Fitzgerald's Las Vegas announced Tuesday a rebranding of the property as the D Las Vegas and a major renovation to conclude in Fall 2012. Travel Agent spoke with the majority owner of the property to get the scoop on what's planned for the Fremont Street Experience staple.
“Before we actually finalized the deal, we knew we wanted to renovate the property,” said Derek Stevens, majority owner and CEO of the D Las Vegas. “We felt it was a property with potential, but it had gotten a bit worn down. We were always thinking about what we’d put into the renovation of all 638 hotel guestrooms and the renovation of both casino floors that would have a pretty strong impact. We will also increase entertainment outside the property every night of the week, with live bands outside. On many nights we’ll have two or three bands.”
Stevens says the hotel will reposition to cater to guests using a fresh focus on entertainment and technology. “We want to give our current guests a better experience, but at the same time our interest is in acquiring new customers as well,” said Stevens. “We’re growing the customer base to have it oriented around entertainment value.”
When it comes to meeting space and events, the D Las Vegas will offer high-tech amenities. “We do weddings and corporate events, so one of the things we want to do is orient our property around newer technologies with the fact we’re the closest hotel to the Zappos world headquarters and a lot of new tech startups are on Fremont East,” said Stevens. “The upgrade will provide an unparalleled level of service from technology perspective. The bandwidth we’re bringing in will help groups have online chats and meetings. We’re going to take a leading step to provide the technology-savvy traveler with some of the best amenities he can find.”
While the property will be undergoing constant renovation, the impact on hotel guests will be minimal. “We’ve got 20 projects on schedule and completed the first when LONGBAR opened up just last Saturday,” said Stevens. “Every week or so we’ll have reached completion on a number of other projects. The longest project is the hotel upgrade, but the hotel will never be disrupted. We’ll keep two floors out of service at a time for the next four to six months.”