The Real World at Gold Spike

The Real World is filming an upcoming season in Las Vegas. Gold Spike downtown has been reported by multiple sources as the residence for the show's participants.

The Real World was one of (maybe the first?) reality television shows when it first debuted on MTV in 1992. This upcoming season will be the show's 31st overall, and third time in Las Vegas.

The 12th season of The Real World in 2002 took place at The Palms. The popularity of that season cemented The Palms as the place to be for younger tourists to party in Las Vegas in the early to mid 2000's.

The 25th season in 2011 also took place in Las Vegas at The Hard Rock. By this time the show's popularity wasn't as high, so I don't think it gave The Hard Rock the cool factor boost they were hoping for.

Gold Spike definitely has the hip factor being owned by Downtown Project and recently removing their old-people casino in favor of millennial approved board games and live music.

It will be interesting to see if the TV show will attract any additional foot traffic to the struggling Downtown Grand across the street.

Maloofs Lose Palms Ownership

The famed Maloof family has had their ownership stake in the Palms reduced to 2%. The hotel's debt was taken over by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners, which will each own 49% of the property.

TPG Capital is one of the owners of Caesars Entertainment, which has prompted speculation that Caesars will take over the Palms and add it to its Total Rewards portfolio. That isn't happening... for now, as George Maloof will remain the operational boss. We'll see how long that lasts.

With the Palms struggling like this, recent demise of the Sahara, and Planet Hollywood being taken over by Caesars, it proves how it's more and more difficult for independent casino operators to survive.

Read more about the Palms restructuring at Business Week.

Palms a good fit for Caesars Entertainment?

News has surfaced that Caesars Entertainment parent company TPG Capital, along with Leonard Green & Partners are in talks to take a controlling stake in the Palms. This has fueled speculation that Palms will become part of the Caesars Entertainment "Evil Empire" as some have called it. People are assuming that Palms will join the Total Rewards network as a result of the move.

If this transaction does happen, I have to wonder if the Palms is a good fit for the Caesars Entertainment portfolio. Palms is unique because it is part locals casino and part celebrity hot spot. Caesars on the other hand is known for running tourist casinos with less than favorable odds on their games. If Palms is acquired by Caesars it will be interesting to see if they choose to keep the locals happy, or focus more on pushing tourists off the Strip.

I have a feeling that Caesars will take the latter approach and will concentrate on the tourist dollar. I think they will use the Palms trendy reputation to market to their younger Total Rewards members. It will give them a hip hotel to market at reasonable prices, but will they keep payouts high to hold on to the locals? I guess we'll have to wait and see, if the deal even happens at all.

Real World Returning to Las Vegas

The Real World is rumored to be returning to Las Vegas for its 25th season. This time the MTV reality show will be located at the Hard Rock.

In 2002 The Real World put the Palms on the map when the show was located in a penthouse suite at that hotel. The success of that show led to the Palms becoming a hot spot for the 20-something Vegas club crowd.

This should be a mutually beneficial relationship between MTV and the city of Las Vegas. From what I understand the show's ratings have been a bit down recently, and so having it in a city like Vegas could boost that a little. On the other side having Las Vegas in a popular TV show will definitely create some buzz and might expose Las Vegas to the younger MTV viewers.

Source: MTV Real World News Blog.

Ditch Fridays at the Palms Opens

The Las Vegas pool season is heating up. Most of the pools are open and in full swing. This weekend the Palms hosted the season opening of their "Ditch Fridays" weekly pool party. Sean Paul performed on Friday to celebrate the opening.



For more information, check out Ditch Fridays.

The Next Big Las Vegas Headliner - Larry King?

Larry King is returning to Las Vegas as he will headline a show at the Palm's Pearl concert venue on June 11th.

The senile King headlined at Wynn last June stand-up, storytelling and a question-and-answer session. Apparently that show was successful enough to bring Larry back to Vegas for another go-around.

No word if Larry will talk about any or all of his 8 divorces.