The Mohegan Sun’s new Expo Center (above) has over 275,000 square feet of usable space; (below) Kevin Brown, Nancy Wyman & Ray Pineault attend.

Competition among gaming resorts for meetings is heating up as more venues nationwide expand and open new properties. Las Vegas and Atlantic City remain the top casino resort destinations, however, a variety of smaller destinations also aim to attract more events. Burgeoning competitors range from properties in the Southwest nestled amid stunning scenery to small-town destinations in Pennsylvania.

Connecticut

The Madison, Connecticut-based Wire Association International (WAI) took full advantage of the Mohegan Sun’s new, recently opened $80 million Earth Expo & Convention Center, which offers 275,000 square feet of event space.

The WAI’s Operations Summit & Wire Expo attracted 1,435 attendees. It was the WAI’s first meeting at the Mohegan Sun, although the association’s New England Chapter has met annually at the property for the past 10 years. According to Steven Fetteroll, CAE, WAI executive director and planner, “It was the Chapter’s long-term favorable partnership with Mohegan Sun that made us comfortable with booking our larger annual event. The near-unanimous feedback and strong value from the Chapter event made it easy for the association to contract to return in 2020. We will be excited to use the new Earth Expo Center.”

Fetteroll raves about the several ways the Mohegan Sun helped deliver value. “For us, it was outstanding,” he says. “Regardless of your industry or audience, every dollar matters. It’s a good sign when your guests can valet or self-park in a covered garage for free and have free Wi-Fi in the entire facility. It allows attendees and organizers to redirect their money to other categories. The uniqueness of Mohegan Sun is that the food and rooms are of the highest quality, without the inflated prices of some destinations.”

“The presence and availability of [Valley Forge Casino Resort] staff during our event and their responsiveness to last minute issues stands out to me as particularly good service and attentiveness to our needs.”
Tony Campisi
Executive Director
PA & DE Valley Chapter, Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley Chapter, Community Associations Institute/PA Legislative Action Committee

The value of the WAI’s sponsorships also increased. “We sold more sponsorships than any previous year because Mohegan Sun found ways to help make it happen,” says Fetteroll. “Sponsorship revenue is critical for most events, and this is true for the Wire Association. Mohegan Sun understands this and offered ideas that incorporated the facility. Their approach was not to try to sell us options, but to truly service our needs.”

Value combined with a variety of venues and activities proved to be a winning combination. “You have an endless supply of options for functions onsite,” says Fetteroll. “We held our welcome reception at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Restaurant Mohegan Sun. Imagine trying to decorate an event in the Jimmy Buffett theme. You wouldn’t have money left for F&B. For us, it was perfect. The palm trees, a massive tequila bottle dropping on schedule and an airplane suspended from the ceiling, all with windows overlooking the Thames River. It was perfect.”

All Under One Roof

Another group booked Mohegan Sun largely because everything it wanted was onsite. The 2018 Tristate Society for Human Resources Professionals (SHRM) Conference in April at the Mohegan Sun included about 650 human resource professionals and exhibitors, mostly from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

According to Regan Traub, chair and planner of the 2018 Tristate SHRM Conference, attendees experienced much of what the Mohegan Sun offers. The conference started with a Mohegan Sun tribal welcome reception. “It also included experiential team building, golf, a tribal scavenger hunt and a cake decorating competition at Carlo’s Bakery Mohegan Sun,” says Traub. “There was also a Gala Event at the resort’s Vista Lounge at Wombi Rock that included a DJ, magician, poker and a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator.”

Traub hopes to return to Mohegan Sun and build on the conference’s successful attendance. “It exceeded past records, and the breakout rooms in the Uncas Ballroom area during some sessions were too crowded,” says Traub. “We are starting to look at their new Expo Center now to consider how it would fulfill our needs in the future.”

Connecticut’s other major gaming property, Foxwoods Resort Casino, is the largest resort casino in North America. Foxwoods offers the 47,533-square-foot Premier Ballroom,15,000-square-foot Celebrity Ballroom and the 25,000-square-foot, column-free Foxwoods Grand Pequot Ballroom, divisible into five sections. Other venues include the 1,400-seat Fox Theater and the 4,000-seat Grand Theater.

Atlantic City

The newly renovated Resorts Casino Hotel, Atlantic City’s first casino hotel, celebrated its 40th anniversary in May with additional options for groups. The Ocean Tower’s recently renovated 480 rooms include 139 mini-suites, 15 parlor suites and one Presidential suite. Renovations also include the onsite Jimmy Buffett-themed Margaritaville entertainment complex. Resorts Casino Hotel’s 64,000 square feet of meeting space includes the new, high-tech Resorts Conference Center, which offers 24 function and meeting rooms, four ballrooms and a multipurpose showroom. The hotel’s largest ballroom accommodates up to 750 people. Two theaters seat 300 and 1,350 guests, respectively. Overall, Resorts Casino Hotel can host up to 140 square feet of meeting and function space per guest room, nearly twice that of the typical conference hotel.

The iconic Tropicana Atlantic City has completed a $200 million refurbishment of its 21 meeting rooms in the Havana Tower, the18,000-square-foot Ballroom and the 20,000-square-foot Grand Exhibition Center. In addition, the North, South and Havana towers offer renovated guest rooms. Other new Tropicana offerings include three new restaurants by award-winning chef Jose Garces — Olon, Bar Olon and Okatshe — and AtlantiCare LifeCenter Fitness. Tropicana also increased its total number of guest rooms to 2,629 and added 5,600 square feet of meeting space following last year’s acquisition of the Chelsea hotel, which is being linked to the Tropicana as its fifth hotel tower.

Last summer, Harrah’s Atlantic City completed upgrades of 450 guest rooms and suites in the hotel’s elegant Bayview Tower. Other Harrah’s improvements include new dining venues and renovation of The Pool After Dark, the property’s nightclub. In addition, Harrah’s new $125 million, 100,000-square-foot Waterfront Conference Center is the largest such facility between Baltimore and Boston, boasting two 50,000-square-foot ballrooms, 125,000 square feet of meeting space and LEED Silver Certification.

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa spent $50 million to debut several new projects over the last two years, including the new bi-level,18,000-square-foot Central Conference Center, which increased the resort’s total meeting space to more than 106,000 square feet, including the Event Center and The Water Club’s 39,000 square feet of meeting space. Other completed projects include an outdoor pool, and beer garden and eatery.

More Competition

Major northeastern casino resorts are getting more competition from up-and-coming gaming properties, including Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The resort’s recent $6 million makeover, which includes its 100,000-square-foot Event Center, helped attract the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA), which recently held its annual International Convention on the property for 500 attendees.

The ALPCA found that Valley Forge Casino Resort met all of its requirements. Upon visiting the resort, ALPCA convention manager Ned Flynn cited the association’s meeting space needs with the property’s staff. “These included an exhibition hall of at least 40,000 square feet or enough to hold 350-400 eight-foot tables,” he says. “In addition, we needed a full-service host hotel which is either connected to the exhibition hall or within short walking distance. Our RFP requested 600 room nights with a peak of 150 on both Wednesday and Thursday nights.”

Flynn liked what he saw in the Event Center and hotel accommodations. “Its three rooms could be combined into one with a total of 54,000 square feet,” says Flynn. “There are two hotels on property, a high-rise Radisson and the Casino Tower. The Event Center is located on the bottom floor of the Casino Tower. Thus, both of our basic physical requirements were met.”

Value, of course, was also a high priority. “We must have a positive bottom line coming out of the convention, and the hotel rates must be within the ability of most members to pay,” he says. “I was pleased with the response from Valley Forge on all of these matters and decided to make a site visit.”

Valley Forge Casino Resort also met the ALPCA’s need to have the gaming floor located away from other areas attendees frequented. The association desired such a layout after having previously met at another resort that required attendees to walk through the casino floor to reach meeting rooms and restaurants. “That issue does not exist at Valley Forge, as one does not have to walk through the casino to enjoy the fine food in several restaurants, visit one of the taverns or get to the Event Center,” says Flynn.

Convenient Access

While the ALPCA featured international attendees, another recent convention at Valley Forge Casino Resort consisted mostly of people who lived within driving distance of the property. The Pennsylvania and Delaware Valley Chapter, Community Associations Institute/PA Legislative Action Committee, held its Annual Conference & Expo at Valley Forge Casino in April 2018.

According to Tony Campisi, executive director of the association, proximity to members was a key reason for choosing the resort. “We chose the property primarily for its location in relation to where the majority of our members live and work,” says Campisi. “The property is accessible from various highways, is one of few in the region large enough to accommodate our exhibit hall needs and has recently undergone various
renovations that make the property an attractive location.”

Meeting space for the convention’s 800 attendees was also a factor. “We don’t have a significant need for guest rooms, so that’s not really a factor for us,” says Campisi. “The meeting rooms and space available to use are more important to our event along with updates that have been made to the facility. The most significant portion of our event is the exhibit hall, and the size of the space at Valley Forge is perfect for an event our size with 150 to 160 exhibitors.”

In addition, Campisi describes the cuisine and service as near-perfect. “The presence and availability of staff during our event and their responsiveness to last-minute issues stands out to me as particularly good service and attentiveness to our needs,” says Campisi. “The food and beverage are also very good, and our attendees were very complimentary regarding that.”

Las Vegas
Caesars Entertainment continues to reinvent Las Vegas, implementing its vision for the future. Part of the vision is Caesars new, state-of-the-art $375 million conference center called Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, which is scheduled to open in 2020. Aimed directly at attracting large conventions, Caesars Forum offers 300,000 square feet of flexible meeting space that includes two of the world’s largest pillarless ballrooms, each measuring 110,000 square feet. There are also two 40,000-square-foot ballrooms. Caesars Forum attendees will have access via a pedestrian bridge to Harrah’s Las Vegas, LINQ, the LINQ Promenade and Flamingo Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment is also enhancing its properties. A $100 million renovation of the Palace Towers at Caesars Palace offers 1,181 guest rooms and suites, including 10 luxurious villas on the 29th floor. Meanwhile, Flamingo Las Vegas is completing a $90 million renovation of 1,270 rooms.

MGM Resorts is also among the leaders in expanding its Las Vegas properties. Projects underway will add a combined 4 million square feet of meeting and convention space to MGM’s properties when they are completed by the end of this year. The projects include the MGM Grand Conference Center which is undergoing a $130 million, 250,000-square-foot expansion that will add a total of 850,000 square feet, including a 49,000-square-foot ballroom and a 32,000-square-foot ballroom.

Another MGM property, the AAA Five Diamond Aria Resort & Casino, is a top destination for technology-oriented conferences and events. Aria added to its reputation recently by premiering a $170 million, 200,000-square-foot expansion of its meeting space spread over four stories. Including the expansion, Aria now offers a total of over 500,000 square feet of convention space, including a distinctive ballroom on the top floor that includes two open-air verandas accommodating up to 2,000 attendees. Aria’s expansion includes indoor/open-air verandas with retractable windows and scenic views of T-Mobile Arena and The Park, both of which provide a range of venues and entertainment. In addition, the expanded Cypress Executive Lounge has a conference room, three private suites for personal workspaces and flexible furniture for up to 30 people.

MGM Resorts continues to lead the way in providing online connectivity for meetings by recently partnering with Cisco Systems to offer faster downloads and high-density coverage at all MGM Resorts’ meeting and convention spaces in Las Vegas except for Circus Circus.

Innovative Venues

Groups seeking novel meeting spaces have several choices at Park MGM, the former Monte Carlo property. Phase One of Park MGM’s new 77,000-square-foot conference center offers non-traditional spaces and flexible design to small groups. Planners can now book meetings at recently completed Madison Meeting Center, the first of its kind in Las Vegas, located within the new meetings and conference center in the Park MGM. The Madison Meeting Center caters to groups of 10 to 50 people with 10,000 square feet of modern conference space and 10 meeting rooms configurable into several layouts. The rooms are ideal for classroom-style training sessions, seminars and workshops. The Madison Meeting Center complements 58,600 square feet of new conference space featuring large ballrooms and 43 flexible meeting rooms. The high-tech meeting spaces feature natural light and overlook the resort’s pools. Another venue aimed at small groups, the Ideation studio, will open later this year and complete the resort’s new 77,000-square-foot conference and event space.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. started construction on its major Las Vegas Strip development, Paradise Park, in January. The 1,500-room hotel and convention center, which replaces the golf course at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, will include a nearby 38-acre, hourglass-shaped lagoon encircled by a one-mile boardwalk and white-sand beach. Plans also call for a nightly Carnivale parade of floats on the lagoon.

Southeast

In the South, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, is adding a guitar-shaped tower with 860 rooms, 60,000 square feet of function space and new dining and entertainment venues. The project is scheduled for completion by mid-2019. Currently, the Hard Rock’s meeting space totals 120,000 square feet, including a 38,000-square-foot exhibit hall divisible into 10 spaces, the 6,500-seat Hard Rock Live arena, and a 7,000-square-foot poolside function area.

Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Biloxi, MGM’s Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, recently completed a $10 million renovation and redesign that provides more comfort and options for guests. Upgrades include new, 60-inch LED televisions, additional sound bars and media hubs to connect electronic devices. The makeover is the last stage of a multi-year renovation project that includes an expanded VIP check-in area. The AAA Four Diamond Beau Rivage offers 50,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 17,000-square-foot Magnolia Ballroom and a 1,550-seat theater.

Southwest

Located just seven miles from Albuquerque, Isleta Resort & Casino provides old-world Southwest hospitality and top hospitality and conveniences. Looking to offer even more to visitors, Isleta is undergoing a $40 million renovation that is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. The project includes the property’s 60,000 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting space as well as a new concert venue and expanded casino floor. More dining and bar options are on the way as Isleta will expand the Triple Sevens Saloon to four times its original capacity and provide a new food court. Demonstrating its dedication to providing top dining options, Isleta recently named a new executive chef with over 30 years of culinary experience. Activities include the 27-hole Eagle Golf Club, the Southwest’s premiere golf destination.

Northwest

One-year-old Ilani Casino Resort, located on the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s 156-acre reservation in Washington state, is a large and luxurious property that expects to draw 4 million visitors a year. Ilani is the closest casino to the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area and offers top-notch entertainment. Recent acts that have performed at Ilani’s new 30,000-square-foot Meeting & Entertainment Center include comedian Jay Leno and rapper Vanilla Ice. Attendees can also enjoy a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor and restaurants that include Michael Jordan’s Steak House.

And Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, is known for its variety of entertainment in The Showroom, the Salt River Grand Ballroom and three pools. The resort offers over 100,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. Activity options include the 36-hole Talking Stick Golf Club, Topgolf Scottsdale at Riverwalk and OdySea Aquarium.

Association groups tend to meet in casinos located in geographic regions where most of their members are based. Now, with the growing variety of casino resorts nationwide, planners have more options. AC&F