and cafés vary in size and capacity, opening hours and range of dishes. They vary in design style and national cuisines, aiming to satisfy the sophisticated tastes of customers. The most popular cuisines are French, Italian and Chinese.
Special guests market
Consumers of goods and services offered by casino hotels are usually leisure, business and congress travellers, who are also casino patrons. Most casino hotels are located in the resort areas of the country and so clients have access to the same range of services as the resort hotels. However, since the hotels have open gambling houses, another feature is added to the characteristic of consumers of goods and services of resort hotels: most of them are gamblers. Now it is easy to see why, despite an average occupancy rate of less than 72%, hotels with casinos have an occupancy rate of 80-90% all year round.
The casino-goers are very different from the general public ready to use public transport and amuse themselves with slot machines. They are the richest people on the planet, traveling across the country in their own or rented planes. They are capable of losing colossal sums of money in a single evening, while clearly enjoying themselves.
It is not uncommon for casinos to lose all their cash and guests are unable to pay their hotel bills. Some of these customers, losing fabulous amounts of money, may receive a Rolls-Royce as a gift from the casino and pocket money for a trip to Europe, not to mention free room and board at the hotel itself.
Those who win thousands of dollars get only free lunch or dinner and have to pay for a room, even if at a discounted rate. Sometimes groups of wealthy punters or potential punters from other parts of the country receive free accommodation for several days. Such free trips include a comprehensive service, including refreshments. The casino organises such trips in the hope that these people will later leave considerably more money at their hotel than is spent to accommodate them today.
To keep your luck up
Casino resorts appeal primarily to the excitement and thrill of the games, which provide an unprecedented adrenaline rush. Experienced players can head to the card tables, where the most popular games include blackjack and various variants of poker, including Caribbean poker. Newcomers might be interested in the slot machines.
Years ago, players would drop a coin into the slot of a machine and be rewarded with a shower of coins. Today’s electronic machines offer countless variations, but the thrill is still the same. Many novice gamblers choose roulette, because it is all about fate, not skill and knowledge of the players. Roulette players can bet on a single number or a combination of numbers, including all red or all black.
The casino resort offers entertainment and games for all guests. Winning depends on luck, but an exhilarating experience is guaranteed.