CET Credit Rating Takes a Dive

[Alan Mendelson]

Count Room what was the hotel occupancy rate in Tunica? For the first three months in Clark County the hotel occupancy rate was about 87%. And slightly higher on the Strip. And occupancy is up about 3% over year earlier levels.

Visitor and Convention Authority stats for Vegas:

Among those who gambled in 2013, the average gambling budget was $529.57, up significantly from $466.20 in 2010 and $447.63 in 2011.

[Count Room]

Count Room what was the hotel occupancy rate in Tunica? For the first three months in Clark County the hotel occupancy rate was about 87%. And slightly higher on the Strip. And occupancy is up about 3% over year earlier levels.

Visitor and Convention Authority stats for Vegas:

Among those who gambled in 2013, the average gambling budget was $529.57, up significantly from $466.20 in 2010 and $447.63 in 2011.

Hey there, Alan: Honestly I have no idea what the hotel occupancy rate is in Tunica. I've only been there once because of a Memphis business trip some years ago, yet I do have a relative and some friends who have been there more recently.

All of them tell me the same message: Tunica is dead during the week and only comes alive on the weekends.

Two other salient points for your post:

--Tunica doesn't seem to have a "destination" feel to it like Vegas. There are not enough non-gaming activities that generate revenue since Tunica has a bunch of casinos scattered far apart in the midst of old cotton fields.

--You're right that Vegas tourists are spending more money, but then why are Nevada casinos posting losses for the fifth year in a row?

Although I do find the Caesars' story an interesting one against a larger backdrop of the casino industry being overbuilt against a saturated gambling market, I can only paint broad brushstrokes of this economic picture as I am not directly involved in Caesars' in any financial way except for Philly or LV trips once in a while (and then only as a touristy gambler!).

[carolinajacket]

I've just returned from a weekend at Harrah's Tunica, our favorite casino of all. We usually fly over 12-14 times a year and have many friends. We will miss it tremendously. The hotel was nearly full and at least the weekend crowd was very nice. It seems the main problem is that the resort is enormous, which demands great upkeep costs and there seemed to be a lot of wasted space in the casino itself. The other two Harrah's properties, The Horseshoe and The Roadhouse, do not have these problems. No large resort and the hotel and casinos in same building (Harrah's has three hotels, none of which are in the same building as the casino, and two of which demand a van ride to and from the casino). The layout was a killer, but we are going to miss it tremendously.

[Alan Mendelson]

Getting back to the main point of Caesars' credit rating and problems: I doubt closing Tunica is going to fix anything. The company's debt load is too big.

The questions are what will the company do to fix its problems? "Growing out of it" is a long term solution and there might not be enough time.

As far as players go... there is nothing we can do about it.

I remember the advice my Caesars host gave me years ago when Caesars was sold to Harrah's: he said cash out your comps-- go to the gift shops and buy stuff. And I did. Lots of stuff.

I think the idea of banking comps (reward credits) in the current environment is very risky. If you don't use them today, you very well could lose them. However, I remain hopeful that they wouldn't wipe out "reward credits" just like GM didn't wipe out GM credit card perks when it went Chapter 11.

[Rob.Singer]

I've just returned from a weekend at Harrah's Tunica, our favorite casino of all. We usually fly over 12-14 times a year and have many friends. We will miss it tremendously. The hotel was nearly full and at least the weekend crowd was very nice. It seems the main problem is that the resort is enormous, which demands great upkeep costs and there seemed to be a lot of wasted space in the casino itself. The other two Harrah's properties, The Horseshoe and The Roadhouse, do not have these problems. No large resort and the hotel and casinos in same building (Harrah's has three hotels, none of which are in the same building as the casino, and two of which demand a van ride to and from the casino). The layout was a killer, but we are going to miss it tremendously.

I share this same opinion of the Harrahs properties in Tunica. I've always liked Horseshoe & the Roadhouse much better, because of their ease of just about everything. But the Harrahs hotel rooms are far better. We took three 10,000 mile drives around the country in the summers of 2008-2010 and stayed at every Harrahs hotel in the USA & Canada each trip (except for the Nevada hotels of course, which I always stayed at anyway) and the large property for the Harrahs Tunica resort always bugged me the most. It's not as if it's a scenic area or it's enjoyable being out & about going from one section of the place to another. It's like eating a bland meal in dire need of some salt. On our last visit where we stayed just one night after driving down there to meet up with some friends, it felt like that was the ticket for that property: in & out.

[OceanCityMD]

C E T closing A C properties ?
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf..._river_default