news: Casino agency recommends renewing Tropicana (AC) license for only 1 year

[Mousey]

Casino agency recommends renewing Tropicana license for only one year
Published: Wednesday, December 5, 2007


ATLANTIC CITY -

New Jersey's casino enforcement agency recommended only a one-year license renewal Tuesday for Tropicana Casino and Resort, citing mass layoffs and a litany of customer complaints under the troubled ownership of Columbia Sussex Corp.

The recommendation by the Division of Gaming Enforcement will be considered by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission when it meets Dec. 12 to make a final ruling on Tropicana's license and the suitability of Columbia Sussex and Chief Executive Officer William J. Yung III as owners.

In closing arguments, the division's acting director, Yvonne G. Maher, said Tropicana has not met the standard of a "first-class facility" as required by New Jersey casino law.

She contended that Yung and his company were ill-prepared to jump into the country's second-largest gaming market when they acquired the Tropicana in January as part of a $2.75 billion acquisition of casino...

[babs7262]

I saw that on the news a couple of days ago. That is such BullSh&^%. I have seen first hand how much money Yung and his partners have put into this establishment. They have 4 separate towers and they have been renovating each tower every year.

I think people like to feel important and the Trop just isnt like that. For instance....if you go to Caesers Palace in AC or the Borgata.....very stuffy stuck up people...The Trop has a lot of great expensive stores and restaurants , their just not stuffy, they are friendly. You guys see how they treat me, Im a low roller yet I get 2 nights a week free and in a suite to boot!

I hope this place never changes. It will be a sad day if they dont renew for the 5 years. OMG....you should see some of the dumps in AC

[silcnlayc]

The Trop has a lot of great expensive stores and restaurants

My husband and I loved the Trop, before they updated it. It became a circus..trying to get to the casino takes days from the parking lot..we used to go for years , we started from way back when they had a Ferris wheel on the main floor entrance...then the Trop became a mall, short and sweet...thats it...

Now we play at the Borgata because of the ease of entrance and location of the casino. You don't have to walk miles through shopping malls to get to where you wanted to go in the first place, the casino..

And I am not a stuffy person! Just hated the way they designed the Trop after the upgrade...awful...

I haven't been in over 9 months to the Borgata (updating my bath right now with my fun money) and they still send room invites for a whole weekend and I am not a high roller..just average.

I guess it just depends on what you go for and how much trouble you want to go to. to get to what you want to do during your visits

[babs7262]

Why not just Valet park? It's free now. You just get out of the car and go up the escalater. The Havana Tower is far from the casino but the North and South Tower arnt

[silcnlayc]

Why not just Valet park

We tried valet parking once in all the years we have been going to the casinos and hated it. If I want to go somewhere other than where I am staying, I don't want to be forced to wait a good 10-20 minutes for my car (during the weekends). I want to be able to hop in and go..I guess valet is just not for us...

My brother and sister used valet for years until they visited us at Dover Downs this past year. My brother went to get his car when we all left, took a good 15 minutes waiting for valet to bring it and we were already leaving while he stood there still waiting..he hasn't done valet parking since.

I guess it all comes down to convenience and time.

[Mousey]

Revenues Down Again at AC Casinos
By Associated Press December 10, 2007

Few Atlantic City casinos were giving thanks in November: Revenue fell 7.7 percent from a year ago, as slots parlors in Pennsylvania and New York continued to gobble up some of New Jersey's best customers.

Nowhere was the pain felt more acutely than at the Tropicana Casino and Resort, which endured weeks of bad publicity about vermin and poor service that began scaring customers away last month. Its revenues fell 21.1 percent in November.

It marked the 10th down month out of 11 so far in this dismal year _ the first in the 29-year history of legalized gambling in Atlantic City that will show a revenue decrease from the previous year.

The casinos took in $374.7 million last month. Slots revenues came in at $260.8 million, a decrease of 12.2 percent from last November, while revenue from table games increased 4.4 percent to $113.9 million.

For the first 11 months of the year, the 11 casinos collectively have taken in $4.5 billion, down 5.3 percent from the first 11 months of 2006.

Only three casinos reported increases in November: Resorts Atlantic City (up 3.5 percent); The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (up 2.1 percent); and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort (up 0.5 percent).

The largest decline was at the Tropicana Casino and Resort, which endured a nightmare month of bad publicity stemming ...

[babs7262]

I have never encountered any vermin or bugs the whole time Ive been going. I cant even count the amount of times I went since the opening. I can say that I have an average of one stay per month over the last
10 years or so

Columbia Sussex owns the following casinos:


http://www.columbiasussex.com/casinos.lasso


That's alot of casinos, plus look at the hotel section, they own marriots, hiltons, crowne plazas, a total of 83 hotels with an overall 32,000 plus rooms.

They are doing something right!

[babs7262]

Breaking news at 5pm

They didnt get the renewal. Now a judge is going to oversee the 2000 plus room hotel while columbia is in the appeal process

Guess what? I wrote a longish letter to yvonne and she passed it on to the executive editor of press media and she was so impressed that she asked for my permission to post it on their new website they have coming out soon.

Ill let you know so you can read it

[Mousey]

N.J. Denies License for Tropicana
By Associated Press December 12, 2007

New Jersey's Casino Control Commission declined on Wednesday to renew an operating license for the Tropicana Casino and Resort.

The move marked only the second time in the 29-year history of legalized gambling in New Jersey that the commission has denied a license.

The casino will remain open under the supervision of a retired state supreme court justice, Gary S. Stein.

However, Columbia Sussex Corp., which owns the Tropicana, will have to seek a buyer, said commission spokesman Dan Heneghan.

The commission also fined Columbia Sussex $750,000 for not having an independent auditing committee for nearly six months _ a crucial requirement under state law.

[babs7262]

They meant to say "beause Yung didnt pay extortion fee" This whole thing stinks to high heaven.