Rio operator aims to wow locals and visitors with upgrades
This week's Indy Gaming offers a Las Vegas history lesson. The Marnell family opened the Rio Hotel and Casino four years after Michael Gaughan opened the Gold Coast in 1986. The casinos, close to the Strip and directly across from each other on Valley View Boulevard, sought to attract customers from the Strip and local communities. George Maloof followed with the Palms in 2001 a few blocks up Flamingo Road. All three of the properties have since changed owners.
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As a teenager growing up in Las Vegas, Patrick Miller was enthralled by the 400-room Rio Hotel and Casino. He loved the vibrant colors on the resort’s original Ipanema tower because it stood out from other buildings on or near the Strip.
“That little swoop on the building was cool. It made you want to go inside to see what it looked like,” said Miller, who was a student at Bishop Gorman High School when the Rio opened in 1990.
Fast forward 35 years and Miller is now president and CEO of the Rio. The resort, which grew to 2,500 rooms through several expansions during the two decades it was operated by Caesars Entertainment, is now owned by New York City-based Dreamscape Cos.
The property completed a $340 million renovation at the end of 2024 that included remodeling the 1,500 rooms in the now Y-shaped Ipanema tower, refreshing the resort’s public spaces and adding new restaurants, remodeling the 117,000-square-foot casino and upgrading the 220,000 square feet of convention facilities.
Miller said redevelopment of the 1,000-room Masquerade Tower and public spaces is being contemplated and could begin later this year. Gaming was removed from the tower’s casino space and the area is utilized for special events, primarily on weekends. The rooftop VooDoo Lounge and VooDoo Steak, and the hotel rooms, remain open.
The Rio’s location on West Flamingo Road, less than a mile from the Strip, has long made the property a hybrid resort, attracting locals and visitors.
“We want to get it right and we’re taking our time to get there,” Miller said. “Our focus is on introducing the first phase of our transformation.”
The initial effort, restoring the Rio’s exterior with fresh paint and 3 miles of bright programmable LEDs to create a light show on the building’s exterior, began before Miller arrived last May.
“When the Rio was built, it was one of the first sleek glass exteriors and with the blue and red, it was cool,” Miller recalled, which is why Dreamscape refreshed the exterior after taking over the resort in 2023.
“We want the property to be noticed. The lights pop at night,” Miller said.
Dreamscape acquired the resort and its 90-acre site for $516.3 million in 2019 but didn’t take over operations until 2023. Miller was hired away from MGM Resorts International last year, where, as president of ParkMGM, he led the property’s transformation from its Monte Carlo theme.
Moving on from the Rio name was never considered by Dreamscape. Miller said there was “brand equity” in the resort’s Rio de Janeiro theme.
“It’s about energy and entertainment and technicolor. That’s what Vegas is all about,” he said.
The property hadn’t been touched during the final years of Caesars’ ownership, including the three years it operated under a management deal after it was sold to Dreamscape.
In addition to renovating the Ipanema rooms away from their 1990s design to a modern look with new furnishings and accessories, the Rio became part of the Destinations by Hyatt loyalty rewards program, allowing Hyatt members to book rooms and earn points at the resort. Miller said Hyatt customers often join Rio’s loyalty program to earn rewards for their gambling.
The combination of the Rio and Hyatt loyalty programs helped the resort transition away from the Caesars Reward program, Miller added.
Meanwhile, inside the Rio, lighting was improved throughout the public areas, furnishings and carpeting were replaced and the casino upgraded its 900 slot machines and gaming tables to versions developed in the past few years. The William Hill sportsbook was also modernized.
The number of gaming positions is down from 2023 because of the several hundred slots and gaming tables removed from the Masquerade casino space.
A year ago, customers got their first taste of the new Rio with the opening of the six-outlet Canteen Food Hall that replaced the Carnival World Buffet. Miller said the food hall is using just one-fourth of the space that housed the buffet so there is room for it to grow.
Meanwhile, Lapa Lounge, themed after Rio de Janeiro’s Lapa neighborhood, replaced the resort’s center bar and Luckley Tavern & Grill replaced the All American Bar & Grill. Customer favorites, including Hash House a Go-Go and Guy Fieri's El Burro Borracho, remained in place.
Miller said the Rio team is working to reintroduce the property to longtime customers while marketing to new audiences.
“We want to get back to having fun,” he said.
Culinary boss expects the GOP in Congress to pass ‘No Tax on Tips’
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said organized labor will not be kind to Republicans if federal legislation exempting tips from federal income tax fails in Congress.
“Republicans made a lot of promises [and] we're going to hold their feet to fire on this,” Pappageorge said last week on the day two bills were introduced in the House and Senate that would fulfill a pledge President Donald Trump made while campaigning in Las Vegas last summer.
According to my Nevada Independent colleague Gabby Birenbaum, the state’s two Democratic senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, signed on to the No Tax on Tips Act that was reintroduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), while Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) signed on to a House version.
Pappageorge, whose union represents some 60,000 Strip and downtown nongaming employees, said Congress also needs to raise the subminimum wage above $2.30 per hour, which would also help tip earners who are sometimes making that low wage on the expectation they will make up the difference in tips.
“The Republicans wanted [this] as part of their platform to lower the cost of living for working-class voters,” Pappageorge said. “One of the first steps should be no taxes on tips with increasing the subminimum wage.”
What I'm reading
🎪 Billionaire Trump pal Phil Ruffin is ready to sell the aging Circus Circus casino — Will Yakowicz, Forbes (subscription required)
The 89-year-old billionaire said the North Strip casino and its 102 acres are worth $5 billion.
🛏️ MGM Grand Las Vegas undergoing a $300 million hotel renovation — Clark Schultz, Seeking Alpha
MGM Resorts unveiled details surrounding the remodeling of the Strip property’s 4,212 rooms and suites.
💰 Atlantic City sets new gambling revenue record in 2024 (with a big asterisk) — Wayne Parry, The Press of Atlantic City
Casinos and racetracks collected $6.3 billion, but the results were augmented by internet gambling and sports betting.
News, notes and quotes
😷 Construction begins on the fourth Culinary Health Center
Groundbreaking ceremonies took place last week for the fourth Culinary Health Center in Las Vegas, which serves the members and families of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165. The two-story, 96,800-square-foot location on Tropicana Avenue and Cameron Street will open next year with advanced medical equipment, a drive-through pharmacy, 43 primary care rooms, three mental health counseling rooms, 15 dental care rooms and 18 physical therapy evaluation rooms. The first Culinary Health Center on Nellis Boulevard opened in June 2017, followed by a second facility on Durango Drive in 2023. A third location is expected to open this summer on Craig Road in North Las Vegas.
🕴️ Former Wynn CEO Matt Maddox to join Authentic Brands
Former Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox has been named president of New York-based Authentic Brands Group, a global development and licensing company with some 50 sports, lifestyle, entertainment and media brands. Maddox spent more than two decades at Wynn and was CEO from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Wynn’s chief financial officer and spent time in Macau when the company’s first resort there was under construction in the mid-2000s. In a statement, Authentic CEO Jamie Salter said Maddox’s experiences would help the company diversify.